C-5 performance 100 percent on time for fourth consecutive year

by Jenny Gordon
78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office

9/25/2015 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- In the current sustainment environment, there are military aircraft flying worldwide missions every day protecting American interests.

Their sustainment is crucial.

One of those airframes is the C-5 Galaxy - one of the world's largest airlifters - which was first deployed more than 45 years ago and is maintained right here at Robins Air Force Base.

For all its capabilities transporting large cargo such as mine-resistant and ambush-protected vehicles, helicopters and heavy battle tanks, it has remained one of the world's most called-upon aircraft for transporting outsized cargo.

"The Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex is one of three Air Force ALCs that focuses on sustainment," said Dave Nakayama, 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron director.
"Sustainment is more critical than ever simply because our equipment is getting older, and we're not replacing it as we did during the Cold War. We don't have the luxury of new equipment anymore.

"Bottom line is we want to keep the C-5 fleet like new, all the while improving our efficiency and reducing our cost," he added. "Not everything can be easily, feasibly replaced, so that's when sustainment becomes critical. We're principal players."

And playing that key role is something Team Robins takes seriously.

That means the squadron has produced a total of 30 PDM aircraft and 21 unscheduled depot level maintenance C-5s from fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2015, which closes out Wednesday.

With those aircraft returned on time, that's another C-5 that can transport troops as well as much-needed equipment and material downrange, or move special space mission payloads for NASA or Air Force Space Command to their launch site.

In the business of aircraft maintenance and modification at the ALC, the processes come straight out of the pages of the Air Force Sustainment Center's "Art of the Possible," which describes reaching beyond today's limitations to grasp previously unimagined heights of performance.

It's not about settling for what already exists, but to challenge one another in order to recognize opportunities, eliminate constraints, improve processes and optimize resources to achieve world-class results.

All production machines have an average throughput, work-in-progress (in this case, the number of aircraft on station) and flow time. According to AoP, AFSC production machines must be designed to exceed customer expectations and reduce WIP. With reduced WIP comes reduced infrastructure and reduced resource requirements, creating capacity for additional workload and reducing costs.

By reducing its WIP and flow days in the C-5 squadron, Robins has arrived at a crucial juncture. That reduction allows additional resources, such as time, manpower and equipment to be used to complete work on other aircraft.

Looking at C-5 PDM performance over the last several years, PDM WIP has improved significantly, from a WIP of 12 aircraft in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, to a WIP of four in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. C-5 A-model retirements contributed to those reduced numbers, as well as process improvements.

The flow-day trend dating to fiscal 2011 was around 420 days for a completed PDM. Today, that number averages about 280 days. The goal is to continue to drive that number down, reducing it to 220 days. But it doesn't stop there.

"We keep improving our processes," said Nakayama. "We keep realigning things so they flow together better. Our Art of the Possible goal is 180 days."

While that may take a few years, it took just as long to see numbers level off to where they are today.

"With our flow days coming down, it allows us to do more in PDM. That way it helps with our aircraft availability rate going even higher," said Nakayama, referring to the overall fleet AA rate in fiscal 2014 being the highest in the last 22 years.

From the time an aircraft touches the flight line until it leaves, squadrons such as the 559th AMXS have laid out their entire production process, known as value stream mapping.

In essence, you look at everything you do to an aircraft in order to eliminate constraints and waste and make improvements.

It's helped shape how the production machine functions, especially when a C-5 PDM includes some 14,000 operations as part of a 70,000-hour work package.

That work happens across eight gates, or production segments created to monitor performance over the 280 days a C-5 is in PDM. In the 559th AMXS, that includes pre-dock operations such as de-fuel and de-paint; build-up and disassembly for inspections; and paint and functional test.

"We began our value stream mapping in 2009 and are about to do our fifth iteration in the near future. Using this mapping, combined with continuous process improvement tools, lean concepts and the Art of the Possible, and most importantly involving our mission partners, has gotten us to where we are today," said Kevin Hamilton, 559th AMXS deputy director.

There's consensus that the squadron is not alone in achieving its latest results. Originating with customer requirements from the C-5 System Program Office at Robins, to the 402nd Aircraft Maintenance Support Squadron, 402nd Commodities, Electronics and Software maintenance groups, supply chain groups such as Defense Logistics Agency and 638th Supply Chain Management Group, 339th Flight Test Squadron and 78th Air Base Wing, everyone's participation is a direct contributor to this success.

Looking ahead, sustainment and safety of the fleet will remain priority one.

With a small and aging fleet, parts availability issues, and incorporating more complex technology into an older airframe, challenges will remain as the aircraft is scheduled to remain in the inventory for the next 20-plus years.

"We're still not satisfied and we still want to improve," said Nakayama. "What we're doing at the depot is contributing to the good things that are happening in the fleet, yet the airplane has never been older than what it is today.

"The depots are really the 'crown jewels' in sustaining an aging fleet," he added. "The repairs, overhauls, modifications and upgrades we make here, all these keep the fleet operating as if they're new. I think we're a very good strategic value for the Air Force and the taxpayers because we provide this capability that otherwise wouldn't be there."