Military Logistics: Defence pioneers new generation of integrated logistics

1 June 2007

By Ian Peek

Most accounts of contemporary or past military operations will make at least one reference to the importance of logistics to success on the battlefield. Acknowledging this conventional wisdom is easy; delivering a logistics system that actively contributes to winning military campaigns and operations has always been the hard part.

Australia's own experiences have served to highlight the significant challenges of providing logistic support to the ADF in a high tempo operational environment while simultaneously providing for contingencies and Defence's corporate needs.

The problems in trying to coordinate over 100 different Logistic Information Systems (Log IS) to support and sustain the 1999 East Timor deployment brought home the stark reality that our Log IS environment was just not up to the job that our logisticians and warfighters were asking of it.

The shortcomings were even more acutely felt as the logistics system was further stretched to support deployments across other areas of operation.

In commenting on our experiences after the 2003 Gulf War, General Peter Cosgrove, the then Chief of the Defence Force observed that "we've still got to move hard to bring automation into our logistics system and make sure that we can support the troops at the end of a very long pipeline."

The challenge of trying to manage a complex Log IS environment also created considerable problems further back in the Defence supply chain. Defence was facing significant challenges in properly tracking and accounting for an increasingly large and valuable portfolio of assets.

This resulted in a series of adverse findings by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO); a situation that could not be allowed to continue if Defence hoped to deliver on the high expectations vested by the public and Government in a progressively more acute (and expensive) security environment.

With the 1999 East Timor deployment and ANAO findings providing the catalyst, it was clear that the demands of our 21st century Defence environment was fast outrunning the capacity of the existing Log IS to support it. To address this significant challenge, the Military Integrated Logistics Information System (MILIS) was born.

The MILIS vision represents more than just the next generation of Defence logistics. It represents a first for integrated logistics anywhere in the world, Defence or otherwise - and it has already started to become a reality.

MILIS will replace the Standard Defence Supply System (SDSS) as Defence's core logistic management capability. MILIS will also rationalise the numerous systems that make up the existing Log IS environment and assist in the standardisation of logistics business processes across Defence.

Specifically, MILIS will provide the foundation for integrated supply, inventory management, maintenance, movements and distribution throughout the Australian Defence Organisation.

This will include support to logistics processes for ADF units and headquarters in barracks and in the field, including to deployed locations without access to reliable communications.

MILIS is being delivered through Joint Project 2077 in several phases; each phase representing a major project in its own right. The first phase is already in delivery with the roll-out of an automated 'Track and Trace' system currently underway in the Middle East Area of Operations.

This system is driven by advanced Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and enables stores and equipment to be more rapidly and accurately tracked as specially tagged containers, pallets or even individual items move through the supply chain.

The next phase, currently in the development and build stage, is due for delivery in late 2008 and will replace SDSS with a leading edge, Australian-developed software application called Mincom Ellipse1.

As well as providing the core logistics transaction system that will provide the foundation for subsequent phases, it will also provide an enhanced interface into Defence's ROMAN financial management system. This will increase the Department's ability to accurately value and account for its assets while also addressing the deficiencies identified by the ANAO.

Building on the core Ellipse transaction system, JP2077 will then deliver deployable MILIS capabilities to support ADF operations in the field anywhere in the world. Scheduled for delivery commencing early 2009, this will include a deployable MILIS interface designed for use in a communications-interrupted environment at sea or in the field from a static Joint or Combined Force Headquarters right down to sub-unit (Company) level.

This will complement existing capabilities in the field. Using the 'Track and Trace' infrastructure developed during the earlier phase, it will also provide further improvements to Defence's ability to track and manage inventory and assets in transit through the supply chain.

The final phase currently programmed will deliver a range of additional capabilities to close the remaining gaps in Defence's future Log IS environment. Scheduled to commence rolling out in 2010, these will include engineering and maintenance management, enterprise level reporting, and architecture implementation capabilities.

It will also complete the rationalisation of Log IS systems into a truly integrated supply chain management system.

"MILIS represents a significant leap forward in our ability to manage and sustain a truly integrated supply chain to support ADF operations in barracks and the field," says Brigadier David McGahey, the DMO's Director General Materiel Information Systems.

"The vision that we're working towards hasn't been achieved anywhere else in the world - it will put Australia at the forefront of integrated logistics management and provide a significant boost to the ADF's ability to mount and sustain military operations.

"Importantly also, MILIS will greatly enhance Defence's ability to track and account for its assets, thereby helping to ensure that the ADF gets even more capability for each dollar spent. With the roll out of 'Track and Trace' to the MEAO already underway, JP2077 has started to make the MILIS vision a reality. We'll be working hard to deliver the remaining capabilities commencing early 2008."

Brigadier McGahey went on to say "In the meantime, our SDSS sustainment operation will continue through the transition to MILIS, and our SDSS improvement team will continue to work hard to deliver major improvements to existing systems to ensure the best possible support to our logisticians, warfighters and Defence corporate stakeholders is maintained until the MILIS comes online."

JP2077 is being delivered through the Logistic Acquisition Program within the Defence Materiel Organisation's Materiel Information Systems (MATIS) Branch at RAAF Williams in Melbourne.

While MILIS is being built and tested under JP2077, the MATIS Branch will continue to work to sustain the current systems and also pre-condition and strengthen the current Log IS environment for MILIS delivery.

This includes preparation of people and infrastructure, and it also includes a program of continuous improvement in existing systems, including in the areas of training, data quality, IT controls, and reconciliation of not-in-catalogue items.