The White Falcon - 10.09.1993, Side 5

pECNAV takes pleasure in commending...
“The personnel of U. S. Naval Hospital, Keflavik, displayed
unparalleled professional expertise and dedication through sus-
tained superior performance and service to the NATO Base
RADM Michael D. Haskins, Commander, Iceland Defense Force, along
with CAPT Robert Hufstader present the Letter of Commendation to
hospital staff members.
community for the period of Jan. 1, 1991 to May 31,1992.
Through implementation of a gatekeeper, case manager health
care system, a 29 percent increase in productivity and a 32 percent
reduction in cost per visit were realized...
The hospital was the first in the Navy to implement a health care
delivery system for its entire area population without using addi-
tional personnel or fiscal resources...
Through a joint Naval Hospital and Icelandic medical effort,
new technology was introduced to the Icelandic medical commu-
nity for the first time, fostering continued goodwill and interna-
tional relations...
The hospital also received an unprecedented grade of 93 percent
on its Navy Occupational Safety and Hygiene Inspection, the
highest in its claimancy...
Naval Hospital, Keflavik, reflected credit upon themselves and
upheld the highest traditions of the U. S. Naval Service.”
TQ principles prove to be formula for success
Story and photo by
J02 Carlos Bongioanni
•Over the past few years, U. S. military
Members world-wide have heard a great deal
of talk concerning the implementation of a
concept known as Total Quality (TQ). That
talk has not failed to reach Naval Air Station
(NAS), Keflavik.
Although the approach is new to many
people, TQ has already landed some signifi-
cant successes at NAS, Keflavik. One shin-
ing example is at the 35th Maintenance
Squadron’s Propulsion
Flight
The flight is primar-
ily responsible for
repairing jet engines.
From January to June
of this year, the flight
increased its output by
33 percent as com-
pared to its output for
the last six months of
1992. The increase was
a direct result of a TQ
leadership style.
“Last January, we
got together and
Jooked at our processes
•how we were doing
^r job,” said TSgt.
Gary Brosett, Jet En-
Chief. “We decided we needed a different
approach. Instead of doing things a certain
way just because that was the way it was al-
ways done before, we figured out what would
be best for our shop. TQM empowered us to
make the changes needed for improvement.”
According to Brosett, under the old system
of doing business, shop personnel were con-
stantly being pulled off one job to work on
another. If an engine came in requiring only
a few hours of work, other jobs requiring
more extensive work were put on hold to get
the simpler jobs done. Although it seemed in
the short term to produce results more quickly,
gine Intermediate
Maintenance Section Williams performs maintenance on an F-15 jet engine.
in the long run, the process wasn’t efficient
“We were always ‘fighting new fires’ which
often required working over time,” noted
Brosett. “Presently, our engine production is
more consistent and we’re actually putting
out more without working any overtime.”
By taking one job at a time, personnel at the
flight turn out an engine about every nine
days. The process used to take, on an average,
10.3 days.
For people like Sgt. Keith Williams, Aero-
space Propulsion Technician at the flight, it’s
a much better system to work under. “It was
frustrating under the old system,” said Wil-
liams. “You’d set your
mind on getting a job
done, and then they’d tell
you to stop and work on
something else. It was
crazy. But now, we can
work on one project at a
time, and feel like we’ve
accomplished something
instead of having the
whole shop tom apart.”
The end results of the
TQ approach for the pro-
pulsion flight were in-
creased productivity with
less man hours used and a
greater sense of satisfac-
tion without the head-
aches. “We were fortu-
nate,” said Brosett. “We
hit a home run with our
first attempt at TQM.”
September 10,1993
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