This Report, commissioned by the Center for Public Policy & Private Enterprise and Lockheed Martin, defines how major corporations along the DoD supply chain are re-positioning themselves to be more effective and efficient in services delivery. These actors are leveraging new technologies and management practices to develop more standardized supply chain platforms that can provide better Performance Based Logistics (PBL) & Systems Lifecycle Performance Support to DoD; and can minimize threats of disruption. We call these more standardized supply chain management approaches “Dual Use Supply Chain Management”; and we suggest that DoD can gain the benefits of scale economies and industry-supported
innovations from these developments.
Specifically, the report tracks how Defense System Integrators are taking up supply chain portal technology and partnerships with third party logistics providers in order to meet the challenges of DoD’s evolving approach to supporting existing weapon systems. This shift has forced integrators to put into place lifecycle tracking and sustainment-oriented service parts networks on a global scale.
We also examine how Third Party Logistics Firms are struggling to overcome the Military/Industry Culture Divide and bring best practices into the DoD environment. In many cases, this Divide has been bridged and these companies are able to contribute agile inventory replenishment models and highly-flexible distribution grids to aid national defense. Finally, we review the role of Original Equipment Manufacturers who are using advanced diagnostics and event-based maintenance to deliver anticipatory logistics capabilities to DoD clients but who are often prevented from taking full lifecycle stewardship over their systems because of DoD management (and/or legislative) impediments.
This research was partially sponsored by the Lockheed Martin Corporation.