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The Army needs a flexible and adaptable supply chain to deliver materiel globally, and Army Materiel Command is making progress improving how it manages the supply chain.
AMC is standardizing and specializing its supply chain management and using data to drive decision-making to better adapt to supply chain disruptions and reduce vulnerabilities in support of Army readiness. Initial changes will be seen as early as January 2023.
“Today’s current global environment demands that we modernize the Army’s supply chain to be robust, responsive and resilient," said Gen. Ed Daly, Army Materiel Command’s top leader.
AMC is implementing standardized supply chain processes, policies and governance, using best practices shared across the enterprise to increase adaptability and readiness. For example, AMC is adding vendor scorecards that will allow different commodity managers who work with the same companies to identify trends and find efficiencies.
In addition, AMC is standardizing how parts and items are managed across its life cycle management commands. For example, when Soldiers needs help from the field, supply chain managers can be more responsive.
Other efforts include reviewing position descriptions of its supply chain workforce to specialize roles, skills and training requirements to modernize how it manages the supply chain. The end state will be a workforce made up of skilled professionals who are experts in specific roles, rather than generalists.
Specializing the supply chain management workforce will not be prescriptive across the LCMCs, said Marion Whicker, AMC’s executive deputy to the commanding general. While specialization may mean realignment for some positions, LCMCs will be able to provide feedback and will have organizational flexibilities.
To aid in this specialization, supply chain management experts across the enterprise met recently to review new training materials, include desk guides. The team examined different resources, keeping in mind that everyone learns differently. As the new training resources are implemented, feedback from the field will be critical, Whicker said.
“We need to know if the training doesn’t meet the need,” Whicker said. “You must articulate what’s going on.”
Underlying the standardization and specialization is the use of data analytics. AMC is providing a data-driven capability to enhance decision making with visibility throughout the entire supply chain, while better positioning to build combat power and project it globally. The new system will allow supply chain experts to view a dashboard of current trends, where parts are needed, where there are extra parts and more.
“We are now using analytical data directly to make decisions and spend more time critically thinking,” Daly said. “It is a combination of the metrics and assessment, both art and science, that really ensures we are getting to the right effects to support the Army mission.”
With all the changes, one constant is how AMC is committed to its people. AMC will provide the supply chain workforce with the right resources to enable the important work they do and empower them to address supply chain challenges, said Whicker.
“In the end, we want to be better… we want everyone that has a stake in this process to have the opportunity to be better,” Whicker said.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.20.2022 16:31 |
| Story ID: | 431754 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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