Humvee Masking

  In 2006 the Strouse Corporation had an opportunity to participate in a solution to a serious military challenge. The Army was struggling to refurbish the returning combat vehicles in a timely manner because of the skill, time and labor required to get them in condition to go back to the front. Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, PA, Tobyhanna Army Depot in Tobyhanna, PA and Red River Army depot in Texarkanna, TX were investing an inordinate amount of labor in masking the General Motors Humvees prior to repainting and was striving to improve throughput. On average, each Depot were returning just 3 Humvees to active duty per month using a 'bay' process.

  Letterkenny had originally contacted 3M to get advice and sample material to test during the repainting of their first returned vehicles. With the testing phase continuing, 3M's rep contacted Strouse for advice. After watching the process, it was suggested by Mark Mogar, Strouse's sales engineer for military contacts, that the situation could be improved by using die cuts-specific shapes, precisely cut to fit hard to mask items like windshields and headlights.  The experience of working with Automotive OEM manufactured parts from Ford, Toyota, Nissan and GM, aided in the concept. The original prototypes were engineered via Strouse's Rapid Response Program. After finalizing the die cut shapes, the real money saver was creating rotary dies that would produce the masking parts accurately and at a high rate of speed and would be more cost effective than sheet fed or plotter created die cuts.  One other question from Letterkenny was whether Strouse could supply other items for the paint process. The sales and engineering staff then designed a kit of masking components. Tabbed, paint masks for windshields, turn signals and headlights as well as corrugated motor masks, wiring harness shields, and tire bags were created. Packaged together, these tabbed, die cut masking parts provided:

• A concise, complete packet.

• Precise clean edged mask for easy application by the end user.

• Masks with an aggressive adhesive with no residue upon removal.

• Pull tabs for quick and efficient de-masking of parts.

• Labor and material savings with minimal waste.

  The Letterkenny team saw a marked improvement in masking/demasking time.  Due to the improved throughput, the Depot was able to acquire the bulk of the returning Humvees.

  Today, on average, 23 Humvees are completed daily according to the Army Materiel Command. For this improvement in output, the Army awarded Red River and 12 Army commands the prestigious Shingo Prize Public Sector Award for Excellence in Manufacturing and Achievement. Business Week has called it 'the Nobel Prize for Manufacturing'. The basis for the change can be traced to the adoption of Lean Sigma Six principles. Col. Douglas Evans, the Commander at Red River was quoted as saying, "We could not have accomplished this without the help of every single employee". He added that when he arrived at the depot two years ago, he told everyone that he was "all about changing people, or changing people". He also stated that employees embraced the mindset of business transformation and now he has a staff with yellow, green, brown and black belts in Lean Six Sigma.1

 The depot has used and assembly-line or 'flow' proocess to recap Humvees for some time and, that program is actually what eaned the depot it's Shingo award. But Col. Evans said the reset program is what underewnt the biggest changes most recently.  Under recap, the Army is changing old Humvees to one of the new variants, Col. Evans said. Under reset,, , the Army is rebuilding up-armored Humvees damaged in Iraq and Afganistan.2

  Recently, Strouse has engineered and manufactured kits for the Sikorsky Blackhawk Helicopter's combat refurb, as well as other returning combat vehicles and aircraft.  Strouse's innovative 'kit' concept works. Each Depot has used the rationale- a complete package, everything needed for a set of skilled hands to complete their task. No lost lost or misplaced parts. Labor, time and material (i.e.-money) are saved in the process. Another added benefit, Strouse has 8A Certification as a Women's Business Enterprise, which aids the military in meeting diversity goals.

1-www.army.mil/news:Kim Russell

2-www.army.mil/news:Gary Sheftick