Marines are pushing partners to focus on upkeep of existing goods, rather that getting “enamored with chasing the shiny object,” the fact that our equipment comes with a long tail of sustainment and logistics training is a traditional selling point Pentagon officials use when discussing deployment of weapons systems.
Our office now has a system in place where “we can see the kind of sustainment we’re providing to every partner we can see the sustainment profile of each which is going to allow us to then have the dialogue with them to show them ‘this is what you look like, this is what you bought into, this is the performance level, or this is where you need to contribute more to planning of expeditionary exercises.
Part of that pitch involves arguing that sustainment logistics isn’t just about maintaining what you have, but opening up future opportunities. Marine leadership has emphasised increasing capability for existing systems. The argument is such that as those capabilities come online, the better maintained your equipment is, the better chance you have to load new technologies onto older platforms.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure you have a sustainment portfolio in place that goes out 10, 15, 20 years. If we can get them investing in sustainment right, that is going to take it to the next level.”
“In other words, you may think you need 20 aircraft, but if you buy 18 then you can buy the sustainment for the next 10-15 years. So we’re trying to have these meaningful discussions early by participating in Life Joint Exercises.”
Marines must work early with service partners on defining requirements before a request for weapons system support is submitted. if a partner is not going to be purchasing a piece of equipment, there is no point in letting them ask for it and then starting that process. In addition, partners often do not know what piece of gear would be best for a specific mission set.
Logistics Centre Repair Engineering Team is dedicated to creating new upgrade/repairs techniques and reliability enhancements to increase fleet readiness.
Logistics Centre large portfolio of repair capabilities is constantly growing, thanks to the Repair Clinics and engineer teams—innovators who are constantly looking for solutions to emerging materiel stress conditions.
Logistics Centre provides site planning services so DoD can establish its own equipment maintenance facility, test cell or expansion program. These services can range from a simple Logistics Centre summary review to an on-the-spot detailed analysis.
As a result of these reviews, Logistics Centre can provide DoD with a site layout showing team locations, work flow and equipment placement. Logistics Centre can also recommend required site equipment and estimate costs.
Training is offered to DoD for intermediate level and depot level maintenance. The advantage of providing training at other location is that DoD can avoid extended time away and the expense for its maintainers.
Training at the Logistics Centre offers a world class Site with modern training aids and training equipment support. Areas covered in maintenance training include equipment orientation, inspection, test cell operation, test and repair of equipment controls and intermediate maintenance procedures.
In addition to providing Site planning services, Logistics Centre provides additional trainer services to suppliers that improve their capacity and efficiency. Logistics Centre also creates logistics programmes that best satisfy DoD readiness requirements.
Logistics Centre publishes equipment maintenance manuals, service bulletins, special instructions, illustrated parts catalogs, other technical documents and training materials. All reference materials are continuously updated to incorporate the latest configurations, repair processes, and operating recommendations.
Logistics Centre takes care of your aircraft so you can focus on flying.
Logistics Centre Work Centers have developed state-of-the-art materiel management and supply line systems, which offer complete Contractor Furnished Materiel supply capability. By using Contractor Furnished Material, DoD can take advantage of Logistics Centre unparalleled strength in supplier relationships to minimise delays in part delivery and improve cost/benefit equation.
Understanding the pain points: What do you not like? What takes up your time? What do you want to change? Storyboarding that out to understand how it might be fixed, turning that into a development back log; so what am I going to attack and when? And then having the user touch products before they become final.
Army has developed a way to repair a pesky problem on a key part for mounted patrols — wear and tear on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle turret gun mounts.
The small piece of the larger weapon system that carries grunts into combat isn’t cheap. A new gun mount can run about $25,000. Repairs also take away manpower and vehicles from both training and the fight when they’re being fixed. “Cold spray process” can do the job in less time and at a cost of about $1,000.
“This project demonstrated the ability to apply new manufacturing technologies to bring components back into service that would otherwise be scrapped during depot maintenance operations. Until the team began working on the problem, worn gun mounts were mostly just trashed.
“Cold spray is an emerging technology that will enable the Army to reclaim worn components that were previously replaced with new parts. This new technology reduces life-cycle cost and improves systems availability.
The 25mm gun mount supports the gun barrel on the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. When the mount begins to wear unevenly, the barrel becomes less stable. The Army is evaluating if a cold spray process can be used to repair the gun mount.
The 25mm gun mount supports the gun barrel on the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. When the mount begins to wear unevenly, the barrel becomes less stable. The Army is evaluating if a cold spray process can be used to repair the gun mount.
The process takes micron-sized particles and accelerates them in a high-velocity gas stream, spraying it through a nozzle onto the surface that needs to be fixed. Those particles bond to the surface, repairing worn layers of the existing mount.
And though Army started with the Bradley, the same process might be able to make quick repairs to other vehicle mounts such as those on the Abrams tank. The plans call for repair and overhaul instruction work on tank mounts and four to five tank gun mounts repaired over the next six months.
And beyond repairs, Army sees potential for the process to be added to make existing, working parts more durable. That includes corrosion repair and also coatings for the inside of cannon barrels.
Using the cold spray process, the team restored the internal diameter of the gun mount exit throat to its original drawing dimensions, demonstrating the ability to return worn gun mounts back into service.
A specific compound called tantalum, for example, can be used to coat the inside and extend the life of that barrel. As the command develops new weapon systems, there will be more opportunities to leverage the cold spray process to augment or repair components that may otherwise be labeled unusable.
And those fixes help bridge gaps as the Army begins a long-haul modernization process that will see core platforms from the Bradley to the Abrams to the Stryker replaced with newer vehicles. But as those new vehicles are being developed the larger Army still will operate on often upgraded versions of the ground vehicles that have been in service for three to four decades.
For example, the Next Generation Combat Vehicle will most likely see its first incarnation as a Bradley replacement that will also include “robotic wingman,” or other Bradley-like vehicles in the formation controlled from one central battlefield node.
A robotic breaching exercise demonstrated short-range control of a vehicle from an upgraded Bradley. Next year a platoon-sized Bradley formation will conduct a more complex assault, nearly all of it controlled remotely.
1. Can the maintenance process be made more efficient for determination of condition/function reporting, transit, work load assign?
A maintenance process flow diagram should be created to show the different steps that an unserviceable asset experiences until it is fully repaired. When examining the maintenance process, must consider the average number of maintenance days required per unit, and the quarterly demand rate for maintenance. Another consideration is how many of the candidate assets are in inventory and are subject to sustainment fiscal obligation. Assets with a larger number of units in inventory typically present a greater opportunity for cost savings. Must identify any inefficiency that could potentially be eliminated by introducing performance-based incentives.
2. Are there any substantial delays in the repair process?
The team should review the current maintenance and repair processes and identify any delays, issues, or opportunities for improvement that could be addressed by introducing a performance-based arrangement. The team should focus on identifying bottlenecks in the process step where the duration is the greatest and resolve that issue first. When identifying issues in the repair process, the team should also investigate the root causes to better understand the reason for delays. Even when Warfighter requirements are being satisfied, it is possible to deliver greater efficiency leading to improved process agility and/or reduced cost.
3. Can sustainment planning and demand forecasting be more accurate and efficient through the introduction of performance incentives?
Under a performance based logistics regime, if the provider is held accountable for an outcome that is impacted by the accuracy of the demand forecast, there will be an incentive to assist in improving this forecast. If the product support team provides maintenance services, for example, the provider may have more detailed information about failure rates and system reliability across the fleet that will improve the demand forecast.
4. Is the supply support strategy satisfying Warfighter requirements?
The team should verify whether the Warfighter requirement metrics are being met from a supply perspective. If they are not being met, the team should try to identify the percentage of non-mission capable assets due to supply shortages. This should give the team a starting point to assess opportunities to resolve these shortages through performance-based arrangements.
5. Can the supporting supply chains be made more efficient through the introduction of performance incentives?
The current state of supply support should also be analyzed to find opportunities to increase readiness and reduce cost when pursuing a change in sustainment arrangement. A well-structured performance based logistics agreement would provide incentives for the product support integrator to reduce supply chain inefficiency. A long-term contract would provide the product support integrator the opportunity to recoup investments in process improvements, lay-in of spare parts, and redesign of components for improved reliability. Depending on the scope of a potential performance-based agreement the integrator could be responsible for reducing delays and inefficiencies across the entire supply chain. Based on these opportunities, the timing and current state of their program can be determined to allow a smooth transition into a performance-based arrangement.
6. Are there any substantial delays in the procurement process for spare parts or new units?
One process that impacts the system’s availability may be the lack of repair parts. For example, delays, packaging issues, and poor inventory management are potential causes of materiel availability problems. Performance incentives will encourage suppliers to reduce their internal transaction lead time, particularly improving their make and delivery processes to mitigate the shortages of the Warfighter.
7. Are there any significant inventory build-ups at any stage in the supply chain or are parts no longer made available?
Significant inventory build-ups are a sign of supply support inefficiencies, potentially a bottleneck in the process. The process right before may be overproducing, or perhaps the process right after is unable to keep up due to quality issues. In order for material to flow smoothly, the entire supply chain must be leveled. There are problems with supply chain, as technologies change and some sources or materials are no longer available. These issues can be mitigated through active management and monitoring efforts, which should involve the relevant industry participants. A performance-based arrangement could be structured to hold the provider responsible for ensuring the availability of parts that are subject to shortage concerns, which would require actively management of these concerns.
8. What is the scope of opportunity for repair teams to get access to system technical specs?
A repair part or repairable used on multiple systems or an end item used by more than one military Service provides the opportunity to evaluate an enterprise-wide arrangement. There is a potential to save in terms of maintenance spend and inventory costs by aggregating the requirements and improving supply chain efficiency. Generally, the larger aggregated requirement improves the negotiating position of the Government during contract discussions. An enterprise-wide performance based logistics strategy for multiple systems or Services should be pursued whenever doing so will satisfy Warfighter requirements and reduce costs.
The status of data rights should be examined to help determine the feasibility of an arrangement change based on technical data availability. If DoD owns the technical data, the program has more options to pursue performance based logistics agreement because it can choose among multiple potential providers. If the technical data package or data rights are not purchased as part of the initial acquisition, limitations can occur for that particular program. If a lack of technical data rights exists, Services will be limited to the removal and installation of units. This also places limitations on conducting diagnostic testing and work against organic or other alternate repairs. If contracts with subcontractors exist, restrictions in independently selling technical data to that Service also confine the Service’s range of future sustainment options.
9. Does the available contract mechanism not conflict and allow for a long-term performance-based arrangement?
Must determine if performance based logistics is feasible under the current funding mechanism used for sustainment, or any alternative funding mechanisms that are available. In particular, must determine whether the funding mechanism allows for funding of long-term contracts. Ability to pursue perfomance based logistics arrangement may be limited by existing contractual arrangements. If there is an existing long-term contract in place that will not expire by the time a performance based logistics arrangement could be established, the provider should consider postponing the performance based logistics effort.
10. Is it the right time for a change in sustainment strategy with enough time remaining to benefit from emerging technology and the performance based logistics business model?
Performance based logistics works best when it can be implemented through a series of long-term contracts, allowing the product support provider enough time to recoup investments in process improvements and product modifications. Additionally, a series of long-term contracts allows DoD to recoup the realized cost savings during the renegotiation phase of each contract cycle.
Defense industry has repeatedly emphasized its preference for long-term contracts. The stable and predictable revenue streams they provide are desirable to both shareholders and capital markets. As a result, DoD is typically able to negotiate lower costs in exchange for increased contract length. Assets with longer expected service life in the inventory present the opportunity for greater savings from performance based logistics sustainment strategies.
Team should consider the technology base for system in terms of potential performance based logistics risks and benefits. The life cycle technology insertion/refreshment and the associated challenges, risks, and benefits to supportability should also be addressed, along with the risk associated with achieving performance requirements.