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Naval Supply Systems Command Employing Strategic Supplier Management to Bolster Naval Readiness

29 July 2021

From Brian Jones, Office of Corporate Communications, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support

PHILADELPHIA - In 2019, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) formed a Strategic Supplier Management (SSM) framework focused on both strengthening executive-level relationships with industry and solving long standing supply chain challenges with a goal of improving material delivery timelines and material accountability for critical parts.

Using multiple ranking factors the SSM team identified a portfolio of the top 10 strategic partners and assigned Supplier Relationship Managers (SRMs) to establish consistent communication across a broad range of priorities. 

“We have worked to improve transparency with our industry partners, setting clear performance expectations across both material delivery and accountability,” said Karen Fenstermacher, NAVSUP Executive for Strategic Initiatives.  “In the interest of collaboration suppliers raise issues and concerns from their perspective and we work together to develop solutions, with a clear feedback loop established to hold us all accountable to crossing the finish line on commitments we have made.”

As part of the overall SSM program strategy, the team developed performance dashboards for each supplier enabling a more effective, real time means of monitoring the health of the supply chain. 

“Focused on providing a data-driven approach to performance evaluation and platform health across the maritime and aviation business lines, these dashboards facilitate consistency in communication, trend monitoring, and an early-warning system for proactively resolving emerging challenges,” said Brian Keeley, NAVSUP WSS, director of Strategic Supplier Management.

Since its inception, the SSM team has driven improvements on a number of fronts including a reduction in Stock in Transit (SIT).

“In January 2020, the total value of SIT aged over 30 days was $208 million,” said Keeley. “SSM, working in conjunction with the Inventory Operations Center (IOC) and industry, identified the root cause of these aged materials and developed effective solutions to clear a significant number of SIT documents. Specifically this collaborative effort between government and industry yielded a 76% reduction, from $208M to $51M, in ten months.”

In October 2020, the Navy introduced Naval Sustainment System (NSS) Supply, an effort to improve the Navy’s overall supply chain performance.  NSS-Supply focuses on six key pillars to improve performance and increase naval readiness.  Those pillars include: Demand Management, Optimize Working Capital Fund Portfolio, Shape Industrial Base, Expand Organic Repair, Increase End-to-End Velocity and Achieve End-to-End Integration, and work in concert with each other to integrate and synchronize the end-to-end supply chain.

With SSM focused on the shaping the industrial base pillar the team expanded their portfolio of suppliers from the original 10 to the top 50 NAVSUP suppliers, working across this broader portfolio to strengthen relationships and improve supply chain performance. 

 

“The NSS-Supply industry base pillar is also pursuing multiple avenues to support the resiliency of the industrial base.  Investigating opportunities for second or alternative sourcing, to address a largely sole/single source environment,” said Keeley. “We are looking specifically at critical components and those with obsolescence challenges to determine how we can expand capacity and competition in support of naval readiness. While increasing commercial/organic repair sources is critical, the team is also working with industry and the potential for Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) to be part of the solution set.”     

NAVSUP SSM is doing its part to improve readiness by maintaining a more holistic view of supply chain challenges and working collaboratively with industry to remove barriers.  The SSM framework has been effective with the command’s strategic suppliers and continues to pay dividends in support of NSS-Supply.

NAVSUP WSS is one of 11 commands under Commander, NAVSUP. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics and Sailor and family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars. Learn more at www.navsup.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/navsupwss, and https://twitter.com/navsupsyscom.

  
 

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