Original Date: 01/26/1998
Revision Date: 01/18/2003

Corpus Christi Army Depot’s (CCAD’s) Corporate Performance Office (CPO) has documented the various planned and previously implemented continuous improvement initiatives in a single installation regulation. This document is applicable to all attached organizational elements of CCAD, and prescribes the policies, responsibilities, and procedures for developing, implementing, and managing an Installation-wide continuous improvement process (CIP).

A variety of employee involvement and quality initiatives have been implemented by CCAD organizations since 1980. These have included quality circles, quality management boards, process action teams, special task force teams, and self-managed work teams. Teams have been trained in group dynamics, problem solving techniques, leader training, researching and gathering data, cost benefit analysis, and preparing presentations for project approval. Generally these initiatives were located in pocket areas of CCAD rather than being universally understood and implemented. Total Army Quality Specialists worked with specific directorates/divisions/branches over the years to establish plans for growth and development of teaming initiatives. These efforts resulted in many successes and excellence awards for team performance, tangible/intangible benefits, Secretary of Defense Excellence Awards, President Al Gore’s Hammer Award, Association of Quality and Participation Team Excellence Awards and presentations. It was recognized that continuing efforts needed to be institutionalized to remain integral to evolving strategic planning and Executive Leadership Team (ELT) directions.

As a result, in May 1997, the CPO facilitated formation of a CIP Documentation Team tasked with the development of a CIP regulation to define the teams, flowchart the process, and identify responsibilities in implementing continuous improvement strategies. On October 27, 1997, regulation CCAD R 5-11, CIP, was issued which defined executive, senior, division, and branch level Leadership teams, their relation to each other, and their role in continuous improvement for the Installation as a whole. The evolving roles of CIIP teams and Self-Managing Working teams were also defined. The responsibilities of the traditional CCAD organizations relating to continuous improvement were set up in a matrix with the ELT given overarching oversight. A separate document of guidelines for facilitating the CIP team efforts was also developed to supplement the regulation.
This effort to plan and document the CIP is essential for tying together all the related initiatives and team efforts within CCAD. The new regulation ensures that these efforts are in consonance with the direction being pursued through strategic planning. By documenting the stages and responsibilities in this process, CCAD has a step-by-step blueprint for attaining High Performance goals in cost, quality, and schedule. Follow-on steps include the ELT developing a CIP policy statement, reviewing source documents, selecting key performance indicators, and appointing action officers with responsibilities for reporting the indicators. The year 1998 was designated the base year for metrics and performance goals to measure continuous improvement success.

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