Anniston Army Depot

State of the Depot: What is the financial posture of the depot and how can you help?

Caption: Thomas Ryan, an artillery repairer with the Directorate of Production, is prepping a turret for reassembly.

Abby Quinn | Director of Resource Management

We are in a critical period, financially speaking. Everything that we planned back during the summer has completely changed. We were on a path to our workload being at one of lowest points in the last 20 years. For perspective, we were only planning to execute 1.7M Direct Labor Hours (DLHs) this year. Last year, the depot executed 1.9M DLHs. Prior to that, our lowest execution was back in 2001 when we executed 2.4M DLHs. With the reduction in workload, everything was impacted. To keep our rates affordable for our customers, we began looking at reducing personnel requirements and cutting expenses.

Our financial landscape began to change in December of 2022 with increased unplanned workload. By the end of this fiscal year, we will have hundreds of millions of dollars in unplanned workload. It is our job to execute the workload – on cost, on schedule, with a quality product that will not fail.

We all have a responsibility to come to work and do the best that we can during the time that we are here.

Here are a few things that each of us can do each day to ensure ANAD’s success:

• Come to work and work hard
There is nothing more critical than being on the job and working our paid hours every day. Do not slack off during the workday so that you can work overtime or compensatory time. Due to the increased workload, many of you are going to have to work overtime anyway, we cannot add to the burden by being inefficient during the workday.

• Make sure your hours are properly accounted for
When our direct labor personnel are not working on a program, direct labor hours are not being charged – that means that we are outlaying cash, but not recouping it through our revenue. Think of it this way – if you are paying your bills at home, but have no income coming into your bank account – what happens? Eventually, you are going to be in an overdraft situation. It is the same thing here: if we don’t charge the hours back to the program, we don’t have income hitting our bank account.

• Schedule leave in advance
Schedule your leave with your supervisor as far out as you can. The first line supervisors have one of the hardest jobs on this depot. Don’t make it harder for them by taking unplanned leave. Emergencies do arise, however oversleeping, not giving yourself enough time to get to work, and routine medical visits are not emergencies. Routine medical visits should be scheduled on off-Fridays, whenever possible. Your supervisor plays a critical role in ensuring we have enough people at work every day to get the day’s work accomplished. Don’t make their jobs harder.

• Think outside the box
If you see something that is inefficient, say something. If you know something is wrong, say something. We cannot continue to do things because “that is how we have always done it”. We must be innovative and be as efficient and cost conscious as possible. Our survival and our future depends on our ability to innovate.
Do you have an idea to improve existing processes which will benefit ANAD? The ANAD Suggestion Program has specific forms, content, and processes to follow for submission for evaluation. Some information to include in your suggestion/proposal is supporting documentation when applicable such as part numbers, national stock numbers, end item, drawings, etc. to include a statement of known or estimated benefits.
The Continuous Process Improvement Division, Directorate of Strategic Planning manages and coordinates the program and works with multiple directorates during the evaluation process. If there is validity to the suggestion and there are tangible benefits, a calculation and audit will be conducted to determine if and/or how much of a monetary award is applicable with payment to follow.
You can find the suggestion box and form on the depot intranet in the bottom right-hand corner. ANAD Pamphlet 5-17 explains the ANAD Suggestion Program by outlining the process and providing the forms needed for submission. If you would like more information regarding this program, feel free to contact the CPI office at ext. 6918.

• Don’t underestimate your value
Many of are directly touching the products that we produce by supplying/routing parts, working on a production line or doing quality inspections. Others indirectly assist with the production by providing critical data for decision making, ensuring information is available and taskers are met, seeking out new work, processing Lean event data, running payroll, processing hiring actions, performing audit readiness functions, ensuring environmental requirements are met, keeping our computers up to date, securing the depot from threats, keeping the facilities working, or keeping the cafeteria lines up and running. Regardless of your role – every one of you has a critical mission.

What you do impacts someone – do your job like someone’s life depends on it, because in the end when those products reach our soldiers and our allies, someone’s life really does depend on us doing our job the best we can each day.