Target area operators Steve Keesee and Chris Cashin monitor the removal of the Hardened Gated X-ray Diagnostic HGXD2 cart cable tray from a diagnostic instrument manipulator after completion of an experiment during a recent high-tempo week in which six cryogenic shots were fired in 75 hours. The cart was replaced by the HGXD3 cart for the next shot in the series, all part of the fast-paced Formula One program.
(Download Image)NIF’s 'Formula One' Model Receives Operational Excellence Award
Formula One race-car pit crews are noted for their speed and efficiency in getting their cars back on the track after a pit stop. An operations model based on the Formula One pit-crew model was developed by the NIF Team in 2014 to improve shot turnaround efficiency and enable a new scheduling paradigm. The model’s success recently was recognized by LLNL Director Bill Goldstein with the presentation of a 2014 Director’s Institutional Operational Excellence Award.
The award recognizes extraordinary team efforts that have an institutional impact, demonstrate cost savings and improve Laboratory programs and operations. The NIF Team’s goal was to optimize shot processes to minimize reconfiguration times between shots by having the right people, doing the right things, with the right parts in the right place at the right time, leading to improvements in safety, quality and efficiency.
A working group was formed to identify operational changes that would result in everything being in place for shot N+1 while shot N was taking place. Changes included planning shots to minimize reconfigurations, staging parts closer to point of use, staging components by shot ID, development of checklists for post-shot recovery and reconfiguration, mustering of teams at designated locations immediately following a shot, and revision of radiological work permits to eliminate unnecessary controls. This efficient approach required a significant departure from the existing process.
Implementation of the NIF Formula One Operations Model was a significant operational improvement toward increasing the shot rate at NIF (see Operational Improvements Boost NIF’s Productivity).
