Hanford Team Demonstrates Continuous Improvement Can Occur Virtually Anywhere

RICHLAND, Wash. – The COVID-19 pandemic fast-forwarded the adoption and adaptation of the digital workplace and like at many EM sites, numerous work groups at the Hanford Site have mastered that shift.

The operating excellence team with EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) is one example of successfully shifting to virtual platforms.

The team demonstrated innovation to enable effective structured improvement activities (SIAs) during telework, social distancing, and other COVID-19 controls. Lean Six Sigma Program Manager Tracy Desmond said her team transformed SIAs, such as strategy workshops and kaizens, to virtual settings using a communications platform.

“Transitioning to virtual activities has been an amazing learning experience for our team and provides a new dimension of facilitation that has been surprisingly effective,” Desmond said.

Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning “change for the better” or “continuous improvement.” HMIS recently conducted an activity for such a change to the DOE task order process. The activity included team members from across the EM complex, spanning from its headquarters in the Washington, D.C. area to Hanford in Richland, Washington.

The four-day virtual kaizen focused on developing an integrated task order process to expedite the development, approval, and implementation of indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) task orders.

Task orders are adaptable contract types that give a government agency flexibility to agree to a contract when the exact requirements or needs are not known. The IDIQ contracting model required a new task order process to develop firm fixed price, cost reimbursement, and performance work statements. The workshop resulted in a common understanding of process expectations, roles, responsibilities, and resource gaps.

“The virtual kaizen techniques applied demonstrated that this platform can be effectively used complex wide, without incurring travel time and cost,” said Cathy Louie, RL portfolio analysis program lead. “The facilitation team was highly professional in preparation during the virtual workshop delivery and at the out-brief.”

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