High-Performance MRO in the Military

Nov. 18, 2009 Military supply chains are unique because what is supplied to the end user is routinely returned to the supply chain for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). Offering a blueprint for transforming military depot workload and processes into those of high-performance commercial facilities, Enterprise Sustainability: Enhancing the Military’s Ability to Perform Its Mission provides a powerful system of concepts and tools for enhancing the ability of the military to perform MRO on its weapon systems. These concepts and tools are applicable to any enterprise, military or commercial, that is concerned about sustainability.

The text focuses on five abilities that must be considered to achieve efficient, cost-saving operations: Availability of required parts, facilities, tools, and manpower; Dependability of the weapon systems; Capability of the enterprise to perform the mission; Affordability and improving the life cycle cost (LCC) of a system or project; Marketability of concepts and motivating decision makers; Aging weapons systems, an aging workforce, limited financial resources, new technologies, and an increased military operational tempo demand that the military develop an aggressive transformation plan for its sustainability.

This book follows An Architecture for a Lean Transformation, the first in a series dedicated to sustaining an enterprise. In this second volume, the authors continue to provide an analysis of, and prescription for, the strategies, principles, and technologies that are necessary to sustain an enterprise like the military and the weapons system it develops and utilizes.

About the Authors
Dennis F.X. Mathaisel holds the Doctor of Philosophy degree from MIT. He was a Research Scientist in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT for over 20 years, where most recently he was a lead researcher for the MIT Lean Sustainment Initiative and consultant for the U.S Air Force. He was founder and President of a computer software firm that developed systems for airline scheduling and resource allocation, and he was a Branch Manager for Operations Research at the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. Currently, he is Professor of Management Science at Babson College, where his teaching interests are in the fields of management science and quantitative methods, and his research is focused on the sustainment of complex aging systems and lean manufacturing. His publications appear in numerous academic and professional journals, and he is a Full Member of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), and the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (AGIFORS). He was President of the Air Transportation Research International Forum (ATRIF). Dennis is a private pilot and an owner of a Cessna 182 aircraft.

Joel M. Manary is a senior systems engineer for Ocean Systems Engineering Corporation. He has more than 20 years experience in acquisition program management and systems engineering management. He was a program manager of an automated tool improvement project. He was a senior systems analyst, staff consultant and advisor to senior managers in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense, and Naval Air Systems Command. He also has more than 20 years experience in operational systems support, as an active duty Air Force maintenance officer. He holds a master of science degree in logistics and systems acquisition management at the Air Force Institute of Technology. He is an MIT research fellow and has participated in several studies as part of the MIT Advanced Studies Program.

Clare L. Comm is professor of marketing in the College of Management at the University of Massachusetts – Lowell, where she specializes in services marketing and buyer behavior. She has also taught at Babson College, Radcliffe Seminars Program, and the University of Indonesia for MIT’s Flight Transportation Laboratory. She is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Business Excellence. She also is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation affiliate. She holds a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Cincinnati.

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