[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 3 (May–June 1970), pages 12–13.
The text is reproduced as faithfully as possible. To view figures and charts, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS and the bulletin’s archives at asu.army.mil/alog/.]
MAJOR SURORDINATE COMMANDS of the U.S. Army Materiel Command (USAMC) are soon to achieve a degree of standardization in automated data processing (ADP) equipment and systems that never before existed. Uniformity in ADP systems will take a giant step forward when the Automated Logistics Management Systems Agency (ALMSA) in St. Louis, Missouri, begins installation of the ALPHA (AMC Logistics Program—Hardcore Automated) system in July. A totally new concept in Army logistics information management, the pilot system will then become operational at the St. Louis-based U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command (USAAVSCOM). ALPHA will become operational at all other USAMC commodity commands on a phased basis thereafter.
Development of the ALPHA system for USAMC has priority second only to support of Vietnam and Department of Defense- or Department of the Army-directed projects. ALMSA, as the central systems design agency, was assigned the responsibility for developing the total commodity command system. ALPHA constitutes phase II of a three-phase approach to developing and installing the total system plan.
Phase I of the total system plan was the selection of ADP equipment for the commodity commands. The IBM 360 system was approved in April 1967, and the test equipment was installed at ALMSA in August of the same year. Initial installation of hardware was made at USAAVSCOM in July 1969.
ALPHA is being developed for USAMC's total commodity command system which is an integrated network of interrelated logistics functions, standardized as much as practical across commodity groupings and weapons systems. It is designed to provide USAMC with standardization of advanced control accounting and requisition processing, weapon system stratification, and integrated decision making for standard ADP logistics systems.
Phase III will include development and implementation of all subsystems and follow-on systems not included in phase II.
The basic concept being followed in ALMSA's master system design is that data processing cycles are frequency oriented. These cycles relate to time concepts, such as multidaily, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. To develop the frequency-oriented concepts, basic information for the development of a particular cycle is provided by the top personnel from each ALMSA design area. Their efforts are supported by the ADP Technology Directorate and monitored by ALMSA's Systems Integration Division.
For example, the integrated multidaily cycle concept encompasses primarily the processing of priority transactions, such as requisitions, receipts, programs, funds, and inquiries. The integrated daily cycle concept includes procurement and production processes, financial update, Federal stock number master data record maintenance, inventory stratification, and defense materiel utilization program "buy" offers and requisitions. This concept applies to all cycles, with specific functions relating to specific frequency cycle runs.
Some of the key features of the total ALPHA system are described below.
• The multidaily requisition-processing cycle is designed so that the mission director at the national inventory control point (NlCP) within the commodity command can choose the number of cycles he desires to run on a daily basis. There will be no constraint on the range of transactions that can be processed in the high priority cycles.
• A significant design feature for management within the key system is budget stratification. Automated stratification input will produce compatible and comprehensive budget data by the most economic means possible.
• Current catalog data is maintained where information will be processed to the file on a weekly cycle.
• Field returns of customer-declared excess stock will be processed automatically, virtually to the exclusion of any manual action with the exception of high-dollar decisions.
• Automated supply control studies will be processed on a weekly cycle, followed by a "buy" action if it is in order and within predetermined dollar criteria.
• Data retrieval will support inquiries and will make data available to all personnel within the commodity command complex, as required.
• Complete flexibility built into the inquiry system will allow a request for any combination or sector of the file to be processed. On urgent demands, inquiries against files which are used on high priority cycles can be processed with a relatively short turnaround time to make information available to the requester.
• A history of all transactions processed against a given stock number can be retrieved for any selected time frame within a period of the past two years. These are only a few of the many significant features which enhance ALPHA and the whole ADP systems design.
When the need for a centralized systems design and programing activity for commodity commands was first recognized, USAMC established ALMSA charging the agency with the mission of developing the commodity command standard system. With the implementation of ALPHA, a standard system for the hardcore logistics functions of cataloging, provisioning, stock control, supply management, procurement and production, and financial management at the commodity command level will be realized.
To insure that the ALPHA system is responsive to the requirements of the functional managers, USAMC has established five functional coordinating groups and a commodity command management information system coordinating group. These groups include members from USAMC, the commodity commands, and ALMSA. They have as their objectives liaison and coordination between group members, validation of ALPHA systems design against the functional manager's requirements at each level, and aiding in understanding of the system operation.
The U.S. Army Materiel Command's ADP advisory/action group, chaired by the Director of Management Information Systems at USAMC, is responsible for analyzing overall ADP system development problems, and determining how development and implementation of ADP standard systems may be accelerated.
The USAMC Five-Year ADP program encompasses the entire spectrum of the command's data processing activities. Primary purpose of the program is to establish basic guidance, schedules, and resource requirements for the orderly achievement of its objectives. The program includes all USAMC data processing equipment and functions, exclusive of analog computers and computers that are an integral part of a production process or weapon system. Its scope includes all existing and planned USAMC data processing activities exclusive of those in Government-owned contractor-operated plants.
The U.S. Army Logistics Management Center (USALMC) has been designated by USAMC's Director of Personnel and Training as the executive agent for administering and implementing training for the USAMC Five-Year ADP program. In this role, the USALMC trains USAMC functional managers in the ALPHA system. ALMSA participates in the planning of courses and provides continuing training support to USALMC.
Colonel E.B. McKemie is commanding officer of the Automated Logistics Management Systems Agency (ALMSA), St. Louis, Missouri.
| Date Taken: | 12.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2024 11:41 |
| Story ID: | 487581 |
| Location: | US |
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