On-base units combat the ‘War on Lack of Parts’ Published Oct. 26, 2010 By Brandice J. Armstrong Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- For the past five months, the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing has been embroiled in a fierce battle. But, with their games faces on, the unit is making progress in the War on the Lack of Parts. In May, Air Force Global Logistics Support Center Commander Maj. Gen. Gary McCoy declared a War on the Lack of Parts when he challenged his personnel to think outside the box and initiate actions. He asked his personnel to place parts on the shelf and eliminate roadblocks to depot maintenance production. Though the solutions have not been quick, progress is being made. Through focused tactical actions targeting red systems, there have been pockets of improvement seen at the lower levels in certain weapon systems. "Within engines, the number of red engines has decreased from five to two and we have seen the number of critical piece parts on KC-135 flaps and ailerons go from 40 down to 14, and we are on track to be at zero this month," said Sherri McWater, 429th Transformation Squadron WOLP Integration point of contact. The AFGLSC recently established a Virtual Supply Chain Integration/Prioritization team to focus priorities and target strategic limitations to significantly and swiftly improve support to the Air Force's depot operations. The team is researching the root causes for a lack of parts on red weapon systems and has established bi-weekly meetings and a new reporting cadence, to inform stakeholders of the activities and results. Col. Richard Schwing, DLA Oklahoma City commander, said a Tinker team, comprised of the 76th Maintenance Wing, AFGLSC, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Aerospace Sustainment Directorate and DLA recently completed a value stream analysis to improve supply support for executable workload. As a result, they learned there are 43 gaps across the supply chain in forecasting, supportability, communication and supply chain execution processes to ensure parts are available when needed. To counter the problem, the team meets weekly to track progress. "The team has tied their efforts to improving a set of core performance metrics that will improve supply chain planning and execution," Colonel Schwing said. Long-term, the team studies historical plans to determine if part availability could be a problem for a particular system, which will ultimately lead to a delay. They plan parts supportability out 30, 60 and 90 days, but parts forecasting is accomplished one to two years out from asset need. "We're trying to make sure we have the right requirement and that we're passing that requirement to maintenance and DLA," Ms. McWater said. "We want to make sure the parts are ordered and in the right place when needed. Integration of the solutions from the VSA is very important for realizing better forecasting and supportability analysis of future workload." As the maintenance wing focuses on reducing flow days to produce more aircraft each fiscal year, the need for parts proves to be critical to the depots' success. Ultimately, a big part of the solution lies with the 448th SCMW's long term strategic plan, which will improve planning and sourcing processes within the supply chain. The improvements in demand forecast accuracy, implementation of the Planning for DLA Managed Consumables organization for collaboration of demand data with DLA, the stand up of the Depot Supply Chain Management personnel for strategic supportability analysis and development for sourcing strategies for all Air Force managed items will ensure the future supply chain is more efficient and effective. "People are working very hard across the supply chain to get the right parts and have them available, so maintenance can produce and we can all support the warfighter," Ms. McWater said.