A top aerospace manufacturer for the U.S. Air Force in Southern California struggled with facility maintenance issues. More efficient processes for inventory purchasing, trash hauling, waste management, and HVAC and landscape maintenance were needed. Thistle weed and foreign object debris (FOD) littered runways and hangars, posing safety, mechanical, and health risks. These situations were exacerbated by poor interdepartment communication and a shortage of cleaning and maintenance workers with Department of Defense (DoD) secret clearance.
Some of the issues could be attributed to growing pains and an outdated contract. “The site has grown tremendously in recent years,” says Jarmell Banks, Servicon operations manager. “In 2013–14, there were 2,500 to 3,000 employees. Now, there are over 7,500. The company is constantly building new offices, conference rooms, and other spaces so the site needed more workers.”
More workers were added, but that was just the start. Servicon needed to develop processes and procedures that would fix the issues, take tasks off the company staffs’ full plates, and save the client money. According to Jarmell, that is just what his team has done.
Feet on the Grounds
“One especially challenging department is grounds maintenance,” Jarmell says. “It’s a large site in the desert where lots of weeds grow, including Russian thistle, which is one of the toughest things to get rid of. Our grounds team includes six people who work Monday to Saturday, and they have been phenomenal. They keep the weeds off the flight line so they won’t be sucked up into an engine. They are skilled and knowledgeable, and now the weeds are 100% under control.
“The team also does the equipment maintenance to be sure each piece of machinery is in good shape and ready to use.”
Stocked and Ready
When it came to inventory management, “The company’s workers were struggling because they aren’t trained and knowledgeable about what is needed, so we took over the ordering and stocking of chemicals and other supplies,” Jarmell says. “Now, we fully control the inventory, which makes it easier. The manufacturer has to use chemicals approved by the government, and getting things from outside the state can be difficult. Also, California chemical regulations have changed. There’s one chemical the facility used that can no longer be shipped to California, so we have to find an alternative. Roundup can’t be used anymore, either, so we had to find an approved alternative. We keep up with the changes, and since we know what we need, we can order it ahead of time to be sure we have it.”
Waste Not, Want Not
Servicon’s team has also made a huge difference in the aerospace giant’s waste management and recycling, although Jarmell admits some mornings are off to a slower start. “The client gets deliveries nonstop, many in wooden crates anywhere from 2 by 4 feet to 10 by 20 feet; some are big enough to carry an engine. We take those crates apart, separate them, and flatten the wood for recycling. In addition, we collect the trash a couple of times a day and separate the glass and other recyclables. We usually empty the huge garbage bins a couple of times daily. But sometimes people will have trash after hours and just dump it. It can take up to a few hours in the morning to sort it before starting the rest of our work. But dismantling the crates and separating the trash saves the company workers’ time while it earns money from the recycling,”
Servicon also saves the aerospace facility time and money by handling HVAC filter changes and cleaning, eliminating the cost of more expensive journeyman services.
Cleared for Service
As for the shortage of DoD-cleared staff, Servicon is proactively handling security clearance to ensure compliance by starting the vetting process early. With multiple cleared custodians and an efficient in-house industrial security program, Servicon quickly processes personnel clearances, allowing approved staff members to manage their full scope of work in classified areas.
Servicon’s facility and preventative maintenance programs have reduced the need for additional full-time employees, cut equipment and chemical expenses, increased recycling revenue and decreased management and administrative costs. The site also has gained increased trust from the U.S. Air Force for protecting staff and aircraft from FODs and preventing what could be millions of dollars in losses if debris damages equipment. All this, plus the site looks “amazing.”
“I am proud of how our site looks today,” Jarmell says. “You can drive around and see grounds with no weeds, no overgrown areas. We have a lot of high-level tours, even presidents. Our goal is to always have our site presentable and look amazing. Our efforts as a team have raised the bar to reach and maintain this goal. I am proud of that and our phenomenal team.”
