Process Improvement at Army Installations

Abstract

Compliance with environmental law is becoming significantly expensive. In the past for convenience of management, compliance and pollution prevention were considered independently from production. Environmental law was introduced to optimize production methods to reduce pollution. Energy conservation opportunities (ECOs) that enhance pollution prevention have been compiled through research at many installations, including United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (USACERL). Executive Orders require the Army to reduce the use of energy and related environmental impacts by promoting renewable energy technologies. These new energy and environmental directives usually exceed the performance capabilities of DODs currently installed industrial technologies. The majority of DOD industrial activities utilize 40 year-old technologies and facilities. The objective of this project was to conduct a Level II process optimization audit on a munitions manufacturing operation at an Army base to optimize capacity, and energy and environmental performance. This paper reports the outcome and offers insights into process optimization.