Equipment control office exemplifies continuous process improvement

  • Published
  • 96th Communications Group
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  In the late afternoon on the last day of the month, an equipment custodian rushed in to the Base Equipment Control Office to deliver her annual Information Technology inventory report. 

It was the final account due, and delivery of the report carried some significance - a perfect on-time record for Team Eglin for 25 consecutive months. 

"You certainly weren't going to be the one to shatter the team record, were you?" joked Judy White, looking at her watch. Ms. White serves as primary Base Equipment Control Officer who, along with alternate Elaine Gilbert, provides hardware asset accountability and management for the Air Armament Center. 

Moving into a third year with no overdue computer equipment accounts is a proud achievement and reflects well upon all 550 equipment custodians, their supervisors, commanders and the two equipment control officers. 

"This took committed personnel working in concert across the board to maintain 275 accounts current for such an extended period of time," said Ms. White. "It is truly an awesome team achievement." 

A perfect record is new for Eglin's IT inventory. Before 2004, more than forty overdue accounts were on the books at any given time. Ms. White joined the team in October 2004, and brought with her a crusade of continuous process improvement.

"Judy streamlined every process in the Base Equipment Control Office after discarding any process that did not add value," says Lisa Quigley Brown, Support Flight Chief in the 96th Communications Group. 

Almost five years later, IT equipment custodians at Eglin deliver inventory reports consistently on time. The difference can be seen in the processes: equipment custodians receive early notifications of due dates, transactions are entered into databases promptly and accurately, and assistance is rendered readily and cheerfully by the Base Equipment Control Officers. 

Among the tools available to help the custodians is the community of practice web site. Custodians can receive assistance there from a detailed reference guide, check their account inventory due date, and download transaction documents. Another tool in the kit is a distribution list of all custodians' email addresses, which is maintained by the Base Equipment Control Office to help custodians advertise excess IT equipment to other organizations at Eglin for reuse. 

Tina Powell of the 308 Armament Systems Wing is a custodian who appreciates the help provided by the Base Equipment Control Office.

"I have been an equipment custodian for more than eight years overseeing 16 accounts," she said.  "I garner advice from Judy and Elaine on a weekly basis; my questions and concerns are always addressed promptly and professionally. During stressful annual inventory times, they provide a friendly voice of calm on the other end of the phone." 

Another in a long list of notable improvements for Team Eglin is the Base Equipment Control Office's recently completed paperless project, in which 18,000-required paper documents were converted to electronic files. Lauding praise for Eglin's Base Equipment Control Office, the Air Force Communications Agency IT Asset Management team lead, Mel Cooper, said he believes Eglin is the first base to eliminate all paper copies of these records.

"Using their own initiative, they developed processes to eliminate all paper copies of official inventory records and their effort to create official electronic records has resulted in a more efficient process for filing and retrieving these records. As we visit and talk to other Equipment Control Officers, we will encourage them to use the Eglin initiatives to improve their own processes." 

According to Ms. White, a true visionary whose long journey of excellence continues, her office does not intend to rest on its laurels. Her favorite quote is from Albert Einstein; "Vision without execution is hallucination!"