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Army business transformation panel highlights initial successes at AUSA

By J.D. Leipold
October 13, 2006

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 13, 2006) – Deputy Under Secretary of the Army for Business Transformation Michael Kirby led a panel discussion on the scope, methodology and initial successes of the Army’s business transformation at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting here Wednesday.

Kirby kicked off the discussion by explaining that business transformation is essential from the top down and from the bottom up.

“The work of the Army is critically important, and what we have to do is establish a way to be more productive in a very challenging resource environment,” he said. “Business transformation is not an end unto itself; this is a concerted effort in a variety of approaches and initiatives to get us to where we need to be.”

Panel members included: Maj. Gen. N. Ross Thompson, III, director, program analysis and evaluation; Stephen Clement, Ph.D., president, Organizational Design, Inc.; Bill Hansen, vice president, Lockheed Martin; Vicki Jefferis, deputy chief of staff, G8 Forces Command; and Roger K. Harvey, Ph.D., Army Science board member and professor of finance at Ohio State University.

The panel discussed continuous process improvement, organizational assessment and design, business situational awareness, professional development and best business practices with the overall goal of streamlining or eliminating redundant operations to free financial and human resources to the core warfighting mission.

The discussion ended with transformation successes that resulted in four Army Materiel Command organizations receiving Shingo Prizes for implementing Lean Sigma Six systems in support of the manufacturing, repair, overhaul and maintenance of warfighter equipment. Business Week magazine equated the Shingo as the “Nobel Prize for manufacturing because it establishes a standard for world-class excellence.”

Rock Island Arsenal’s Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center in Illinois received a gold award for work on the Forward Repair System. Letterkenny Army Depot at Chambersburg, Pa., and Red River Army Depot at Texarkana, Texas, each received silver awards for work on the Humvee. And, Tobyhanna Army Depot at Tobyhanna, Pa., received a bronze award for work on the AN/TPS-75 Radar System.