AFLC (Air Force Logistics Command) Needs to Concentrate on Customer Orientation in Quality Assurance Policies

The introduction briefly describes the importance of the Air Force Logistics Commands Depot Maintenance program and details the authors road map in discussing the research topic. An analysis of Project Overlook, a 1982 AFLC directed review of the Quality Assurance program follows. Current quality assurance guidance for AFLC is reviewed from command level to the production planning level. A major portion of any quality assurance program, customer feedback, is then discussed. The Quality Deficiency Reporting System is used by AFLC for this purpose. The author then briefly discusses some quality assurance programs from the Army depots, Navy Aviation depots, and the status of quality assurance in civilian industries. A discussion of the statistical process control program as espoused by Dr. W. Edward Deming and some of his management principles that could be used by AFLC follows. Finally, the author provides three recommendations for improving the AFLC Quality Assurance program.