A Capable Depot
MLF 2011 Volume: 5 Issue: 1 (February)
Letterkenny Army Depot’s long
history benefits the warfighter of today.
Originally established as an ammunition depot in 1941, today Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) is known as the Army’s Capabilities Based Depot. Letterkenny began with a multi-faceted infrastructure and a dedicated work force that pursued and excelled in a wide range of missions. From missiles to tactical wheeled vehicles, the depot aggressively completed an array of workload opportunities. Its diverse and flexible nature differentiated it among others and gave it a reputation as a reliable and skilled depot, excelling in aiding the warfighter.
Since the late 1950s, Letterkenny has been actively involved in missile maintenance. Projects first began on the Nike missile system and expanded to include executing unique Tactical Missile Maintenance Repair and Overhaul, support repair capabilities for Patriot Missile Air Defense System and a variety of Defense Department missile systems to include Avenger, Hawk, MLRS and TOW systems and its ground support equipment.
In 1983, work from Patriot and Hawk made Letterkenny a Center for Technical Excellence and by 1992 the depot was chosen to be the center of all tactical missile systems in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.
Not limiting itself to strictly a missile maintenance facility, LEAD also worked on ground support, mobility and defense missions. Depot employees repaired air defense ground equipment, tactical wheeled vehicles, material handling equipment, special forces ground mobility vehicles, power generation equipment, biological detection equipment, soldier support equipment, counter improvised explosive devices and a variety of route clearance vehicles (RCV).
Both missiles and ground wheeled vehicles have had a strong presence since the origination of LEAD. The missions have continued to grow and evolve into core competences for Letterkenny.
The depot operates under a mission to deliver superior maintenance, manufacturing, logistics life cycle support and service worldwide to the joint warfighter and our Allies. This tradition of supporting our soldiers and our Army has continued for 70 years.
Success in Air Defense
May 2010 added a new capability when the depot was officially validated with the qualifications to process Patriot missiles. Stuart O’Kraski, TRMD-LEAD BRAC IPT Lead, presented Colonel Cheri Provancha, LEAD commander, and David Putman, LEAD Theater Readiness Monitoring Directorate, director, with an operational certification and awards of recognition. The depot celebrated the month’s early roll out of its first completed Patriot missile. Through the collaboration of the team of Theater Readiness Monitoring Directorate personnel, Raytheon Company and ITT-CAS, the complex task of installation and validation at the newly constructed facility was successfully accomplished. Everything occurred on schedule, and more Hawk and Patriot equipment will be relocating to LEAD.
By June of 2010, Provancha stood before the work force and accepted the 2010 Shingo Bronze Medallion for the Patriot Missile System. Milestones such as these have taken the depot to unparalleled heights of success, especially in regards to air defense.
The “Model” HMMWV Program
In December 2010, Letterkenny completed the last of over 20,000 recapped high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs). The program’s contract, initiated in 2004, repaired HMMWVs damaged in Iraq, Afghanistan and various other places throughout the world. The program was slated to end after one year, but due to a high demand for these vehicles it remained a core source of workload at the depot for over five years.
LEAD embarked on the HMMWV mission to recapitalize various HMMWV models to the M1097R configuration. After earning a renowned reputation for recap of ground mobility vehicles and Avengers, LEAD set out to demonstrate its capabilities with the HMMWV. As a Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for tactical missile ground support equipment, Letterkenny vigorously initiated continuous improvement initiatives to prove to customers that LEAD is the choice depot for HMMWV recap.
In May 2005, LEAD established a “Lean” assembly line flow concept to increase monthly production rates to 500 per month an increase from 300 per month. The old Bay Build process was replaced by the new assembly line concept. Each “cell” had 20 minutes of work to do prior to moving the vehicles forward. Utilizing the assembly line flow concept, the vehicle chassis and bodies were split and rebuilt independently and simultaneously. This greatly reduced training time, simplified material handling and made quality improvements easier to implement.
The HMMW line became Letterkenny’s “model cell” and would help the depot realize how much faster and more efficient they could be by adapting and accepting new ideas and processes. Over the life of the HMMWV program Letterkenny saved the Army $70.3 million by applying Lean concepts. At the peak of production the HMMWV line produced 21 HMMWVs a day. The total value of the program amounted to almost $1.1 billion.
The HMMMV program achieved many milestones at the depot. The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in 2005 named LEAD number one in Military Value for Tactical Wheeled Vehicles. The depot was also recognized in outstanding accomplishments for HMMWV recap as it became the recipient of silver Shingo Prize Medallions in 2006 and 2007.
Employees Embrace New Missions
In 2007 PM-AMS requested that Letterkenny establish a route clearance fleet modernization activity in Kuwait to repair and modernize U.S. Army and Marine Corp RCV along with selected USMC and Army MRAP assets.
A 179-day rotation was implemented for 13 LEAD government staff personnel positions and the rest of the team was comprised of an estimated 300 personnel of third country nationals. Tasks included repairing the vehicles to Condition Code B or TM 10/20 standards, installing upgrades, installing modification work orders, completing de-rusting, priming and painting, restoring ballistic hull integrity and updating vehicle records to reflect upgrades. The contract also required selected RCV vehicles be processed for retrograde to CONUS. During the program the team completed 345 vehicles. The project expenditure was $178 million over the course of two and a half years, with the contract concluding January 31, 2011.
As this program comes to a close, depot level Army RCV maintenance will resume at Letterkenny. On August 27, 2010, LEAD was named the Joint Depot Source of Repair. By 2012 or 2013 the depot looks to add approximately 200 additional jobs to help complete this mission.
The RCV mission will include maintenance on the following vehicles: Buffalo/MPCV, vehicle mounted mine detection system Husky, RG 31 medium mineprotected vehicle (MMPV), Joint EOD rapid response vehicle and MMPV Panther.
Stepping Up to the Challenge
LEAD’s business model promotes the efficient and effective use of depot resources as a valuable source of support to the warfighter. In order to maintain a competitive edge the depot has taken measures to improve in various areas including cost, quality, schedule and economic protection.
Since becoming the first Army Depot to win a Shingo Prize in 2005, Letterkenny has realized the value in implementing Lean practices. With a current total of six Shingo Prizes, the depot has proven itself as an innovative leader for making positive changes, which impact the whole scope of workload.
In 2010, LEAD completed 10 Value Stream Analysis, 47 Rapid Improvement Events and 15 Two-Piece Summaries. This amounted to $23,405,669 hard savings and space savings in 31,031 square feet. $750,000 of the savings was a result of employee-driven Lean initiatives. For FY11 the Lean Office has a goal of $25 million hard savings.
LEAD has taken great strides in improving principles and raising expectations after becoming certified in Environmental standards ISO 14001:2004, Quality standards ISO 9001:2008 and Health and Safety standards 18001:2007.
The depot also strives to continue to exemplify its reputation of environmental stewardship. In addition to winning three Secretary of the Army Awards for Environmental Restoration Installation FY02, Quality Industrial Installation FY06 and Sustainability Industrial Installation FY09; the depot also acquired hybrid and electric vehicles, installed meters in buildings to reduce consumption, obtained renewable energy for possible wind power, installed biomass converters for the Munitions Center buildings and initiated an effective waste reduction/recycling effort.
Employees have contributed to the recycling effort and in FY10 almost 6,000 tons were recycled for a diversion rate of 65 percent. Gross revenue from the sale of that recycled material amounted to $1,044,614. At a cost of $114 per ton to dispose, this amount represents a cost avoidance of $663,252.
New initiatives have already been set in motion.
Letterkenny is planning to establish a baseline for all water systems to include usage of potable water, waste water and storm water runoff; conserve and reduce water usage for potable and non-potable water to include recycling of water for reuse; develop and implement an energy conservation and reduction program to achieve energy sustainability; supply all energy for depot operations from renewable resources by 2033; achieve 100 percent diversion of solid waste (to include hazardous waste) from landfills or incinerators by 2033 and eliminate the need for a Title V Air Quality Permit by 2018. The safety office has implemented new suggestion policies, peer to peer observation programs and a means to report hazards and near misses in an effort to become VPP certified by October 2011.
Teaming Together
LEAD continues to build on current partnerships while looking for new opportunities to partner with Department of Defense as well as original equipment manufacturers in an effort to enhance production and produce a greater quality product.
LEAD pioneered private-public partnerships in the early 1990s when the Army awarded the M109 Paladin contract to the United Defense Team. United Defense was a partnership formed between Letterkenny Army Depot and BMY. This partnership produced every single vehicle on time, without qualifications and under program costs.
Lockheed Martin and LEAD have teamed to provide repair and modifications to the target acquisition detection system/pilot night vision system on the nose of the Apache helicopter. Under the partnership, Lockheed provides the “white collar” expertise including engineering, program management, supply chain management and configuration control. Letterkenny provides traditional “blue collar” technicians, as well as backshop support.
The largest partnership at Letterkenny started in the December 2007. The LEAD/BAE partnership grew out of a dialogue to build medium mine protection vehicles at Letterkenny.
In February 2008, the LEAD/BAE partnership inducted the first MRAP Category II vehicle. Unlike the SOCOM vehicles, the new mission expanded to include the final assembly and road test of the vehicles. The partnership also expanded into a refurbished building upgraded to meet the growing mission requirements. Over 130 vehicles were produced in a record timeframe. The management teams and the employees were truly formed into partnership teams that provided exceptional service and equipment to the warfighters.
Letterkenny and the Army are looking for new opportunities to grow partnership opportunities. The newest partnership on the depot is in the Air Defense Arena. Letterkenny and Raytheon have partnered to support the Patriot missile system. The goal is to build this partnership into a relationship that will support the growing foreign military sales program, as well as future modernization efforts.
Together Raytheon and LEAD have shared Lean teams and have been able to cooperate and benchmark against one another. This mutually beneficial partnership provides the greatest accountability and support while keeping the standards, expectations and goals high.
In the Forecast
Through application of Lean tools and facilitation of the maintenance building the depot has become more flexible, ready and relevant. During the HMMWV program, employees reconfigured their entire work area during a weekend. They moved entire processes, equipment and workload over a weekend with no loss in production time. In some cases, an entire line can be moved and back in operation in one day.
Demonstrating flexibility, LEAD converted its primary assembly line of HMMWVs to accommodate reset of Patriot prime movers. This new workload employed 173 people, with a workload encompassing 150 major items including launchers, 373 trailers, heavy expanded mobility tactical trucks, 900 series 5 ton trucks, family of medium tactical vehicles and 860 trailers.
LEAD has been able to prove repetitively that it is ready to adjust to changes in order to meet the warfighter’s needs. Not only does LEAD exemplify the flexibility required to adapt to the constantly changing demands of workload, but it has proven it is able to meet those needs at reduced cost, superior quality and ahead of schedule. Letterkenny understands the importance of supplying a timely product without sacrificing the quality. In addition, the implementation of Lean strategies has created means for the depot to complete missions, save money and afford the customer the best cost and value.
Only the Best
LEAD’s constant pursuit of excellence has resulted in Letterkenny becoming the depot of choice for the greatest warfighters in the world. Through a unified focus, the employees embrace their daily tasks and take personal responsibility for their role in supporting the warfighter. Their loyalty, hard work and dedication is evident by the various awards they have received and the vast improvements they have helped to make across the depot. LEAD is determined to provide the very best to our nation’s deserving warfighters. ♦