DMLSS Forward. . . From the Sea
Facing challenges in supply chain management and theater asset tracking. Medical logistics companies serve the expeditionary medical material needs, referred to as Class VIII, across the Marine Corps.
By Lieutenant Mel Harnly Hjelkrem and Major Nicole McAdams
While fixed facility medical logistics within the Military Health System (MHS) has undergone significant transformation, operational medical logistics still faces many challenges in supply chain management and theater asset tracking.
Medical logistics companies serve the expeditionary medical material needs, referred to as Class VIII, across the Marine Corps. In support of medical missions ranging from a basic aid station to a forward resuscitative surgical system, medical material is packaged in assemblages called Authorized Medical Allowance Lists (AMALs). This case study evaluates the challenges faced by Marine Corps’ medical logistics companies in tracking medical materials from procurement through distribution in the field. It discusses the impact Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support-Assemblage Management (DMLSS-AM) and radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking coupled with battle command sustainment support system (BCS3) has in alleviating supply chain obstacles and resupply challenges found in a wartime environment. Moreover, this case study shows how the implementation of these technologies supports the mission essential task (MET) and capability based transformation of the 4th Supply Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group—using Lean Six Sigma, it ultimately seeks process improvements that make the organization more efficient and effective.
Meeting Op Tempo
Fighting the global war on terrorism created an increased operational tempo within Marine Forces Reserve, and rendered the practices of using stubby pencil and rudimentary Excel spreadsheets to manage Class VIII material obsolete. Given the current operational environment, medical logistics companies across all Marine logistics groups seek business process improvements to meet the increased demand to send medical material to forward-deployed units in locations throughout the world; also referred to as Global Fleet Station (Naval Operations Concept, 2006).
Despite innovation in supply chain management within the civilian sector, few of these developments translate into improvement within operational medical logistics. Throughout this time, Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion is modernizing its business processes through implementation of two revolutionary technologies: DMLSS-AM and BCS3 RFID technology.
Since 1996, DMLSS substantially improved the effectiveness and efficiency of medical logistics throughout Navy military treatment facilities (MTFs). Today, DMLSS-AM makes its maiden deployment with warfighters in support of expeditionary medical logistics. Offering similar capabilities in garrison, the implementation of DMLSS-AM catapults operational medical logistics into the modern era of automated information systems, just-in-time practices, electronic commerce and commercial electronic data interchange. U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command’s (MARCORSYSCOM) Program Group 10, with the assistance of Navy Medical Logistics Command, leads the deployment of DMLSS-AM to medical logistics companies throughout the Marine Corps.
BCS3 RFID tracking, designed by the Army, is similar to the tracking systems used by shipping companies like UPS. Developed from the lessons learned in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the mission of BCS3 is “to plan and control logistics operations at the tactical level, the Battle Command Sustainment Support System will be the logistics component of the Army’s battle command system” (Army Lieutenant General Claude Christianson, 2004). Marine Corps Logistics Enterprise selected BCS3 as a bridge technology and it has been deployed with 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces.
The modernization of Medical Logistics Company compliments and advances commanding general 4th Marine Logistics Group (MLG), Brigadier General Darrell L. Moore’s vision for 4th MLG to be able to operate at the forefront of logistics within the Marine Corps. Fourth Supply Battalion commanding officer, Colonel Frans J. Coetzee said, “. . . the logistical challenges of expeditionary and distributed operations are compelling . . . these bridge technologies enhance our ability to provide reliable support to the warfighter. BCS3 and DMLSS-AM can be key capability multipliers within our combat operations center and part of the technology solution as we build the Marine [Materiel] Distribution Center and Distribution Liaison structure within [transformation] 4th Supply Battalion. The bottom line is that we now have tools building towards focused supply chain information and a more powerful, near real-time logistics common operational picture.”
Focused Logistics in Support of the Warfighter
The Joint Staff defines logistics as “the process of planning and executing the movement and sustainment of operating forces in the execution of a military strategy and operations” (Joint Staff, 2001). Looking at the movement and maintenance of forces, this definition emphasizes that a comprehensive medical logistics system is paramount to the warfighter’s success. Timely and accurate delivery of supplies is a force multiplier for Marine units in theater; it can make or break a successful operation and can mean the difference between life and death.
A literature review demonstrated that implementation of DMLSS-AM and BCS3 RFID tagging supports the Department of Defense’s Joint Vision 2010 and 2020. Joint Vision 2020 called for achieving “focused logistics,” a concept that aims to reduce the medical logistics footprint by increasing the integration of services’ capabilities, through the following six tenets: joint deployment/rapid distribution, multinational logistics, agile infrastructure, force health protection, information fusion, and joint theater logistics command and control (Joint Vision 2020).
Here, we are focused on information fusion and joint theater logistics command and control, defined as “information programs aimed at providing visibility of the inventory, transportation, and material management.”
Furthermore, the literature review revealed an absence of publications on DMLSS-AM or BCS3 RFID tracking in medical logistics support to the Marine Corps. However, there are several isolated studies currently underway throughout the DoD. Most of these studies are directed by the RFID Working Group, Falls Church, Va.
In FY 2008, the DoD is Alpha testing DMLSS RFID tracking within fixed facilities at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Fort Belvoir, Va., and Bethesda National Naval Medical Center, Md. Meanwhile, limited asset tracking tests were conducted at Cheatham Annex, Va. Colonel Dr. George Magee, the DMLSS program manager, stated that, “Right now, RFID is just emerging in this particular commodity [military medical logistics]. . . we are building the capability and working with the vendors who distribute the product to start using RFID.”
Two Challenges
Two challenges Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion faces in providing medical material to the warfighter are assemblage management and asset tracking. Medical Logistics Company, comprised of only seven active duty staff, and augmented by Reserve Marines and sailors, maintains multiples of 17 different types of AMALs that contain from 100 to 1,000 line items each; a total value of more than $7 million.
With the capability to distribute several AMALs simultaneously, Medical Logistics Company supports up to 18 international, real-world exercises a year with often less than a week to replenish the assemblages between exercises. Excel spreadsheets notwithstanding, Medical Logistics Company lacked an automated information system to manage inventory ordering, storage, tracking and distribution of their Class VIII gear.
As a result, dollars were wasted on maintaining excess inventory and multiple man-hours were lost manually cross-checking inventory levels. Additionally, the legacy procurement information system, Asset Tracking Logistics and Supply System II (ATLASSII), hampered Medical Logistics Company with long lead times and often limited access to specific medical supplies.
Unlike the mature logistics theater in Iraq, Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion faces many obstacles accounting for Class VIII gear in support of GWOT exercises across the globe. From the point of debarkation to the forward location of the warfighter, referred to as from port to fort, there exist many opportunities for Class VIII gear to disappear from the supply chain, at which point traceability and ability to support Marines on the ground is lost.
In the often austere environments where exercises are conducted, Class VIII assets brought into theater by Marine Forces Reserve provides the highest standard of care available to both the military and the indigenous patient populations. A loss of medical assets results in diminished medical treatment and a potential loss of life. This highlights the critical need to develop a reliable asset tracking tool for medical material.
Implementation of DMLSS and BCS3 RFID Tracking
In response to the assemblage management challenges, Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion’s chain of command convinced MARCORSYSCOM to deploy DMLSS-AM to its site in Newport News, Va., in September 2007.
In order to improve asset tracking visibility and customer service levels, Medical Logistics Company adapted the Army’s BCS3 RFID tracking capability tool which addresses the in-transit visibility (ITV) needs for Class VIII gear. An amalgamation of these two technologies, and the subject matter expertise within 4th Supply Battalion produced a capability to track Class VIII gear from the point of procurement in garrison to the point of delivery to the warfighter in theater.
A tri-service program deployed worldwide, DMLSS was originally chartered by the assistant secretary of defense, health affairs (ASD(HA)) and deputy under secretary of defense, logistics and materiel readiness (DUSD(L&MR)).
Electronic Data Systems (EDS), IBM and Akimek developed and maintain the DMLSS systems. The capabilities of DMLSS-AM include: stock control, equipment maintenance, prime vendor ordering, price comparison and procurement. DMLSS interfaces with several Defense Logistics Agency legacy systems such as: the electronic catalog (ECAT), a Web-based procurement tool for dental, lab, optical and medical/surgical, as well as, the universal data repository (UDR), which performs monthly unit of measure price comparisons on pharmaceutical and medical/surgical products.
DMLSS-AM provides inventory visibility from the lowest level stakeholders, such as the material handler, to total asset visibility for the service chiefs via its interface with the Joint Medical Asset Repository (JMAR), a data repository of all DoD medical supplies, blood and equipment.
For the warehouse manager, DMLSS-AM provides an inventory management tool, equipment maintenance scheduling, and an electronic interface with commercial vendors.
To the medical logistician, DMLSS-AM communicates overall medical material readiness and produces financial reports for accounting and budgeting.
Finally, to the commanding officer, DMLSS-AM affords near real-time knowledge of the state of medical supplies which in turn allows the confidence and flexibility to adjust the mission based on accurate, reliable inventory information—now down to the last tactical mile.
During FY 2008, the MHS plans to complete RFID capability coding development and begin testing DMLSS RFID tracking within the MTF. Juxtaposed to the DMLSS RFID tracking in garrison, 4th Supply Battalion began utilizing the BCS3 RFID system to track medical equipment and supplies in the field.
The Alpha test to track Class VIII gear, using RFID tracking capabilities of the BCS3 system, occurred at 4th Marine Logistics Group’s Quantico Viper, Marine Logistics Operations Center, Camp Upshur, Va., on December 7-9, 2007. Commensurate to this asset tracking demonstration, 4th Supply Battalion set up a combat logistics operation center in conjunction with the fielding of the new expeditionary combat operations center, CapSet III, developed by Northrop Grumman.
Future uses of ITV technology will promote swifter power projection in littoral warfare through the development and enhancement of sea-basing operations, naval logistics integration, and logistical support for distributed operations. Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion plans to Beta test the BCS3 RFID tracking of Class VIII gear in the spring of 2008 during a joint training exercise operating off the coast of Liberia. The Beta tests conducted during the exercise will increase collaboration, partnership, awareness of challenges, throughput and resupply efforts in a littoral warfare environment.
More Efficient Assemblage Management and In Transit Visibility
DMLSS-AM deployment to Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion reduces the time spent on inventory management, material maintenance and assemblage management, as well as, increases the effectiveness and efficiency of health care delivery; this in turn improves wartime readiness and sustainability.
As a result of utilizing the prime vendor, the next day delivery on most products reduces the cost and space needed to maintain excess inventory. Utilizing DMLSS-AM, Medical Logistics Company is able to benefit from the volume discounts negotiated with the prime vendor. “According to MHS, DMLSS returns $6.40 to taxpayers in benefits or cost savings for every dollar spent.”
At Medical Logistics Company, the procurement lag time dropped from 45 days to three to four days with the implementation of DMLSS-AM. The reduction in lead-time resonates savings and efficiencies which span the breadth of the supply chain: lowering inventory valuation (improvement to the bottom line), reducing space required to warehouse the inventory, cutting man-hours spent managing the inventory, and countering the need for just-in-case inventory that may become obsolete or expire. In short, DMLSS-AM reduces the medical logistics footprint and increases the level of readiness; on time and on target support to the warfighter.
While DMLSS-AM lacks full integration with the RFID capability, it is a significant improvement over the archaic Excel spreadsheets previously utilized by all Marine Corps medical logistics companies for supply chain management.
Locally, Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion will use BCS3 RFID to track AMALs in support of GWOT operations in FY 2008. Global implementation of the BCS3 RFID tracking system would allow the single integrated medical logistics manager (SIMLM) to plan and track theater Class VIII gear among all the services despite the fog of war. Over the coming weeks Medical Logistics Company will continue to validate the database, instilling user confidence in the inventory data. It will then begin to measure the results of DMLSS-AM implementation through inventory accuracy, inventory valuation, inventory turns, and customer service levels. Future studies should look at Beta testing DMLSS-AM RFID electronic data interface at Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion, as well as empirically investigate the qualitative impact of DMLSS on the medical supply chain in support of Marine Corps operations.
Readying for the Future
This case study addresses a need for process improvement of Class VIII distribution within the context of a larger ever-changing logistics environment.
Within Marine Forces Reserve, the Navy and Marine Corps partnership provides a unique opportunity to be a technical and process incubator for the modernization of medical logistics in the joint environment. While still in the nascent stages of reinvigorating medical logistics, employment of DMLSS-AM and BCS3 RFID tagging allows us to cross over into the major currents of DoD-wide logistics capabilities as we position ourselves for the logistics challenges of the future. ♦
Marine Corps Major Nicole McAdams is with 4th Supply Battalion as the current operations officer and S-3A. She is a member of the Association for Operations Management and holds a professional CPIM designation (Certified in Production and Inventory Management).
Marine Corps Lieutenant Melissa Harnly serves as the inspector and instructor for Medical Logistics Company, 4th Supply Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Company. She received her commission from NROTC Northwestern University and served as a surface warfare officer during Operation Enduring Freedom.
In early 2007, KMI Media Group, recognized the “absence of publications” covering logistics and military RFID issues. To fill that niche, we started Military Logistics Forum magazine, dedicated to the military logistics community in every form from port to fort. www.mlf-kmi.com.