Material Supply Discrepancy Report continuing the battle for accountability and visibility

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, Nov-Dec, 2002 by Robert Tinker

The implementation in May 2001 of the Supply Discrepancy Report (SDR) System Web site was a huge step forward in the battle for visibility and accountability of stock within the Navy. This initial release, in conjunction with changes to the Naval Inventory Control Point legacy systems, provided tools to track in-transit Navy owned material moving among custodial activities. As a result, the Navy has successfully addressed flaws in Navy systems.

Over the past year, many enhancements have been made to the SDR Web site and the legacy systems to make the in-transit tracking systems and processes even better. In addition, the Navy Supply Information Systems Activity (NAVSISA) has been working on additions to the SDR Web site which provide visibility of and allow processing of material SDRs. The remainder of this article will address this effort.

The Problems

Before Stock In Transit (SIT) processing was reengineered for the Web, there was a Tandem application that did SIT tracking. The same was true for material SDRs. The AutoRODs system existed to allow rudimentary processing of material SDRs. However, there were some severe limitations to that system. Among the biggest were:

* Access was limited to the Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers and their partners: Since the application was on the Tandem, many activities within the Navy (ships, non-partnered activities, etc.) or with whom the Navy dealt (commercial contractors) could not use the system.

* The SIT system did not access the Tandem system to check for SDRs: A SIT SDR should not be created if there is an open material SDR. The new SIT system was notable to access the Tandem to make that determination.

* There was no centralized database of material SDRs: Because each FISC had its own database, there was no automated way to view all material SDRs across all the FISCs.

* Material SDRs were not routed electronically: The AutoRODs system allowed a user to input a material SDR, but the SF-364 was then printed and manually mailed to the recipient. The recipient had to reenter the SDR info and could enter disposition. However, the recipient had to print the SF-364 again and mail it back to the originator, who entered the disposition information. This created a lot of unnecessary workload.

* Electronic follow-ups were not sent to the shipper: If the shipper did not provide disposition of the material SDR, another copy of the SF-364 indicating that this copy was a follow-up was printed.

A new system was needed that would address these and other problems. NAVSISA was given the task to develop an enhancement to the SDR Web site that would meet this goal.

The Solution

The material SDR process is made up of two areas:

* Outgoing users are receivers of material that create an SDR when they note a discrepancy, such as a wrong item or incorrect quantity, in a shipment.

* Incoming users respond to the SDRs created by the outgoing user by providing disposition instructions.

NAVSISA used the latest in Web development architecture to design and develop a system that would address the two areas of material SDR processing.

As mentioned earlier, outgoing users are the receivers of material. When they discover a problem with material they received, they will create an outgoing SDR. The screen they will see looks just like the SF-364. Certain blocks on the form are mandatory and all data entered is validated. Messages will be displayed to the user if any mandatory fields are blank or if data is invalid. Once the SDR has been approved and submitted, it will be sent electronically to the shipper for action, provided that the shipper is an SDR user. If the shipper is not an SDR user, the outgoing user will be notified to print the SF-364 and mail it to the shipper. If the SDR was sent electronically, the shipper will be notified via e-mail that they have an SDR to work.

The incoming user can access the SDR system either by using the "hot link" in the e-mail alert or by opening their web browser and entering the SDR web address. Once in the system, the user will then select an SDR from their list of SDRs to work. Incoming SDR screens include basic information about the shipment and the discrepancy. The incoming user will provide the disposition of the SDR along with any pertinent remarks. In those instances where the SDR is received as a hard copy, the incoming user may enter it into the SDR system and provide a response as though they had received it electronically. Once the disposition has been provided, the SDR will automatically be returned to the originator if it was received electronically, or the user will be prompted to print the SDR if it was received hard copy.

Both outgoing and incoming users have various reports available to them for review or printing. As with the in-transit portion of SDR, the Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view or print reports.

Status

The re-engineered material SDR system was implemented on June 10, 2002, at NAVSISA in Mechanicsburg, Pa. The implementation upgraded the SDR system with the outgoing and incoming material SDR functionality and replaced the AutoRODs system at Navy FISCs and collocated defense depots. The Web site URL address is https://sdr. navsup.navy.mil. Access to the SDR site is password protected. Requests for access to SDR can be made through FISC SDR system administrators or through a link on the Web site home page.