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3 The Approach to Munitions Replenishment
Pages 42-56

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From page 42...
... Over the 3-year period from 1996 through 1998 the reports are increasingly strident on this issue. MUNITIONS REPLENISHMENT POLICY During the Cold War, munitions planning strategies designecl to address the potential threat of major conflict relied heavily on domestic surge production ancl mobilization capacity.
From page 43...
... This cou~cl be accomplished, for example, in facilities designed for highly flexible production in which the equipment and workforce have alternative commercial uses. TOTALLY INTEGRATED MUNITIONS ENTERPRISE REPLENISHMENT STRATEGY The TIME program's strategy for supporting DoD's new replenishment policy is to use modern manufacturing technologies to create a flexible base for munitions manufacturing.
From page 44...
... The replenishment manufacturer may, or may not, have substantial experience in munitions production. CONCERNS REGARDING REPLENISHMENT In assessing the TIME program's approach to replenishment, the committee used several perspectives from commercial industry, including a technology transfer approach and a supply chain management approach.
From page 45...
... Much of the design and process data for conventional munitions exist on paper cirawings or are not documented at all. The Army is in the process of scanning the paper cirawings into electronic databases, though in most organic munitions manufacturing facilities the computer capabilities required to access and use these databases are limited or nonexistent.
From page 46...
... to limit risk. In the enterprise splitting process, risk is placed directly on each independent element of the manufacturing supply chain.
From page 47...
... Simply put, competitive requirements for increasing supply chain efficiency will force a closer match of capacity with demand in the modern manufacturing environment. The cost of maintaining excess capacity dedicated to munitions replenishment, unless it is supported artificially, will make firms in the modern manufacturing environment less competitive than their leaner peers.
From page 48...
... Developing expertise in some aspects of munitions manufacturing can be time-consuming. Thus, the TIME program must find a way to retain a cadre of trained munitions manufacturing experts sufficient to support replenishment if and when needecl.
From page 49...
... A critical component of agility is the ability of the workforce within an organization to maintain existing knowledge and to rapidly acquire new knowledge as circumstances change. Methods must be developed for assessing workforce readiness within the integrated munitions enterprise.
From page 50...
... The difference between the needed and current skill sets represents an "organizational learning gap." Participating organizations must be able to bricige their learning gaps efficiently under replenishment conditions through training, use of archived documentation, accessible training programs, or structural changes. Structural changes usually involve reorganizing or increasing communication channels.
From page 51...
... Proper use of the database can provide information on the organizational learning gap, efficient methods for transforming into the needed state of organizational learning, and time predictions for moving from the current skill set to the desired skill set. Theoretical Approaches for Organizational Learning Organizational learning and the current knowledge within an organization can be understood by using an analogy to human learning.
From page 52...
... Theoretical Approaches for Representing Organizational Learning Users, inside or outside the TIME organization, must be able to query the state of organizational learning and, consequently, the readiness of replenishment suppliers. Organizational learning must, therefore, be represented and quantified in database form such that multiple users can obtain the information they need without having access to information outside of their needs.
From page 53...
... Skill sets must be carefully designecl, recognizing that content is more important than data manipulation. A single quantifiable value of organizational learning or knowlecige would be an important and easy-to understand metric for monitoring and mapping the readiness of the organization over time.
From page 54...
... up-to-date databases of skills that can be matched against specific government neecis under a variety of preselected scenarios, and (2) a method for tying this information to a decision-support tool that enables individual employees and managers to determine, from a host of options, the education or training that can best fit their current skill sets and the replenishment neecis at the time of crisis.
From page 55...
... Merely having the ability to transfer manufacturing technology from company to company may be useless if there is insufficient immediate excess capacity in the commercial industrial base or if there are not contractual agreements in place, down the manufacturing supply chain to raw materials, to enable rapid conversion of commercial industrial capacity to military industrial capacity. Another key issue that the committee believes should be accorded further attention by the TIME program is that of rapidly reconfigurable equipment.
From page 56...
... e^ go Ohs ~anu~cf~^g Me munitions potenDaNy can be downsized. Emerging needs for flexible, advanced energetcs production and gouge Echoes can be funded ~ pad by closing down obsolete facilities.


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