Source: United States Navy
Leaders gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony January 24, 2023, aboard USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) to celebrate the occasion.
Spearheaded by Rear Adm. Matt Ott, director of fleet ordinance and supply for U.S. Fleet Forces Command, the program will tie many mission partners together and remove stovepipes of data and information flow while also removing additive steps the Fleet sailor uses today in a dated and reactive manner. The end goal is an improved end to end subsistence visibility, which will then help enable improved Naval readiness and mission vibrancy.
“The technology we plan to employ may start with food, but to me, it is commodity agnostic and marries the right elements that drive integration across our supply chain ecosystem,” said Ott. “We operate in a very dynamic environment and our logistics must pace, and in many cases, precede and propel, our operations.”
“It’s all about getting the right food to the right place at the right time,” said Capt. Mark Bowmer, Fleet Supply Policy, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. “When we apply business intelligence, we will optimize the supply chain and support the force more effectively with sustained mission readiness.”
CL1P is designed to provide fleets with real time or near real time data to inform decisions throughout the optimized fleet response plan (OFRP) including the ability to surge and sustain the fleets.
The proof of concept being developed will demonstrate collaborative planning, forecasting, and reporting capabilities that match food supply with demand while concurrently reducing supply chain risk. The program simultaneously increases operational endurance and directly benefits Class I supply chain stakeholders, including the numbered Fleets, Naval Supply Systems Command, the Defense Logistics Agency, and logistics task forces.
Assembling many teammates across the Navy, Ott noted that the effort started among Supply Officers and momentum grew quickly.
“The Navy Supply Corps ruthlessly attacks needless waste and possesses the skills that embody our Learning Organization Vision Statement,” said Ott. “Our global challenges acquiring, delivering, sustaining, and resupplying food represents a massive logistics effort that advances our morale, but even more importantly purposefully advances warfighting capability in order to maintain maritime superiority.”
The supply and demand matching models within the program will be developed using IBM Planning Analytics with Watson, an AI-infused, continuous integrated planning solution, as the technological backbone. The program will be designed to deliver process automation, greater forecast accuracy, and business intelligence reporting while interfacing with multiple IT systems to produce CL1P, ultimately enabling commanders to make informed operational decisions.
“Everything we undertake should benefit our Navy, the Sailors, and enable warfighting dominance,” said Ott. “We are getting after removing wastes, eliminating rework. Removing wasted time of delayed initial orders and substitutions that do not fit in our warfighting concepts. We are focused on where we place our material, the methods used, and valuing responsiveness and completeness. Through an available injection of current technology, we will support our Sailors, and make our enterprise performance chain stronger, learning from our experiences, and demonstrate urgency in expediting knowledge transfer to advance and dominate our warfighting mission.”
USFFC is responsible for manning, training, equipping and employing more than 125 ships, 1,000 aircraft, and 103,000 active duty service members and government employees, and providing combat-ready forces forward to numbered fleets and combatant commanders around the globe in support of U.S. national interests. USFFC also serves as the Navy’s Service Component Commander to both U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command, and providing naval forces in support of joint missions as Commander, Naval Forces Northern Command (NAVNORTH) and Commander, Naval Forces Strategic Command (NAVSTRAT). USFFC is the Strategic Command Joint Force Maritime Component Commander (JFMCC STRAT), and executes Task Force Atlantic in coordination with U.S. Naval Forces Europe.