Army calls on Smith School for rocket system

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 10, 2003 by Bobby White

Two research centers at the University of Maryland, College Park were awarded a $2.5 million contract from the U.S. Army to develop a maintenance system for a new weapon.

Research centers in the Robert H. Smith School of Business and in the School of Public Affairs will collaborate on a 12-month project to develop a supply chain management system for the military's new High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

The weapons system can launch guided rockets and then swiftly relocate to avoid detection. The research center will work with the Department of Defense and subcontractors.

Because of the weapon system's high-speed mobility, the current supply chain system is inadequate, said Sandor Boyson, co-director of the Smith School's Supply Chain Management Center.

The proposed HIMARS supply chain system will emphasize real-time links between the weapons system and key suppliers of ammunition, mechanical parts and other materials, said Boyson in a statement. It's in order to significantly reduce supply and resupply times, and to more accurately forecast demand for supplies.

The military relies on work requests and a chain-of-command check- off when buying new equipment for weapons. That same system is used for maintenance. The new design will practically automate the entire process.

Researchers will build a prototype that will use the Internet and wireless technology to bring together other supply chain components in real time. The weapon will have sensors that will alert soldiers when new artillery will be needed as well as attempt to designate the closest artillery or parts storage facility.

The Army reached out to the research groups after acknowledging the supply system used in the commercial sector was superior to the military's system.

This will be a great improvement, said Jacques S. Gansler, director of the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise, the other half of the research group.

Typically, there is a whole order of events that must occur. Where a mechanic sees the need for a new part, he writes it down and hands that piece of paper to someone. And that process goes on and on until that part is replaced. That process is ripe with inadequacies.

This is the second major Department of Defense project for the Smith School group. In June 2002, the research center designed a system for the Air Force's GE F101 fighter jet engine.