Eliminating the iron mountain: just-in-time supply distribution has only reduced, and not eliminated, the hoarding of excess repair parts and supplies. The author believes that the Army must overhaul its entire supply system if efficiency in obtaining parts and supplies is to be achieved and hoarding is to stop

Army Logistician, July-August, 2004 by Laurel K. Myers

Many soldiers deployed overseas from 1990 to 2000 expressed dissatisfaction with the speed of delivery of vehicle repair parts. Customer satisfaction, both in units that used just-in-case stockage and in units that used just-in-time distribution, was influenced by the fact that they relied, to varying degrees, on excess repair parts their units had hoarded.

It should be noted that differences in satisfaction with delivery of repair parts within a theater could reflect relative proximity to supply sources during different deployments. If, for example, a unit located near both the corps command and a support unit could not immediately obtain a supply item from one location. it likely could obtain it from the other. Such a supply advantage clearly was not enjoyed by units stationed in remote areas. In some cases, those that had been part of a split deployment were able to call their home stations in the continental United States (CONUS) and request purchases be made via unit credit card and then sent to the overseas theater, where Army transportation would be scheduled to deliver the part to the requesting unit.

In reality, the Army's just-in-time distribution methods for ordering supplies are very similar to just-in-case ordering methods. The biggest innovation in the just-in-time distribution system is that the order forms are filled out by computer instead of by hand. Interestingly, both just-in-time and just-in-case units scheduled to deploy receive priority when ordering vehicle repair parts that will bring their operational readiness stares to 100 percent. However, once the units are deployed, operational readiness suffers because repair parts take so long to procure.

Supply System Realities

The fact that civilian agencies call order and receive most parts within a few days indicates that just-in-time supply distribution does work and should work for the Army. Repair parts for military ground vehicles should not take significantly longer to arrive at their destinations than repair parts for civilian ground vehicles, especially since discontinued parts are maintained in depots against a future need and do not have to be manufactured before being shipped to the customer. However, considering the added channels that military vehicle requisitions go through from the user in an overseas theater to the manufacturer and the distances parts must traverse back to the user, it is reasonable to assume that en route times may be a few days longer.

Just-in-time distribution works fairly well in CONUS because the requester can use the unit's credit card to purchase common line items from manufacturers or local civilian distributors. However, parts for vehicles not in common civilian use, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers, are not available from local merchants. Just-in-time purchase of those parts is subject to a timeline similar to that for purchase of parts for vehicles overseas.

The just-in-time distribution system, as it is presently constituted, allows for enough reduction in excess to deploy Army forces quickly and efficiently. However, once the forces are in theater, just-in-case stockage is slightly more efficient for obtaining repair parts, though it is affected adversely by ineffective systems for tracking parts in the theater. The introduction of just-in-time distribution does not solve the problem of getting vehicle repair parts where they are needed when they are needed, except when distribution of these supplies to the requesting unit is aided by changes in the accompanying support infrastructure, such as the unit's location near a well-supported corps headquarters, or credit card purchase support from a CONUS home station.