GPSW AFSO21 Success Story - The Badging Process Published Aug. 3, 2009 By David Arvonio SMC?XP LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In March, 2008, the GPSW SE&I Plans & Processes team kicked off an AFSO21 Process Improvement Project with the SE&I Integrated Data Environment (IDE) Team, GPSW Security Personnel, and the Los Angeles AFB Badging Office to reduce the time it takes contractor employees to receive their Common Access Cards (CAC) and Controlled Area Badges. The process was taking 77 days, during which time the employees had restricted access to the LAAFB and Wing databases. This waiting period greatly reduced their productivity and effectiveness. As the team went through the AFSO21 steps, they found that the 77-day cycle time was caused by a lack of process ownership and documentation, which created confusion and miscommunication throughout the entire process. In addition, the requirement to revalidate the Controlled Area Badge annually meant this 77-day process occurred every year. The Team developed an action plan to solve the problem. They assigned the IDE Team as the owner of the badging process, created standardized checklists for new employees and set up a schedule of appointments with the Base Badging Office. This yielded immediate benefits. By February 2009, the process was reduced from 77 days to three days. In March 2009, over 200 GPSW SE&I employees were required to revalidate their Controlled Area Badges. Using the process developed by the team, all employees were received their new badges within a week. Employees were pleasantly surprised at how quickly and seamlessly the process worked. To further streamline the process, the team requested and received approval for a three-year validity of Controlled Area Badges. Using the disciplined methodology of AFSO21, the process improvement team standardized the badging process and saved approximately $1 million in taxpayers' money - giving back work time to members of the SMC workforce. The GPSW SE&I Plans & Processes Team is a four-member team that applies AFSO21 methodology and tools to assess strengths and weaknesses of the GPSW processes, identifies opportunities for improvement, and leads process improvement projects. These activities drive improved mission performance in line with the leadership determined GPSW strategic goals and objectives. Leadership, teamwork, and the use of the AFSO21 process improvement tools eliminate waste and variability in the flow of SMC work. AFSO21 is a framework for making us more effective at our jobs. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch describes process improvement in this way, "Nothing compares to the effectiveness of Lean/Six Sigma when it comes to improving a company's operational efficiency, raising its productivity, and lowering its costs. Perhaps the biggest but most unheralded benefit ... is its capacity to develop a cadre of great leaders