AFSO21 places value on work Published Aug. 28, 2007 By John Ingle 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- If it ain't broke, don't fix it. How many times has that little phrase been spoken as the Air Force looks to do business smarter in a world of limited resources? Probably too often. But Dave Toms, the 82nd Training Wing's Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century transformation manager, said change is a necessity in today's Air Force because there aren't unlimited resources. With decreases in manning and the desire to modernize weapons and aircraft, the best way to continue the mission and meet the needs of the Air Force is to free up resources and apply them to what is value-added. "The way we're doing business has to change," Mr. Toms said. "We can't continue to pay for modernization efforts through personnel cuts. That means we must come up with more creative and efficient ways to do our value-added work." When it comes to solving problems, supervisors too often focus on people instead of the process. Employees can be trained, retrained and corrected, he said. However, if the process that allowed the problem in the first place isn't addressed, then different results shouldn't be expected. Where does the problem lie: with the process or the person? "If I had to communicate one thing to managers and supervisors it would be people are not the problem, they are the solution," he said. "A lot of the time we focus our efforts on fixing people and then stick them back into a broken process. What we should be concentrating on is giving them a process in which they can excel." Sheppard began that very thing early this year with the formation of an AFSO21 Process Improvement Team to implement changes in processes. An example is the "rapid discharge" of Airmen. Mr. Toms said because the working group was able to decrease the days it took to discharge an Airman from 30 days to 21, Sheppard will save the Air Force about $760,000 in one year. The working group has continued to validate the action plan to make sure the process stays on track. The change in process didn't happen overnight, nor did it happen by itself. Mr. Toms said it took people willing to look with an open mind at a new process that removed the waste and then implement that process. Mr. Toms said it is important to realize that 80-90 percent of all processes have some form of waste: defects, over processing, over producing, excess inventory, transportation, safety, motion and waiting. Getting rid of the wasteful process components is what improves that specific procedure. AFSO21 isn't just about changing processes, Mr. Toms said. It's also about changing the culture and mindset of the way work is done. Employees are historically asked to work harder, longer and faster to get the job done. If they know the desired end results of the customer, the process can be fixed to meet that need. "We create a lot of extra work because we think we know what the customer wants," he said. "Ask first, then deliver the product. A simple question to ask customers is if they are willing to wait for or pay for the service. If they are willing to pay for something or wait to receive it, then that is a good indication it is of value to them."