Mapping out success
The Laboratory's new Operational Efficiency Project will help the Lab develop predictable and reliable operations within a well-defined safety envelope. The Executive Board approved the project execution plan for the Operational Efficiency Project earlier this month.“Operational Efficiency is the institutional commitment and get-well plan to address areas of high risk,” Laboratory Director Pete Nanos said in describing the project.
The OE scope was developed based on issues identified by the Operations Council and reviewed by senior management at a retreat last June, before the suspension of operations. Many of the same issues were highlighted as a result of resumption and were repeatedly identified in the management self-assessments, said John Bretzke, OE project director.
The scope will include eight functional areas representing some of the Lab’s highest areas of risk: safety, quality assurance, software quality assurance, conduct of engineering, safety basis, operations, environmental risk management and training. These areas ensure that properly trained individuals perform their jobs using quality materials, tools and software in a risk-assessed safety envelope where no one gets hurt, the environment isn’t detrimentally affected and the work is conducted in facilities that are well maintained and designed to support programmatic and scientific work, said Bretzke.
Also in March, a special Operations Task Force, staffed by representatives from every directorate, was established to resolve key barriers to the implementation of several elements of the Operational Efficiency Project. The mission of this task force is to clarify the roles, responsibilities, authorities and accountabilities of the responsible division leader; to identify minimum operational support resource requirements within divisions and directorates; and to identify needed tools.
Metrics to measure success will be jointly developed by the Los Alamos Site Office and the Laboratory, Bretzke said.
"The success of OE is important to the future of the Laboratory and to the Los Alamos Site Office,” LASO Manager Ed Wilmot said. “It is the needed plan to institutionalize improvements for the long-term. We are working closely with the Lab observing how this is being implemented to ensure that this is an integrated approach that encompasses the right activities.”
“Ultimately, success means that eventually the project will become a seamless integration of our daily jobs and the way we do business,” Bretzke added. “The challenge of OE implementation revolves around the diversity of operations we have at the Laboratory -- no one procedure or practice will work for all divisions. Instead, we will develop a process that fits for the different types of operations we do at the Lab. The heart of OE implementation is to make deliberate decisions about applying requirements in a consistent, graded manner,” he said.
In addition to developing predictable and reliable operations within a well-defined safety envelope, OE will implement formalized processes to identify risk and protect people inside and outside the Laboratory, said Bretzke. OE is a disciplined, formalized way of conducting operations with a high degree of certainty and consistent results. It will improve how the Laboratory does work, eliminating rework and reducing costs by correcting situations in safety and compliance that pose an unacceptable level of risk. By eliminating those risks it will ultimately lead the Lab to a more reliable operation, he explained.
A new Web page currently is being developed to provide the work force more information on the Operational Efficiency Project.
--Kathy DeLucas