Please take a look at the below pictures. Which tool kit would you prefer to arrive on your site? Which tool kit would empower you to better do your job?

In late August, Wes Story (APM Gas Superintendent) and I had the privilege to engage in a Shingijitsu kaizen event at the FieldCore Atlanta Tool Center. (A Shingijutsu kaizen is a continuous improvement event spearheaded by a specially trained teacher called Sensei, with multiple kaizens occurring in parallel.) We spent a week with the other GE Vernova One Field Service leaders and the Tool Center technicians, observing them inventory kits, helping them identify opportunities to eliminate waste and improve the tool kit inventory process. What did Wes & I learn?

First, our tool techs take pride in their work and want to send clean kits to our jobsites. I have full confidence in their intent!

I also have full confidence that our sites want to return clean kits. We saw this first hand in the Atlanta Tool Center when the tool techs opened a gas kit returned from Dania Beach jobsite, worked by our own APM crews led by Ricky Ewing – DS Lead Supt, Joey Hampton – DS Deck Supt, Teddy Pentz – NS Lead Supt, & Josh Silas – NS Deck Supt. How can we do this? Below are some best practices shared by the Dania Beach team.

There is opportunity for our GE Vernova One Field Services organization to enable the success of our tool techs and our Field Teams, particularly on things like shadowboxing (a place for everything and everything in its place) and ergonomic design (removing the need to get on your hands and knees to pick up heavy hydraulic tools at the bottom of the kit). We all can help here. If you have ideas on how we can better design kits, please share them.

Finally, please embrace the idea that a clean kit returned leads to a clean kit sent out. A clean kit returned makes the inventory process safer, makes the inventory quality better, and reduces the time to inventory. Especially in peak outage season, when kits are being returned, inventoried, and sent back out the next job with urgency, this becomes a crucial point. Ask yourself this question: Would you want to receive the tool kit you are returning to the tool center on your next job?

We truly can help the Tool Centers help us.

-Jake