Newsletter from the Army's Oldest Operating Arsenal - December 2017

SALVOU.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal - Since 1813

December 2017

F i r s t h a n d o b s e r v a t i o n c o n f i r m s f o u r - s t a r ' s b e l i e f :

T h e r e i s n o o n e e l s e w h o c a n d o w h a t Wa t e r v l i e t d o e s

Salvo December 31, 2017

The Arsenal Salvo is an authorized monthly publication for members of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Salvo are not necessar-ily the official views of, or an endorsement by the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or the Watervliet Arsenal. News may be submitted for publication by sending articles to Public Affairs Officer, 1 Buffington Street, Bldg. 10, Watervliet, NY 12189, or stop by office #102, Bldg. 10, Watervliet Arsenal. The editor may also be reached at (518) 266-5055 or by e-mail: [email protected]. The editor reserves the right to edit all information submitted for pub-lication.

Commander, Col. Joseph R. MorrowPublic Affairs Officer, John B. SnyderEditor, John B. SnyderPhotographer: John B. Snyder Arsenal Facebook Page @https://www.facebook.com/WatervlietArsenal?ref=hlCover Photo by Billy Martin

Colonel Joseph R. MorrowCommander’s Corner

For many in private industry, the holiday sea-son is a slack time of year as operations tend to slow down. Some of this decline is by design. Some of the decline, however, is by default, as some workers find it hard to remain focused on the mission. But that is private industry.

We, on the other hand, did not have the luxury of slack time, as the materiel readiness that we produced this month may directly support the war fighters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Syria. Even though the distance between the howitzer barrel on our production floor to an artillery crew mem-ber in Iraq is great, the direct correlation between our operations to a Soldier’s success on the battle-field is unbroken.

To help us realize and to better appreciate that point, the commander of the Army Materiel Com-mand, Gen. Gus Perna, visited here on Dec. 11. During his visit, we showcased our efforts to pro-vide materiel readiness to today’s and tomorrow’s Soldiers. Although Gen. Perna provided many teaching moments, it was during his media en-gagement where he put into context the value that the Arsenal provides to our nation.

According to Gen. Perna, the capability that is produced here contributes directly to Soldiers’ confidence on the battlefield. It is the Soldiers’

confidence that allows them to be successful on the battlefield. The Arsenal's relevance should not be impacted by the fact that its operations are in New York, because the workforce is impacting the battlefield every day.

Think about those statements for a moment. We are impacting the lives of Soldiers every day. That is a pretty powerful message that we should take to heart in all that we do here. I know that most of you do.

As we close out 2017, I ask you to double down on those personal and professional actions that has made you and the Arsenal successful. Over the course of the next few years, we must double our capacity to support the readiness of U.S. and allied forces. No small undertaking for us even though we have more than 200 years of experience building capacity for our troops.

I wish you the very best for a happy and safe New Year.


Story continues on page 4, “Perna”

By John B. Snyder

On Dec. 11, Gen. Gus Perna, the commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, made his first visit to Watervliet. Here, Chief of Manufac-turing John Zayhowski, right, is briefing Perna on the heat treatment process en route to a swage area.

Photo by Billy Martin

Watervliet: A place where four stars and 200 years converged this month

On Dec. 11, the commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, Gen. Gus Perna, visited here and over the course of a few hours he saw firsthand some of the great manufacturing work the Arsenal’s artisans have in production to provide immediate and sustained materiel readiness to the troops.

Understanding that Perna is not one to be bogged down with PowerPoint slides in a sterile conference room, the Arsenal commander, Col. Joseph Morrow, picked Perna up at the airport and his first stop on the Arsenal was to a heavy production building. And over the course of the next few hours, Perna never left the production floors.

From the forging of an Abrams Tank barrel that was heated to nearly 2,000 degrees to the quality control process for mortar production to seeing an Extended Range Cannon Artillery tube being pressed

with hundreds of tons of pressure, Perna was able to use all of his senses to conclude what he may have already believed…there is no one else ‘anywhere’ that can do what is done here.

Not to waste the rare moment of the Arsenal being visited by a four-star general, a media engagement was injected into the visit time line. This media event in of itself was a rare event as Perna became the first general officer of any star level to engage the local media during a visit in the last 10 years.

Because time was tight, as well as a desire to keep Perna on the production floor, the Arsenal set up a stand-up interview site right between the straightening of a prototype howitzer barrel and a display of the products currently in production for a

Top: Chief of Manufacturing John Zayhowski, center, briefing Gen. Gus Perna, left, on minor component manufacturing.Center: Gen. Gus Perna being interviewed by Spectrum News reporter Geoff Redick, left, and Times Union reporter Larry Ru-lison.Bottom: Gen. Gus Perna meeting Chief of Contracting Gerard Mangione.


Perna Cont.

Photos by Billy Martin

future gun system. This site was strategically placed to ensure that the interviews would immediately follow Perna’s update on two future weapons products. The Arsenal has a strong desire to be known for its support to the future readiness needs of the nation’s Soldiers, as well as well as for its ability to answer the readiness calls of today’s troops.

During a 15-minute discussion with reporters from the Albany Times Union newspaper and the Capital Region Spectrum News organization, Perna had messages for several audiences.

To members of Congress, he said what he and the Arsenal needs from them is consistent, predictable funding. If they, members of Congress, could do that then he could sustain workload here to maintain the critical skills that are providing readiness for our force.

To the community, Perna praised the great support and the relationship the community has with the Arsenal.

But Perna would not end the interview without talking to the Arsenal workforce.

“Clearly the capability that is produced here has a critical role on the battlefield,” Perna said. “First and foremost it is about confidence for our Soldiers … this facility, their reputation, the artisan workforce that come to work every day contributes to that confidence. Their relevance should not be lost that

they are here in New York. They are impacting on the battlefield every day.”

Not that the Arsenal workforce needs a pat on the back, but at this critical point in time when the Arsenal is attempting to double its manufacturing capacity in the next few years a few motivational words from a general officer could not have been more timely or more relevant. Even after more than 200 years in operation, many in the workforce like to be reminded of their connection, as well as their importance to Soldiers.

Perna did just that.

To the field artillery Soldier, the work at the Watervliet Arsenal probably does not mean much to them. After all, if the crew member needs a part to maintain their howitzer system, they simply place an order through their motor pool without a second thought as to the number of machining and quality con-trol operations that first must occur at this Army-owned arsenal in upstate New York. But no one should feel sorry for the Arsenal work-force because every generation of workers here since 1813 have accepted this benign recognition knowing full well that what they do will make the Soldier more lethal or more survivable on the battlefield. During a recent tour here for a news reporter, Ar-senal General Foreman Scott Huber said that there are more than 100 parts and thousands of operations that are performed here to produce just one artillery cannon. “For every complete cannon system, there are parts that are so small that they can fit into a pant’s pocket to as large as a barrel that is more than 20 feet in length,” Huber said. “The machining tolerances are so tight that they are measured in the thousandths of an inch, which allow for a true fit between parts.” Huber explained that unless the parts fit perfectly to-gether, poisonous gases might be released near cannon crew members or tube pressure may be lost that may affect the range and accuracy of an artillery round. One critical part that speaks volumes about the im-portance of fit, are the split rings for a self-propelled howitzer, Huber said. Split rings support the breech mechanism by helping seal the powder chamber from the escape of gases. Not only do the split rings protect the Soldier, they also protect against the erosion of the breech. Fortunately for the Soldier, the Arsenal has been manufacturing split rings for more than 100 years and today, the Arsenal has two expert machinists whose

Lords of the (Arsenal's)

Rings


Story continues on page 6, “Rings”

full-time job is producing split rings. Machinist Harrypaul “Reggie” Laikhram is the senior machinist having manufactured more than 3,000 split rings in the last 11 years, but Machinist John Maroney is not far behind him in expertise having worked on split rings for about two years. Laikhram was recently found in a nondescript area of one of the production buildings in the middle of several manual-type machines that are used in split ring produc-tion. Across from him were Maroney and first-year Ap-prentice Zachary DeJoseph. Laikhram was coaching. “This minor component is so important to the proper functioning of the howitzer that I take every opportunity to share my secrets,” Laikhram said. “And so, I am tak-ing time today to train John (Maroney) and Zach (DeJo-seph). When asked how could he have any secrets if he is

By John B. Snyder

Machinist Harrypaul Laikhram


Rings Cont.sharing his knowledge, Laikhram said, “Good point. I have no secrets when it comes to supporting Soldiers.” Laikhram and Maroney both said that the hardest thing about manufacturing split rings is that the work must be done on manual machines. “When working with manual machines, a machinist has to use all of his or her senses because there isn’t a computer to track cuts or to make adjustments for us,” Maroney said. Some of the other challenges are that the tolerances are less than 3,000th of an inch, the materiel is stain-less steel, and the materiel does not magnetize, Laikh-ram said. And then, when one considers that grinders, lathes, cutters, and torches must be used on each ring, a machinist has to be a master of multiple skills. Laikhram added that it is important for the Arsenal to train a younger generation of machinists so that his skills will last beyond his tenure here. That is the main reason why he was working with an apprentice this month. Although DeJoseph has only been in the apprentice program since August, he said that he truly enjoys the challenges of producing parts so early in his tenure. “As a former Soldier, it truly means a lot to me to produce a part that will support our troops,” DeJoseph said. “However, the tolerances are so tight that it makes me a little nervous. But Reggie (Laikhram) has done a great job in coaching me to success.” The importance of small component manufactur-ing as Huber highlighted can be reinforced by looking as far back to a 1922 Army Ordnance magazine article titled, “Watervliet Arsenal Notes.” The Arsenal’s efforts to manufacturing precision split rings was the main topic of the article. According to the article, split rings are so important to the proper firing of a howitzer that considerable skill and a great number of operations are required. Given that, it is great that Laikhram is sharing his secrets and his considerable skill with the next genera-tion of Arsenal machinists. Although Soldiers may never know about or appre-ciate the skill and professionalism that goes into every part manufactured here, that is okay with Laikhram, Maroney, and DeJoseph. They already have pride in knowing that they are directly supporting Soldier readi-ness, as well as the Soldier’s ability to safely return home from battle.

Top: Machinist Harrypaul “Reggie” Laikhram is a senior machin-ist who has manufactured more than 3,000 split rings in the last 11 years.Center: Machinist John Maroney conducting a quality control check on a ring.Bottom: First-year Apprentice Zachary DeJoseph spent a significant amount of time learning from machinists Harrypaul Laikhram and John Maroney. Laikhram said it is critical for the Arsenal to train a younger generation so that they may carry the knowledge forward.

Photos by John B. Snyder


Arsenal signs $14.2M contract to reduce costs, become more

environmentally compliant

Story continues on page 8, “Power”

By John B. Snyder

The Watervliet Arsenal has agreed to a $14.2 mil-lion contract with energy provider National Grid that will make the Army manufacturer of cannons and mortars so energy effi-cient that the savings will pay for the enhancements over a 16-year period.

“The contract will replace some of the heaviest consumers of energy on the Arsenal,” said Scott Evertsen, the Arsenal’s energy manager. “Some of the major work will be very visible, such as replacing inefficient fluo-rescent and vapor lighting that currently illuminates hundreds of thousands of square feet of manufactur-ing space with light-emit-ting diode or LED light-ing. While other work, such as updating manual controls on heating, venti-lation, and air conditioning systems with state-of-the-art computerized controls, may not be as obvious to the workforce.”

With financial assistance from National Grid in 2014, the Arsenal had an energy feasibility study conduct-ed, Evertsen said. This study concluded that the Ar-senal had several high energy consumption areas that could provide significant savings.

“Thanks to National Grid’s feasibility study, we received direction as to where we could achieve significant sav-ings to the Arsenal’s more than $3 million annual energy bill,” Evertsen said. “We then funded a larger, invest-ment grade study that provided better resolu-tion to the National Grid effort.” Evertsen said that he could not predict the an-nual cost savings from the improvements, be-cause 75 percent of the Arsenal’s energy use is directly tied to produc-tion. In essence, in pro-duction years when there is a heavy workload, the Arsenal can expect to have significantly larger power bills.

But, given the many years of an inconsistent, unpredictable defense budgets due to the Con-gressional Budget Con-

trol Act of 2011, it has been very hard for the Arsenal staff to predict future energy costs.

Scott Evertsen, the Arsenal’s energy manager, right, discussing with electrical engineer technician Joseph LaVigne about the scope of the contract that will reduce energy costs by replacing hundreds of vapor and fluorescent lights in the manufacturing centers with LED lighting.

Photo by John B. Snyder


Power Cont.

Scott Evertsen, the Arsenal’s energy manager, left, discussing with engineering technician Michael White about the scope of the contract that will improve the energy use of the large heating and ventilating units that appear in the background.

Photo by John B. Snyder

Nevertheless, Evertsen said that the $14.2 million contract will be paid for from the savings the im-provements will achieve. There will be no up-front costs or any additional annual costs associated with the contract.

Without this non-traditional contract with National Grid, the Arsenal could not upgrade its aging energy infrastructure, said Dave Roe, the Arsenal’s chief of public works.

“The bottom line is that the Arsenal could not afford the upgrades without applying the energy savings to the cost of the contract,” Roe said. “The other added benefit of the contract is that it actively supports the Army’s Energy Security vision of providing safe, environmentally compliant and cost-effective energy services to Soldiers, Families, and to Civilians.”

Work should begin in the next few months and will take approximately 16 months to complete.

This investment is another example of the Army’s re-cent efforts to increase the Arsenal’s capacity to sup-port the rising readiness needs of Soldiers, but do so efficiently. Earlier this year, the Arsenal announced that the Army is investing nearly $42 million to up-grade its manufacturing operations.

The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-operated manufacturing facility located in Watervliet, New York. The Arsenal is the oldest, continuously active arsenal in the United States, having begun operations during the War of 1812. The Arsenal is a subordinate command to the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command and the U.S. Army Materiel Command.


Being more to the community than just jobs

For more than 200 years, the Arsenal has been part of the fabric of the com-

munity, as more than eight generations of local work-ers have toiled here. But recently, on a very cold

and windy day, the Arsenal again proved that its value

to the community far ex-ceeds that of simply having provided tens of thousands

of jobs since the Arsenal opened its gates in 1813.

Story continues on page 10, "Fire"

Photo provided by Joshua Nick/Real Fire Buffing

By John B. Snyder


Fire Cont.

An immediate call for help came in to the Arsenal from the City of Cohoes on Nov. 30. “When we got the call, we thought the fire in Cohoes was just one building,” said Joshua Nick, the driver of the Arsenal’s fire truck that responded to the mutual aid call. “But when we arrived and stepped out of our truck, we immediately knew the 30 mph winds would make this fire very difficult to fight.” According to Nick, the fire dramatically grew in intensity in less than two minutes of the arrival of the Arsenal’s four-person firefighting team, as winds quickly fanned flames to adjoining build-ings. “When we got into position, we had to run several hundred feet of hose to a hydrant because we only had about 750 gallons of water onboard,” Nick said. “That in itself was no small feat as the flames continued to leap from building to building around us.” Nick said the heat from the fire was so intense that he had to redirect the water spray from the structural fire in the original building to the City of Watervliet’s fire truck because the wheels were starting to melt. While the Arsenal team was fighting the fire, as well as protecting other fire crews, the Arsenal’s truck suf-fered damage from the intense heat. “We suffered about $18,000 in damage to our dual-purpose pumper truck,” said John Whipple, the Arse-nal’s fire chief who took over from one of his assistant chiefs, Ken Haviland, at the fire. “Given the size of the fire and the intensity of the heat, it was amazing that no one was injured.” Whipple said he initially remained at the Arsenal while his team deployed because he had to wait until sufficient mutual aid coverage from Schuyler Heights and Menands Fire Departments provided backup units here. “One of the hardest things to do as a leader is to remain here, while the team deploys,” Whipple said. “But I have tremendous confidence in the Arsenal’s firefighters to keep each other safe, while applying basic fire fighting principles to mitigate the effects of the fire.” The fire eventually spread to about 20 structures and the Arsenal team remained on site for more than six hours. Whipple said this was the largest fire that the Arsenal team has fought in more than 10 years. Of interesting note is that Whipple was able to observe the firefighting from his department’s dispatch room by monitoring social media sites that were live-streaming the action. This non-standard method of updates was essential to providing Whipple great situational-awareness of the environment his team was operating in.

The Arsenal's emergency support to the community is documented in a Troy Record newspaper article dating back to the 1820s. Today, the Arsenal continues to support calls for mutual aid from the local communities.


Lean Corner by Mark Ripley

Integrating Visual Management Tools and Leader A fundamental element of a Lean Enterprise is an environment of continuous improvement performed at every level of the company. Most organizations attempting a Lean transformation have struggled with fostering this kind of environment. Too often we find that limited resources lack coordination and hard-won gains are not sus-tained.

In many cases, a continuous improvement environment fails to materialize because Visual Management is discon-nected from Leader Standard Work. Or both are missing.

• Visual Management displays the status of processes in real time at a glance.• Leader Standard Work requires managers to participate in real-time work area Lean decision-making.

Implementing Visual Management (VM) tools without commensurate Leader Standard Work (LSW) fails to add value and creates lots of useless wallpaper. LSW without VM results in a marginally effective social event out in the work area. Only when their power is combined, VM and LSW set a foundation for the sustainable, self-cor-recting, continuous improvement environment that is characteristic of a Lean Enterprise.

In a traditional environment, at the end of each month there is a great deal of data collection, analysis, report writ-ing, deliberation and hand-wringing over what just happened and what will be done during the coming period. This generally turns into a communication activity by management to share results and implement corrective actions that may be required. This monthly cycle can be characterized as driving a car by looking at the yellow center line in the rear view mirror.

In a Lean organization, managing the business is critically focused on managing processes in real time at the place of work. The effect of this is that the report generation at the end of the month contains old news and becomes, es-sentially, a non-event. To achieve this, important process information must be recorded and displayed with simple visual methods. Issues are made obvious for managers who react immediately. The visual information displayed should have a direct connection with strategy.

All Visual Management tools must be integrated into the repetitive aspects of Leader Standard Work. These same visual tools, connected with strategy, are used by the entire enterprise ensuring coordinated objectives and com-monality of appearance. Thus the principle of conventional management – what gets measured gets managed – gets transformed in a Lean environment into "what gets measured visually gets managed in real time."

To learn more, please contact Mark Ripley at 266-5055.

Visual Management tools are often used in manufacturing to track the daily status of key products, from Abrams Tank tubes to howitzer bar-rels. Every morning, the chief of manufacturing conducts a huddle at the board shown here.

Photo by the Lean Team


Annual goals are to be communicated to all employees, tenant organizations, and contrac-tors in order to successfully enhance safe behaviors.

We need, as an Arsenal community, to focus on accident prevention and hazard reporting.

Goals:

The top causal trend for all injuries, including first aid cases, was Contact Injuries in Fis-cal Year 17 with 16 injuries.

Goal 1: Decrease the number of Contact Injuries by 10 percent.

The second top causal trend for all injuries, including first aid cases, was Overexertion Injuries in Fiscal Year 17 with eight.

Goal 2: Decrease the number of Overexertion Injuries for both manufacturing and office personnel by 20 percent.

In Fiscal Year 17, the Arsenal reported six near miss incidents. Near miss reporting is a cornerstone of efficient safety programs. It is through the reporting of near misses that we will begin to fix hazards prior to our employees being injured.

Goal 3: Increase near miss reporting by 10%.

In Fiscal Year 17, 46 percent of the total accidents occurred between the months of Decem-ber and March.

Goal 4: Additional focus on the promotion of winter safety and accident prevention.

Command's Safety Goalsfor

Fiscal Year 2018

Newsletter from the Army's Oldest Operating Arsenal - December 2017

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