Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Thomas, a aviation structural mechanic who constantly seeks opportunities to improve himself, found his niche as a continuous process improvement (CPI) practitioner.

Thomas has led or served as a mentor for more than 14 AIRSpeed events at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) since March 2015, and his efforts have resulted in reducing wasted man-hours by more than 9,200 hours, cost avoiding $1.5 million and identifying a additional $7.5 million in potential cost savings. He was one of two awardees to receive the NAE Boots on the Ground (BoG) Site Visit Excellence Award during a two-day BoG hosted by Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, California, July 26.

Thomas' passion for CPI impressed FRCSW leadership and earned him the recognition from his command.

"He is one of the most motivated Sailors I've seen when it comes to CPI," said FRCSW Maintenance and Material Control Officer (MMCO) Lt. Ben Mathe, who nominated Thomas. "His energy is astounding and his positive attitude spreads to other Sailors and artisans he works with. Everything he does is about CPI."

Thomas said the relationship is symbiotic. He said the Sailors and artisans he has worked with give him a broad range of knowledge about the inner workings of FRCSW.

"Because of AIRSpeed, I've worked with several departments in the FRC," he said. "I have a better understanding about the processes and roles of each division."

If he had worked only as a aviation structural mechanic, Thomas said, he normally would not have had the opportunity to work with avionics electrician technicians to improve the reliability of Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) cables.

"The 600 Division's ALFS Cable Re-termination RIE (rapid improvement event) was cool," Thomas said. "We worked on a piece of gear that had a lot of variation and we weren't sure what to do. Each item was taking an average of 55 man-hours to repair."

FRCSW is one of three sites in the Navy that maintains repair capability on these components. The RIE team reached out to experts at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, and NAS Jacksonville, Florida, to get a better understanding of their challenges and processes. After developing new procedures and incorporating best practices from the other sites, the pass rate on the cables went from 47 percent to 95 percent.

Thomas was the lead on the Structures Shop Center Stabilizer Beyond the Capability of Maintenance (BCM) Reduction Value Stream Analysis, which formed the basis for a follow-up Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control-Validate (DMAICV) Project and RIE.

"We kept seeing defects in the repair cycles," he said.

Analysis revealed much of the controllable variation was caused by improper use of tools while disassembling the stabilizers, in addition to excessive corrosion beneath the stabilizers elastomeric bearings. As a result, repair kits were updated with new tools and technicians were trained on their proper use. Technicians are now also required to first remove elastomeric bearings when inducting the stabilizers for repair to check for excessive corrosion before any additional work is performed.

"This keeps the technicians from completely tearing down the stabilizers before sending them to [non-destructive inspection (NDI)], which saves a lot of man-hours," Thomas said.

Findings on corrosion were sent to the stabilizer's original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for mitigation. As the project lead for the Hydraulics/Pneumatics Branch Damper RIE, Thomas said he found the event especially challenging. Before the event, maintainers were testing pistons prior to assembling the damper, requiring adjustments to meet piston valve specifications.

"The piston valve setting procedure was very broad, and it was hard for the damper to pass inspection because the limits were so narrow," he said.

The RIE team standardized maintenance processes and trained personnel, reducing the damper's cycle time by 10 days.

Thomas credits Lt. Carol Yeiser for introducing him to CPI. Yeiser was Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22's aviation maintenance officer at Naval Station Norfolk, where Thomas was assigned before transferring to FRCSW.

"As a prior airframer, she was one of my mentors at the squadron," he said. "When I told her my next assignment was the FRC, she suggested I learn more about AIRSpeed."

Today, Thomas is a trained black belt having earned his certification from Villanova University.

CPI, Thomas said, raises his visibility among FRCSW leadership, but interacting with Sailors and artisans has made him a better Sailor.

"When a Sailor gets to where I am in my career, it is very competitive to become a leader," he said. "Part of being a leader is to pass along knowledge and to encourage others to voice their ideas. By collaborating with them, they've helped me as well by tying information together and showing me things that I didn't see before."

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Aviation Enterprise, visit http://www.navy.mil/.