ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The U.S. Army Sustainment Command hosted a Lead Materiel Integrator proof of principle evaluation during the week of May 16 at the Rock Island Arsenal. LMI's goal is providing Army-wide distribution of materiel with speed and precision.
Brig. Gen. Brian Layer, ASC deputy commanding general for sustainment, opened the event by greeting the attendees and asking them to assist in developing the Decision Support Tool prototype software, the engine intended to improve Army materiel distribution processes.
"There is a potential out there for what this tool can do for you, whether you are sitting at a battalion or sitting at the Department of the Army," said Layer.
"The transparency DST brings, the computational power that it will bring and the ability for us to make informed decisions is going to change the way we do business at every level," Layer said. "This is a huge improvement for our business."
"One thing that we're still looking for are those things you need at your workstation that may or may not be in DST right now. We're still improving DST," said Layer, "and I need you to provide feedback on how we can improve our process and improve the tool."
Unit integrators, materiel integrators and Army stakeholders were given hands-on opportunity to use the new DST and test its capabilities during training. Attendees also exercised the LMI business processes’ capability to match stakeholders’ demand signals to materiel availability.
"DST has phenomenal potential as it progresses through development," said Greg Alderete, 404th Army Field Support Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. "It will tremendously simplify my life for what I have to do." Alderete also noted that "users will start to define what they need, but you've got to have good databases with the correct information."
After further development, a detailed LMI transition and implementation plan will be presented to the Secretary of the Army by mid-July. Future meetings are scheduled at ASC to develop the ability to assume the LMI role by mid-February 2012.
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