When implementing innovative processes within an aircraft production line - in this case, in the 561st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron that maintains the Air Force's F-15 tactical fighter - it's understood that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.

And when looking at performance metric charts detailing due-date performance, while it may appear to be all about numbers, those figures don't tell the entire story.

Since January, there has been a 50-percent increase in throughput of aircraft. That's cause for optimism; however, let's step back for a moment. 

Take the last 18 months in the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex. It was an atypical period as nearly 1,000 complex employees left as a result of the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Program - ultimately leading to the loss of hundreds of years of maintenance experience. 

The summer 2013 sequestration period also hit the complex hard. But at the same time, the way business was being conducted in getting airplanes out the door wasn't sustainable. 

"We weren't going to get better"

It was time for a change.

"I've said many times that furloughs didn't cause F-15 problems. They ended any speculation about us getting better. It was over - we weren't going to get better," said Mike Arnold, 561st AMXS director. "The furloughs added 24 days of delay to an airplane that was here for the entire furlough period, and then there were varying numbers of days for aircraft that were touched during that time.

"The furloughs were devastating, but it was really just an exclamation point on a downward trend that was coming through the summer (of 2013)," he said.

Fast forward to the fall of 2013, heading into fiscal 2014, and the squadron's production lines were not only not producing aircraft, but conducting business in the wrong way, with the wrong results - the worst of both worlds, according to Arnold. 

Hitting bottom  

It was after all in early 2013 when the squadron started to see signs of problems, due to a change in some processes. Then the low point came in December 2013.

"That represented the bottom," said Arnold. 

A total of three aircraft were produced in that month.  

It was not only time for a change, but time to get back to the fundamentals of what it meant to manage a production machine, a process of how a plane flows through each area during programmed depot maintenance.

Meeting in December 2013 with Doug Keene, then the WR-ALC special assistant to the commander, a set of six fundamental rules were introduced. They included controlling work in progress; working on supportable aircraft; dedicating personnel to a line; manloading based on staffing; quick-issue resolutions and implementing standard business rules. 

"When we got those rules, that was the linkage of giving us very specific actions, then implementing the principles that we were learning with the AFSC Way," said Arnold. 

The AFSC Way is an approach that incorporates scientific production principles and the AFSC leadership model that places emphasis on process discipline and accountability. The idea is to have the production process flow the same way every time. 

"Since then it has really been an unrelenting focus to get the process right," he said. 

Looking back to December 2013, various efforts had been tried to get aircraft produced, everything from maximizing overtime to sourcing parts from other planes to move the production line forward.  

But beginning January 2014, though using new standards and rules, results were not immediately felt until months later in April.

One practical outcome of implementing one rule (aircraft supportability) involved freezing 14 aircraft at the time due to not having required parts. 

"Immediately we got worse," said Keene. "When following rules with planes not being supportable and not working them, it gets worse. But it brings the discipline to the system that we want." 

At that time there were nearly 40 planes on station, with about 25 in various stages of work - with 14 stopped. 

"There was no other way to shock the supportability side of this to the point where we got the attention inside our squadron that we really needed," said Arnold. 

The right results, the right way 

As a result of how business is currently conducted - getting the right results in the right way - the squadron has seen a 50-percent improvement in monthly production since January 2014.

In January, the throughput rate went from 3.8 aircraft produced each month, to the current 5.7 aircraft. The goal is to produce seven to eight aircraft per month. 

It was agreed that no single effort can be traced to turning F-15 production; however, there is much to celebrate moving into the new fiscal year.

The culture of the squadron's 650 personnel has shifted, a sign of commitment amidst ongoing challenges. 

"I'm optimistic," said Arnold. "It's not going to be easy, but I see that we have all the tools we need. We know what and where our problems are, and we're working to solve each one."

"Our goal is not to fix F-15s - our goal is to recreate it into a sustainable business," he said. 

Seeing processes come under control with a consistent pattern of improvement, Keene said he has confidence in fiscal 2015.

"This is an absolute. We are already better," he said. "I'm looking at the processes and data ... it's not what we're going to do, or what we're thinking about - it's what we are doing."