Tinker employees fill former GM plant
Use of building increasing workload and efficiency
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August was a cruel month for Shawn Garrison’s commodities maintenance crew before they moved to the former General Motors plant that now is part of the Tinker Aerospace Complex.
Their former location — a glass-paneled building dating to World War II — lacked air conditioning and became unbearable in high temperatures. Mechanics would take breaks every 15 minutes to cool off.
Now the civilian crew works in the cool, brightly-lit former automotive plant.
Read more: http://www.newsok.com/article/3487516?searched=9001&custom_click=search#ixzz0xcvVnzbrThe Air Force has spent $80 million over the past two years to renovate and equip the 3.8 million-square-foot structure that was adjacent to base, but now is within the secured perimeter. Workers started moving in about a year ago.
“It’s a lot cleaner facility,” said Garrison, a first line supervisor for the 551st Commodities Maintenance Squadron. “We’ve got a bigger work area.”
His crew overhauls side cowls on the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. Because of the efficiency of their new space, orders now take less than half the time to process.
About 30 percent of the former plant, now called Building 9001, is occupied — with plans to fill it to about 80 percent and lease the rest. Employees with 20 or more years of experience are asked to help design the work spaces.
About 700 people work there now, but more work is being transitioned to the site. The new space will allow the Air Force to demolish 23 outdated buildings and free up space in the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center’s headquarters building, a huge former Douglas airplane plant being redesigned to maximize work flow.
After GM closed the plant in 2006, Oklahoma County voters approved a $55 million bond issue to buy the property and lease it back to the Air Force for $1 a year.
“I really think that a lot of credit has to be given to visionary leaders we have in the community,” said Brig. Gen. Bruce Litchfield, who leads the 76th Maintenance Wing. “That was a risk of that much money to allow that facility to come for our use.
“The transition of that building has been remarkable,” he said. “What we have today is a first-class facility to match the first-class work force we have here.”
The 76th Maintenance Wing has about 9,000 civilian employees. The wing has hired about 850 workers in the last year and plans to hire another 1,000 next fiscal year. About half of those are to counter work force attrition. Many Tinker workers are nearing retirement age.
Some new hires are former GM workers. Litchfield said he doesn’t know how many but the job skills that autoworkers hold are a good fit for aircraft work.
Meanwhile, the base’s workload is increasing with troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and many of the military’s aircraft age.
“Our job is to make sure that when they come in for maintenance — and it’s very extensive maintenance, it’s rebuilding from the ground up — that they go out combat ready,” Litchfield said.
Robin Roberts Krieger, vice president of economic development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said the reuse of the plant helped Oklahoma weather the recession. It’s proximity to Tinker was key.
Without Tinker, “it would be very difficult to say if we’d have anything in there given the economy,” she said.
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