Logistics: Getting from here to there and back again | ADM Jul 08

1 July 2008

Without a major engagement to challenge its systems since Vietnam, the ADFs’ logistics capabilities were developed in a piecemeal fashion.

The recognition of this fact has led to a program designed to bring about strategic transformation: JP2077.

By Charles Pauka of MHD Supply Chain Solutions, Sydney and Katherine Ziesing, Canberra

While the individual ADF logistics systems worked quite well, a change in defence policy from a local to a regional focus and the participation in several activities by the Australian rapid reactionary force highlighted its shortcomings: the systems were not robust enough to support multiple operations and partners.

The East Timor engagement brought the shortcomings to the surface and led to an intensification of the search for a defence-wide solution.

“The current tempo of operations, the variety of environments that need to be supported, from frontline operations in Afghanistan through to being able to support the diplomatic mission in Washington, [means] we are looking at having one system, one method of delivering a common supply chain solution,” said Mark Powell, director general of the Logistics Acquisition Program (LAP).

“We are operating in more than 90 locations around the world, some of them don’t make front page, such as our sites in London and Washington but some of the other sites which are much more operationally challenging; Timor, Solomons, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan are just some of the locations which were are in.”

About 25 per cent of the Australian Government’s total asset base will eventually be managed through the new logistics environment, worth $7 billion.

Within that $7 billion are 1.4 million line items and 70 thousand assets, broken and split in various ways.

The Logistics Acquisition Program (LAP)
Within LAP, JP2077 is a $650 million Defence Capability Plan (DCP) investment program.

Sponsored by the Capability Development Group (CDG), its focus is to upgrade the core Logistics Information System to the Military Integrated Logistics Information System (MILIS), enhance the deployability and the management of items in transit, and to provide for future capability enhancements.

JP2077 essentially breaks down into three key programs.

The first, 2B.1, is a program currently on contract and is the upgrading of Mincom’s current SDSS version 4. Worth $138M, the program is scheduled to go live in October 2008.

2B.2 is taking the upgraded system, making it deployable and making it operational in a communications-interrupted environment (e.g. on the battlefield).

This is a $94 million piece of work which is in the contract negotiation stage.

2C was about delivering radio frequency (RFID) track-and-trace capability and has now been rolled out.

The team has just completed integration with the US, so the ADF can now do a full track-and-trace throughout its coalition partners’ supply chain as well.

This was a very significant success that has now essentially been delivered.

Phase 2D is the next and final stage of the project, worth $348 million.

A number of goals have been set for JP2077 Phase 2D.

The program is about rationalising its current suite of materiel logistics systems and integrating them with existing systems, such as financial and human resources, improving deployability, enhancing global in-transit visibility with allies, data automation including bar coding, RFID and warehouse management.

It is about getting the data to the best possible quality (automated, right data, right time), better data for decision making support, and improved business processes.

“The program is about making business processes simpler and easier,” said Heino Nowatzky, JP2077 Phase 2D program director.

“So that people who join the ADF are able to focus on doing their job, which is to support Australia at home and abroad, and meet all the requirements of a modern defence force. An integrated end-to-end logistics system - that is our goal.”

JP2077 is actually a suite of programs.

Phase 1 was the catalyst that provided the initial justification for addressing the systemic issues in the military logistics environment and gaining an entry in the Defence Capability Plan, and was completed in 2003.

Phase 2A was the critical phase where a number of studies occurred to define the body of work that would become JP2077.

Key stakeholders were identified and the Concept of Operations defined the optimum logistics strategy, leading to a base-lining of existing systems.

Phase 2A identified 200+ disparate systems in the current materiel logistic environment.

It showed that there was minimal data transfer between existing systems and multiple unique business processes were needed to meet single service/division needs.

Data quality issues were also identified, and it was recognised that maintaining multiple systems incurred significant costs.

“There are currently too many systems that don’t speak to each other and were designed to address immediate and (apparently) unique issues,” said Squadron Leader David Mackay, JP2077 Ph2D program manager.

“The big issues are that these systems generally have loose data input controls, so legacy data is suspect; and every system has its own maintenance contract, which collectively is a significant annual cost to the ADO.”

In the final analysis, the team has identified eight distinct capability gaps based and has defined Phase 2D key capability requirements as follows:

Engineering management / product lifecycle management
The current ADO engineering management environment is a complex and fragmented collection of non-integrated systems, focused around design/engineering change management, configuration management and technical / product data management to enable the effective and efficient engineering management of technical equipment.

The ADO requires an integrated enterprise-wide capability for the collaborative creation, management, dissemination and use of product information across the enterprise to (1) effectively manage the Technical Integrity of Materiel throughout the Materiel Lifecycle, and (2) support decision making at all levels of the organisation (strategic, operational and tactical).

Enterprise reporting
The logistics reporting processes within the ADO do not meet all operational and corporate requirements.

Information is currently extracted from multiple non-integrated, disparate systems and databases.

The ADO requires an Enterprise Reporting and Management (ERM) capability to provide a single and complete logistics data source, to enable accurate, efficient and timely reporting to support logistics decision making.

ERM will provide an enterprise-wide data warehouse facility to combine data from a variety of cross-domain sources.

Maintenance management
Maintenance is a significant business function within the ADO, with approximately 18,000 users supporting over $30 billion in assets.

The current maintenance management environment is complex, fragmented, non-integrated and without a Common Maintenance Management Solution (CMMS) to manage product usage information, product health information; and installed configuration.

The ADO requires a CMMS providing an integrated enterprise-wide maintenance management capability to: (1) enable the effective and efficient delivery of maintenance; (2) be scaleable to provide complex maintenance management requirements; (3) facilitate the assurance of the availability and technical integrity of materiel used in ADF operations; and (4) support decision making at all levels of the ADO.

Repairable items
The ADO owns and maintains over $15 billion of technical equipment that is maintained by repair rather than replacement.

The current Repairable Items (RI) systems environment is a complex and fragmented collection of non-integrated systems, supported by numerous user-centric applications.

The ADO requires an enterprise-wide RI management capability that is integrated with the E&M and supply systems.

“Defence relies on the quick exchange of repairable items in the battlespace to keep equipment operational and allows a more thorough examination and repair at a safebase for future rotation,” said Heino Nowatzky.

“Many leave the ADO supply chain and enter vendor or even other Defence Force’s repair item pipelines.

"Tracking and monitoring these ADO owned assets is complex.”

Architecture integration
The introduction of new systems into the ADO IT environment requires the implementation into the existing architecture framework to ensure integration and interfacing provides a total solution.

The Defence e-Business environment is the primary facilitator to this integration.

Architecture Integration (AI) is required to facilitate a total integrated systems solution for all the elements of JP2077 Phase 2D.

The following high level business functions are required under AI: (1) cross systems/domains communications, eg. Defence Restricted Network (DRN), Defence Secret Network (DSN) and contractor systems; and (2) controlled user to systems access.

Classified assets management (CAM) is the ‘cradle to grave’ management of assets regarded as requiring a higher than Restricted level of security access i.e. Secret or Top Secret.

Current processes across the ADO are inconsistent through the use of a variety of systems and databases.

The ADO requires a standardised enterprise-wide CAM capability.

Security management
There is a requirement to address data transfer, user access and profile management across domains.

The ADO requires security management processes and systems to: (1) facilitate data migration from the Defence Restricted Network to the Defence Secret Network and enhance User Profile Management processes; (2) centrally control and manage user access including user profile visibility and history tracking, and the management of user profiles across systems and domains; and (3) facilitate secure and efficient DRN-to-DSN logistics data transfer.

Automated identification technology
Currently Automated Identification Technology (AIT) within the ADO is extensively utilised in the logistics area to track items of supply.

A review of the AIT environment, however, has found disparate AIT projects, standards and business processes across ADO organisations.

The primary capability objectives of AIT are to: (1) use AIT to address data integrity issues; (2) use AIT to streamline and support enhanced logistic functions e.g. by minimising data entry / re-keying; and (3) provide standardised AIT implementation through a standard materiel architecture framework.

The next step
Industry briefings have been held along these lines late last year, letting players know what was expected of them as the RFP closed at the end of December 2007.

“JP2077 Phase 2D is currently evaluating responses to the Request for Proposal (RFP). We envisage that it will not be until late September 2008 before we could give a public update,” said Nowatzky.

It should also be noted that punters must have taken part in the RFP to be considered for the RFT.

The project is on track for second pass approval in early 2010.