MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga. -- Because of its continuous process improvement accomplishments, the Maintenance Center Albany team won a Marine Corps-wide excellence award.
Maj. Gen. James A. Kessler, commanding general, Marine Corps Logistics Command, presented the 2010 Continuous Process Improvement Excellence Award from the commandant of the Marine Corps for the best organization-wide deployment of CPI in the supporting establishment to Col. Terry W. Reid, commander, MCA, and Sgt. Maj. Conrad Potts, sergeant major, MCA, Jan. 14 at the Major S. P. “Swede” Hansen Officers’ Club/Conference Center.
The award was presented during a Commander’s Conference hosted by Logistics Command. Maintenance Center Albany competed against all Marine Corps bases and stations, as well as against Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., and Blount Island Command, Jacksonville, Fla., for the award.
The CPI Excellence Awards are presented annually by the commandant of the Marine Corps to organizations and individuals for noteworthy achievements in continuous process improvement that have improved readiness and support to the Marine Corps’ warfighting mission, according to Marine Corps Continuous Process Improvement Program Office officials.
Kessler praised the efforts of MCA’s personnel. He described the award competition as very keen and stressed that the MCA team’s “efforts are customer-focused and they hear what the customers need and respond in a timely (fashion).”
After accepting the award, Reid said a lot of work went into the CPI program. “We’re building on what we have and trying to make it bigger and better,” he said, thanking the Commander’s Conference attendees for helping MCA win the award. “The accomplishments are more important than winning awards and the accomplishments help us perform our business better. We have a great team.”
In October 2009, Reid and Trent Blalock, deputy commander, MCA, signed a Declaration of Continuous Process Improvement, according to Bill Cuff, who led the CPI implementation. The declaration was also signed by all managers within the maintenance center to reinforce the commitment of management at all levels to continuous improvement The CPI Declaration has been posted throughout MCA to inform and empower the workforce.
Maintenance Center Albany has been committed to sustaining a culture of continuous process improvement building on a foundation of best practices such as Theory of Constraints and adding business tools such as Lean and Six Sigma, officials said. Reid noted that anytime the MCA team receives an award they are very appreciative of the recognition; however, “we don’t chase awards. We chase improvements. I thank Bill, who championed the effort.”
Cuff said the CPI award was a team award for the entire maintenance center.
“It was really exciting when we found out we had been selected,” he said. “I’m really proud of the whole organization. Without everyone wanting to make improvements, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Cuff added that MCA personnel “identified the need to continuously seek improvement so we can maintain, in our own eyes, the title of depot of choice.”