The days of a clunky unwieldy bureaucracy that is neither efficient nor cost effective are over. The fiscal realities across the entire government mean that streamlining and continual process improvement is the only way to keep meeting the Fleet's mission.

When the staff at Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Sigonella realized they needed to streamline laborious daily process of manually updating the Navy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system financial reports, they turned to the local color of Italy for inspiration.

First, they established a 'skunkworks' or typically small and loosely structured innovative team and empowered them to work outside the usual organizational operating procedures to find a way to provide detailed financial reports without the intense manual labor.

The team, led by NAVSUP FLC Sigonella business director Rick Sucheck, initiated direct communication with the developers and research analysts at NAVSUP Business Systems Center (BSC) in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and began collaborating across two continents.

Given that the exchange of information took place between Sicily and the U.S. and that the groups were operating as part of the semi-secret skunkworks project, they called their collaborative effort the "Pizza Connection" which is the code name for an old mafia business scheme that used pizzerias to smuggle illegal substances and money between the U.S. and Italy.

"While we certainly do not have any illegal activity taking place with our pizza connection, we have been working as a secret group, so to speak, trying to work behind the scenes both here in Sicily and back in the U.S. to create a tool," said senior management analyst Ryan Edmondson. "We have been flying low, directly involving the end users and the development team and accomplishing quick results."

In early 2015, the pizza connection team worked together to develop an interactive dashboard to automate data from Navy ERP to the new tool. They unveiled their progress at a meeting between all the executive directors across the worldwide NAVSUP Global Logistics Support (GLS) enterprise. There are eight fleet logistic centers (FLCs) in NAVSUP GLS, Besides Sigonella, there are FLCs in Jacksonville, Florida; Manama, Bahrain; Norfolk, Virginia; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Puget Sound, Washington; San Diego, California; and Yokosuka, Japan.

"The good news is that everyone is excited! The bad news is that, everyone is excited," joked Sucheck, "We knew that when the leadership across the NAVSUP GLS enterprise saw a demo, they'd be anxious for the pizza connection team to deliver."

"This team has the elements needed to make a skunkworks project successful; engaged leadership, an upbeat command climate, and a talented team," said NAVSUP GLS Commander Rear Adm. James McNeal. "I am pleased that this level of collaboration is happening between organizations across the world from each other. Ultimately, the entire worldwide NAVSUP GLS organization will benefit from their ability to be nimble and innovative."

In May of 2015, the NAVSUP BSC team traveled from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to Sigonella, Sicily, to work hand-in-hand with the NAVSUP FLC Sigonella team to slice and dice data. Together, the teams united to conduct data modeling, run technical data tests, and validate data reports.

"Our goal is to standardize reporting services as much as possible by using the same tool across all of the NAVSUP FLCs," said Project Manager Matt Wiley. "The best part of being a member of this project is that our strides in reporting are not limited to our FLC in Sigonella. We will improve our processes and share this effort with the other FLCs around the world," continued Wiley.

The implementation of a new dashboard tool across the NAVSUP enterprise is expected to greatly improve the efficiency of financial reporting. Reports that routinely took two people several days of manipulation will now be done in seconds and the data will be current, more accurate, and viewed like an online banking statement.

The teams are in the process of completing the data testing and hope to implement the new tool across all NAVSUP FLCs during Fiscal Year 2016.

NAVSUP FLC Sigonella, one of eight fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support, provides global logistics, business and support services to fleet, shore and industrial commands of the Navy, Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and allied forces. Services include contracting, regional transportation, fuel, material management, household goods movement support, postal and consolidated mail, warehousing, global logistics and husbanding, hazardous material management, and integrated logistics support.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of more than 6,500 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units, and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.

NAVSUP BSC is the Navy's premier Information Technology provider of choice with responsibility to design, develop, and maintain information systems supporting numerous activities in the functional areas of logistics, supply chain management, transportation, finance and accounting. Their broad range of services, talented workforce and short procurement lead times enable them to quickly work together to solve business challenges.