Reassigning Work Responsibilities

The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics within U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) was experiencing multiple problems regarding repair/refurbishment of equipment after it had been used in a war zone. Formally known as the Equipment Reset Process, the process started as a short-term solution, evolved over time and involved many hand-offs between different Army organizations. Some of the tasks performed by FORSCOM were outside its core competencies and, in fact, could be performed better by other organizations. FORSCOM used Lean Six Sigma's Failure Mode and Effects Analysis to study the process and devise changes that reassigned some of the work to other organizations better suited to perform it. These changes improved organizational accountability within the process and saved $4.2 million.

Problem

U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)—headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia-- trains, mobilizes, deploys, sustains, transforms, and reconstitutes conventional forces; thereby providing relevant and ready land power to Combatant Commanders worldwide.  This extensive mission includes mobilization and training of continental U.S. based resources (roughly 80% of the Army) at various locations.  One organization within FORSCOM, the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (commonly known as the G4) is responsible for logistics support and movement of equipment and vehicles.  This organization works closely with Army Material Command (AMC) and Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) G4 to accomplish this mission. 

One of FORSCOM G4’s primary responsibilities is to repair/refurbish Army equipment after it is used in a war zone in order to bring this equipment back to ready-for-use status in preparation for subsequent operational deployments. This function is formally known as the Equipment Reset Process.  Within this overall process, FORSCOM identified the need to improve financial responsibility and accountability with respect to purchasing replacement parts needed for the equipment. Further, improvements in the Department of Defense Agency Address Code (DODAAC) management process, and the receipt accounting process were also needed.       

Approach

To solve these problems, FORSCOM assembled a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project team sponsored by the G4 to focus on the overall Equipment Reset Process.  The team studied the following individual subordinate processes in order to define the current state of the overall process: material ordering, material tracking, material receiving, DODAAC management, and budget management.  To analyze information from these processes, the team completed a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to identify where specific steps in the current process were failing to meet customer (operational unit) needs.  The first issue identified was a need to coordinate material receipts between the maintenance operator, the materiel management organizations, and the accounts payable/receivable organizations for accountability. 

The second issue identified was FORSCOM’s ability to effectively maintain accurate DODAACs between each phase of the equipment deployment/refurbishment cycle to provide clear separation between types of funding associated with specific lines of accounting.  The process had many hand-offs and had FORSCOM in the middle trying to maintain coordination and oversight.  The process was originally developed to fill an emerging capability gap created by the Global War on Terrorism in the early 2000s, but turned into a long-term solution several years later that was very time consuming, costly, and no longer effective at meeting operational needs.  Through the findings of the FMEA and capture of customer requirements, the team brainstormed solutions.  Changes were made to the process to reduce the need for outside contractors and to redistribute activities from central FORSCOM oversight to the organizations actually performing the work.  Budget responsibility was transferred from FORSCOM to Army Reserve and Army National Guard units to reduce the need for cross-command budgetary communications between these organizations. Also, AMC was tasked with handling all repair operations, parts ordering and receipt coordination (its core strengths) to further remove the need for these types of communications. 

These changes resulted in multiple benefits.  Activities were better aligned with organizations that had the capability and resources to perform the work required.  All changes were absorbed within the available capability and capacity of the new process owners.  All equipment is now transferred to the owning unit’s DODAAC upon return to the United States.  The DODAAC management responsibilities were transferred from FORSCOM to the units responsible for repair/refurbishment.  These improvements ensured more timely changes to records regarding equipment location for tracking to the correct location.  This removed the need for multiple levels of communication between the equipment repair/refurbishment process owner and FORSCOM.

Results

By using the internal resources, capabilities and capacities of other Department of the Army organizations more effectively; the team was able to reduce the need for several external contracts, and simultaneously increased accountability of the work being performed.  The original Equipment Reset Process was replaced by a new, more effective process which resulted in a $4.2 million cost reduction.