RE: Applying Deming to the Service Sector

[Rip Stauffer <rstauffer@bluefirepartners.com>]

Del Nelson points out that PACER SHARE, one of the Air Force's early
efforts, was conducted at McClellan and adds, parenthetically, "now closed,
hmmm, interesting fact: every military base used to demo a quality project
has been closed."

This is an interesting point. A number of bases which were used as demos
were closed, but at least some were not; Mayport Naval Station springs to
mind, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, and Parris Island Marine
Boot Camp.  It might be an error to think that those that were successful
early sustained that success, because I am not aware of any activities that
managed to beat the lack of constancy of purpose that was one of our worst
bugaboos. 

I've been a civilian for a couple of years now, and so out of touch.
However, I really don't think that success or failure in implementing
quality has been nearly the factor in whether an activity survived the
rounds of closings in the last few years. Cherry Point managed to squeak by
a couple of rounds because of their high quality, but once their "quality"
commanding officer left, they reverted to some earlier practices and they
were about to be closed as I was leaving the Navy. Most bases, however, are
closed or not by the whims of Congress and the White House, for reasons
having much more to do with politics than quality. There are actually some
activities that military leaders have been trying to close for some years
due to lack of personnel for upkeep and maintenance, and they have not been
allowed to close them because they are political footballs.


Best regards to all,

Rip

Rip Stauffer, Senior Consultant
BlueFire Partners
1300 Fifth St. Towers, 150 So. Fifth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-344-1027
mailto:rstauffer@bluefirepartners.com
http://www.bluefirepartners.com/