AFSO21 Large Aircraft Parts Storage

  • Published
  • By Captain Allen Batiste Edited by Senior Airman Melissa Paradise
  • 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron is a unit with many moving pieces as it supports the logistical needs for all of MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. In doing so, the Airmen of the 6th LRS often times perform high risk tasks. One such task is the manual maneuvering of large KC-135 Stratotanker parts such as booms, aircraft rudders, and ailerons.

Currently the parts are downloaded from the back of a flatbed truck onto an elevated warehouse dock at the 6th LRS cargo receiving area. In the past 18 months this task has been performed over 90 times.

Unfortunately, this high risk task took the life of a 6th LRS Airman in January of 2013 and was deemed a Class A mishap. This resulted in the 6th LRS completing a review of all high risk processes that could result in the loss of life or serious injury. For each of these tasks, Job Safety Analysis was developed that specifically detailed how to safely perform an operation. These JSAs were attached to all high risk equipment. The purpose of the checklist was to give Airmen and supervisors another tool to assess risk associated with identified high-risk tasks. This was used as a "Best Practice" across the 6th Mission Support Group for implementation in other units.

However, there was still a significant risk that remained. Large aircraft parts were still being stored in buildings with an elevated warehouse dock; the same site of the Class A mishap last January. The squadron initially looked at modifying the elevated dock to include a new railing system, removal of structural pillars for safer forklift operations, and a widening of the dock all together. These upgrades would have cost over 260 thousand dollars as well as hinder day-to-day operations. The 6th LRS then looked into alternate storage locations for these large aircraft items.

This is where the process improvement principles of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century came into play.

Clarify & Validate the Problem: The 6th LRS had difficulty maneuvering large aircraft parts into the current warehouse due to its design, which contributed to a fatality in January 2013.

Break Down the Problem/Identify Performance Gaps: The warehouse was originally designed to house fighter aircraft parts which are significantly smaller than parts for the KC-135. This caused personnel to have to maneuver these large parts in constricted spaces in close proximity to the edge of the elevated warehouse docks.

Set Improvement Target: Minimize large aircraft part movement by 50 percent and find alternate storage locations to accommodate the size of the parts, quick access to the flight line, and the ability to be secured at all times.

Determine Root Cause: No available guidance for movement of certain large aircraft parts and not enough maneuvering dock space in current storage location.

Develop Countermeasures: After a recent reconciliation of the Mobility Readiness Spares Package, the required storage space for these items was reduced. The items are currently stored on the first floor of Hangar two. The 6th LRS took this opportunity to modify some of this space to meet the needs of storing the large aircraft parts. This location met all of the improvement targets as well as avoided the spending of 260 thousand dollars in warehouse dock modifications. But most importantly, it creates a safer operating environment by keeping all the parts at ground level.

See Countermeasures Through: With the help of the 6th Civil Engineer Squadron, modifications were completed on the MRSP storage area to accommodate the large aircraft parts. The 6th LRS completed several dry runs to test the new process as well as trained personnel on how to properly move these large aircraft items without incident.

Confirm Results & Process: The large aircraft parts are now stored in a secure location under the surveillance of Material Management personnel; these assets are readily accessible to the flight line and maintenance personnel, and the overall handling of these assets has been reduced by over 50 percent, due to the more convenient and logical location.

Standardize Successful Processes: The JSA has been updated to accommodate the new process as well as training records have been updated on all 6th LRS personnel involved in movement of the large aircraft parts.

AFSO21 is continuing to become standard operating procedure across the Air Force in regards to process improvement. In terms of this issue facing the 6th LRS, it provided techniques to come up with a solution that is assured to save money, time, and lives.