Anniston Army Depot, Ala., supported the deployment of the Army's Logistics Modernization Program at Corpus Christi Army Depot, Texas, by sending volunteers to help with the transferring of parts and logistics data from the legacy Standard Depot System to the new LMP system.
LMP, a business-changing supply chain management system first introduced in 2003, is already used by Soldiers in the field and by government civilians and contractors within Army Materiel Command. It is expected to deploy at Anniston in October 2010.
"Not only did we assist Corpus Christi in their work to implement LMP, we took away lessons learned that will surely help Anniston as we transition from the legacy system to the LMP environment," said Dorothy Pate, production management specialist and LMP subject matter expert.
Pate and fellow LMP SME Joyce Westphalen, a parts management specialist, volunteered to work for four months-Feb. 25 thru June 12-at Corpus where they helped others in their field clean the parts data that would go into the new logistics system. After two years of preparing for the deployment of LMP, CCAD celebrated its Go-Live on May 14 at 5 a.m.
Nine others from ANAD rotated through, working a few weeks at a time with Pate and Westphalen at CCAD to support deployment operations there.
What does it mean'
Working with LMP involves the use of terms like solution module, material master record and bill of material, or BOM. For those who've never used the current SDS software, mastering the concept of LMP and realizing its effect on the warfighter can seem taxing.
"It's about getting the right parts in the right place at the right time," said Pate. And ultimately, the troops get their equipment in the same fashion.
SDS has been used at maintenance depots since the 1970s to analyze, order and control parts and equipment in the Army's inventory and to match the work with payroll. It is not Web-based; so, for years, SDS has been called "antiquated" and "inefficient" by those who use it.
LMP, on the other hand, is Web-based. The Army describes it as "a fully integrated suite of software and business processes that streamlines maintenance, repair and overhaul, planning, finance, acquisition and supply of weapon systems, spare parts, services and materiel to the warfighter."
With the implementation of the modernized system, the depot is expected to see a reduction in cycle time, which means that LMP will help workers here move parts and equipment at a faster rate through the "total visibility of orders from start to finish."
Cleaning house for LMP
Before supporting LMP preparations as SMEs at Anniston, Pate and Westphalen were using SDS to oversee parts for vehicle systems like the M88, collecting information from the operations system about quantity and cost and providing it to those who ordered the parts.
They are now part of the team responsible for data cleansing.
This group of data cleansers is delving into the parts identification numbers and symbols already in SDS and checking their accuracy by weighing it against the list of parts found in the material master files.
A bill of material is every piece or part required to build a particular unit. One vehicle may have 1,000 BOMs. If one BOM is loaded into LMP incorrectly, it affects the loading of all other BOMs that contain that one BOM.
"Think about a pyramid. You've got your tank at the top, then under that your larger components all the way down to the smallest parts and then the hardware," said Westphalen.
LMP has six solution modules-Sales and Distribution, Materials Management, Production Planning, Financial, Technical and Other (human resources, quality management, etc). Westphalen said that when one person loads information into one module, it affects the data in all of them.
This explains why learning the ins and outs of LMP and having a successful Go-Live event is crucial.
"It's coming; there's no doubt about it," said Pate. "And we can't wait around for it. The information in SDS right now needs to be scrubbed and the errors corrected."
Pate said that the problems they see now in SDS with regards to production planning is the quantity of parts. "We can't just rely on the trends to see what we have to purchase. And, we better fix it now before it's all loaded into LMP where it won't be accepted," she said.
CCAD using LMP to build helicopters
Because of its ardent efforts to clean the data that was poured into LMP, Corpus Christi Army Depot is on track with its maintenance of helicopters.
CCAD, a tenant on Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, is charged with the overhaul, repair, modification, recapitalization, retrofit, test and modernization of helicopters, engines and components. It is the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for rotary wing aircraft.
Corpus called on other depots in AMC to assist with the data cleansing so they could be ready for the scheduled SDS-LMP transition.
"It was like that movie trilogy, 'Back to the Future.' We went into the future and used something that's about to be implemented here," said Westphalen.
CCAD, like Anniston, is a part of Army Materiel Command. However, CCAD is subsequently part of the Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Command whereas ANAD is structured under TACOM LCMC. Anniston refurbishes all tracked combat vehicles (except the Bradley) and wheeled (Stryker and Fox) vehicles as well as small arms weapons.
The team from ANAD said that they felt welcomed by the LMP office at CCAD.
When they weren't verifying numbers and building material master files, Pate and Westphalen said they were able to learn more about southern Texas and the people there through the friendships they made with fellow AMC employees.
"We worked with some wonderful people; they were very good to us and we've been in contact with them since we've been back," said Pate.
"During their time at CCAD, Dot and Joyce were more than eager to learn all they could about how we were preparing for 'go live,'" said Eddie Guerrero, with the CCAD Enterprise Data Branch. "Their main area of focus was with routes and bills of material. They were more than helpful in the preparation and review of our Aircraft RBOMs (repair bills of material)."
Melody DeMaris, CCAD LMP division chief, said that a successful LMP deployment is all about the data.
"Most importantly we realized more than ever that it's all about the data," said DeMaris. "Data cleansing, testing, migration, data process testing, and adequate training on data input and report understanding is critical."
DeMaris said that CCAD is moving ahead with LMP. Employees are supporting the AMC and Army mission with a modernized system.
"And we really appreciated having the support from Anniston and the D3 (3rd deployment) sites," she said. "The hard work helped CCAD prepare for Go-Live, and it definitely paid off."
Come 2010, Anniston will be a part of LMP's third deployment along with 35 other sites.
"This deployment will be shore to shore, from California to New York," said Westphalen.
"We're going to have problems; it's inevitable. And, we all expect that," said Pate. "This is an opportunity to use a program that gives us a lot more visibility and accountability."
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