R 220104Z JAN 98 ZYB
FM CMC WASHINGTON DC//L//
TO ALMAR
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UNCLAS //N04400//                
ALMAR 029/98
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC LPP//
SUBJ/LOGISTICS RESPONSE TIME (LRT)//
POC/T. J. KEATING/MAJ/PRIPHN:DSN 426-1051/PRIFRQ:LPP-2/703-696-1051//
RMKS/1.  BACKGROUND:  ON 3 NOV 97, THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
(OSD) BRIEFED THE JOINT LOGISTICS COMMANDERS (JLC) ON THE SUBJECT OF
LOGISTICS RESPONSE TIME.  DURING THE BRIEFING, OSD STATED THAT THE
CURRENT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) WIDE UNIFORM MATERIEL PROCESS HAS
BEEN ONGOING SINCE FEB 97 AND THAT OVERALL LRT FOR ITEMS
REQUISITIONED THROUGH THE WHOLESALE LOGISTICS SYSTEM HAS RANGED FROM
A HIGH OF 36 DAYS TO A LOW OF 32 DAYS IN ANY GIVEN MONTH.  AS A
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW GOAL, THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAS
INFORMED THE VICE PRESIDENT THAT DOD PLANS TO "REDUCE OVERALL LRT
FROM A BASELINE OF 36 DAYS (FEB 97) TO 18 DAYS BY THE YEAR 2000.
THIS LOGISTICS ISSUE IS A HIGH PRIORITY IN THE DOD AND HAS VISIBILITY
IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
2.  DISCUSSION:  THE CURRENT FOCUS OF THE MARINE CORPS PRECISION
LOGISTICS PROGRAM HAS BEEN TO REDUCE LRT, SPECIFICALLY ORDER SHIP
TIME (OST) AND REPAIR CYCLE TIME (RCT).  THE ACCEPTED DOD DEFINITION
OF OST IS, "THE TIME FROM WHEN AN ORDERING ACTIVITY PLACES THE
REQUISITION (JULIAN DATE OF THE REQUISITION) TO IT'S FINAL RECEIPT
(E.G., A "D6T" RECEIPT TRANSACTION IN SUPPORTED ACTIVITIES SUPPLY
SYSTEM (SASSY)) FOR THAT MATERIEL."  TARGETING THE PIPELINE AT EVERY
SEGMENT HAS BEEN A THRUST OF PRECISION LOGISTICS AIMED AT REDUCING
CUSTOMER WAIT TIME.  THE AFFECT OF EXPEDITING MATERIEL AT THE RETAIL
AND WHOLESALE LEVELS WILL INCREASE READINESS, AND ALLOW FOR LESS
DOWNTIME FOR END ITEMS AND MARINE CORPS WEAPONS SYSTEMS.  DEPUTY
CHIEF OF STAFF FOR INSTALLATIONS AND LOGISTICS HAS BRIEFED BOTH THE
ASSISTANT COMMANDANT AND THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS (CMC) ON
PRECISION LOGISTICS AND THE SPECIFICS OF LRT.  PURSUIT OF REDUCED
OST IS AN INITIATIVE THAT HAS THE CMC'S SUPPORT.
3.  THE DOLLAR IMPACTS OF OST ALONE CAN ADD UP IN THE FORM OF
PIPELINE INVENTORY COSTS.  WHILE WE ARE KEEPING A REQUISITION NUMBER
ALIVE FOR SEVERAL DAYS PRIOR TO IT'S RELEASE TO THE INTERMEDIATE
ACTIVITY, THE CLOCK IS TICKING AT 200-300 THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY
WHICH IS THE LATEST ESTIMATE ON A ONE DAY COST OF CONSUMABLE OST.
THIS INFLATES OUR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL INVENTORIES WHICH USE ACTUAL OST
TO COMPUTE WHAT THEY ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE.  WE CAN ILL AFFORD THE
INVESTMENT IN LARGE INVENTORIES AS WE STRIVE TO RESHAPE AND RIGHTSIZE
OUR STOCKS.
4.  THE MARINE CORPS HAS NOT DONE AS WELL AS THE OTHER SERVICES WHEN
LRT STATS ARE PUBLISHED BY OSD.  ALTHOUGH A CONTRIBUTORY FACTOR IS
OUR TRUE CONSUMER TO CONSUMER METHOD OF MEASUREMENT, WE CAN GET
BETTER AND IMPROVE OUR PERFORMANCE.  AS STATED ABOVE, THE TIME STAMPS
THAT MEASURE OST ARE THE DATE OF THE REQUISITION TO THE DATE OF
MATERIEL RECEIPT.  WE CREATE REQUESTS FOR MATERIEL INTO THE DOD
WHOLESALE LOGISTICS SYSTEM OR TO OUR RETAIL ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE
MEDIUM OF MILSTRIP TRANSACTIONS THAT FLOW THROUGH TO THE SUPPLY
SOURCE.  THESE REQUISITIONS HAVE DOCUMENT NUMBERS IDENTIFYING THE
ORDERING UNIT, THE JULIAN DATE OF THE REQUISITION AND A SERIAL NUMBER
FOR TRACKING THE ORDER THROUGH THE RETAIL/WHOLESALE SYSTEM AND WITHIN
OUR FISCAL SYSTEM.
5.  CUSTOMERS CAN IMPROVE OST BY ADHERENCE TO THE FOLLOWING
PROCEDURES:
   A.  FOCUS ON THE SUPPLY REQUISITION JULIAN DATE.  DO NOT TIE THE
ASSIGNMENT OF THE REQUISITION NUMBER (JULIAN DATE) TO A MANUAL RECORD
FOR FISCAL OR MAINTENANCE TRACKING.  SUPPLY AND MAINTENANCE
COORDINATION IS CRITICAL.
   B.  ENSURE THAT THE JULIAN DATE OF THE REQUISITION IS THE SAME
DAY THE DOCUMENT IS SENT INTO THE WHOLESALE LOGISTICAL SYSTEM OR TO
THE RETAIL ACTIVITY VIA THE SUPPORTING SUPPLY SYSTEM.  AT TIMES THERE
HAS BEEN AS MUCH AS A 7-DAY DELAY FROM THE TIME THE REQUISITION IS
PRODUCED UNTIL IT MAKES IT'S ELECTRONIC JOURNEY.  VERY SIMPLY:  DO
NOT "SIT" ON REQUISITIONS, ESTABLISH THE DOCUMENT AND SEND IT ON THE
SAME DAY REGARDLESS OF DOCUMENT PRIORITY.
   C.  KEYPUNCH RECEIPT TRANSACTIONS WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIPT.
WE ARE EXPERIENCING DELAYS ON THE BACK END OF OST THAT UNNECESSARILY
INCREASE OUR MARINE CORPS LRT AND AGAIN CONTRIBUTE TO INFLATED
INVENTORY REQUIREMENTS.  THIS IS MOST CLEARLY SEEN THROUGH RETAIL OST
STATISTICS WHERE THE INTERMEDIATE ACTIVITY WILL RELEASE THE MATERIEL
TO THE CONSUMER UNIT AND THE DELAY IN REQUISITION CLOSE OUT IS UP TO
14 DAYS.
6.  FORCE SERVICE SUPPORT GROUPS (FSSG'S) WILL:
   A.  AGGRESSIVELY PURSUE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO STREAMLINE OST.
SASSY FUNCTIONAL MANAGERS WILL CONTINUE TO ASSIST UNITS WITH TIMELY
SUBMISSION OF COURIERS.
   B.  IDENTIFY DELAYS TO UNITS THAT DO NOT COMPLY.
   C.  ENSURE TIMELY UPLOADS  INTO THE SASSY CYCLE AND IDENTIFY TO
CMC (LPP) WHEN MAINFRAME DELAYS CAUSE LAGS IN OST THAT ARE BEYOND
MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (MEF) CONTROL.
   D.  PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE SASSY SYSTEM SPONSOR AT
MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASES (MARCORLOGBASES), ALBANY ON STREAMLINING
AND REDUCING OST THROUGH CLASS I SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS.
   E.  REVIEW THE EXISTING RUN CLOSURE PROCEDURES TO IMPLEMENT
STATUS TRANSACTIONS (AS2) THAT PROMPT THE UNIT TO CLOSE OUT
REQUISITIONS THAT THEY HAVE PHYSICALLY RECEIVED.  CONTINUE TO PUBLISH
"OPEN SASSY RECORD" TO UNITS ON A MONTHLY BASIS SO THEY MAY REVIEW
THEIR FILES FOR DOCUMENTS WHERE THE MATERIEL HAS BEEN RECEIVED, BUT
THE REQUISITION HAS NOT BEEN CLOSED OUT.
7.  COMMARCORLOGBASES WILL:
   A.  IDENTIFY AND PRODUCE SASSY MODIFICATIONS THAT CHANGE MARINE
CORPS MEASUREMENT OF OST TO THE TIME FROM AN INTERMEDIATE REQUISITION
DATE TO INTERMEDIATE RECEIPT DATE.  THIS WOULD CREATE A SYSTEM
FUNCTION SIMILAR TO ARMY OR AIR FORCE METHOD OF APPLYING OR
OVERLAYING CURRENT JULIAN DATED DOCUMENT NUMBERS COMING FROM THEIR
CUSTOMER AND RECEIPTING FOR THEM ON THE BACK END AS THE MATERIEL
FLOWS THROUGH.  OUR GOAL IS TO AUTOMATE THE PROCESS AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE IN SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS WITHOUT INCREASING ACTUAL
CUSTOMER WAIT TIME AND TO CAPTURE THESE REQUIREMENTS FOR FUTURE
ATLASS PHASES.
   B.  INVESTIGATE PROGRAM ENHANCEMENTS TO OUR SUPPLY SYSTEM THAT
STREAMLINE THE FRONT AND BACK END OF THE REQUISITION PROCESS.
8.  IN SOME INSTANCES SUPPLY SYSTEM FIXES WILL NOT AFFECT OST IF THE
CUSTOMER IS RECEIVING MATERIEL VIA A VENDOR OR COMMERCIAL DELIVERY.
THESE ARE HIGH PRIORITY REQUISITIONS THAT COME BY FEDEX OR OTHER
COMMERCIAL CARRIER DIRECT TO THE CUSTOMER "DOORSTEP" AND MUST NOT
BE INHIBITED BY SYSTEM CHANGES.  IN SUCH CASES CONSUMERS MUST ENSURE
ACCURATE BACK END OST ON THOSE TYPE OF DELIVERIES.  (I.E., RECEIPT
FOR THE MATERIEL THE SAME DAY IT PHYSICALLY ARRIVES).
9.  AS A CORPS, WE HAVE MADE GREAT STRIDES TOWARDS IMPROVING OUR
BUSINESS PRACTICES UNDER THE RUBRIC OF PRECISION LOGISTICS.
PRECISION LOGISTICS HAS TARGETED BUSINESS IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN THE
SUPPLY CHAIN.  AN EXAMPLE IS THE FSSG AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT OFFICES
CROSSDOCKING OF THE RETAIL DISTRIBUTION PROCESS, WHICH HAS DECREASED
THE TIME IT TAKES FOR THE CUSTOMER TO GET A PART.  THESE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS SHOULD NOT BE DIMINISHED BY SYSTEM ANOMALIES AND A
LACK OF URGENCY.  IN REALITY, OUR PERFORMANCE IS BETTER!
IMPLEMENTING THE ACTIONS OUTLINED HERE WILL HELP IMPROVE OUR
STATISTICS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IMPROVE SUPPORT TO OUR CUSTOMERS.
CONTINUE TO IMPROVE AND SHARE THOSE GOOD IDEAS WITH HEADQUARTERS.
OUR GOAL IS TO DRIVE DOWN RESPONSE TIMES.//
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