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Members of 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s Lean Six Sigma program joined the Air Force and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for a LSS symposium held at the Ramstein Officer’s Club here Sept. 2 to 3.
“It’s a terrific thing in the Kaiserslautern Military Community that the Army and the Air Force do not just coexist, but we do partner. We are interconnecting mutual supporting organizations that mesh quite well,” said Col. Mitch Brew, the chief of staff for 21st TSC.
LSS uses data and statistical analysis as a way to figure out a solution to help a business or company run more efficiently.
While the Army uses the LSS program, the Air Force uses a similar program called Continuous Process Improvement, which utilizes aspects of the LSS program as well as programs such as Theory of Constraints and Business Process Redesign.
The symposium was designed for each organization to learn about the other’s program and how it works.
“It’s a sharing of ideas, basically. What we’ve been doing is focused on the Army side, and this symposium is outlined to get more of a perspective of what other branches of service are doing,” said Lt. Col. Bradley Welch, the inspector general for the 7th Civil Support Command and a black belt mentor for the 7th CSC LSS office. “To share ideas and get more of a full blend of how Lean Six Sigma can be used throughout an organization, not just our own stovepipes.”
Two members of the 21st TSC LSS program presented projects during the symposium to share the ways they have used LSS to not only save money, but time.
Strawberry Olive, a certified LSS black belt and a logistics management specialist with Theater Logistics Support Center-Europe, and Eric Gordon-Jones, a LSS green belt and a container manager with 21st TSC’s support operations, presented their LSS projects.
Different colored belts are awarded to students as they move up the different levels in the LSS program. Green belt is the first level and black is earned by more advanced learners.
The sharing of projects and unique challenges facing each organization was the main focus of the symposium.
“Whenever you’re hearing it from a different perspective like the Air Force or the industry, you get their take on things,” said Welch. “What you hope to do and what we plan to do is adopt some of their good ideas into our organization to make them better because that’s what this is all about, to improve your organization through any means.”
