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C-17 team wins international excellence award |
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 An elated C-17 team is on its way home to Long Beach, Calif., after winning the bronze award this morning at the International Team Excellence competition in Toronto. At the conclusion of the three-day American Society for Quality conference, a panel of judges awarded the bronze to the C-17’s Special Operations Loading Ramp team, recognizing its performance excellence and quality improvement through participation. The SOLR team was one of 10 Boeing teams among 26 finalists in the competition.
“This is the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on. We had a total blast during the project phase,” said team member Elizabeth Haseltine, hardware buyer for the SOLR project. “But the best part was having the opportunity to share our story.”
The SOLR project emerged from an urgent customer need to enhance the capability of the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter. At the time, the aircraft’s loading ramp design increased the risk of injury and did not support the rapid movement of equipment in the U.S. Army’s inventory. The C-17 Program formed the SOLR team to meet this challenge, which included compressing a normal two-year project schedule into 10 months.
SOLR team members found the effort energizing and rewarding. But projects like this are what teaming on the C-17 program is all about, said Michael Pokorny, SOLR project manager.
“The project was much easier than the competition. The project is the work we do every day,” said Pokorny. “The competition is new for all of us – and we absolutely felt the pressure.”
Teri Garten, SOLR procurement agent, echoed that thought, calling the preparation for the competition “nerve-racking.” Garten recalls a particularly heated meeting four months ago in which the team was preparing its script for the Toronto competition. “I remember saying, ‘There’d better be happiness at the end of this rainbow.’ Today, we found our happiness,” she said.
Of the 26 finalists in the competition, 10 were Boeing teams. Eight of the Boeing teams were from the Long Beach-based C-17 Program; the other two were from Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Wichita, Kan.
“I’m so proud of all of our teams. In my book, they’re all winners,” said Dave Bowman, vice president and C-17 program manager. “Nearly a third of the finalist teams are from the C-17 Program. This speaks volumes about our culture of teaming, quality and performance excellence. The C-17 Program is all about empowered people and engaged teams.”
Ray Bunch, chair of the AQP Team Excellence Awards and one of the lead judges in the competition, said all the teams showed tremendous pride in quality and passion for teaming. “I hope they’re able to continue to share their stories of success, to work toward employee involvement and team success, for the good of the company,” he said.
The experience of preparing for the competition was not just good for Boeing – it was great for the company, said Cathy Tran, who led the C-17 team effort in Toronto and spent nearly a year helping the teams prepare for the competition.
“This journey has brought the teams together in a very cohesive way,” Tran said. “I’m proud of what they accomplished working together. And the value of their efforts is very tangible: Our teams saved Boeing more than $100 million.”
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