DLA Ogden shop co-locations boost efficiency, save space

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HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  A major ongoing co-location project is already showing signs of increased efficiency for Defense Logistics Agency employees at Hill Air Force Base.

The project at DLA Ogden, which is managed by Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va., is focused on consolidating operations through co-location among 14 shop service centers, or SSCs, at eight of the base's buildings.

Heather Vickers, DLA Ogden Lean analyst, said that about 17,000 square feet of production space is being returned to the Air Force. In addition to a "cost savings to DLA associated with rent, facilities maintenance and utilities," she said the project is also allowing workflows to be better organized. Lean Six Sigma is the business methodology used by DLA to analyze and improve processes to maximize efficiency.

The project was initiated within months of DLA Ogden being activated in July 2008 and involves the aircraft materiel support division; commodities materiel support division; and the electronics, missiles and software materiel support division.

"The C-130 SSC and F-16 SSC were located in two different places," said Phyllis Wolfe, chief of the C-130 branch in aircraft materiel support. "The C-130 SSC had all the parts in the center of the hangar, and we figured it would be more efficient to have all of our parts located with the F-16 parts because they're right here at the loading dock."

Wolfe said that with their co-location now complete, DLA has been able to give a significant amount of space back to the Air Force. "We've returned the space we used for storing items, as well as the administrative areas that we no longer need," she said.

"We're operating better than ever since we brought these two branches together in the same space," said Hollis Gulley, division chief for aircraft materiel support. Gulley said he has nothing but praise for the efforts of Wolfe and Karen Ross, chief of the F-16 branch. "Our entire team here is top-notch," he said.

Gulley also said that with the C-130 and F-16 branches in one SSC, tasks common to both branches can be performed by someone who previously would have performed the job for just one of them.

"I believe it's going to be more efficient," said Nanette West, chief of the hydraulics support branch in commodities materiel support, which is just starting the process of co-locating three SSCs situated in separate buildings. "I'm going to have more people in the same space to cover each other, so we'll be able to use personnel more wisely."

"It will also help us utilize our time better," West said. "We'll have less walk time, because sometimes we have to send people to our other (SSCs), and then they have to check back and forth between the two sites throughout the day."

"Everybody can work all the areas," said Lynn Taylor, division chief for commodities materiel support. "(At one of the SSCs), there wasn't enough volume for us to have somebody down there full time, because there was only an hour or two worked a day down there."

"Currently, we've given (the Air Force) back 1,688 square feet, which is quite a bit of space for storage, including 32 rack areas," said Ryan Fulmer, branch chief for generator support in the electronics, missiles and software materiel support division.

"The functions that were being done here have been moved over into our new area, which has created a bigger separation of Air Force and DLA items. We don't have to co-mingle ... so it actually frees up a lot more space for us to store and manage our items," Fulmer said.