Major mission expansion brings jobs to Picatinny

By Mr. Timothy Rider (Picatinny)December 12, 2013

Main_gate
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (Dec. 12, 2013) -- Jobs are coming here and to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. as the U.S. Army plans to take on sustainment services that support the Army's Logistics Modernization Program by 2016.

The modernization program, which bills itself as the "cornerstone of Army logistics," stems from an Army initiative to create the "Single Army Logistics Enterprise," which involves consolidating and modernizing supply chain management processes.

The program, or LMP for short, is deployed to more than 50 locations with approximately 21,000 users throughout Army Materiel Command and related major subordinate commands, depots and arsenals, as well as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

A further expansion of LMP capabilities will add approximately 9,000 users.

The deployment of the LMP to logistics and finance centers changed the way logistics-related data is shared, stored and updated by Army personnel who support Army logistical operations worldwide.

The data supports functions such as maintenance, repair and overhaul; planning; finance; acquisition; weapon systems supplies, spare parts, services and materiel. Central to the effort is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, a modern tool housed in computers and networks that makes supply chain management more responsive, more available and, ultimately, more efficient.

Additional Army jobs at Picatinny and Aberdeen Proving Ground would result from transitioning sustainment services for the modernization program from its current service provider, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), to the government by the end of calendar year 2016.

The Army assigned the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny to succeed Computer Sciences in performing sustainment services to the Army Logistics Modernization Program. Responsibility within ARDEC for service sustainment will be done by the Army Shared Services Center (A-SSC), according to Tracie Few, the Enterprise Resources Planning Lead for the A-SSC.

Jobs resulting from the agreement will open here and at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The first of the Picatinny job openings were announced in October, according to Robert Trifiletti, Jr., a computer engineer with the ARDEC and the Business Transformation and E-Systems Directorate senior technical lead.

Initially, the goal is to recruit personnel from within the community of civilian employees in the Army Research Development and Engineering Command, said Trifiletti.

A greater portion of the vacancies, however, will be open to all U.S. citizens.

Trifiletti said that ARDEC had assessed internal personnel for the required ERP skills and realized that the number of qualified personnel who would be available would be insufficient to fill most of the jobs. "We have to look externally for many of those jobs."

Many of the positions will require at least four years of experience performing work that cuts across an ERP environment, including technical software design, security design and system administration.

All of the jobs will be announced on USA Jobs (https://www.usajobs.gov/), said Trifiletti.

For those hired here, Picatinny will be the home for supporting the LMP, yet Trifiletti expects the hiring announcements to indicate that a certain percentage of work days will occur while on travel to a temporary duty location.

EDUCATIONAL TDY

The reason for temporary duty is that newly hired employees may be working and learning side-by-side with CSC personnel, who are located at a CSC facility in Marlton, N.J., in order to facilitate the transfer of knowledge necessary for the A-SSC to successfully take over LMP sustainment, according to A-SSC Director George Albinson.

All new employees to be hired in the first year will be "vanguard employees," said Albinson.

"They will be the first to perform this industry-to-government knowledge transfer."

Once transition is complete in 2016, permanent duty locations will more than likely be served at Picatinny Arsenal.

Renovation has already commenced on the future LMP building and soon the building will be "gutted down to its original structure," said Trifiletti.

When renovations are complete, the building will have room to support 220 workers.

Related renovations to accommodate another 170 ARDEC and LMP employees are also being planned.

It is no coincidence, then, that ARDEC had the knowledge and experience to take on its new LMP sustainment tasks. "ARDEC has been very committed to ERP for a long time," said Albinson.

FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE

ARDEC previously worked with an industry partner to develop an ERP software product it called "eNOVA."

The experience with eNOVA "transformed" ARDEC by changing its business processes in very fundamental ways," said Albinson.

The changes were so profound that ARDEC re-structured in a manner that was more fitting with its new processes. "It made us better. It made us more efficient," said Albinson.

The ARDEC and A-SSC will leverage its critical experience to ensure successful LMP knowledge transfer from CSC to the government in order to best sustain and support the LMP system and users.

"LMP is an excellent partner," said Few. "Our long-term goals are aligned. They want us to provide the services as much as we want to provide the services."

Related Links:

Secretary of the Army affirms Picatinny's importance to national security

PEO Ammo employee recognized with DoD's first product support management award

Picatinny facility earns Energy Star Award

Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) website

U.S. Army Materiel Command website

Research, Development and Engineering Command website

Army.mil: News

Army.mil: Science & Technology

Picatinny Arsenal on Facebook

ARDEC on Facebook

The Picatinny Voice