HVM concept gets new wings Published June 17, 2011 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- High Velocity Maintenance is an innovative concept in aircraft maintenance taking hold at Robins, but it doesn't have to be confined to the flightline. Maj. Gen. Robert McMahon, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center commander, said its tenets apply to everything being done at Robins. One of the leaders in the movement toward HVM in the C-130 area agrees. "You can apply these basic concepts to everything we do," said Jerry Mobley, the HVM team lead. For the past two years the team has tested the HVM concepts on six C-130s. Now the validation has ended and the C-130 area is moving toward applying HVM to the full production line. Mobley estimates that by the end of 2012 all C-130 maintenance at Robins will be done using HVM. Moves are also being made to rapidly implement these concepts in C-5s followed by F-15s. HVM has four basic concepts and the first is understanding requirements. For C-130s, that means knowing the condition of the aircraft before it gets here. Understanding what is required has been beneficial because special parts and equipment can be obtained before the aircraft arrives. The second tenet is supportability, which is making sure the mechanics have everything they need to perform the required tasks. The third tenet is daily standard work. It is a repeatable process, laid out in a daily schedule, so that each time a task is done it is done the same way, which reduces the risk of errors and improves quality. The final tenet is achieving a high "burn rate." That is ultimately the goal of the first three tenets because it means mechanics are getting the work accomplished by actually working on the aircraft rather than chasing down parts and tools. "If we put in place and follow these same principles in our everyday processes, whether it be contracting, engineering, medical or avionics repair, the result will propel Warner Robins ALC to achieve our production goals," Mobley said. As an example of how the concepts might apply to other areas, Mobley cited a program manager working with a contracting officer to procure an item. For the contracting officer to accomplish the task quickly and efficiently, the officer would need to fully understand the requirement to assess what actions will be required. The contracting officer would also need to have the right documentation - such as statement of work and market-research information - which would be the supportability element of the task. By using a repeatable process, they would know exactly how it should be done each time. And, by using the first three tenets, the contracting officer should achieve a good burn rate by devoting more time to acquiring the item rather than playing a frustrating game of phone tag in an attempt to get all of the information needed to even begin the process. "I think we have proven that regardless of the task at hand, these principles are the key to it," Mobley said. "Understanding your requirement allows you to eliminate a lot of reactiveness and eliminates a lot of wasted time."