Military adapts commercial parts maintenance: as the military integrates COTS technology, its view of the entire supply chain should help with detail planning as well as "what-if" planning

Frontline Solutions, May, 2005 by Peter Fretty

As military supply chain planners look to reduce by two-thirds the number of deployed mechanics and maintenance personnel, supply chain efficiency becomes of paramount importance. Planners are increasingly looking toward commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology to optimize workflow.

Burlington, Mass.-based Enigma Inc.'s maintenance parts management software is a prime example of a COTS solution that has seen success in the military: the United States Army and the National Guard.

"Because mechanics and technicians typically initiate the ordering process, they play a key role in the supply chain," says Enigma vice president, John Snow. "Each piece of military equipment has an array of configurations, which serve multiple roles. So, maintenance is never standard, and parts differ significantly." As a result, misordered parts are commonplace using the military's homegrown legacy system.

"A mechanic may request a new universal joint for an armored vehicle. But even though it is the same make [as the vehicle], there may be seven different parts with that description, each created to support an individual vehicle mission," says Snow.

"What we have demonstrated involves attaching bumper numbers to each piece of equipment and letting the system eliminate items as the mechanic narrows the selections to fit the need. This way, the mechanic receives the correct part, the correct procedure, and the pertinent service bulletins. The goal is to optimize workflow for users, so they do not have to go looking for information."

Finding Success

To determine the long-term feasibility of integrating COTS solutions into military operations, Philadelphia-based MCA Solutions has teamed with Arlington, Va.-based CACI Inc. to develop and launch the Naval Logistics Readiness Research Center (NLRRC).

The goal of this project is to identify new opportunities for leveraging COTS solutions to meet one of the biggest logistical challenges facing the Navy today, which includes ensuring the availability of repair resources at a reduced cost, without compromising the readiness of critical defense assets. CACI and MCA will apply best practices in IT integration, advanced technology, and the latest academic theory on service and support, to tackle service supply chain challenges using cost-effective, easily available commercial tools.

"Increasingly, the Navy and other branches of defense are turning to COTS solutions as an alternative to legacy systems, which are expensive to maintain and difficult to update," says CACI senior vice president, Jeff Renard. "Our goal is to identify highly cost-effective ways to use readily available solutions to reduce the total cost of ownership for the Navy's supply systems."

Early research will focus on the integration of strategic resource planning with tactical material flow redeployment to evaluate the risks and opportunities associated with building service models. These include multi-indenture and multi-echelon readiness-based sparing, centralized warehousing strategies, and the cost/benefit trade-offs between weapons replaceable units and piece-part repairs. The two firms have received $1 million in initial funding from the Navy, and will work in partnership with Philadelphia-based Temple University on the project.

Course of Action

In most instances, implementation of COTS solutions requires users to go through a configuration process that pseudocustomizes software to a particular environment, explains Bob Salvucci, CEO of MCA Solutions. "In the military, trying to get various groups of people to look at solutions and agree on function will be challenging. They are accustomed to customized legacy systems rather than somewhat generic COTS alternatives," he says. "You can do things to change the feel, but they'll never be the same as when you develop a point-based package."

An initial step the group must take will involve evaluating when it is feasible to cross existing organizational boundaries. "We are suggesting that the planning is done across those boundaries. Part of what we are doing is coordinating this aspect to see if we can achieve success," he says. "We know there are successes in air and land fleet management, but we need to look at how to apply these successes to maritime activities and equipment. This area is still relatively untested."

According to Steve Glovier, MCA director for the defense industry, it is relatively common for organizations to break problems into manageable pieces. But this results in disparate systems and data files. "We hope to bring all these virtual silos together. We just need to figure out the best way to slide COTS solutions into the picture to bring everything together," he says. "If we can find enough fits for COTS technology, we will provide the consistency needed as the military requires rapid changes."

Snow anticipates that some of the biggest challenges will involve integration with legacy systems, and understanding how the military operates. "It is important to recognize that the military finds itself in positions where even satellite communication is difficult, which means that selected COTS solutions must be capable of running in a remote or stand-alone mode without limiting the available information."