Capt. David Hart, Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) commanding officer, recognized Josh Laverdiere, an Epsilon contracted employee with SWRMC, for the Idea of the Quarter on April 25.

This is the second recognition of its kind by SWRMC as a result of the Production Department’s Workforce Idea Boards. The Idea Boards are a place for employees, like Laverdiere, to post their process improvement ideas that enhance productivity across the enterprise.

“Our production department instituted these Idea Boards to give everyone a chance to impact SWRMC’s process improvement efforts,” said Hart. “This idea represents a step-function improvement. The shop has a new capacity, with minimal investment, that is quickly making a difference for the ships. This is what the maintenance community is being challenged to do, improving our support to the fleet while providing a cost savings to the Navy.”

Laverdiere’s Idea of the Quarter was to improve the Search and Rescue (SAR) Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) testing process in SWRMC’s SCBA shop.

“This idea really is inspiring. It shows the impact one idea can have – one person asking the right questions can vastly improve the way we do business,” said Craig Cunningham, SWRMC’s Production Department Head. “This is what the Idea Boards are all about; implementing one idea at a time to improve SWRMC’s ability to support the needs of the Fleet and the Navy.”

As a technician in SWRMC’s SCBA Shop, Laverdiere noticed the process of functional testing for the SAR SCBA harnesses involved sending the harness to the private sector. He decided to find out if his shop could do the testing themselves.

"I thought we were a one-stop shop, but that's not really the case if we have to send this type of certification out in town to get it done,” explained Josh.  

To get more information on the process of functional testing, he called the manufacturer. He was told with the purchase of two adapters at a small cost, the shop could perform the test on the SAR SCBA with equipment they already had.

“We've now completed a total of four jobs where we have tested eight SAR harnesses since purchasing the adapters in January 2019,” said Laverdiere.  “The SCBA shop now has the capability to perform functional testing on harnesses and is officially a one-stop shop for all types of SCBAs.”

Since the Production Department first introduced the Boards in March of 2018, SWRMC has added 12 more across the department and two in other SWRMC departments to improve processes and procedures.

SWRMC is meeting its mission to provide superior ship maintenance, modernization, technical support, and training for the Pacific Fleet.

For more information on SWRMC please visit http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/RMC/SWRMC.

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For more news from Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, visit www.navy.mil/.