'Thinking out of box' pushes AMCOM audit system

By Dan O'Boyle (AMCOM Public Affairs)May 18, 2012

'Thinking out of box' pushes AMCOM audit system
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Although the collective backbone of the Supply Chain Management Enterprise comprises 17 unique team efforts, the Product Verification Audit team, headed by Lori Harting, is "breaking and thinking out of the box."

"What we are doing has never been done before," Harting said. "We have an aggressive goal to craft an automated system to validate repair processes by aircraft contractors."

Delivery schedules are dependent on product verification audit approvals. Equally key is the fact that accurate delivery schedules increase forecasting precision, yielding inventory level reductions.

"With the system that we have planned there will be no delays in communicating the product verification audit timeline between contract award and the final product verification audit approval," Harting said. "Therefore, production lead times will be decreased and not delay asset deliveries.

"Our 20-member team has used a Value Stream Map to come up with a cross-organizational -- AMCOM, AMRDEC, Army Contracting Command -- synergy to produce a centralized database that will meet milestone metrics. That database will permit us to manage the process proactively, monitoring trends and identifying issues to reduce lead times."

Forty-four Opportunities for Improvement have been identified by the team, and are addressed in an implementation plan. That plan will come to fruition in a software enhancement to the Integrated Materiel Management Center's Interactive Configuration Management and Procurement Program.

Programming, testing and training -- continuous improvement -- will continue this summer, with a planned "Go-Live" goal in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013.

Greg Pearson, Bert Hernandez, Jeanie Clark, Alan Morgan, Jennifer Jackson, Lisa Hunter, Matt Isbell, Chuck Doublin, Doris Peoples, Wes Calloway, Ed Cholewa, Erika Curry, Victor Digesti, Mike Gutjahr, Freddie Harris, Ed Hogan, Jennifer Lynch, Amy Twilley, Mike Hopper and Stanley Kimmett are on the PVA Team roster.

All members of the AMCOM workforce are encouraged to visit the Supply Chain Management Enterprise "War Room" on the second floor of Building 5301, as well as visit http://TransformingAMCOM.redstone.army.mil.