 Continuous Improvement, Date Published 1 August 2016 Inside this chapter, Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, or AFSO-21 Lean Principles Waste, Go and See Value Stream Mapping Standard Work 6S Visual Management Cell Design and Flow Constraints Oodaloop and the 8-Step Problem Solving Process Oodaloop, 8-Step Problem Solving Process Impact of Continuous Improvement Subordinate, Senior NCO, Mission Master Sergeant Tucker is the Superintendent of Fuel's Distribution where he supervises the fuel truck operators. Over the past four months, their average response time has increased from 25 minutes to 40 minutes. The acceptable standard is no more than 30 minutes. He's tired of hearing all their excuses and needs solutions. What should he do? We have so much room for improvement. Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory of how we are taking responsibility. Nancy Pelosi Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to Terminal Cognitive Objective Comprehend Continuous Improvement concepts and or their impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness Terminal Cognitive Samples of Behavior 1. Identify Continuous Improvement concepts and or their impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness 2. Illustrate Continuous Improvement concepts and or their impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness 3. Predict the impact of Continuous Improvement concepts on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness Affective Objective Value Continuous Improvement and its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness Affective Samples of Behavior 1. Enthusiastically dedicate yourself to read and listen to all material about Continuous Improvement and its impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness 2. Voluntarily complete all coursework related to Continuous Improvement and its impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness 3. Openly accept Continuous Improvement and its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness 4. Willingly develop a preference for Continuous Improvement and its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness 5. Strive toward a commitment to apply Continuous Improvement concepts and their positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness Have you ever wondered why some processes have a lot of wasted time involved when they could be improved to work more efficiently? How many times in your career have you dealt with non-value added tasks? How did you respond? What was the result? The dynamic and turbulent nature of the current environment necessitates critical process evaluation and sometimes change. Organizations must constantly monitor, measure, evaluate, and improve their processes in order to remain competitive. As senior NCOs, we should be looking and thinking daily about creative ways to use our resources more efficiently. According to our core values, we must pursue excellence in all we do. One way we can do this is through a culture of continuous process improvement, CPI. CPI helps us shed non-value added tasks to ensure every airman's efforts contribute directly to accomplishing the Air Force mission to fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace. CPI provides leaders and workers with proven performance improvement tools to build a strong warfighter support structure. It works in improving cycle time and reliability, optimizing costs, improving safety, reducing energy consumption, and improving availability of warfighting capabilities. As senior enlisted leaders, we must understand and apply CPI so we, our organizations, the Air Force, and the DOD can obtain strategic, never-ending incremental refinement of the way we perform tasks and processes. In pursuit of continuous process improvement, the Air Force created Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, or AFSO-21, which is the first main point of this chapter. An understanding of AFSO-21 should help you in the section that follows, the UDA loop and the 8-step problem solving process. Finally, this chapter ends by covering the impact of CPI on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. While there are many aspects of CPI that you'll need to understand, let's get the ball rolling by looking at AFSO-21. Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, AFSO-21. As a member of the American profession of arms and a senior leader, you will be in charge of a myriad of processes within your organization. CPI is the strategic, never-ending incremental refinement of the way we perform tasks. CPI provides the Department of Defense a time-tested and proven approach for analyzing how we currently conduct business and how we can approve our current operations. It was built upon the best management practices from scientific studies and industry applications and has been around since the early 1900s. CPI concepts have been employed in the private and public sectors and have shown to be relevant and applicable to any organizational process in industrial, service, office, and field operational environments. It is the DOD's choice in executing how we will improve our systems and processes. In pursuit of CPI, the Air Force created Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, or AFSO-21. Your ability to understand CPI concepts can have an impact on whether or not your mission succeeds or fails. This ability is nurtured in understanding AFSO-21. AFSO-21 focuses on generating efficiencies and improving combat capabilities across the Air Force and applies to all processes associated with the Air Force mission. The intent of AFSO-21 is to deliver a consistent and disciplined problem-solving approach. The Air Force has a burning platform, meaning we continuously face challenges in the form of fiscal constraints, manpower reductions, lagging currency of compliance directives, serial reorganizations, and continuous personnel churn. On top of all that, we have mission growth due to global tension. As senior NCOs, we should always be moving towards process innovation and organizational adaptability to confront and overcome these difficulties. In this section, you'll look at several ideas inherent to AFSO-21. First, you'll discover lean principles followed by how to eliminate waste. Next, a CPI concept called Go and See will be explored. Then, you'll see how the idea of value stream mapping, or VSM, is extremely useful towards CPI efforts. You'll next look at standard work and how another tool called 6S gets you closer to max efficiency. Furthermore, you'll get the opportunity to see visual management followed by cell design and flow. Finally, you'll see what is meant by theory of constraints, or TOC. Now that you know what will be covered, let's get started with lean principles. Lean Principles AFSO-21 places a great deal of emphasis on lean thinking. Lean thinking is built on what is value added from the customer's perspective. Value is defined as a need the customer is willing to pay extra to receive, easily expressed in terms of a specific required product or service. In the commercial sector, value can be related to the bottom line in terms of corporate profits. In the federal sector, it is related to requirements identified by the customer. Here are some lean principles. Specify what creates value from the customer's perspective. Identify all the steps along the process chain. Make all the processes flow. Produce only what is pulled by the customer. Pull is a system of cascading production and delivery instructions in which nothing is produced by the supplier until the customer signals a need. And strive for perfection by continually removing wastes. If we and our airmen understand our customer's needs, we can work toward eliminating non-value added activities that lead to waste, which is the next AFSO-21 concept. Waste. At the core of process improvement is solving problems that create waste in the day-to-day work of our airmen. Waste is anything that adds cost or time without adding value. Only the constant elimination of waste will drive us toward perfection. Thus, our airmen need to know what waste is when they see it. Here are some ways to identify waste in different areas. Defects. Quality errors that cause defects invariably cost you far more than you expect. Every defective item requires rework or replacement. It wastes resources and materials. It creates paperwork and it can lead to lost customers. The waste of defects have a direct impact to the bottom line or a tremendous cost to organizations and should be prevented wherever possible. Things to look for. Are there well-documented work standards? Does equipment have a maintenance schedule? Are there effective cross-training programs? Do employees have the proper amount of time to do their work? Example. One out of ten times that sheet metal is fabricated, it is returned because it is not cut to the standards desired. As you can see in this example, if one out of ten must be returned when it is your responsibility as a senior NCO to improve the process, excellence in all you do. What would happen if leaders became complacent with one out of ten returns? On the other hand, what would happen if leaders say, that's too many returns. Let's fix it. Overproduction. Waste of overproduction is making too much or too early. This is usually because of working with oversized batches, long lead times, poor supplier relations, and a host of other reasons. Overproduction leads to high levels of inventory, which mask many of the problems within your organization. The aim should be to make only what is required when it is required by the customer. Things to look for. Is work being performed ahead of schedule? Are you unnecessarily producing extra inventory? Are schedules stable? Are you collecting data or information that won't be used? AFI 36-2618, the enlisted force structure, says in paragraph 5.1.12, as a senior NCO, you must ensure money, facilities, and other resources are utilized in an effective and efficient manner and in the best interest of the Air Force. Plan resource utilization, replenishment, and budget allocation to ensure personnel are provided the equipment and resources needed to effectively accomplish the mission. What would happen if senior NCOs ensured all of the data captured on all forms were necessary? Better efficiency. Why do we overproduce? Often the answer is as simple as because this is how we've always done it. Waiting. This occurs whenever goods are not moving or being processed. How often do you spend time waiting for an answer from another department in your organization or waiting for a delivery from a supplier or an engineer to come and fix a machine? We tend to spend an enormous amount of time waiting for things in our working lives and personal lives too. This is an obvious waste. Things to look for. Are there delays in the delivery of work or information? Are there issues with punctuality with internal or external customers? Are there certain times when delays are more prevalent? Can you see a constraint or bottleneck in the process? Again, as a senior NCO you must ensure money, facilities, and other resources are utilized in an effective and efficient manner. That includes punctuality with internal or external customers. What would happen if senior NCOs did not address waiting issues? We'd all be waiting for longer periods of time. On the other hand, if you address waiting issues in your squadron, we have less delays, constraints, and bottlenecks. Non-standard over-processing. This occurs when we use inappropriate techniques, oversized equipment, working with tolerances that are too tight, perform processes that are not required by the customer, and so forth. All of these things cost us time and money. Often termed as using a bazooka to swat flies, many organizations use expensive, high-precision equipment where simpler tools would be sufficient. Things to look for. Is more effort put into the work than required by internal or external customers? Has this work been done before? Is more information obtained than is required? Are there redundant phone calls and emails? Does the step add value? An example here might be when new personnel are required to use a time-consuming, high-tech data capture application when a simple Excel or Word document checklist would work fine. Efficiency means using simple tools when needed. What would happen if all senior NCOs tried to use expensive, high-precision equipment where simpler tools would be sufficient? More than likely, units would run out of resources. On the other hand, if all senior NCOs use simple tools, all units have a better chance of meeting mission requirements from the resources distributed. Transportation. Transport is the movement of materials from one location to another. This is a waste as it adds zero value to the product. Why would your customer, or you for that matter, want to pay for an operation that adds no value? Transport adds no value to the product. As you, a business, are paying people to move material from one location to another, a process that only costs you money and makes nothing for you. The waste of transport can be a very high cost to your business. You need people to operate it and equipment such as trucks or forklifts to undertake this expensive movement of materials. Things to look for. How is the information or work that is being transformed being delivered to other processes? Is work being delivered to the right place at the right time? Has work been consolidated where appropriate? How far is material being transported and how long does it take? A simple example here is when printing materials are being delivered through the print shop on base rather than being delivered directly to the unit. A simple change to the delivery destination can save money and time. Again, it is your responsibility as a senior NCO to be efficient with processes and resources. The impact on the mission, if you don't consider the cost of the transportation, depleted resources. Intellect. This concept is seen as any failure to fully utilize the time and talents of people. Human brain power is squandered in processes that do not require intelligent thought, expediting, chasing paper, injuries, etc. Many organizations still tend to operate within a command and control environment and take little real notice of what personnel really think and what they can actually contribute. Your team is your greatest asset by far and they can help you to drive out many of the other wastes. Things to look for. Are employees placed where they can and will use their knowledge, skills, and abilities to the fullest? Are employees encouraged to suggest improvements to how work is done? Are employee suggestions and solutions implemented? Use of problem-solving teams to improve how work is accomplished? Do leaders and managers follow up and hold process owners accountable for action plans resulting from problem-solving events? You might be able to recall some time in your career a time when employees quit suggesting improvements because leadership would not fully consider the employees' inputs. As a result, they quit banging their head against a brick wall because none of their suggestions were taken seriously. You should create an atmosphere where suggestions are taken seriously and implemented if appropriate. If you don't, it will have a negative impact on you, your subordinates, and the mission. AI Theory Optimal problem-solving results from both the more adaptive and the more innovative people working on the problem together because it brings all sides and perspectives of a problem to light. Motion This waste is related to ergonomics and is seen in all instances of bending, stretching, walking, lifting, and reaching. Unnecessary motions are those movements of man or machine which are not as small or as easy to achieve as possible. Things to look for. Can walking be reduced by repositioning equipment? Is information tools or material at point of use? Are there areas that impede the flow of work? How much repetitive human motion is involved in the work and how can such motion be mitigated? How much human reaching, stretching, bending, or kneeling is involved and how can such motion be mitigated? For example, bending down to retrieve heavy objects at floor level when they could be fed at waist level to reduce stress and time to retrieve. Excessive travel between workstations, excessive machine movements from start point to work start point are all examples of the waste of motion. All of these wasteful motions cost you time, money, and cause stress on your employees and machines. Access inventory Inventory costs you money. Every piece of product tied up in raw material, work in progress, or finished goods has a cost. In addition to the pure cost of your inventory, it adds many other costs. Inventory feeds many other wastes. Inventory has to be stored. It needs space, it needs packaging, and has to be transported around. The waste of inventory hides many of the other wastes in your systems. Stockpiles of both in-process and finished goods inventories are a direct result of overproduction and waiting. Things to look for Are there boxes of material sitting on the floor? Are you using the hall for storage? Are there outdated materials or manuals in the area? Is material moving through the processes in batches or single piece? Are you overstocking material? How much are you paying for inventory and do you use all of it? An example of excess inventory in a training squadron is when you have ordered hundreds of psychological assessments for the current year and for the following year, which is also illegal. You can't use resources in an effective and efficient manner if you are stockpiling resources. What would happen if all senior NCOs stockpiled resources? Certain squadrons would not be able to accomplish their mission. On the other hand, if all senior NCOs use resources only when needed and at the right time, all units have a better chance of meeting mission requirements from the resources distributed. Most processes operate at less than 10% efficiency. Waste is really a symptom rather than a root cause of the problem. Processes exist whether they are visible or not. Work somehow gets done, but at what cost? Most waste is invisible to those most familiar with the process. You can't improve what you can't see and the process owner or team lead must walk the process to identify the eight wastes by doing a go and see. When actively engaged in problem solving, the process owner or team lead should physically go to the actual place or source of the problem and observe first hand what is taking place. If there is a team of individuals working to resolve a particular problem, then it is recommended the entire team travels to the actual place to examine the full process before deciding on the true issue. This is called a go and see. Everyone on the team should walk the process, agree to what they are seeing and have the same fundamental understanding about the possible problem at hand. This recommendation is made because of the simple fact that problems when articulated or explained by others are reflected through their personal perspective, biases and filters. Without actually laying eyes on the process, you can only accept the points of view of others and make the best determination you can with the available information. Ultimately, this can lead to identifying the wrong problem and instituting ineffective countermeasures. Things to look for. Are performance standards visible? Are schedules being met? Are employees having difficulty? Is work being performed correctly? Where do you see waste or downtime? Defects? Constraints? Variation? An example here might be walking the in-processing process to identify ways to make it better or more efficient. AFI 36-2618, the enlisted force structure speaking about senior NCO responsibilities says in paragraph 5.1.6 be an active, visible leader. To meet your senior NCO responsibilities, you must be active and visible, which means you must go and see. Imagine a unit where senior NCOs did not go and see. It would be a unit that was probably not fulfilling their mission. On the other hand, some of the best units have senior NCOs that are very active and visible leaders. After you're go and see, it is imperative to value stream the current process. Value stream mapping, VSM. VSM is a simple diagram of every step involved in the material and information flow needed to bring a product from order to delivery. The maps can be drawn from different points in time as a way to raise consciousness of opportunities for improvement. It also helps to create understanding of the flow of materials and information and the value that is created. These maps should take into account everyone in the process, i.e., both internal and external customers. It takes time to implement a culture of change and empowerment. Examples might include a delivery driver asking why the airfield entry point can't be moved 20 feet so he doesn't have to get out of his van six extra times a day. Another example might be a vehicle mechanic questioning why he has to walk 200 feet to dispose of oil filters and then taking the initiative with his supervisor to move the hazardous material container closer. Yet another example is a senior master sergeant and his team changing their work layout at no cost, eliminating the expediter process, reducing their delivery times from 19 to 2 hours and transparently exceeding all customer needs. Professionals cannot indulge themselves in self-pity, discouragement, anger, frustration, or defeatism. They have a fundamental moral obligation to the persons they lead to strike a tone of confidence and forward-looking optimism. So the relationship to you, the senior NCO, is that you must be the catalyst to continuously improve the processes you own and VSM can shed light on those processes. What if every leader in the United States Air Force took on that responsibility? The impact would be awesome. You as an airman and especially as a leader of airmen must strive to develop this culture through the use of AFSO 21 concepts like the ones previously discussed and another one that is considered the foundation of continuous improvement called standard work. Standard work. Standard work is defined as the best-known way to complete a task. Standard work ensures the same work will take the same amount of resources to achieve the same results every time. This is a bedrock foundation of continuous improvement. Without standardized work, it is impossible to tell if improvements are due to chance or due to our efforts. Standardized work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tools. By documenting the current best practice, standardized work forms the baseline for continuous improvement. As the standard is improved, the new standard becomes the baseline for further improvements and so on. Improving standardized work is a never-ending process. Standard work consists of three key elements. Talked time, the rate at which products must be made in a process to meet customer demand. Work sequence, the precise work sequence in which an operator performs tasks within talked time. Standard inventory, the standard minimum number of pieces in stock including units in machines required to keep the process operating smoothly. Explore. Talked is the German word for the baton that an orchestra conductor uses to regulate the tempo of the music. Talked time may be thought of as a measurable beat time, rate time, or heartbeat. The benefits of standardized work include documentation of the current process for all shifts, reductions in variability, easier training of new operators, reductions in injuries and strain, and a baseline for improvement activities. Standardizing the work adds discipline to the culture, an element that is frequently neglected but essential for lean to take root. Standardized work is also a learning tool that supports audits, promotes problem-solving and involves all team members. Standard work is unique to each process being evaluated for improvement, but they all share certain characteristics. It should be the best, safest, easiest, most cost-effective and productive way to complete the task. It preserves the corporate knowledge of everyone who has done the process in the past for the benefit of everyone who will work the process in the future. It provides the basis for measurement against a standard. It provides the basis for training future team members on how to perform a task. It ensures you are meeting customer requirements. It minimizes operator-driven variability. So, what's the relationship of standard work to your senior NCO responsibilities? Since standard work is defined as the best known way to complete a task and is the bedrock foundation of continuous improvement, it would be difficult to fulfill this senior NCO responsibility without considering standard work. If you take this competency seriously, you should master standard work for your processes in your organization. Standard work is one of many Afso 21 tools. Another Afso 21 tool is 6S. 6S Lean Workplace 6S is a process for creating and maintaining an organized, clean, and high-performance workplace which serves as a foundation for continuous improvement. It's a visually-oriented system fostering greater responsibility on the job to achieve better work, better products, and better morale. The six phases of the program are SORT Evaluate all tools and material in the work center and eliminate what is not needed. Straighten Arrange items to be accessible, visible, and in a way that promotes efficient workflow. SHINE Keep the workplace tidy. Return each item to its proper place to encourage cleanliness and order. Standardize Establish consistent work practices to eliminate uncertainty regarding specific job responsibilities. Sustain Achieve a transformation in culture a new way of working. SAFETY Identify and eliminate hazards creating a safe working environment and decreasing workplace hazards. 6S makes it obvious when everything is not in its place and helps you create a workplace that is organized, stabilized, and ready for further improvement. The value and benefits include improved morale, improved safety, improved space utilization, improved discipline, and care. 6S also exposes waste in the process and sets the foundation for further improvements like using visual management. VISUAL MANAGEMENT Visual management is a concept to organize a workplace such that one can visually separate normal from abnormal working conditions. The ideal state is that all personnel should be able to manage every aspect of the process at a glance using visual data, signals, and guides. Benefits are easier access to process information, informed decisions, and better ownership of process control by the workforce. Poll, being one of the lean principles, is a big part of this visual workplace. There are visual cues for when an item is needed. Poll is a system of cascading production and delivery instructions in which nothing is produced by the supplier until the customer signals a need. Here's an example of poll in the grocery business. The grocer replaced on their shelves, products demanded or consumed by the customer. The grocer needed deliveries on time, the proper brand, and the right price and size to satisfy the customer. To do this, the grocer used communication with supplier and customer, visual clues, and rotation of stock first in, first out, enhancing the process. You should do the same with your processes. Use a visual to organize your workplace such that you can visually separate normal from abnormal working conditions. An in-depth visual to use is cell design and flow. Cell design and flow. Cell design and flow is a visual representation which focuses on designing how workers are arranged relative to the work and to each other. A poor cell design is when processes control what people do instead of people controlling what processes do. This is an unarguable sign that there is a need for implementing cell design into an existing value stream or process flow. Below is a visual of a before cell design flow on the left, and then an after cell design flow on the right. Remember the USAPPHA rapid improvement event scenario at the beginning of this chapter? Before the RIE, patients were traveling to three different clinics, cadet physicals, optometry, and dental with multiple appointments. With the addition of the civilian optometry technician in cadet physicals and a new process that flowed through both clinics, it narrowed it to two clinics and one day to get everything done. The use of cell design and flow was used to cut time, improve morale, and alleviate stress. You can and should use the diagrams to redirect the flow of assets through a shop and to eliminate our next AFSO 21 concept. Constraints. TOC. TOC is a process improvement technique focused on maximizing throughput by use of a constraint-based approach. TOC seeks first to identify the constraint preventing greater throughput, like a hose with a crimp. Every system will have one process step that is the most limiting and therefore degrading the system's ability to achieve the organizational goal. This limiting process step is the constraint. The constraint must be identified and the system managed in relation to that constraint. Trying to improve any process step other than the constraint will not result in any greater throughput from the process and will, in all likelihood, make things worse. Constraints can be broadly classified into one of three categories. Internal resource constraints, market constraints, or policy constraints. In order to manage performance, constraints must be identified and treated specially. Here's the steps for implementing TOC. Identify the constraint. Decide how to exploit the constraint. Subordinate all other processes to above decision. Elevate the constraint. If a new constraint emerges, return to step one. Don't let inertia become the constraint. Change the system if required. Why should you care about identifying constraints? If you're working overtime and weekends, you should care because it could help reduce the number of hours you work each week. If you're a supervisor and want to make life better for your people, you can. You can make work easier and more productive for yourself and your team by identifying and correcting restraints. So now that you know about TOC and how useful it can be, let's look at what you covered in this section. In this section, you first learned about lean principles. Lean principles are built on what is value added from the customer's perspective. So we looked at a scenario to identify what the customer deemed important. Afterwards, you learned how to eliminate waste. Waste is anything that adds cost or time without adding value, downtime. Only the constant elimination of waste will drive us toward perfection. Thus, we looked at various kinds of waste. Next, a CPI concept called Go and See was explored. When actively engaged in problem-solving, the process owner or team lead should physically go to the actual place or source of the problem and observe firsthand what is taking place. Afterwards, you saw how value stream mapping was extremely useful. Remember, VSM is a simple diagram of every step involved in the material and information flow needed to bring a product from order to delivery. Next, you looked at standard work. Standard work is defined as the best-known way to complete a task and it ensures that the same work will take the same amount of resources to achieve the same results every time. After that, another tool called 6S, the application of sort, straighten, shine, standardize, sustain, and safety, was introduced. You also looked at visual management, a concept to organize a workplace such that one can visually separate normal from abnormal working conditions. Furthermore, you saw how cell design and flow works. Cell design and flow is a visual representation which focuses on designing how workers are arranged relative to the work and to each other. Finally, you saw how a theory of constraints or TOC works. TOC is a process improvement technique focused on maximizing throughput by a use of constraint-based approach. Afso 21 concepts are important skills you should develop and encourage in your people. Each are useful in establishing continuous improvement. Failing to develop these elements and encourage them in your people could impact the successfulness of your continuous improvement efforts. CPI is something that should have been ingrained in you since your inception into the Air Force. For leaders, the implications of not focusing on continuous improvement have severe consequences. By learning to develop a CPI focus for everyone, you will be more effective for yourself, your people, and your organization. The key then is to embrace continuous improvement as an opportunity to grow and learn. The more positive experiences you have with it, the more skilled you become in using it. This, in turn, can help you lead CPI more effectively in your organization. Afso 21 concepts and tools should be selected based on how well they address the root causes. If there are gaps between where your organizational objectives should be and where it is now, an RIE, using the UDA loop, or Afso 21 Eight Step Problem Solving, should be used to get to the root cause of the issue, which we will discuss in the following section. UDA loop and Eight Step Problem Solving. Your success in implementing continuous improvement hinges on your ability to understand the UDA loop and the Eight Step Problem Solving process and how they work together. In this section, you'll learn about the UDA loop and the Eight Step Problem Solving process, also called the Eight Step Problem Solving Model. You will be provided a brief overview of the UDA loop and then look at how the four steps of the UDA loop further breaks down into an Eight Step Problem Solving process that is flexible enough to be effective at any level, Air Force, MagCom, Wing, Group, and Squadron. It is more important to see how the UDA loop and the Eight Step Problem Solving process work together than how they work separately. So the second main point covering the Eight Step Problem Solving process will do just that. Show how they work together. But before we see how they work together, let's briefly look at the UDA loop first. UDA loop. The UDA loop was originated in the 1950s by Colonel John R. Boyd, United States Air Force. The UDA loop, Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act is an objective description of the decision-making process. Due to Colonel Boyd's emphasis on the infinitely repeating nature of decision-making, it is an excellent match for continuous improvement. Both principles are based on the concept that the process is never done. Colonel Boyd's four decision-making phases are mapped to the AFSO 21 Eight Step Problem Solving process as follows. Observe. Step 1. Clarify and validate the problem. Step 2. Break down the problem or identify performance gaps. Orient. Step 3. Set improvement targets. Step 4. Determine root causes. Decide. Step 5. Develop countermeasures. Act. Step 6. See countermeasures through. Step 7. Confirm results in process. Step 8. Standardize successful processes. Rather than looking at the areas separately, let's see how they fit together with the Eight Step Problem Solving process, which is our next topic. Eight Step Problem Solving. Step 1. Clarify and validate the problem. UDA. The critical first step in solving a problem is to clearly understand the problem. Any problem-solving effort that begins with we all know what the problem is, so what are we going to do about it is doomed to fail before it begins. This mindset leads to several obvious errors. First, because the obvious solution is often just a band-aid and doesn't address the underlying problem. Second, this mindset closes out the possibility of innovative solutions better suited to solving the real problem. Using the information gathered from your go and see, you can start to get to the bottom of the real issue. Other tools, like the value stream mapping, are also useful to identify which problems should be tackled first. After determining which problems should be tackled first, you should craft a good problem statement using the questions below. What is the problem? Often two or three words, a noun and a verb are enough. Target missed. Aircraft broken. Repair slow. Computer crashed. Airmen discriminated against. Where did the problem happen? When did the problem happen? What is the significance of the problem? Many problems exist. Some are more critical than others. When tackling any problem, Air Force leaders should ask themselves will solving this problem further the strategic goals of my organization? Remember Master Sergeant Tucker, the superintendent of fuels distribution? Their current average response time to fuel aircraft is 40 minutes. This has been a gradual increase over the last four months when the average response time was 25 minutes. The acceptable standard is no more than 30 minutes. Therefore, your problem statement might be average response time to fuel aircraft has increased from 25 minutes to 40 minutes over the last four months. The increase in time to refuel the aircraft has caused delays and missed sorties. This problem statement is clear and specific and uses measurable terms of quantity and time. It's objective and clearly identifies the current condition. Once the proper target is identified and the problem is clearly defined, data should be gathered about the problem area via step two, break down the problem or identify performance gaps. Step two, break down the problem or identify performance gaps. This is sometimes a frustrating step for Airmen who want to move to taking action and implementing solutions. But the better a problem is understood, the better the solution will be and therefore have a stronger chance of meeting mission requirements. Often, the more thorough the evaluation of a problem in this step, the better a leader can judge the impacts of potential solutions offered later and evaluate solutions during implementation. If you do not understand the current process, it is impossible to fix it. Using the information from your go and see, start value stream mapping, VSM, the current state. As discussed earlier, this is the primary tool for defining the current state, the ideal state and the practically achievable future state. A vision is a view into the future that succinctly describes how the organization will conduct business. It implies a gap between the current state and a better future state. The goal is to identify all areas in which the flow is not smooth from process to process without interruption. Three elements mapped are the flow of materials, the flow of information, the flow of the product through the processes. Once the current state is mapped, there are two tools that can assist in understanding what the data is saying. One, performance gap analysis. What is the difference between the level of performance seen today and the level of performance identified as needed tomorrow? Two, constraint analysis, same as bottleneck analysis. Which steps in the process are inhibiting the flow of the entire process? Sometimes referred to as the weakest link, or the slowest step, this analysis is defined by the theory of constraints, TOC. Once the data is gathered about the problem area via step two of the eight-step problem-solving model, the current state mapping lays the foundation for step three, set improvement targets. Step three, set improvement targets. UDA. Once you have performed steps one and two, you then need to set improvement targets on two levels simultaneously, the strategic level and the tactical level. A future state can be defined as better only when it supports effective fulfillment of the organization's mission. At a strategic level, the Air Force leader must create that vision of what the organization will strive to become. The future state map will create a vision for the implementation of a lean or CPI system. It will represent how things will change so that everyone can be aware of what will happen. It will show opportunities for improvement. It may have several iterations. First, develop an ideal state without consideration as to how it will be achieved. No restraints or constraints should be considered. This is especially important if the people in the process cannot move past the current way of doing business. Then, develop a map showing the first steps necessary to reach the ideal state. There is no final state because methods continually improve. After the strategic targets are defined, the tactical targets are then defined to identify the performance levels required to make the vision a reality. Targets should be challenging but achievable and have B-smart characteristics. Balanced. Ensure goals are balanced across the multiple fronts of organizational output and multiple targets. Specific. Have desirable outputs that are based on subject matter expert knowledge and experience and are applicable to the process improvement activity. Measurable. Includes timeframes and have data that is obtainable from specific sources. Attainable. Resources are available. May have some risk but success is possible. Results focused. Link to the mission, vision and goals and are meaningful to the user and timely. Provide step-by-step views versus giant leaps and are measurable at interim milestones. Once the improvement targets are set, your current future value streams and your B-smart goals should be used to determine root causes. Step 4 of the model. Step 4. Determine root causes. UDA. All too often, Air Force leaders find themselves addressing problems that have been solved many times before. This is usually due to problem-solving efforts directed by the Air Force. A problem presents rather than at the root cause of the problem. If an aircraft is constantly breaking down and becoming non-mission capable, should the goal be to reduce aircraft usage, improve repair cycle time, improve the quality of replacement parts, improve the aircraft design or improve the aircraft design process? Clearly each step becomes increasingly difficult but each step is a greater impact in preventing the recurrence of the problem. Root cause analysis is a trade-off between digging as deeply as possible and finding the deepest point that is still within the team's sphere of influence. There are six tools that can assist the Airmen in determining the true root cause. These tools are defined in detail in the AFSO 21 playbook. We will cover two in this chapter. The Five Wise and the Fishbone Diagram. Five Wise To prevent a problem from reoccurring, teams must address the root causes of the problems rather than just the symptoms. The Five Wise help teams drill down to the chain of events that lead to a problem. Teams should not take five as an absolute as they may need to go deeper than five and rarely ever reach root causes in fewer than five steps. Teams should be cautious as the Five Wise implies that every event has only one cause. Often, there are several factors that come together to cause an event. At times, teams may drill down to items that are out of their sphere of influence. Although the teams may not be able to control the ultimate root cause, they can at least inform those who do and implement countermeasures as far down the root cause chain as they are able. One of the strengths of the Five Wise is its simplicity. Teams start with the simple problem statement and ask, why did the problem occur? When an explanation is reached, the team asks why again, five times. Why did the aircraft launch late? Because the fueling team was slow. Why was the refueling team slow? Because one airman from the refueling team was in the infirmary of a broken leg. Why did the airman break his leg? Because the airman slipped on an oil spill in the hangar. Why was there an oil spill in the hangar? Because a machine in the hangar had old washers that were leaking oil. Why didn't the maintenance department change the washers? Because the maintenance department's budget was cut and they chose to slide all the preventive maintenance events by six months. If we were to stop at the first daily basis, we would have thought there was a problem with the team. Stopping at the second Y suggests the solution is to move that airman somewhere else, possibly causing someone else to slip. Stopping at the third Y suggests you clean up the spill only to realize the spill has occurred again. You should get the point. Keep drilling until you get to the true root cause. Fishbone diagrams. Also called cause and effect diagrams. Or a simple way to visually depict the relationship between specific categories of process inputs and the undesirable output. When utilizing a team approach to problem solving, there are often many opinions as to the problem's root cause. One way to capture these different ideas and stimulate the team's brainstorming on root causes is the cause and effect diagram commonly called a fishbone. The fishbone will help to visually display the many potential causes for a specific problem or effect. It is particularly useful in a group setting and for situations in which little quantitative data is available for analysis. The fishbone has an ancillary benefit as well. Because people by nature often like to get right to determining what to do about a problem, this can help bring out a more exploration of the issues behind the problem, which will lead to a more robust solution. Fill in the fishbone by generating as many causes as possible using brainstorming. Although the diagram shown here uses the 3M's and EPI, Materials, Methods, Machines, and People, feel free to categorize causes in ways that make sense for your situation. Two other useful categories include the 4S's Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, and Skills and the 4Ps, Policies, Procedures, People, and Plant. As you can see, determining the root cause is one of the most important steps of the 8 step process. Root cause analysis can be as much an art as a science. You should keep 4 questions in mind to help guide them through the process. Which of the root cause analysis tools should I use? Why these tools? Who do I need to involve in the root cause analysis? 10 heads are better than one. Account for cultural issues related to the problem. What are the root causes according to the tools? Will addressing these root causes address the performance gap? Can the problem be turned on or off by addressing this root cause? What would happen if you did not uncover the root causes? You'd always be fixing the symptoms instead of the causes of the problem. At the top of page 17, please scan the QR code to access the AFSO 21 playbook. Once the root causes are determined, the team must decide which are the best solutions with the most impact which is part of step 5, develop countermeasures. UDA. The decision making and solution development step is over halfway through the eight step process. If the first four steps have been done correctly, this should be the easiest step of all. As simple as this step should be, there are some very important guidelines the Air Force leader should follow in order to ensure the greatest possible likelihood of success. The key principle to remember is that the impact of a solution is a combination of the quality of the solution and the acceptance of the solution by the people who must implement it. The relationship is similar to a mathematical formula. Quality of solution times acceptance equals impact. An excellent solution that receives no support has zero impact. On the other hand, an average solution that receives some support will have some impact. With the entire first half of the eight step problem solving focused on the left half of the equation, it is now up to the Air Force leader to present the solution in such a way as to gain its acceptance by those that must implement it. Here are some guiding principles when developing the countermeasures. Use Afso 21 Standard Playbook templates presented in various sections of this chapter. These templates provide a common structure to ease information sharing. Select the most practical and effective countermeasures. Use the keep it simple principle. Create a clear and detailed action plan. Use the same B-Smart principles to find in step two, set improvement targets. Reference facilitation techniques as appropriate. Most importantly, build consensus with others involving all stakeholders appropriately. By judiciously involving stakeholders in the solution creation step, the stakeholders will develop a sense of ownership in the solution and therefore in the solution's success. This also prevents the complaint that the stakeholders are victims of the solution process. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Consider additional alternatives rather than attempt to implement effective countermeasures or ones that are not feasible or have little impact. Although this seems to be a simple step, it is no less important than the other steps of the process. You will need to leverage your communication skills to present the solution to gain buy-in from those that must implement it. Once the countermeasures are determined, the team must see countermeasures through, which is step six. Step six, see countermeasures through, UDA. Action comes at the end of the UDA loop for a reason. Air Force leaders acting before they are ready for this step are likely to be as successful as the marksman with the motto ready, fire, aim. There are three questions the Air Force leader must answer before taking action. Which improvement philosophy best fits my situation? What is the best setting for implementing my solution? What process improvement tools are most appropriate? The first step of any large scale project is to find out the feasibility, meaning can your organization afford it and then start the planning process. There is software available online that will break the project down for you, give you a timeline and help you plan. There are also numerous books on the subject that will guide you through project management. The largest factor in determining the most appropriate setting is the scope of effort required. Here are a few examples. Just do it. Also called point improvement. Involves one person or a small team and can be completed in less than a day. Example. Use torque wrenches instead of adjustable wrenches. Example. Route paperwork via email instead of U.S. Postal Service or United States Air Force distribution channels. Rapid improvement event, RIE. Involves a small team and can be completed in less than one week. To increase chances of success, a charter must be developed, a team selected and communication needs to begin as early as possible. Example. Improve aircraft servicing cycle time. Example. Improve first pass yield of break shoe repair. Improvement project requires a large team and is conducted over a long period. Example. Shorten aircraft annual overhaul cycle time. Example. Write software to track annual overhauls. In addition to these three areas, there is almost always some form of training required to make the solution work. The training can often be linked to the communications plan developed in step 5, develop countermeasures. The training may be required at several levels simultaneously. Those implementing the solution and frontline supervisors need the most intensive training with less detailed but no less important training at higher echelons. In addition, customers and suppliers of the targeted process may require training as well. So what's the relationship of this step with the rest of the process? Well, you don't want to ready fire aim before you answer the questions that give you the best improvement philosophy, the best setting, and the most appropriate process improvement tools. Furthermore, you must identify the appropriate training or the mission could fail. Once you see the countermeasures through, the team must confirm results in process which is step 7. Step 7 Confirm results and process. UDA. Step 7 closely mirrors the data collection portion of step 2, break down the problem, and identify performance gaps. Ideally the key process indicators and metrics identified in step 2 will be all that is needed here. The projects should be monitored for, performance relative to the baseline developed in steps 1 and 2, performance relative to b-smart targets established in step 3, performance relative to where we thought we would be at this stage of the solution implementation. If we are not meeting targets by deadlines, do we need to return to step 4, determine root causes? Identifying incorrect root causes is the most common mistake made by process improvement efforts. In addition to the conventional measures mentioned above, the team leader or someone they designate may have to act as a project manager and evaluate other dimensions of the solution implementation. Each project in the portfolio must be evaluated as to its overall fit in the command's strategic alignment and deployment. Each project must be tracked to determine if its actual impact is different than what was originally projected. To evaluate compliance with standard work. Anything other than what was originally projected may affect repeatability of any successes. Also, to determine the sustainability of results, you need to ensure teams are achieving their objectives by executing the plan as written or are they improving results merely by using twice as many resources or working twice as hard. There's a strong relationship between this step of the model and other senior NCO responsibilities you must perform. Once you confirm results in process, the team must standardize successful processes which is the last step of the process. Step 8. Standardize successful processes. UDA. Step 8 is the most commonly skipped and under accomplished step of the entire problem solving process. It is very tempting to take new found knowledge and skills and immediately move on to the next improvement initiative. Skipping the effort of ensuring the results stick. Step 8 can be defined by the answers to three questions. What is needed to standardize the improvements? See examples. Tech order changes, Air Force instruction changes, official instruction changes, equipment material changes, vendor or supplier changes, changes at training commands, changes by mobile training units. How should improvements and lessons learned be communicated? See examples. CPI management tools, key meetings, Air Force publications, message traffic chain of command, communities of practice, Air Force knowledge now. Were other opportunities or problems identified by the problem solving process? See example. Restart the UDA loop. This should be the leader's first instinct as the UDA loop is infinite. Completing step 8 will ensure the mission is successful and ensure mission effectiveness for other activities your process may affect. Now that you know the final step in the process let's review the UDA loop and the 8 step problem solving model. This section started with a visual on the UDA loop. The observe area is where you look at the current situation and form theories about the problem. The orient area is where you gather data and information to substantiate theories. The decide area is where you develop solutions to address the problem. Effective problem solving must follow the observe, orient, decide and act process using the 8 step problem solving model. Attempting to skip reorder or shortcut any of the steps invariably leads to at best sub-optimal solutions and at worst outright failure. Each base should have continuous improvement facilitators that you can turn to for help with the continuous improvement process in the form of green belt and master black belt facilitators. Senior NCOs must ensure they and their organizations are building a continuous improvement culture utilizing the tools available following the UDA loop and the 8 steps and selecting solutions that are aligned with the needs of the organization that will ensure the greatest impact. Now that you know about the UDA loop and 8 step problem solving and how it can be used in continuous improvement, let's look at the results it can have. The impact impact of continuous improvement. You should now have a better understanding of CPI concepts. So what's most likely to happen if you apply these concepts? Why should you use them? As you read the following material you should ponder how you can enhance your success by employing the ideas in this chapter. We'll start by looking at the impact of CPI on subordinate effectiveness then move on to senior NCO effectiveness and mission effectiveness. Now that you know where we're going with the impact of CPI, let's look at how it affects subordinate effectiveness. Subordinate effectiveness. As leaders, we should always be thinking about what our subordinates need to be successful. According to AFI 36-2618 the enlisted force structure paragraph 5.1.6 you should deliberately develop junior enlisted airmen, NCOs and fellow senior NCOs into better followers, leaders and supervisors. Understanding CPI presents an opportunity for you to develop junior leaders into better followers, leaders and supervisors. This is especially true for leaders who understand CPI principles. Leaders who leverage their understanding of CPI principles create a mindset in subordinates to attack problems and identify opportunities for improvement. AFSO 21 is a transformational initiative empowering all airmen to eliminate waste from every end-to-end process. As senior NCOs we must create an environment where every airman thinks about improvement and is empowered to communicate with his or her supervisor, commander or a change agent. Even processes that work well may be improved to increase efficiency. When this happens, subordinates will see the benefit of continuous improvement. Leaders that don't employ CPI concepts will most likely hinder subordinate effectiveness. If subordinates do not see their leaders using these techniques they will probably not use them when they progress in rank. Subordinates would run the risk of thinking that it's good enough. This is in direct contrast to Air Force Manual 36-2647 Institutional Competency Development and Management which lists continuous improvement as a sub-competency for all airmen. Since it is a sub-competency that all airmen must meet then it is your responsibility as a leader to create a culture of continuous improvement through the concepts learned in this chapter. By not creating a culture of continuous improvement you could negatively impact any future improvement efforts. You can use your understanding of continuous improvement concepts to help develop a climate capable of responding to moving conditions and directives. CPI and AFSO-21 emphasize the use of our greatest resource our innovative, dedicated airmen by empowering all airmen to eliminate waste from every end-to-end process. These CPI concepts can enhance your subordinates effectiveness but they'll need help moving through the process. Another way to build a continuous improvement culture that impacts subordinate effectiveness is by encouraging AFI-38-402 Airmen Powered by Innovation, API. API is a streamlined program focused on resource savings and or improved mission performance. All Air Force personnel may submit ideas that affect cost savings, quality, productivity, cycle time, process improvement, and morale to the API website at www.my.af.mil slash gcss-af slash usaf slash site slash api for evaluation. Please scan the QR code at the bottom of page 20 to learn more about API. Now that you know how CPI impacts subordinate effectiveness let's look at helping them move through the process and how it impacts senior NCO effectiveness. Senior NCO effectiveness. According to Air Force Manual 36-2647 Institutional Competency Development and Management, under the competency of managing organizations and resources for senior NCOs it says, generates ideas for solutions, analyzes the effect or impact of each solution and appropriate measurement, and selects appropriate solutions. In addition for NCOs it says, distinguishes causes from symptoms and identifies primary causes. Furthermore, for Junior Airmen it says, identifies and seeks opportunities to improve existing conditions and processes. At this point in the chapter you should understand that using CPI concepts can impact your effectiveness as a leader. It may be hindered if you don't seek to identify improvement opportunities. For example, you probably won't be able to set a mindset of continuous improvement for your subordinates if you don't continually keep in mind the AFSO 21 concepts and the 8-step problem solving model as tools for improvement. You might become complacent with the status quo. It's exactly the ability to keep continuous improvement in mind that is a sign of an effective leader. Effective leaders find ways to improve processes. They see the bigger picture and understand their strategic obligations. They employ strategies to translate good intentions into great results. Managing organizations and resources. Continuous improvement. Generates ideas for solutions, analyzes the effect or impact of each solution and appropriate measurement, and selects appropriate solutions. According to AFI 36-2618, the enlisted force structure paragraph 5.1.1, senior NCOs are mandated to provide highly effective leadership. A senior NCO's primary purpose is mission accomplishment. They must lead and manage teams while maintaining the highest level of readiness to ensure mission success. In addition, paragraph 5.1.3 states that senior NCOs must translate leaders' directions into specific tasks and responsibilities their teams can understand and execute. Senior NCOs support and explain leaders' decisions. Senior NCOs should study the decisions to understand their rationale and goals so they can fully leverage their personal experience and knowledge to more effectively accomplish the mission. To do this, you must develop a mindset of continuous improvement for yourself and your subordinates to be effective. Again, encouraging your subordinates to use AFI 38-402, Airmen Powered by Innovation, is one way to have them thinking of continuous improvement. From your study of this chapter, you should now possess the ability to lead in the effort of continuous improvement. AFSO 21, the 8-step problem-solving model and the UDA loop provides an understanding of continuous improvement platforms sanctioned by the Air Force. Furthermore, if you consider using tools from other chapters, you increase your chances of effectiveness. Do you remember the AI theory chapter? CPI can be enhanced by employing AI theory concepts. If the process only requires you to improve the existing process, you learned that more adaptive subordinates are better suited to work on the problem. If the process requires a new approach that is not attached to the existing structure, a complete redesign, you learned that more innovative subordinates are a good fit for these types of issues. If you have a diverse range of processes you must improve for your organization, you know how to have a mix of the more adaptive and more innovative work together in the process, although this also requires you to manage the problem B. Now that you know how continuous improvement can impact senior NCO effectiveness, let's move on to how it can impact mission effectiveness. Mission effectiveness. Referring again to AFI 36-2618, the enlisted force structure, paragraph 5.1.1, senior NCOs are mandated to provide highly effective leadership. A senior NCO's primary purpose is mission accomplishment. In paragraph 5.2.1 it says master sergeants are transitioning from being technical experts and first line supervisors to leaders of operational competence skilled at merging subordinates talents skills and resources with other teams functions to most effectively accomplish the mission. They continue to develop their leadership and management skills. This rank carries significantly increased responsibilities and requires a broad technical and managerial perspective. Notice the mandates for a focus on the mission. CPI concepts can help you focus on that mission. Well-trained leaders impact the mission positively because they have a mindset of continuous improvement and develop that mindset in their subordinates through the use of the AFSA 21 concepts, the UDA loop and the 8 step problem solving model. Leaders who don't consider the use of continuous improvement will not meet the institutional competency of managing organizations and resources continuous improvement and therefore hinder their mission. Understanding CPI and the importance of continually improving processes can enhance mission accomplishment. This mindset can lead to conversations that frequently uncover new approaches and solutions to move the mission forward. This will meet the institutional competency of managing organizations and resources continuous improvement. It's not just a mindset. It's a mindset that can help you meet the mission. Do you remember the profession of arms chapter? One of the characteristics that sets the profession of arms apart is a body of theory and specialized knowledge. This characteristic is more than simply having the technical training and skill to do a given job. Professional competence is critical to a profession because the service provided by professions could have beneficial or devastating effects on the population it serves. From the time you raise your hand for the enlistment oath to the time you leave the service you are required to be professional which includes developing a focus of continuous improvement with the concepts in this chapter. Now that you know about the impact on mission effectiveness, let's summarize. We started this main point by looking at the impact of continuous improvement on subordinate effectiveness. Leaders that don't employ CPI concepts will most likely hinder subordinate effectiveness. If subordinates do not see their leaders using these techniques they will probably not use them when they progress in rank. Our subordinates will be more effective if you leverage your understanding of CPI principles to create a mindset to attack problems and identify opportunities for improvement. As senior NCOs you must create an environment where every airman thinks about improvement and is empowered to communicate with his or her supervisor, commander, or a change agent. Even processes that work well can be better. When this happens, subordinates will see the benefit of continuous improvement. Using CPI concepts can impact your effectiveness as a leader. It may be hindered if you don't seek to identify improvement opportunities. For example, you probably won't be able to set a mindset of continuous improvement for your subordinates if you don't continually keep in mind the AFSO 21 concepts and the 8 step problem solving model as tools for improvement. You might become complacent with the status quo. It's exactly the ability to keep continuous improvement in mind that is a sign of an effective leader. Effective leaders find ways to improve processes. They see the bigger picture and understand their strategic obligations. They employ strategies to translate good intentions into great results. Leaders who don't consider the use of continuous improvement will not meet the institutional competency of managing organizations and resources continuous improvement and therefore hinder their mission. Using CPI can enhance accomplishment of the mission because you better understand the importance of continually improving processes. Often this can lead to conversations that frequently deliver new approaches and solutions to move the mission forward. This will meet the institutional competency of managing organizations and resources continuous improvement. Also, don't forget about AFI 38-402 Airmen powered by innovation as one way to develop a mindset of continuous improvement. You should now be able to answer the questions posed at the beginning of this point. What's most likely to happen if you apply these concepts? Why should you use them? Now that you know about the impact of CPI complete the following progress checks before summarizing this chapter. Summary This chapter on continuous improvement began with an examination of the Air Force smart operations for the 21st century, AFSO 21. In this section, you looked at lean principles, waste, go and see, VSM, standard work, 6S, visual management, cell design and flow, and TOC. Next, the chapter shifted to how the never-ending cycle of the OODA loop and the 8-step problem-solving process closely parallel one another. Effective problem-solving must follow the observe, orient, decide, and act process and the 8-step problem-solving model. Attempting to skip, reorder, or shortcut any of the steps invariably leads to, at best, suboptimal solutions and at worst, outright failure. Senior NCOs must ensure they and their organizations are building a CPI culture, utilizing the tools available and selecting solutions that are aligned with the needs of the organization that will ensure the greatest impact. Finally, you wrapped up the chapter by gaining an understanding of how CPI impacts your subordinates, yourself and your mission. In today's environment, we face budget cuts and having to do more with less more often than before. For senior leaders, using techniques discussed in this chapter are essential to today's changing environment. By understanding and using CPI concepts, senior NCOs can be better positioned to lead their organizations and ensure successful mission accomplishment. However, creating a mindset and culture of continuous improvement begins with you. How you use the ideas in this chapter, AFSO 21, the Udalloop and the 8-step problem-solving process may very well determine whether your mission will fail or succeed. Key Terms Page 9 8-step problem-solving Page 12 AFSO 21 Page 2 Cell Design and Flow Page 10 Continuous Process Improvement Page 2 Defects Page 4 Excess Inventory Page 6 Go and See Lean Principles Page 3 Motion Page 6 Non-Standard Over-Processing Page 5 Udalloop Page 12 Over-Production Page 4 Standard Work Page 8 Theory of Constraints Page 10 Visual Management Page 9 Waiting Page 4 Waste Page 3