Maj. Gen. Jim Myles took a "moment in time" on June 23 at a LMP Go-Live Recognition Ceremony to thank a team of nearly 800 employees for taking a "quantum leap" in technology as they prepare the Army for the logistical demands of the future.
As commander of the Aviation and Missile Command, Myles is at the helm of a massive effort to modernize the computer software systems used by more than 4,000 employees at Redstone Arsenal, Letterkenny Army Depot (Pa.) and Corpus Christi Army Depot (Texas) to manage sourcing and acquisition, production scheduling, order processing, inventory management, transportation and warehousing in support of AMCOM's life cycle management mission.
"You took a quantum leap and that is difficult to do. We will no longer continue to work with 1970s technology in 2009," Myles said. "We're better than that. And you took that leap while supporting combat operations and taking care of Soldiers."
AMCOM is the second of the Army Materiel Command's major subordinate commands to implement LMP - formally known as the Logistics Modernization Program. AMCOM's transformation to LMP was one of the largest deployments within the Army.
AMCOM employees involved in the LMP transformation represent the Integrated Materiel Management Center, G-1 (Human Resources), G-4 (Logistics), G-6 (Information Systems), G-8 (Force Development), Letterkenny Army Depot, Corpus Christi Army Depot and the Lead AMC Integration Support Office. Other employees working with LMP represent the Logistics Support Activity, program executive offices of Missiles and Space, and Aviation, Army Contracting Command, Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, Communications and Electronics Command and Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa., Tank Automotive Command at Rock Island, Ill., and Warren, Mich., and Anniston Army Depot.
"We took on LMP and made it our own. Something good has just happened in this command and it happened because of you," Myles said, speaking to about 450 employees in the Bob Jones Auditorium and several other employees at other locations who accessed the meeting via video teleconferencing.
"We've implemented LMP at the level it is because of you. I want to say 'thank you.' Let's all recognize what's occurred inside this command. I want to take a moment in time to say 'Hey, we have changed the way we do business. There is potential for this thing to be incredible.'"
LMP is an enterprise resource planning software solution used to address all business practices associated with moving goods from industry to the Soldier. LMP replaces two software systems - the Commodity Command Standard System and the Standard Depot System - in addition to smaller software systems used at AMCOM, Letterkenny and Corpus Christi.
Myles said LMP - with its Windows, Excel and numerous databases -- replaces 1970s computer technology used to manage logistics support.
"We were using old technology that didn't allow us to see ourselves," he said. "It didn't allow us to see how much inventory we had, what we needed, what we didn't need, how much things were costing us, how we pull things together, how we see ourselves in order to focus on the future. The old system didn't make us guess at these things, but it didn't give us the fidelity we needed ...
"We've gone from the handheld calculators of the '70s to the latest computers that IBM and Microsoft provide and we did this when we were in combat operations."
Myles recognized that employees had to work harder to manage their normal responsibilities while also supporting the launching of LMP. Fielding the new system required additional training and communications as well as adapting to its business practices and managing the software to make it viable for all logistics requirements in AMCOM's mission to develop, supply and maintain the Army's missile and aviation systems.
"Somehow you found a way to do this," Myles said.
He mentioned several who led the LMP effort, thanking Cathy Dickens, who served as director of the LMP Integration Office; Col. Scott Lambert, program manager for LMP; Sheri Thureen and Paula Nilsson. Dickens, who recently accepted a new position as principal assistant responsible for contracting at the Space and Missile Defense Command, was presented with a special plaque of appreciation by Lambert.
"They are the best and brightest, and they put together a team to make this work. It was all about 'Let's go forward and try to field LMP ... It's up to us to make this work,'" Myles said.
"This has been a team effort. It's one of the best team efforts I've seen a large organization take on."
LMP went online for AMCOM in mid-May. Employee users are still learning how to use the system and all the advantages the system offers in support of logistical issues dealing with things like finances, production management and goods consumption.
"This has been a good journey. But we still have a ways to go," Myles said.
"This is a complex thing. In 90 to 120 days we will peak into the complexity of this thing and see the battle wave of issues that come up. We're going to stay on this journey ... We did good, but we are going to continue the fight. An incredible amount of work has been done."
Ronnie Chronister, deputy to the AMCOM commander, echoed Myles' words, saying LMP has been a "wonderful experience" and a testament to the leadership and employees within AMCOM and its Integrated Materiel Management Center, and within several other key AMCOM elements.
"Last August or September (2008), I felt you all embrace this," he said. "If the work force embraces it and gets it then we have a much more successful deployment.
"This work force never surprises me in the way you respond. It's a testament to all of you that you could take something on of this magnitude. You all have fundamentally changed the way the Army has done business now and in the future."
Chronister said there will be more changes occurring with LMP as working issues arise and more of the software system is incorporated in AMCOM logistics practices.
"We have got to maintain our focus. As we go forward it is incumbent on us to work those kinks out of the system," he said, thanking the employees at the Army's Communications and Electronics Command for their support.
Following their comments, employees were ushered to the front of Bob Jones Auditorium to have team pictures taken with Myles and Dickens. Each team was introduced with comments from Chris Swart, special assistant to the LMP Integration Office.
The following are descriptions Swart presented of the LMP teams:
Aca,!Ac Expert Users/ Transformation Discovery Lab Participants/Business Design Warehouse Participants -- This group started their journey in the Transformation Discovery Labs and moved from there to the Business Design Workshops. They took the lead to transform our business processes and develop expertise in this complex, integrated system. They helped us realign ourselves for Go-Live and identify where the gaps were. They now stand shoulder-to-shoulder --as our most knowledgeable resources -- with our end users so we can continue to provide excellent support to Soldiers.
Aca,!Ac Subject Matter Experts -- The SMEs helped us bridge the gap between legacy systems and the new horizon for Army logistics. This group supported requirements development, critical business process testing and data validation. Much of this work was done in Marlton, N.J. They sacrificed time away from home to make sure this system had the right solutions for us to conduct our business. Without their expertise and support we would absolutely not be where we are today.
Aca,!Ac Data Quality/Cleansing -- From the very beginning we heard about the criticality of data, and this group took this very seriously. They spent long days working megabytes of information to ensure that our data was as accurate as possible and, as a result of their efforts, 99.97 percent, of 12 million records, migrated into LMP. Considering where we began, this is an unbelievable accomplishment. Their tireless efforts have provided us with the cornerstone for Army data quality management for decades to come.
Aca,!Ac Training -- We had over 4,000 users across Redstone Arsenal, Letterkenny Army Depot, and Corpus Christi Army Depot that had to be trained and ready. We had some significant challenges when we began our training effort. The training team, at each site, was a very small group of people with a huge responsibility. They understood that without training, our people could not continue to support this critical mission. They worked countless hours to fill classrooms with the right people at the right time. They took a tough situation and turned it into a successful effort on behalf of the command.
Aca,!Ac Communications -- These are the people that facilitated communications across the LMP community, either by being the conduit and disseminator of information on behalf of their organization or by facilitating those communications for us through various media. They have helped us with articles for site publications and the LMPost, video teleconference coordination, digital recordings, posters and meeting space. Many of them are unable to join us on stage but are right now running the auditorium equipment, videotaping the proceedings, and manning the VTC bridges. The backbone of this effort was effective communications and they did it in a superb and timely manner.
Aca,!Ac Integrated Support -- This is a diverse group. They include the site support personnel at the Marlton Integration Office. They managed and coordinated all facets of the User Account Management tool. They assisted with building the AMCOM LMP Portal and maintaining the AKO site. They provided production support. Also in this group are some of the members of the Biweekly LMP Update team that were so critical to maintaining a technical and administrative link from and to their organizations. Some served on the Training Facility IPT that was convened early last year to outline the requirements and recommend a location. They helped contractually, financially and technically to ensure we moved in the right direction. Some of them secured facilities and space for additional LMP work space and ensured all the right furniture and equipment was in place.
After the recognition ceremony, several employees gathered in small groups in the auditorium to congratulate each other.
"It was a wonderful recognition. I totally enjoyed it. It was nice to see this go command-wide and Team Redstone-wide," said Casey Underwood, who was recognized with the Integrated Support team.
"It was very nice that the general took the time to be a part of this recognition," said Kerri Washington, who was thanked as a member of the Expert Users team. "I knew we would be recognized. But I didn't know the recognition would be this awesome and wonderful."
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