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# Winter named DLA Distribution Big Ideas award winner

By DLA Distribution Public AffairsDLA Distribution Public Affairs

Shad Winter, Stock Positioning Division chief at DLA Distribution San Joaquin, Calif., has won the DLA Distribution Big Ideas Award in the Director’s strategic goals category of Warfighter First for fourth quarter fiscal year 2015. 

“Leading our most unique and varied mission set requires exceptional leadership, analytical capability, and customer focus.  Mr. Winter consistently demonstrates these critical skills while achieving an unparalleled level of success within the Vault, Hazardous, Unitized Group Rations, Stock Positioning, Foreign Military Sales, and Disposition to Distribution branches.  He is a proven performer, committed to improving performance and reducing costs wherever possible,” said Mike Kozma, chief of DLA Distribution San Joaquin’s Materiel Management Group. 

Since the Disposition to Distribution, or D2, transition at San Joaquin in May 2014, Winter sought new and creative solutions to a myriad of issues unforeseen prior to DLA Disposition’s storage and distribution functions transitioning to Distribution.  

Most significantly, he oversaw re-design, test, and implementation methods within the D2 Receiving operation, which included increasing the number of production lines from three to five while decreasing the number of personnel required from 15 to 11.  The re-organization also eliminated the need for an additional warehouse bay, thereby resulting in a cost avoidance of more than $5 million.  

Additionally, production has increased from seven to 11 lines per hour, per material processor, which equates to nearly 400 lines per day, compared to approximately 200 lines per day before the re-organization.  

According to Kozma, Winter also played an integral role in a coordinated effort with DLA Installation Support engineers to implement a variety of solutions designed to lower the warehouse storage temperatures below the allowed 80 degree Fahrenheit maximum, thus ensuring the integrity and quality of the completed Unitized Group Rations and associated components so that the warfighter always receives the highest quality meals possible. 

A recognized expert in Production Management, Winter led the way in developing a standards-based capability model that allows distribution center leaders to assign the appropriate number of employees to an associated volume of workload, said Kozma.  Through Winter’s teaching, training, and mentoring of the organization’s branch chiefs, the distribution center is now able to more efficiently optimize resources across functional boundaries, improving production, decreasing the need for overtime, and building an increased level of trust and cooperation between divisions. 

“A leader among leaders at San Joaquin, Mr. Winter’s impact cannot be measured,” said Kozma.

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Defense Logistics AgencyDefense Logistics Agency DistributionDLADLA DistributionDLA Distribution San JoaquinBig IdeaWarfighter First