437th AMXS Blue AMU Airmen save space, money

by Senior Airman Dennis Sloan
Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs

1/14/2014 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C.  -- It only took 30 days for Airmen from the 437th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Blue Aircraft Maintenance Unit to plan, coordinate and execute a complete re-organization of their office, resulting in increased mission readiness and efficiency with zero cost to the Air Force.

Prior to the re-organization, work areas were scattered throughout the building, limiting one-to-one communications between supervisors and Airemen, and denying members of the Blue AMU easy access to the heart and soul of their operation; the flightline.

Before the upgrade, "There was approximately 1,000 square feet of floor space between maintainers and their actual supervisors which caused a lack of communication within the unit," said Master Sgt. Kristopher Bradley, 437 AMXS production superintendent. "The new layout has improved communication and the career progression of our Airmen."

The overall impact of the re-organization allowed maintainers to reestablish vital communication within their unit, increase morale and cohesion and provide an additional 1,000 square feet of extra work space.

"We examined the square footage of the Blue AMU building and how much of it was actually being utilized for work spaces," said Bradley. "Once we realized there were areas to improve, we set up teams of Airmen to execute the moving process as quickly as possible."

A team of Airmen and civilians determined approximately 300 maintainers occupied only 35 percent of the floor space, and approximately 29 support and administration personnel occupied the remaining 65 percent.

"We saw a problem with the majority of our Airmen and civilians packed into a small portion of the building and much fewer Airmen and civilians in a large area, so we set out to improve it," said Butler, 437th. "Anytime we can improve space, increase productivity and find ways to save resources without spending money, then the Air Force wins."

The unit re-organized more than seven separate offices and work spaces to create a more spacious area for maintainers to log their maintenance data and moved supervisors closer to their Airmen to provide more oversight and direction when needed.

By meticulous pre-planning and expertly managing their resources, not a single computer or power port needed to be moved or added and no additional furniture needed to be purchased when the process was completed.

"The re-organization process cost the Air Force zero dollars and boosted our unit's productivity, cohesion, and overall morale," said Maj. Adam DiGerolamo, 437 AMXS commander. "It was a no brainer to move forward with this plan."