Transfer of the industrial hardware supply chain from
Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support to DLA Aviation and DLA Land and
Maritime is expected to better align weapons system support and enable
the agency to support growing missions of other defense and federal
agencies.
The transfer of procurement responsibility for more than 900,000
items ranging from nuts, bolts and seals began in March 2020 and will be
completed Sept. 30, 2021, one year ahead of schedule. DLA Troop Support
will officially deactivate the supply chain, and the commodity group
will then be referred to as consumable hardware starting Oct. 1, 2021.
Moving industrial hardware work conducted by supplier-facing teams at
DLA Troop Support to already existing customer-facing teams at DLA
Aviation and DLA Land and Maritime streamlines acquisition functions and
will improve communication and collaboration among employees, customers
and suppliers, said John Bray of DLA Human Resources.
"Industrial hardware was kind of an anomaly at DLA Troop Support with
the parts being much more common in aviation and land and maritime
systems," he said. "Although customers shouldn’t notice much difference,
they’ll now be able to get answers to all their questions on industrial
hardware from one source depending on which type of system is
involved."
The nearly 500 employees who handled industrial hardware at DLA Troop
Support have gradually transitioned to positions in other supply chains
at the Philadelphia-based organization with no loss of grade or pay.
Some will undergo reskilling as DLA Troop Support incurs new missions in
support of whole-of-government partners. Those missions are estimated
to increase DLA Troop Support’s revenue by $7 billion through fiscal
year 2023.
"The plus-up in workloads for supply chains like medical makes this
transition even more beneficial and comes at a good time especially for
DLA Troop Support," Bray said.
DLA expects to save about $8 million in annual labor costs as DLA
Aviation and DLA Land and Maritime absorb the work using current
employees, internal management reassignments and some new hires.
DLA leaders decided to streamline industrial hardware to increase
effectiveness and efficiencies in 2018 as part of a series of
initiatives to reduce material and operating costs, said Esther Wade,
chief of DLA Logistics Operations’ Process Integration Division.
"Finding smarter ways to support our customers will also help reduce
our cost-recovery rate, which is a huge benefit not only to warfighters
but to other federal agencies as well," she said.
The effort has been a collaboration between major subordinate
commands and directorates throughout the agency to include business
process, finance and human resources representatives.
"Being able to make this happen sooner than originally scheduled is a
testament to our close partnerships and our desire to better serve the
warfighters," Wade said.
DLA has managed industrial hardware since the Navy transferred items
like metal sheets, bearings and electrical cable to the Defense
Industrial Supply Center in 1962.
Posts
