Distribution Process Owner Initiatives Are Underway
by Rear Admiral Christopher C. Ames, USN
The U.S. Transportation Command’s new role as the Department of Defense’s Distribution Process Owneris becoming a reality.
The designation of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) as the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Distribution Process Owner (DPO) in September 2003 began a series of unprecedented actions to transform the way DOD supports its warfighters.

Only months after Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered authority and accountability for end-to-end DOD distribution placed under a single combatant commander, USTRANSCOM combined existing structure and associated personnel to form a Deployment and Distribution Center (DDOC). In January, the DDOC deployed a pilot group of about 65 of those experts to the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), where they now serve under the control of the USCENTCOM commander. Staffed with representatives from the Defense Logistics Agency, the Army’s Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, the Army’s Joint Munitions Command, and the services’ respective logistics commands, this team is directing air and surface distM’s material and transportation management systems and information technology, has achieved early successes in facilitating key inter- and intratheater movements, “end-to-end” throughput, and total visibility in the factory-to-foxhole pipeline for which USTRANSCOM is now responsible. Ongoing evaluations ribution operations in theater.

The DDOC-Forward, by plugging USCENTCOM directly into USTRANSCOwill refine those processes.

Distribution Transformation Task Force

Along with the deployment of the DDOC-Forward, USTRANSCOM continued building on its collaborative relationships with industry partners, Federal agencies, and the services by creating an “all-star” team of logistics professionals to plan, evaluate, and coordinate DPO initiatives. This team, the Distribution Transformation Task Force (DTTF), includes senior military logisticians from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the services, the combatant commands, and Defense agencies. The task force’s focus is on improving speed, reliability, and efficiency.

During its inaugural meeting in December 2003, the DTTF sanctioned immediate pursuit of several top DPO initiatives, including—

• Distribution and Deployment Processes.
• Billing, Funding, and Budget Processes.
•End to End (E2E) Distribution Architecture.
• Direct Vendor Delivery Processes.
• Radio Frequency Identification.
• Supply and Transportation Priority System.
• Time Definite Delivery.

Focused integrated process teams (IPTs) led by several distribution partners have been formed for each of these initiatives. Here is an update on the status of four initiatives.

Billing, Funding, and Budget Processes

Because the current financial system is fragmented and disjointed, the Billing, Funding, and Budget Processes initiative seeks to improve and standardize key distribution financial processes. Customer feedback is clear: The billing process is too complex, and DOD’s distribution community needs a simpler process for billing. The goal is a single, end-to-end bill. The IPT has mapped the various billing processes and identified one area in which to test the concept of a single bill. This test will focus on the movement of reparable items by air from overseas locations back to the United States and then by surface transportation directly to the repair facility, with all transactions along the way billed on a single bill. E2E Distribution Architecture

DOD currently lacks a defined, integrated E2E Distribution Architecture, which is needed to provide a framework for improving distribution performance. Development of this architecture is a key DPO initiative. Establishment of a desired E2E distribution process and associated data exchange requirements is needed to drive the development of the systems architecture and supporting IT requirements. Future IT decisions will be the basis for increased integration, interoperability, and IT capability requirements.

The IPT has finished its review of the approximately 200 distribution-related systems that constitute the current capability. The team selected class V (ammunition) as a model on which to develop a standard methodology for examining the E2E distribution architecture. E2E distribution starts with the DOD source of supply and ends with material being received by the unit placing the order. The next task under this initiative will be establishing process business rules for guiding the development of the distribution
architecture.

Direct Vendor Delivery Processes

A third DPO initiative is Direct Vendor Delivery Processes. Vendors frequently deliver cargo to DOD distribution nodes without proper documentation and with insufficient information about the ultimate recipient of the cargo. Valuable time is lost in tracking down information required to move the cargo on to the customer. In many cases, the material was ordered with a Government Purchase Card (GPC). Vendors do not have the means to determine the correct shipping instructions or to produce a military shipping label.

Ongoing efforts to resolve these issues include establishing a Web-based tool that permits GPC holders to place orders on line and allows vendors to automatically print required shipping labels and ship-to instructions. The system could be linked to various cargo routing files to ensure that vendors ship to customers’ current shipping addresses. To the maximum extent possible, this capability will be a commercial off-the-shelf product requiring minimal changes to implement within DOD.
Valuable time is lost in tracking down information required to move the cargo on to the customer.
Time Definite Delivery

The overarching goal of the Time Definite Delivery (TDD) initiative is to achieve consistent, reliable distribution service to the customer—distribution service that is predictable and can be counted on. TDD’s measurement of success is consistent distribution of cargo to the warfighter in timeframes mutually agreed on by the customers and the distribution process providers. For forward distribution to customers outside the continental United States, TDD will be achieved through the collaborative efforts of the Defense Logistics Agency, the services, USTRANSCOM, and each receiving theater commander. The concept underlying TDD is building customer confidence and assurance in the distribution system, thereby relieving the tendency of customers to submit duplicate orders or increase requisition priorities in order to “game” the distribution system.
The TDD IPT is focusing on the European and Pacific theaters for initial implementation of the TDD program. Several U.S. European Command and U.S. Pacific Command distribution lanes have been identified, and TDD time thresholds are being examined for each line. The end state will be a process that provides on-time distribution—delivery that is neither early nor late.

These actions are only a snapshot of the work needed to achieve real improvements in the overall efficiency and interoperability of DOD’s current distribution process. Achieving these improvements is the responsibility of the newly designated DPO.

The DPO—a watershed development in Defense logistics management—is engaging the full range of distribution partners in industry, DOD, and other Federal agencies. Its work involves all who are interested in efficient transportation, logistics, and distribution. Its creation appeals to all who would help provide a seamless, synchronized distribution process for our warfighters.
ALOG

Rear Admiral Christopher C. Ames, USN, is the Director of Strategy, Plans, Policy, and Programs (J–5) at the U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Fore Base, Illinois. A naval aviator, he has a B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and a M.P.A. degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Before his current assignment, Admiral Ames was commander of Amphibious Squadron Three.