448th SCMW

At Tinker, PDMC forward demand planners Stacie Acton and Lanora Clark and operations research analyst Diana Moore, from left, focus on multiple customers’ DLA parts requirements. Planning, validating and consolidating requirements in a single demand plan to DLA increases parts supportability and contributes to the flight’s continuing goal of enhancing warfighter support. (Air Force photos by Margo Wright)

448th SCMW

One of the goals of the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing’s new flight is ensuring the right parts are provided to the right people at time of need. The Planning for DLA Managed Consumables Flight has members at Tinker, Hill and Robins Air Force Bases. Tinker-based enterprise demand planners Rick Hudson, Cheryl Ives and William Peart, from left, validate parts requirements of the three air logistics centers and field bases and consolidate these into a single demand plan for DLA consumables. (Air Force photos by Margo Wright)

448th SCMW

PDMC flight chief Diane Nichols and forward demand planner Dan Winters discuss customers’ needs. The new flight of the 428th SCMS is a focal point to consolidate requirements for DLA-managed parts numbering in the thousands. These parts can be as large as structural support for a KC-135 aircraft as well as something as small as a screw for any general purpose application. This new flight collaborates with DLA to improve the flow of parts from supplier to customer. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

448th SCMW

Debra Peters, Laura Smith and Latisha Falana, from left, are forward demand planners of the 406th Supply Chain Management Squadron at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. They validate multiple users of Defense Logistics Agency-managed consumable parts, ensuring all user needs are accurate before submitting the final consumable demand plan to DLA. (Courtesy photo)

Supplying the warfighter

Published April 29, 2010
By Kathy E. Paine
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Like most things it only takes one great idea and something new and wonderful is created.

On March 1, the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing stood up the Planning for Defense Logistics Agency Managed Consumables Flight with the goal of improving DLA Support to the Air Force.

"Our main goal is to improve DLA support to our depot maintenance and the war fighter," said Diane Nichols, PDMC flight chief.

This flight serves as the Air Force's focal point to DLA for collaborative planning and Demand Data Exchange, which is a method of electronically passing future Air Force parts requirements to DLA.

Their mission is to improve material availability of DLA managed consumables across the Air Force enterprise at the time of need by enhancing the DLA demand plan.

"PDMC is proactive planning. This new flight will provide projected supply plans via Demand Data Exchange transactions that are based on information that would not otherwise be evident through DLA's historically based forecasting techniques," said Carol Oakley, 428th Supply Chain Management Squadron leader.

The process begins when requirements for DLA managed parts are generated as a result of a demand trigger which is initiated by organizations to identify events in future workload that will increase or decrease demand for DLA parts. The PDMC Flight will assemble the demand plan, validate requirements for multiple users and generate and submit the total Air Force supply plan to DLA.

"We need to help DLA by letting them know what our need is," said Ms. Nichols. "Right now, DLA develops a forecast for us based on historical usage. They are assuming what we always used is what we are going to need in the future. If we know there is going to be a change in that requirement, we need to let them know so they can lay in their supply plan and be ready to support us when we need the part. So that is what our flight is doing, future planning for DLA consumables."

Throughout this process there will be a continuous flow of information and feedback between the requesting organization, DLA and the PDMC Flight, which will enable for continuous process improvement. The Aircraft Sustainment Wing, Air Force Global Systems Support Center, Maintenance Wing and Air Force Space Command process initiators are essential to the success of this initiative. They are responsible for assembling necessary demand data, performing requirement calculations and generating the demand input to the PDMC Flight. Their contribution ensures successful supply plan processing to DLA and improved materiel availability of DLA managed parts across the Air Force enterprise at the time of need. The PDMC process is a key contributor to the achievement of optimal supply support to the warfighter.

The PDMC Flight is part of the 428th SCMS located in the 948th SCMG and is one of several major improvements currently under way within the 448th SCMW.

The flight is located in the 428th SCMS at Tinker with operating locations in the 406th SCMS at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and the 418th SCMS at Hill AFB, Utah. The flight is manned by an operations research analyst, four demand supply planners and three forward demand planners. Both Robins and Hill AFBs are manned with three forward demand planners.

A major milestone was achieved by the flight in March by generating the inaugural Demand Data Exchange File containing enterprise wide DLA parts requirements. The PDMC process will positively impact achievement of the Air Force goal of DDE and web based collaborative planning.

In the 448th SCMW, work streams have been actively addressing tough supply issues that have a history of delaying support to the customers. One important improvement for all of us to understand is the applicability of the Planning for DLA Managed Consumables Flight and what it means to members of the Air Force Global Logistics Support Center, Aircraft Sustainment and Maintenance Wings across the enterprise.

Editor's note: The PDMC Flight contributed the facts for this story.