News

  • New processes save time for war fighter

    With a little planning and a lot of good old fashioned common sense, Airmen from the 100th Air Refueling Wing Logistics Readiness Squadron are working smarter these days. According to Chief Master Sgt. Brian Ward, LRS Vehicle Flight manager, using the principles of Air Force Smart Operations for the

  • Talking about AFSO21

    The Marauder sat down with Dr. Ron Ritter, Dr. Ron Ritter, Special Assistant for Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century to Michael W. Wynne, Secretary of the Air Force, and Deputy Director of the Air Force Smart Operations Office Dec. 5 to discuss AFSO21 and its affect on today's Airmen.

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, Larry Bossidy (658 BOS) Personal Evaluation: Not necessarily an easy read, but a very worthwhile read nonetheless. This book provides techniques and ideas on how to turn plans and talk into action, a needed skill in the Air Force. Overview:

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    Seeing the Whole, Womack and Jones Personal Review: Another simple workbook from Lean Enterprise Institute. Basically, this workbook expands the company focused value streams in Learning to See, to an enterprise view that captures suppliers and customers. Overview: Using an extended value-stream

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    Learning To See Rother and Shook Personal Review: This book is a workbook and pretty straightforward, it does not handle a lot of theoretical stuff on LEAN. Basically this book gives you a technique on how do draw you current value stream with all the necessary details. Next it explains how to draw

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    Creating Continuous Flow, Mike Rother and Rick Harris Personal Review: The workbook is simple and easy-to-read, but it is only a very top-level look based on a manufacturing environment. Overview (www.lean.org): The Creating Continuous Flow workbook helps managers, engineers, and production

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    Making Materials Flow, Rick Harris, Chris Harris and Earl Wilson Personal Review: Easy-to-follow workbook but totally production focused. The concepts can be applied to anything, but the reader will have to think hard to make the transition. Overview (www.lean.org): The Making Materials Flow

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    Creating Level Pull, Art Smalley Personal Review: This is a straightforward workbook from Lean Enterprise Institute. The workbook is centered on a case study and provides easy-to-understand graphics. The big con is that it focuses on high volume production examples. Nevertheless, it provides clear

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    The Gold Mine: Balle Personal Evaluation: An easy read, truly well written, set in a fictional setting that clearly depicts lean concepts. This book talks about how important it is to the success of a lean transformation to show people respect and to get them involved because your people -- not the

  • AFSO21 Reading list

    KAIZEN by Masaaki Imai: Overview: A comprehensive handbook of 16 Kaizen management practices that can be put to work. KAIZEN uses more than 100 examples in action and contains 15 corporate case studies. Personal evaluation: The book is becoming a bit dated having been written two decades ago and is