An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 16 | by FQMS DIARMUID PARKER, ACCS, AIR CORPS HQ & SGT WAYNE FITzGERALD PHoToS by CPL COLUM LAWLOR, 105 SQN I n 2013 Air Corps Contracts Section (ACCS) initiated an internal innovation programme to address areas where improvements could be made within the procurement function and the broader Air Corps supply chain, derive cost savings, and ensure value for money. A bottom-up approach was taken within the Section to bring about a culture of continuous improvement and all ranks are encouraged to suggest projects or changes that benefit the innovation process. The programme introduced quality management and project management, while developing and enhancing contract management within the organisation. It also introduced Lean Six Sigma, a business improvement methodology that maximizes stakeholder value by achieving the fastest rate of improvement to achieve cost reduction and increase quality and process speed by providing a powerful set of tools and techniques to help improve efficiency and productivity. In the public service, as with any business, waste elimination is one of the most effective ways to reduce costs and create savings, increasing the portion of your budget available for capability development. Significant emphasis has been placed upon the use of Lean Six Sigma methods to reduce all forms of waste in the Air Corps procure- ment processes and in the wider Air Corps supply chain. We began by process mapping major procurements and, using a range of Lean tools, identified waste throughout the processes that could be eliminated. Lean Six Sigma is now an extremely important tool in the continuous reduc- tion of Air Corps inventory holdings and the significant reduction of inherent costs in our procurement and supply chain management processes. Its success in the Air Corps has been recognised and as a result it is currently being rolled out throughout the wider Defence Forces, through the office of the Director of Logistics (DJ4). Since implementing Lean Six Sigma, ACCS have achieved cost efficiencies of between 60% and 70% within specific projects. The success of ACCS Lean initiatives has also assisted the repositioning of the procurement function into a core strategic function within the Air Corps. ACCS is leading a Lean policy initiative at Air Corps HQ to foster innovative ideas, and is assisting in the co-ordination of specific Lean projects throughout the Corps. The procurement and supply chain team are now established as the Lean Six Sigma centre of excellence within the Air Corps, reaching into the maintenance, operations and support functions, to provide guidance and assistance on the implementation of Lean. All ACCS staff are Lean trained at either Green or yellow Belt standard and staff have individually implemented, or are currently implementing, Lean projects. Lean projects lead by ACCS staff include the introduction of vendor-managed, inventory-based contracts for the Air Corps, and stores Procurement and Supply Chain Innovation in the Air Corps thinking The current ACCS staff.

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