AFSO 21 makes processes smarter, faster, cheaper

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Samuel Flora
  • 20th Maintenance Operations Squadron
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS) --  Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, more commonly referred to as AFSO 21, is the Air Force's version of Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma is a civilian business strategy which is designed around the idea of making a product or procedure "smarter, faster and cheaper."

For many corporations and organizations around the world, this tool is used as a measuring stick for a product's quality of performance. Recently, 15 Airmen from the 20th Maintenance Group teamed up for five days to participate in a Rapid Improvement Event where the AFSO 21 process was implemented.

The goal of this particular RIE was to increase aircraft availability by decreasing time spent performing a 36-month egress inspection. The egress system is used to eject a pilot from an aircraft in the case of an emergency. The particular egress system used on the F-16 Fighting Falcon is the Advanced Concept Ejection Seat model 2 or ACES II. This system contains the pyrotechnic charges used to eject the seat and pilot from the aircraft, along with a parachute,and survival kit.

Currently no method exists to test the egress system without ignition of the numerous explosive charges present throughout the seat, canopy and cockpit. As a result a rigorous inspection of the ACES II is performed every 36 months to eliminate the possibility of system malfunction. It is vital to the survival of the pilot that the ACES II is in full working order since the failure of the F-16's single engine normally leads to an ejection.

The team started the process by identifying and documenting the 36-month egress inspection step-by-step in its entirety. Each individual then identified problems within the current inspection, such as lack of parts or inadequate facilities to work on the seats. Then, using an organizational chart called an "affinity diagram" and a course of votes, the team determined the issues that were most negatively affecting the process of the inspection. 

A "leaner" future state of the inspection was then developed where only the necessary steps were incorporated.

While not all concepts suggested by the AFSO 21 teams are feasible for one reason or another, the maintenance group leaders take into account the team's advisement and seek to adopt those that are.

Although Lean Six Sigma's roots are planted in the civilian business world, its branches have grown to reach new heights since integrating with the Air Force. AFSO 21 is more than an idea used to trim waste. It is the state of mind that epitomizes the Air Force's "accomplish more, consume less" sentiment of the future. It is a doctrine that will allow the Air Force to remain the world's superior air and space force for centuries to come.