eRMs is a win/win for the supply system

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, July-August, 2006 by Bev Thomas

USS Gettysburg (CG 64), recently on a Counter-Narco Terrorism Deployment in the eastern Pacific Ocean, has completed a successful first year as the electronic Retrograde Management System's (eRMS) test platform for surface combatants. So successful in fact, Commander, Naval Surface Forces plans to roll out eRMS to all Aegis ships (Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke classes).

Afloat Supply Officers dread receiving BK1 status (follow-up on shipment of an NRFI transaction) on their DLR turn-ins. Without a proper BK2 response from the ship, the BK1 spirals into much worse BK3 status (notification to customer of additional billing). The ship now has a carcass charge. Blue E minimum eligibility for carcass charges is five percent of total DLR obligations, but ship's are rightly expected to have zero carcass charges. Five percent of $3 million is $150,000 of a ship's budget lost!

Gettysburg had one $267 carcass charge for a stock survey and only 11 BK1s last year. Cruiser average in the Atlantic fleet was $54,000 in carcass charges and 74.3 BK1s. eRMS does a better job identifying carcasses since the program is tied directly to NAVICP's Master Item File (MIF) which prevents ships from turning in the wrong retrograde using other programs such as FEDLOG or HAYSTACK. eRMS also lets ships contact the NAVICP Item Manager directly if there's ever any doubt to a turn-in.

How does eRMS help? An eRMS ship generates a BC2 document which tells NAVICP the ship correctly identified the NRFI asset and upon correctly posting Proof of Shipment (POS) in eRMS, generates a Transaction Item Report (TIR) that turns off carcass tracking. An eRMS ship turns in retrograde to the Advanced Traceability and Control (ATAC) node as normal, but instead of cracking open the carcass and reidentifying it, ATAC simply ships it back to the Designated Overhaul Point (DOP). The DOP gets the carcass back much faster for induction to repair and ships don't have to worry about a frustrated carcass at ATAC turning into BK1s and BK3s.

eRMS is a big win/win for the supply system and afloat supply officer ... preventing carcass charges and improving NAVICP's repair turn around time.

Bev Thomas is currently the head of the Transportation Division at Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia, Pa., responsible for Navy retrograde policy and worldwide movement of Navy and Marine aviation and maritime repairables.

By Bev Thomas Head, Transportation Division, Naval Inventory Control Point