TACOM LCMC, ANAD identify LMP roadblocks

By U.S. ArmyFebruary 18, 2011

TACOM LCMC, ANAD identify LMP roadblocks
TACOM Life Cycle Management Command Executive Director of Integrated Logistics Support Center Brian Butler, left, and TACOM LCMC Deputy to the Commanding General Mike Viggato discuss how LMP is used to route parts and components with Anniston Army De... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. - The depot will either pay now or pay later to fully benefit from the Army's Logistics Modernization Program, according to leaders from TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, headquartered in Warren, Mich.

"The people who aren't engaged in LMP will certainly slow up the successes yet to be achieved," said Michael Viggato, TACOM LCMC deputy to the commanding general, in a meeting here last week.

Viggato, along with Brian Butler, TACOM LCMC executive director of Integrated Logistic Support Center, and Kim Reid, TACOM LCMC program manager for LMP, visited Anniston Feb. 9 to gather information from the depot's LMP Office and the hundreds of LMP users across the installation to identify pressing issues with the new system.

The depot deployed LMP in October 2010 when it stopped using the Standard Depot System, an antiquated business system that had been in use at maintenance depots for more than 30 years.

"Don't procrastinate," said Reid. "Everyone must use LMP now so we can all see what the real issues are and correct them."

Currently, the most critical concerns with LMP are roles and responsibilities, said depot leaders.

Jack Cline, the depot's deputy to the commander, said he recognizes that most people on depot are working through the obstacles associated with the recent reorganization and system replacement. However, he noted that it's important for people not only to know their own job in LMP but to learn the function of those before and after them in the courses of action.

"This is a great change in culture for everyone," said Cline, "but we have the right people in place to excel in LMP, to discover what the screens are doing upstream and downstream in the system."

Since LMP go-live, Anniston has followed its two to three years of formal training classes with ANAD-developed Desktop Guides and a Help Desk to assist LMP users. Role-based training is taking place at depots across the U. S. Army Materiel Command, even at Headquarters TACOM LCMC.

"Our policy has been: If it can be done in LMP, we do it in LMP," said Gilda Knighton, Anniston's LMP business transformation manager. Everyone must understand their function and that of others if LMP is to be applied in depot maintenance, she added.

While LMP users continue to absorb the material and gain full recognition of the functions, Reid said there should be no hesitation. "People are scared to make a mistake, but we are all learning LMP together. We can't procrastinate."

Like Anniston and most other AMC depots, HQ TACOM LCMC is reorganizing and developing LMP role-based training, said Viggato. "Visiting the depots and seeing how they are each reorganized under LMP helps us at Headquarters."

"Though there are functional requirements to TACOM that we're just now seeing, we're providing you with the entry point for questions dealing with inventory and supply," said Butler.

"I want to express to the depot workforce my sincere appreciation for the time that was afforded to us," said Viggato.