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Top 50 Equipment Sourcing & Support Actions/Goals

3/29/2016

2 Comments

 

1. Review DoD sourcing/provision policies to ensure common use items are not automatically included in contractor interim supply/support packages to provide summaries of applicable existing reference approvals for new policy guidance to issue field unit activities.

2. Prepare reports describing field unit events & what changes should be made in provisioning DoD policy so new guidance is issued for training devices to issue economic quantity issue decision rules for decreasing overall cost of spare parts is realised.

3. Definitise DoD policy on when supply system stock support must be used to include new commercial construction so summary of applicable existing references is approved as guidance to field activities.

4. Review existing DoD policies/procedures for making repair vs. buy decision on repairable items and & issue appropriate guidance to field activities so repair/buy decisions are economically sound.

5.  Pursue concept of consistent fill rates/Average Days Delay among services as a basis for balanced equipment support funding so evaluation of budgeted DoD requirements achieve required support for spares & determine what additional  resources are needed to achieve increased levels.

6. Determine feasibility of competing equipment buys for initially competed equipment so DoD can make competitive buys instead of sole source procurements for spares buys.

7. Establish formal DoD programme to challenge commercial restrictions on parts for existing systems so invalid claims by contractors are investigated.

8. Prioritise & fund review of technical supplier information in DoD planning process so competition is ensured in procurement of spares during logistics support process.

9. Create certification to be included in all solicitations for spare parts requiring suppliers to indicate test assembly so DoD field activities utilise certification to ensure maximum level of competition is attained.

10.  Create DoD procedures for field activities to utilise documented certifications to promote competition so information is available during procurement process relative to known sources of materiel.

11.  Expand support life of equipment procurement packages permitting DoD to charge suppliers for costs incurred in correcting defective information package so cost of having incomplete/inaccurate information is minimised.

12.  Create requirements for equipment contracts giving DoD right to examine review of forward information packages so access rights to all entitled information are considered.

13.  Ensure DoD sourcing Method reviews are held to obtain technical specs determining cost/benefits is assigned & demand estimated so maximum extent of competition is achieved in future procurement actions.

14.  Create requirements for equipment contracts where suppliers are required to identify costs for DoD to acquire rights to procurement technical information & identify extent of standard commercial product use so maximum levels of competition are realised.

15.  Create & test DoD procedures to make breakout of spare parts factor in source selection for major equipment systems w/ incentive arrangements to reward suppliers for cost savings generated by their efforts so lowest possible price for spare parts can be obtained.

16.  Establish DoD information system to track success of conversion from contractor recommended procurement specs to fully competitive procurement status & establish benefits of programme versus cost to  administer so benefits of breakout programme can be quantified

17.  Create DoD policy for contract provision permitting deferred ordering of DoD engineering specs requiring contract review post production so current technical specs are available from  supplier for procurement.

18.  Create policy document for DoD defining  requirement for obtaining technical specs for new equipment system acquisitions so definitive guidance is provided to units relative to obtaining technical specs

19.  Include acquisition of procurement information as part of DoD process modification so units can assure equipment specs are acquired for systems requiring modification.

20.  Ensure all DoD specs files related to technical support & procurement of equipment contain accurate and up-to-date information so supplier competition in procurement of spares is facilitated.

21.  Establish procedures to ensure DoD units provide lists of items that contractors purchase complete from subcontractors & screen equipment items for purchase breakout to subcontractor so possible sources of spare parts can be expanded.

22.  Make sure DoD periodically requests lists of purchase-completed equipment items & maintain records of item breakout reviews so supplier competition is expanded.

23.  Instruct DoD units responsible for technical reviews of equipment item purchases to require effective examination specs in limited-screening purchase breakout efforts so adequate review of technical specs is performed.

24.  Create DoD supplier purchase policy to govern agreements for commercial activities to borrow parts of components for purpose of design replication & assessment of procurement specs packages so policy & issue guidance is assured.

25.  For support/sustainment activities, pursue possibility of reviewing DoD use of equipment repair contractors so competitive base is expanded & good deals are realised in repair contracts.

26.  Propose changes to DoD standards to include marking of unit packages with supplier specs so breakout is facilitated & requires identification when spare parts are procured from supplier other than design activity.

27.   Review competitive procurement for DoD Interim equipment Support Item List so explanation of support concepts are provided w/ exploration of pros/cons for competitive procurement options.

28.  Strengthen DoD processes for inspection & acceptance of technical specs by trained engineers to validate with recognised annotation reviewed for adequacy & completeness so advantages of competition are fully exploited by having adequate technical information available.

29.  Ensure DoD creates system listing of sole source items broken out to competition for use by all field contracting activities so information is provided to increase the level of competitive procurements.

30.  Ensure DoD provides guidance to field activities on incorporation of competition/pricing goals into performance appraisal programme so importance of spares pricing competitions are brought to individual field unit level.

31.  Conduct test of DoD ability to add applicable equipment specs & improve response time for obtaining supplier information in periodic field activity announcements so number of potential sources for procuring spare parts are increased.

32.  Create DoD in-house operating procedures so field unit advocates are informed of all unsolicited proposals for sole source items & identified source of supply is considered on future procurement so possible sources of procuring spare parts is expanded

33.  Revise DoD position descriptions to establish new critical elements so field unit activities are motivated to reduce equipment costs & increase competition.

34.  Ensure DoD prepares supplier competition advocate review for field unit activities to include section on availability of projected buy requirements listing so support for generating second sources & competition are dispatched.

35.  Centralise procurement of field unit activities for non-standard & unpriced DoD requisitions so overall cost of procuring spare parts are reduced to provide more responsive equipment service/support.

36.  Expand DoD policy establishing increased use of multi-year contracts & establish automated bidders mailing lists at procurement activities so increased competition for spare parts is facilitated & costs are  reduced.

37.  Create DoD policy to phase out redeterminate basic ordering agreements so field unit activities obtain best possible price for equipment items at the time it is ordered.

38.  Ensure DoD establishes value engineering for field contracting alerts in instances of overhead allocation disproportionate to spare parts value so cost to procure materiel is determined, including cost for local bought stock point to receive & issue.

39.  Revise DoD position descriptions to establish new critical review elements so field unit activities are motivated to increase competition for items with restrictive acquisition specs.

40.  Ensure DoD Establish policy for more realistic initial estimated prices for spare parts & consolidate buy quantities of provisioned items so impact of inaccurate prices on the materiel budgeting process is minimised & economies are realised.

41.  Provide DoD field unit activity buyers with visibility of all interchangeable specs for equipment contract group so possible substitute items & less costly items are identified.

42.  Ensure DoD identify instances where field activity units are paying inter-divisional mark-ups & identify cost-cutting measures so suppliers charge no more than other entities.

43.  In conjunction w/ implementation of stock funding of DoD repairables, sensitise field unit activities to actions required to get good spare parts price deals so users can avoid paying too much for equipment for meeting requirements.

44.  Create DoD capability to evaluate value in costing for materiel & identify overpriced equipment items which are overpriced so formal programmes can be established to conduct in-depth reviews to combat increases in spare parts prices.

45.  Direct DoD field unit activities to identify engineering filter cases where intrinsic value is not consistent with established price parameters so mechanism is provided to assess equipment items requiring cost investigation.

46.  Establish DoD system to monitor Contract administration pricing of equipment orders originating with field unit activities so response time difficulties are mitigated.

47.  Ensure DoD performs comparison test of equipment items priced prospectively vs. after award and report results so impact of pricing techniques investigating other potential suppliers on final price of item is determined

48.  Ensure DoD conducts random sample test cases to determine if equipment prices paid increased or decreased so recent validity trends in prices of spare parts guidance reviews are identified.

49.  Create DoD programme to compare & display prices paid for locally purchased stock items reported by field unit activities so tools for receipt, review & reply to price challenge reports are established.

50.  Create checklist criteria for evaluating utility of DoD assessment programmes to include appropriate cost/benefit reviews & options for expanding capabilities so field unit activities can objectively evaluate minimum requirements for price determination results.

2 Comments

Dispatcher Treatment of Equipment Parts Procurement Lead Time Estimates Along Supply/Service Routes

3/24/2016

5 Comments

 
DoD processes designed to estimate procurement lead times for fleet equipment parts have been reviewed, concluding that major process deficits exist in this critical area impacting all aspects of operational readiness & fiscal discipline. Specifically, errors in procurement lead time estimates are due to problems such as miscoding connections between late deliveries & future delivery times, deficits in lead time records & input errors, estimates not reflective of improvements made in actual lead times & use of standard default processes instead of new work order schedule info that may have been obtainable.

Situational fleet equipment parts dispatch at DoD must change to meet new requirements of supply route contract quote processes covering  planning of all fleet equipment parts evaluation of logistics activities involved in procurement lead time estimates.  New DoD initiatives will reduce lead times by allowing for streamlined & simplified procurement of items on contracts-- 1) allows DoD to get increased work order schedule info receipt from suppliers, 2) enables DoD to leverage influence in interactions w/ suppliers & 3) empowers DoD to strategically target key items to ensure their availability from suppliers.

The ability of work order schedules tasked by dispatchers to meet operational requirements—system adaptability— will impact fleet equipment parts type & size availability. The procurement lead time estimates of supply route contract quotes involves the time between when new fleet equipment parts types & sizes are tasked and when the cache is received & available at installations for deployment. Administrative lead time is the time interval from the initiation of a procurement action to the contract quote, while supplier capacity process lead time is the interval from the contract quote to delivery of the items.

Fleet equipment parts procurement lead time estimation processes serve an integrating function, which tunes & coordinates all supply route contract quote activities. DoD decision-makers must increasingly direct attention to improving procurement lead time estimation services, which bring important, quantifiable benefits. Well-functioning fleet equipment part supply route contracts become important in several respects: 1) Increasing work order schedule programme impact, 2) Enhancing quality of deployments & 3) Improving cost effectiveness leading to increased operational readiness.

To determine the resources needed to scale up to the requirements of surge contingency scenarios, dispatchers first need to assess what expected costs are uncovered by estimates of procurement route lead times at different levels of the logistics system. When determining supply route contract quotes, dispatchers should consider the costs of maintaining supplier capacity, fleet equipment parts deployment, as well as the cost of the operation itself; determining what share of these costs each installation will request for mission requirements that cannot be compromised.

Key to situations where demand for fleet equipment parts inventory deployment increases, procurement lead time estimates need to be flexible enough to respond to increases in the quantities & ratios of different types &sizes of fleet equipment parts that will move through the logistics system. This may mean increasing the frequency of installation investments in supply route contract quotes to avoid work order schedule deficits when the operational requirements of surge contingency scenarios increase. What essential logistics line items do procurement lead time summary reports contain for several types of work order schedule items? 1) Fleet equipment parts type & size availability, & 2) Equipment consumption routing patterns for surge contingency scenario operations by installation.
 
Procurement lead time estimate summary reports are used to move all essential logistics line items for fleet equipment parts type & size availability at specific time periods determined by the supply route contract quote system between installations. If procurement lead time estimates are to be collected, dispatchers are required to know what work order schedule info to collect and how frequently to collect it, and consider what work order schedule info must be on hand to answer supplier capacity inquiry requests & make informed decisions: 1) How long will current fleet equipment part types & sizes last? 2) is there a requirement to deploy from higher to lower levels of the procurement pipeline? 3) At what installations is demand highest & are more resources required? 4) Is there a requirement to adjust the pipeline to account for bottlenecks that could occur if DoD has to search for required documents & work order schedule info, potentially delaying the procurement of items in supply route contract quote determination processes?

Installations may report several components of fleet Equipment parts contract quote control systems; Dispatchers report answers to following questions in submitting procurement lead time estimate reports: 1) How much fleet equipment parts do installations keep in house? 2) How often do installations participate in supply route contract quote determination? 3) What is the lowest quantity of fleet equipment parts installations want to have before the next supply route contract quote frequency period? 4) How much supplier capacity do installations have access to at any one time and does this change over time? 5) Is the installation regularly tasked with meeting demands of surge contingency scenarios & 6) Do installations have any fiscal or other constraints when participating in supply route contract quote determinations, such as limited types & sizes of fleet equipment parts to deploy?

Progress made by DoD in reducing lead times is varied b/c utilisation of different combinations of new & continued initiatives/actions is not consistent. Initiatives/actions generally fall into three specific areas of focus: 1) Streamlining internal administrative work order schedule processes, 2) Improving oversight of supply route patterns & 3) Maintaining frequent dialogue with suppliers in order to adequately address capacity constraints. Without actions by DoD to review & revise techniques/inputs in use to calculate lead time estimates that could lead to outcomes more precisely reflective of actual experiences, DoD will continue to obligate funds earlier/later than necessary resulting in misdirected delivery of items.
5 Comments

Top 10 Questions for Smart Work Order Creation Problem Solving & Decision-making Criteria

3/23/2016

3 Comments

 
Persistence & motivation are the driving force behind every successful dispatch Unit. In order to dispatch quality work order correspondence for DoD over contract procurement quote interfaces, each unit should have their own set of goals they will aim to accomplish. You must report your conclusions with confidence to DoD. Dispatchers are not expected to know every detail about the unit representation of supply route frequencies for the virtually unlimited combinations of equipment deployment patterns tasked by DoD to meet required force structures, but you are expected to sound confident. Check your emotional baggage at the door when dealing with DoD, otherwise this will not be the unit for you.

The key to the position is being able to deal with the inattention of DoD when finding solutions to equipment deployment is important. Don’t let a bad hour, day, week or month discourage you. If you let it affect your confidence, it is sure to decimate your work order correspondence over the contract procurement interface between installations. In a global DoD supply route structure such as it is, sounding discouraged will surely lead to inefficient equipment Deployment.

Dispatchers that have persevered have developed multiple problem solving & decision-making criteria for equipment deployment work order dispatch. The benefits of such process techniques include blocking confrontations that happen during when both DoD & dispatchers utilise unique problem-solving styles in the discussion of supply line route parameters related to addressing issues that arise over the contract procurement quote interface when multiple installations approach the same problem at different times. We have highlighted requirements for equipment condition/performance metrics & measures to be consistent with scheduled supply route links established for equipment resource sourcing.

DoD may focus on available work orders from the information at hand and see what can be learned from it. DoD should look for gaps in dispatcher knowledge & processes, and either try to fill or take account of them. This is where dispatchers assess past work order trends & try to present DoD with extrapolations from historical supply route instances. DoD may look at problems using intuition, gut reaction & emotion to try and anticipate how dispatchers will react.  Dispatchers must try to take account of DoD responses to equipment deployment problems which do not fully understand dispatcher reasoning.

DoD may look at all the bad points of the dispatchers decision-making process. Dispatchers should look at criticism cautiously & defensively in design of supply routes. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the points in equipment deployment plans that should be placed in a work order process suspense file. It allows you to eliminate or alter steps & prepare contingency plans to counter them. Further, this style helps to make dispatcher plans tougher & more resilient, in order to spot fatal flaws and risks before embarking on a course of action.

DoD may recognise the benefits of helping dispatchers think positively when assessing equipment deployment problems. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps dispatchers to see all the benefits of work order decision and the value in it. This type of perspective helps DoD to keep going when it looks difficult if not impossible to establish supply routes & stands for creativity. This is where dispatchers can find creative solutions to work order problems. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas.

We have designed a whole range of creative supply route tools to help DoD here. Dispatchers must invest in standards for work order process control, usually used by DoD during contract procurement quote interface calls between installations. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, dispatchers direct activity into other types of work order project progress. When equipment deployment contingency plans are needed, dispatchers will ask for other techniques as well.

Dispatchers have determined several appropriate equipment deployment decision-making styles & supply route design processes & detailed for DoD series of Yes & No questions to ask for the dispatch of each work order and building  contract procurement quote  interface decision-making models based on the responses:

1)    Is the technical quality of the decision required by DoD very important?

2)    Are consequences of not coming up with a successful solution significant for DoD?

3)    Does a successful outcome for DoD depend on dispatcher commitment to the decision?

4)    Must there be dispatcher buy-in for the solution to work for DoD requirements?

5)    Do dispatchers have sufficient information to be able to make decisions for DoD independently?

6)     Is the problem well-structured so that DoD can easily understand what needs to be addressed & what defines a good solution?

7)    Is DoD reasonably confident dispatch teams will accept registration even if DoD does not make decision explicit

8)    Does DoD have the time or will to follow-up on work order protocols & directives?

9)    Will there likely be conflict within DoD as to which solution is best? 

10)   Are dispatcher objectives consistent with the goals DoD has set to define a successful solution?

3 Comments

Summary of Report Detailing Equipment Tracking Guideposts Designed by Supply Route Application

3/20/2016

3 Comments

 
Dispatchers have compiled a report documenting issues resulting from construction of key task increases in response to supply route issue directives from command. Techniques are to be performed during initial contract procurement quote determination phases detailing activities at multiple installations.

The overall purpose of the report is to enact forward-looking equipment tracking protocols directed towards mitigating inefficient & misdirected installation operations. Efforts support future decision-making processes for allocating automated substitute sourcing ticket fields to unique equipment categories determined by dispatchers.

The report promotes contract procurement quote determination strategies to be implemented for an enhanced equipment tracking framework subject to several key logistics deficiencies in installation operations. Dispatcher protocol practices are reflected in increased realisation of efficient contract procurement quote determination & improved performance of installations for automated substitute sourcing ticket fields.

The report sets forward-looking equipment tracking protocols designed to provide better means to communicate requirements of efficient contract procurement quote determination  directed toward constructing supply routes for contingency scenario demand in briefings to command.

The report tasks dispatchers with the provision of contingency scenario demand route guideposts for command to assess in implementation of equipment tracking concepts & principles within installation processes. At its core, designing supply route tracker applications deals with decisions made by dispatchers concerning supply route allocation & utilisation in automated sourcing ticket fields & contract procurement quote determination for supply route infrastructure.

In the report, dispatchers have explained the basics of operational deficiencies in logistics requirements by providing an overview of current techniques detailing future vision of installation practises. Adjustments are to be made towards improving key contingency scenario demand processes involved in building efficient contract procurement quote determination by investigation of supply route characteristics.

The report submitted by dispatchers describes equipment tracking concepts & core principles for each major area in the supply route programme to be presented in the future. Factors include infrastructure & contingency planning for operational logistics, contract procurement quote determination & issues related to automated substitute resource sourcing ticket fields.  Techniques are designed to support equipment tracking with emphasis given to tool sets required to assist dispatchers at multiple installations.

The overall objective of the report is for dispatchers to promote adaptive frameworks capable of capturing logistics processes related to derived contract procurement quote determination. Supply routes are pilot-tested with performance metrics collected during dispatch assessments to yield comprehensive, predictive results for contingency scenario demand compared with existing value trends.

The report integrates initiatives realised from installation assessments to establish investigational road maps for contract procurement quote determination to determine supply route design for contingency scenario demand operations based on equipment tracking models. This action plan is intended to identify fiscal & physical line equipment item requirements for supply route tracker applications, providing for significant project milestones detailed by dispatchers.

One of the main goals of the report is to communicate to command results realised in dispatchers design of adaptive frameworks enabling characterisation of dynamic  processes related to changes in  contract  procurement quote determination based on equipment  condition indices. In order to capture and predict models with which supply route sections en route to contingency scenario demand change relative to each equipment condition state, the supply route tracker application has demonstrated the capability of documenting changes in equipment condition indices by relating performance to structural, operational & security considerations deployed at multiple installations.

The report details efforts made by dispatchers to implement an effective supply route tracker application at multiple installations though design of prototype supply routes for smart contract procurement quote determination in an equipment tracking model. Trade-off value determinations are employed to compare fiscal, physical & security  values  for multiple installations to  capital investment programmes among competing supply route projection candidates, ranking  candidate projects by rate of return on stated instance values.

3 Comments

Guidebook Overview for Supply Line Track: Work Order Schedule Measures of Equipment Upgrade/Repair Contract Quote Performance

3/11/2016

2 Comments

 
The supply route tracking guidebook described in this report is of interest to busy dispatchers charged with assessment of contract quote grouping techniques operating from centralised procurement dispatch hubs charged with improving operational performance measurement systems for critical equipment upgrade/replace schedules.

DoD installations that already employ upgrade/replace work order logistics systems in an acceptable format for evaluation of equipment status will stand to benefit from expansion of new contract quote grouping techniques.

The supply route tracking guidebook provides for step-by-step procurement processes requiring work order schedules detailing contract quote performance-based measurement programmes derived from the compilation of supply route equipment item condition indices.

Applied work order measures include both traditional & non-traditional contract performance indicators addressing upgrade/replace operational issues for surge contingency scenarios in deploying fleet equipment component items through contract quote grouping routing models.

The supply route tracking guidebook provides techniques for implementing or updating route service objectives for critical equipment items subject to upgrade/replace operations. Each step in the supply route tracking guidebook includes a list of work order schedule tasks & describes how to complete business logistics process actions.

 Specific examples are provided of different logistics approaches that can be used by DoD in accomplishing contract performance-based goals that meet the requirements of route service tracking between installations for upgrade/replace scenarios.

The supply route tracking guidebook presents categories of contract performance measures to be considered in building business logistics process architecture, considering concrete types of measures that could be utilised in assessing contract quote grouping models for fleet equipment component item deployment practices.

Dispatchers act to maintain critical advances in operational information collection alongside improved procurement techniques for reporting the results of assessing contract performance in executing work order schedule tasks critical to maintaining equipment upgrade/replace support for mobile operations.

In the Guidebook, detailed equipment item upgrade/replace summaries are presented for several contract performance measures following from the dispatch of procurement quotes by installations connecting via work order schedules in the business logistics process space.  

To help DoD quickly find contract performance measures appropriate for goals & objectives of installations, supply line capacity constraints & work order schedule task selection menus guide dispatchers through a series of questions that lead to specific operation-directed conclusions for equipment upgrade/replace operations.

Guidebook techniques utilising contract quote grouping models for supply route tracker techniques provide core sets of suggested contract performance measures & metrics requirements critical for equipment upgrade/replace operational logistics, offering potential applications of the guidebook.
2 Comments

Equipment Upgrade/Repair Support Q & A: Sourcing Ticket Operations

3/11/2016

2 Comments

 
What are the operational goals these tactics address for mission requirements?

DoD divisions must consider centralised structures for processing sourcing ticket schedules to meet requirements of equipment upgrade/replace services. Resources should be integrated into current operations with open service messages & standards if user requirements are to no longer be obstacles to core competence. Without action, translation of user behaviour into operational services is at risk & constrains value for specific DoD requirements. Techniques DoD requires for innovative equipment upgrade/replace operation must be constructed with speed, specialisation & flexibility. Without smart customisation, adaptation is time consuming for DoD divisions that must adopt new sourcing ticket opportunities for users.


Is it clear these tactics address realistic mission dynamics?

Most experts offering advice on how unit consortiums pitch new sourcing ticket tactics to DoD get it wrong. Why? Most experts miss the central point: the purpose of the pitch is to identify user requirements & dispatcher behaviour for equipment upgrade/replace operations, not to teach. You must excite, not educate. Pitching projects nail what DoD is most interested, fostering a dialogue to connect with the head, heart & gut of DoD end-users.

If you want advice about pitching products, you can directly ask DoD users, but you probably won’t get a very good answer. Most DoD equipment upgrade/repair specialists are set in their ways, so they will give you a laundry list to topics to cover. They won’t tell you what really floats their boat, since they are not very good at articulating sourcing ticket scheduling for equipment upgrade/repair support in useful terms. “I know it when I see it,” is about the best answer you’ll get.

What are DoD equipment upgrade/replace specialists most interested in? Decision makers at the other end of the table picking apart user requirements & dispatcher behavioural aspects ask, “Are these tactics going to screw up our current operations?” That is the simple question most experts think they are answering, but they are missing the crux of the process. What DoD should really be thinking is, “Are these tactics the next best next investment for substitute resource sourcing ticket scheduling?” That is a much more complex question, but that is what dispatchers have to answer.

To win over hearts & minds, your pitch has to tell a good, clear, easy-to-repeat story—the story of an exciting new tactics for substitute resource component sourcing ticket scheduling. Positioning promotion of dispatcher skill sets as a perfect fit with other techniques DoD equipment upgrade/replace support have used as well as what the new tactics are chartered to make work, and beat out what DoD end-users are currently considering. These issues are beyond the scope of this Q&A session. So for now, we have just concentrated on telling a good story


What mission opportunities do these tactics open up?

To survive in equipment upgrade/replace units competing for scarce resources, new protocols shape strategy, planning & behaviour for sourcing ticket success—recognition of external factors is key because unforeseen changes in operational variables present both problems & opportunities.  

Operational target segmentation & positioning formulates the appeal of mixed approaches for budgets, promotion & product appealing to DoD sourcing ticket strategies. But the goal is not just to arrive at new strategy but instead focus on providing value to equipment upgrade/replace segments. DoD must not fall into trap of losing sight of new objectives shaping direction & operation of entire enterprise.

 It is difficult to set equipment upgrade/replace support user requirements & behavioural objectives to do a good job in guiding present & future resources for sourcing ticket objectives. Critical mission signals are required for action & may reside outside control of dispatcher strategies. 

It would be convenient if DoD could set limited number of objectives, such as reigning in costs & detailing force structure adjustments to serve as a guide for scheduling equipment upgrade/replace support. But setting user requirements becomes more complicated, which explains why DoD protocols do sub-par jobs creating sourcing tickets or even don’t do it at all.


How will mission results of these tactics be exploited & disseminated?  

Creation of quality dissemination & exploitation plans for updating sourcing ticket techniques is key priority complete with measured, realistic objectives according to maximising budget timetables. DoD must consider responsibilities for value-driven equipment upgrade/repair activities related to the endeavor & must account for user requirements & behavioural constraints.

Plans should be flexible as possible so target stakeholders are involved in keeping sourcing tickets schedules on track. Participation draws attention to spreading value of operational equipment upgrade/repair plans in terms of materials & technology, also validating mission protocols from sustainability point of view.

Main Aims of dissemination activities include scheduling tool measures designed to allow equipment upgrade/replace specialists outside unit consortium to follow new innovations to reach largest audience possible. Thematic events will be promoted by subject topic areas, aiming to be inclusive of information dissemination activities, an important aspect of dispatcher policy for sourcing ticket project results. Situational examinations of changes in user requirements & behaviour for upgrade/replace support will inform availability of results, with access rights subject to DoD agreements & specific deliverables to treat sourcing ticket issues.
2 Comments

Supply Line Routing Connections Determined by Modern Applications Dictate Operational Success at Installations

3/4/2016

4 Comments

 
It’s been a busy year. We are constantly looking for new ways to integrate critical information  to give DoD the best tools for tracking equipment to be utilised in repair/upgrade simulations & other real-world mobile operations. Dispatchers fulfill role by listening to DoD, asking questions, providing ideas, suggesting alternatives, & identifying possible installation resources for sync operations. Creation of user-defined substitute resource component sourcing tickets have been designed to administer services directly to installations within the time windows established by this modernised application. 

The most powerful tools developed for DoD are simple in design, but require user training application to operate and must be constructed with the goals of dispatchers in mind. Understanding the goals of dispatchers in specific contexts provides the ability to construct critical tools for translating user requriements into design frameworks. The most powerful interactive design tool must address: 1) Precise descriptive design of the user 2) What must be accomplished and why.

Complex user requriements become apparent in the way supply line connection modules are constructed and how techniques are used. Without comprehensive design principles built into dispatcher protocols, DoD is left with the impossible task of interpreting massive amounts of raw, unfiltered information, without benefit of the big picture or any real & practical operational principles.

To create an application that is to be used by a massive organisation such as DoD, logical people may conclude that system design should be as broad as possible in order to accommodate as many users as possible. This premise is flawed. The best way to successfully design an application is to construct user requirements for specific types of individual w/ specific needs to maximise their utility by making use of real-world behaviour patterns that are present in day-to-day activities.

When an application is designed with a goal to satisfy a broad audience of users, arbitrarily extending the application to include many constituencies, the workload & navigational overhead of the application is increased, to the detriment of coordinated, centralised dispatch operations serving the mission requirements of multiple installations.

Dispatchers leverage real-time information to create stable route-based paths consisting of substitute resource sourcing ticket intersection successions with supply line connectivity. Dispatchers estimate the length of connection/disconnection periods between intersections to optimise route selection & information transfers. Dispatcher approaches decouple forwarding from intersection identity & use route position to integrate forward input points. Dispatcher treatment of disparate equipment size & type deployment schedules enables spatial route forwarding w/o overhead associated w/ periodic work order schedules to maintain accurate force structure lists.   

Good supply line application modules emphasise the salient features of the structures or relationships they represent & de-emphasise the details that are not as important to the success of dispatchers during critical operations. Designers must create user models based on raw, observed behaviour of dispatchers & intuitive synthesis of patterns in routing supply to installations. Only after formalisation of this information, can designers systematically create a protocol for the patterns that match the behaviour & goals of the dispatchers at a high level of system design. Creation of template work orders for busy dispatchers provides this formalisation.

Dispatcher help desk  is the “heart” of DoD procurement quote dispatch operations. It exists to bring current and future information changes to DoD installations related to scheduling supply line routes for deployment of equipment components. This information may be as basic as offering instructions for maintenance scheduling or as complex as translating condition & performance-based metrics to solve a procurement quote interface system problem an installation has encountered w/ the transmission of a substitute resource component sourcing ticket on supply line connection conference calls.

Because the help desk team will probably talk with and sync almost every DoD installation at one time or another, it is well positioned to take the pulse and temperature of  DoD procurement programmes on a daily basis with the goal of functioning as first line of defence to notice a change or shift in DoD composure related to assessing condition & performance based metrics for equipment components deployment schedules.   

As a result, dispatcher help desk teams provides the foundation that keeps equipment component deployment running smoothly to meet the changing force structure requirements of surge contingency scenarios. However, a common frustration that DoD installations share with us is the lack of consistency they encounter when calling current stove-piped information desks. “Our biggest concern in calling existing help desks is that we never know who will answer the call or if the type of response we will receive is in sync with our communications.”

Although dispatch centres may not have total control over which dispatcher answers the telephone on supply line conference call connections, necessary steps have been taken to ensure that the response provided to DoD installations is accurate. Consistent responses & follow-up establishes credibility. Call handling of work orders can be used to standardise operations.  

Design Consensus & commitment must be involved in building the supply line routing application for dispatchers. With a common language comes a greater understanding. Work order dispatch eliminates current confusion precipitated by complex diagrammatic charts because dispatchers have found  it is much easier to understand the many iterations of user behaviour through creation of narrative work order structures used by dispatch design in formulating the administration of substitute resource component sourcing ticket schedules. 

The effectiveness of application design choices must be evaluated in work order dispatch in the same way as can be shown to a real user during the formative process. Although this does not eliminate the need for the application to be deployed in real-world mobile operations, it provides a powerful reality check for designers trying to solve high-level design problems in launch of the application. This allows design iteration to occur rapidly & at  reduced costs to DoD, resulting in a far stronger design baseline when the time comes to test the utility of the application to adapt to the behaviour of dispatchers in real-time.    

Dispatchers use design of this application to derive metrics for equipment condition & performance before application of  supplier contract quote systems for the creation of substitute resource sourcing tickets leading to the scheduled procurement of  equipment deployment to meet requirements of upgrade/repair simulations in order to meet force require for scenarios.

Dispatchers have investigated what makes for an efficient & practical procurement supply route pipeline detailing requirements of equipment deployment? In this effort, project is scoped, risks & specific requirements for installation sync identified, resources evaluated, quality factors prioritised & success factors defined.

Dispatchers break down DoD operational parts & understand how to accomplish objectives. Examples are strategic, competitive, fiscal, technical & operational. Programme attributes include availability, usability, integrity, interoperability, reliability. testability, maintainability, & reusability.  We have concluded that DoD has bags of protocols but not much information! Here's a quant manifesto for the more ambitious: Just Connect, Integrate, Adapt, Expand & Apply!

The ability to use predictive service route supply applications based on condition indices shapes decisions and outcomes, becoming a key source of competitive advantage for DoD in determining master agreements for deployment of equipment components to installations. When  applications querying the condition indices of equipment are present in all aspects of the supply line determination process & tech power for equipment tracking transaction volumes increasing at an accelerated pace, installations of any size can harness critical information to get smarter about upgrade/repair simulations, service route administration &  product support.

Modern applications utilise integrated framework that employs quantitative methods to derive actionable intelligence  from operational monitors, using these insights to shape service route agreement decisions & ultimately, to improve operational outcomes moving well beyond the scope of standard reporting tools and techniques.  History has confirmed that high performance installations can outperform competitors over the long term across operational schedules. High performing installations recognise equipment tracking technology on its own cannot make DoD into an effective organisation.

Most high performing installations should utilise application queries of equipment condition indices to optimise the most important core route service agreement processes. Scheduling upgrade repair simulation method techniques enables deployment of equipment to installation sites within a specified temporal window, allowing for new sources of service route performance enhancements.  

For DoD, equipment supply route applications remain underused & underappreciated, highlighting requirements to invest in reporting & intelligence technology solutions to improve decision-making. Tracking vast quantities of equipment supply information available supports smarter, more transparent operations. Currently, DoD is focusing on basic equipment upgrade/repair scheduling methods using standard reporting tools and techniques that include outdated or static supply route  information.

At high performing installations, DoD should establish real differentiation in supply line connections along two paths. First, outdated equipment tracking loops should be deliberately closed and raw information transformed into productive insights to shape actual decisions & supply route service agreement processes, generating better equipment upgrade/repair simulation outcomes & creating operational value. Unless execution steps are followed through with, equipment tracking insights in isolation have little operational value and are merely nice to know.

DoD must close outdated equipment tracking loops in a coordinated manner across multiple functions, geographies, or divisions— whatever the relevant installation of the enterprise. Becoming more fluent with applications designed to aggregate information  from queries of fleet condition indices can help DoD become more flexible & opens avenues to asking new  questions in the areas of upgrade/repair simualtion forecasting, optimisation & predictive reasoning. DoD must become more adaptable to changing contingency scenarios involving not just technical tools but also organisational factors related to equipment tracking logistics, which spurs competitive advantage for surge operations.

Building advanced Logistics capability is not easy, of course. Even well-run installations may struggle to generate insights from their equipment tracking technology investments, connect  supply line insights to the relevant upgrade/repair simulation processes & provide links to tangible operational outcomes. While DoD has its own unique set of challenges, all tend to share one or more of several common themes:

First, we have documented a focus on the wrong equipment condition metrics or too many metrics. DoD has established a large set of metrics, but they often lack a causal mapping of the key drivers of their operations, which a small set of metrics should track.

Second, we have highlighted an over-reliance on outdated technology as a solution. Too often, DoD has built a huge system warehouse or enterprise resource planning system and assumes that supply line decision-making aimed at leading to increased operational tempos will improve, neglecting to put technical tools in the right hands with an architecture built around the right process, in order to deliberately drive efficient operational outcomes.

Third, we realised DoD is drowning in an ocean of data, wading through a proliferation not just of supply route information volume but also of particular type that wasn’t readily extracted historically. DoD units may feel they are drowning in information, not confidently navigating their craft through it. Without a proven process for selecting the right supply line information to aggregate, it’s unlikely that DoD will be able to discern important routing patterns that can lead to smarter decisions.

Finally, we point out DoD is awash in one-off, point solutions, the capability of which could be interesting—and that’s about all if it is worked in isolation. Until it is connected to other operations such as how equipment is deployed to installations and how DoD provides direct support to mobile operations, that capability will remain suboptimal and underutilised.

More often than not, while reluctant to say so, DoD relies primarily on intuition and experience rather than fact-based reviews to guide creation of new supply line connection processes. Most operational decisions are still made based on judgment alone, and while experience and intuition are valuable assets, they remain limited in utility until combined with relevant equipment tracking information.  

None of these are completely new challenges. But they have become more corrosive in today’s multi-polar world, one characterised by multiple centers of installation power & tracking activity. Faster communications and real-time automated applications have allowed operational functions to be dispersed geographically and have also brought a vast array of supply route service activities, many located in dispersed parts of the planet.

Complexity is one challenge in a multipolar world & operational speed is the other, where missing the shift of value in equipment upgrade/repair simulations for new installation segments connected by the application querying service route condition indices means mounting an expensive come from behind response. One attribute shared by high-performance installations is the speed with which DoD must make decisions, typically in close physical proximity to installations or through connections to a centralised schedule integration centre.  

High performing installations should get the right supply line information into the hands of the right people who can act quickly, reinforcing the need for  application capabilities querying equipment condition indices connected to installations. In practice, processes have been distributed across many parts of DoD, if not throughout the entire enterprise .The route to building equipment tracking & valuation capability will depend on the level of system maturity currently within DoD.

An installation accustomed to innovating through modern processes will have a different set of issues, challenges, and questions than will an installation that may not even know its required supply line exposure on a daily basis. An installation accustomed to performing minimal equipment condition indices assessments per year will likely not be prepared to take advantage of the rollout of new application grids allowing for more frequent assessment of condition indices.

Therefore, a critical first step is a diagnostic to determine the current maturity of DoD installations and where the gaps in suppy route service are located. Less mature installations must aim to boost the quality of equipment tracking technical tools. Poor supply line connection quality is prevalent across DoD, and needs to be addressed before investing in applications querying fleet condition indices. If dirty equipment tracking information is an issue at an installation, it is essential to determine the highest priority tasks for executing the core upgrade/repair strategy, and then to validate, clean, and consolidate technical information.

Less mature installations are often short of supply line applications with advanced equipment tracking & and valuation skills, or the specialists with the know how to make a real difference. These installations should recruit talent & implement applications carefully and investigate how to select piece parts of operations functions to improve  quality of supply line connections & bring specialists on board for the highest value projects. The long-term goal for any installation at any level of maturity should be to embed modern applications as an installation-wide capability. 

For equipment procurement and deployment issues, installations should understand the next likely supply contract quote item by each DoD segment and the time lag between measured operational instances & exceptions not reasonably tolerant of mean values. Using results from this diagnostic, installations can lay the groundwork for a basic, robust or truly advanced  equipment tracking & deployment capability in guiding upgrade/repair simulations

Effective installation applications built to track equipment & query service supply route condition indices for useful metrics are built on a three-part foundation: 1) Disciplined processes to ensure that valuable insights & recommendations are generated, acted on & effectiveness measured; 2) Select the right installations participating in supply line conference call connections with the right skills to identify the insights and put information to work; and, 3) Application systems that ensure operational integrity & quality.   

At some installations, outdated technology gets most of the attention, while people & processes get short shrift. High-performance installations integrate  equipment condition indices assessment processes into supply route service connections as well as the methods by which equipment tracking work gets done, decisions get made & operational value is created. Most DoD installations do not use repeatable approach methodologies. Creating  repeatable processes that leverages ability of application to query equipment condition indices for the required metrics to generate new insights into operations should be a high priority for every installation.

To generate insights, DoD should start with the best diagnostics already employed at installations to gather information about the determinants of efficient supply route service &solutions to deficits in assessments of equipment condition indices. Using existing supply line routes already In possession can then confirm or reject questions regarding the status of potential connections to maximise impact of operations. The insight that follows from case studies of supply line connection techiques could then be tested in a pilot programme or a small sample to validate effectiveness before being widely deployed across DoD. 

At the start of any supply line routing test and wider rollout, it’s critical to get input from all the functions or stakeholders in DoD that need to be involved in order to mitigate operational risks and ensure the greatest positive impact for mobile operations. For instance, if an installation sees an opportunity for increased operational tempo under surge contingency scenarios for a potential supply route connection, DoD should consider whether it has enough equipment components in place, enough application operators trained for a complex mobile operation at the right place & time; as well as the requisite expertise to handle follow-up questions regarding supply route service connections.

Consider the case of how DoD could use equipment tracking applications to query condition indices resulting in new supply line processes to improve test procurement at a remote installation which could then be rolled out more widely. Maintaining operational tempos depends on deploying an exact number of equipment components to the right places at the right time.

Traditionally, DoD would rely on the experience and gut judgment of its installations, asking them to study supply line information during each operational period to predict which areas would have the greatest demand. Using this approach year after year, DoD eventually fell into a rut. Every scheduled period, some installations would deploy an equipment cache in anticipation of surge operations without a clear idea of how many exactly were actually needed.  

To make better and more transparent decisions about equipment component deployment, DoD should test applications at all installations designed to query equipment condition indices in supply line route service connection processes. Following implementation, installations could use actionable intelligence in updated DoD systems to forecast exactly where equipment components must be deployed. It may turn out deploy according to the regular schedule would be rejected by application forecasts that supply line connections would best be organised by another directive. Aside from improving operational tempo, application designers have suggested ways to optimise service route insertion for critical installation requirements.

During surge operations, supply route service connections may be restricted to some particular installations requesting equipment deployment for minimum periods.  That way, equipment components would be more likely to be available for the most key installations. Similarly, applications querying condition indices will help DoD  predict when a certain installation might run out of equipment, & correct deficiencies to enable operational tempos to persist under surge conditions. By embedding application queries of equipment condition indices directly into everyday decision making, DoD can increase the operational efficiency of its equipment utilisation rates dramatically. 

When aiming to improve supply line connections for surge operations, it is essential that the power of applications designed to query equipment condition indices is derived from making connections & recognising patterns in contingency scenarios, isolating the drivers of supply route line performance, and anticipating the effects of decisions. To make smart connections, DoD has to look beyond the immediate task and evaluate what happens upstream & downstream of equipment cache deployment.

Consider the challenge of improving the return on installation-wide equipment tracking processes. The solution will be most compelling when future operational tempos can be optimised across different route service channels, geographies, and the full range of equipment components.

DoD should connect the entire process and range of changing operational tempos, rather than being focused on just one or two phases of it. Application methods typically work best with a cross-functional approach, since most operational problems touch multiple areas of DoD. For example, traditional, widely used batch claim processing of supply line connections drives poor procurement processes and increases administrative costs while decreasing operational readiness.

 The better solution, a real-time information source adjudication process, is complex enough that it requires collaboration across multiple installations in order to prioritise equipment tracking transactions established by supply line conference connection calls, shifting valuable resources away from adjustment and appeals processes and toward readiness for surge operations.

Initial DoD processes querying equipment condition indices have often been one-time efforts that are inherently limited in effect. But as supply route connection activities become familiar and more routine, DoD can learn from each initiative, codify the best advances in efficiencies, and integrate new applications into consistent and meaningful real-time information work order processes. This approach takes more time up front, but eventually offers the benefit of almost instant scheduling decisions. 

Modern applications sense equipment condition indices assessments & information on subsequent upgrade/repair simulation, apply logic or codified knowledge & make decisions with minimal intervention to operations. Surge operations are best suited for automating the decision when DoD can readily codify the decision rules & work order systems automate the surrounding process. Modern automated decision-making is used in a variety of settings, from reordering of equipment components following below levels required by installations,to scheduling of mobile operations.

For  real-world mobile operations requiring new supply line connections, sensors can relay essential information, predicting potential problems before the automated system enables equipment upgrade/repair schedules to be in effect, extending the life of operational components & driving down expenditure of capital & time-related contingencies.

Applications querying fleet route condition indices are best suited to clearly defined, periodic tasks in which most of the information needed is available &  predictable. Receipt of centralised supply line information derived from new supply line route connections produces real-time alerts of delays so installations can reroute incoming frequent equipment caches & promote better long-term planning for upgrade/repair simulations & improved allocation of resources for logistics programmes. 

To push benefits to increased operational performance of modern applications across DoD, installations need to be an integral part of strategic decisions. Indeed, some changes in operational tempos are hardly conceivable without advanced processes. DoD may ask, “Do we think this is true, or do we know it to be true?”

Powered by underlying applications querying equipment condition indices driving upgrade/repair simulation scheduling, the strategy has proven robust through an array of operational situations, and has clearly outperformed competitors. Another example for future directions are prediction  applications, which operate on the principle that a crowd, collectively, can often make better decisions than individual installations. When DoD wants to know if a new idea is likely to succeed, it may seek the opinion of rank-and-file by turning to its internal resources for forecasting. 

The end game should be application capability for querying equipment condition indices & triggering new supply route connections where the piece parts collaborate to solve problems and insights can be leveraged for maximum impact. To be sure, this may require more effort at first, more sponsorship from the senior ranks, and buy-in from political stakeholders. Yet DoD enterprise-scale results, whether in increased future operational tempos during surge contingency scenarios, return on capital, or enhancing the role that DoD can play in shaping global affairs and national security, or any other metric for that matter, are what make the effort and complete physical exhaustion worthwhile.


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