Military Supply Chain Management
Encyclopedia
Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring
, producing
and delivering
product
s and services. The broad management
scope includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal information and funds flow
.
, maintenance
while in storage
and salvage of supplies, including the determination of kind and quantity
of supplies. The producer phase of a military supply extends from determination of procurement schedules to acceptance of finished supplies by the military service
s. The consumer phase of a military supply extends from receipt of finished supplies by the military services, through issue for use or consumption
.
from a raw material
stage to an end user as a finished good
. Supply control
is the process by which an item of supply is controlled within the supply system, including requisitioning, receipt, storage, stock control
, shipment
, disposition, identification
, and accounting. The supply point is a location where supplies, services and materiels are located and issued. These locations are temporary and mobile, normally being occupied for up to 72 hours.
is the science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of armed forces
. In its most comprehensive sense, those aspects of military operation
s that deal with: a. design
and development
, acquisition
, storage
, movement
, distribution
, maintenance
, evacuation
, and disposition
of materiel; b. movement, evacuation, and hospital
ization of personnel; c. acquisition or construction
, maintenance, operation and disposition of facilities; and d. acquisition or furnishing of services.
practices world-wide, some major concepts are not supported in the military domain. For example, the Just-in-time (business) or JIT model emphasizes holding less (or no) inventory, whereas Military
supply chains, due to the high costs of a stock-out (potentially placing lives in danger), keeping huge inventory is a more acceptable practice. Some examples of these are the Ammunition dump
and Oil depot
.
Likewise Procurement
process in military have much different criteria than the normal procurement process. Where focus is more in reliability of vendor during peace and war as compare to price and technology factor.
Procurement
Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...
, producing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
and delivering
Delivery (commerce)
Delivery is the process of transporting goods. Most goods are delivered through a transportation network. Cargo are primarily delivered via roads and railroads on land, shipping lanes on the sea and airline networks in the air...
product
Product (business)
In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
s and services. The broad management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
scope includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal information and funds flow
Funding
Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money , or other values such as effort or time , for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institutions...
.
Supply
A supply is the procurement, distributionDistribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
, maintenance
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
while in storage
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
and salvage of supplies, including the determination of kind and quantity
Quantity
Quantity is a property that can exist as a magnitude or multitude. Quantities can be compared in terms of "more" or "less" or "equal", or by assigning a numerical value in terms of a unit of measurement. Quantity is among the basic classes of things along with quality, substance, change, and relation...
of supplies. The producer phase of a military supply extends from determination of procurement schedules to acceptance of finished supplies by the military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
s. The consumer phase of a military supply extends from receipt of finished supplies by the military services, through issue for use or consumption
Consumption (economics)
Consumption is a common concept in economics, and gives rise to derived concepts such as consumer debt. Generally, consumption is defined in part by comparison to production. But the precise definition can vary because different schools of economists define production quite differently...
.
Supply chain
The supply chain is the linked activities associated with providing materialMaterial
Material is anything made of matter, constituted of one or more substances. Wood, cement, hydrogen, air and water are all examples of materials. Sometimes the term "material" is used more narrowly to refer to substances or components with certain physical properties that are used as inputs to...
from a raw material
Raw material
A raw material or feedstock is the basic material from which a product is manufactured or made, frequently used with an extended meaning. For example, the term is used to denote material that came from nature and is in an unprocessed or minimally processed state. Latex, iron ore, logs, and crude...
stage to an end user as a finished good
Finished good
Finished goods are goods that have completed the manufacturing process but have not yet been sold or distributed to the end user.-Manufacturing:Manufacturing has three classes of inventory:#Raw material#Work in process#Finished goods...
. Supply control
is the process by which an item of supply is controlled within the supply system, including requisitioning, receipt, storage, stock control
Optimal control
Optimal control theory, an extension of the calculus of variations, is a mathematical optimization method for deriving control policies. The method is largely due to the work of Lev Pontryagin and his collaborators in the Soviet Union and Richard Bellman in the United States.-General method:Optimal...
, shipment
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
, disposition, identification
Identification (information)
The function of identification is to map a known quantity to an unknown entity so as to make it known. The known quantity is called the identifier and the unknown entity is what needs identification. A basic requirement for identification is that the Id be unique. Ids may be scoped, that is, they...
, and accounting. The supply point is a location where supplies, services and materiels are located and issued. These locations are temporary and mobile, normally being occupied for up to 72 hours.
Logistics
Military logisticsMilitary logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
is the science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of armed forces
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
. In its most comprehensive sense, those aspects of military operation
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...
s that deal with: a. design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and development
New product development
In business and engineering, new product development is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible or intangible...
, acquisition
Military acquisition
Military acquisition is the bureaucratic management and procurement process dealing with a nation's investments in the technologies, programs, and product support necessary to achieve its national security strategy and support its armed forces...
, storage
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
, movement
Motion (physics)
In physics, motion is a change in position of an object with respect to time. Change in action is the result of an unbalanced force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity, acceleration, displacement and time . An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as...
, distribution
Distribution (mathematics)
In mathematical analysis, distributions are objects that generalize functions. Distributions make it possible to differentiate functions whose derivatives do not exist in the classical sense. In particular, any locally integrable function has a distributional derivative...
, maintenance
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
, evacuation
Emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
, and disposition
Disposition
A disposition is a habit, a preparation, a state of readiness, or a tendency to act in a specified way.The terms dispositional belief and occurrent belief refer, in the former case, to a belief that is held in the mind but not currently being considered, and in the latter case, to a belief that is...
of materiel; b. movement, evacuation, and hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
ization of personnel; c. acquisition or construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, maintenance, operation and disposition of facilities; and d. acquisition or furnishing of services.
Logistics versus supply chain management
The major difference between the concept of logistic management and supply chain management is the level of information gathered, processes, analysed and used for decision making. An SCM-based organisation not only having concerns with its immediate clients but also handles and forecasts the factors affect directly or indirectly their supplier or suppliers or on their client or clients. If we exclude this information part out of supply chain model then we can see the logistic management part of the business.Limitations of Military Supply Chain
Unlike standard Supply chain managementSupply chain management
Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...
practices world-wide, some major concepts are not supported in the military domain. For example, the Just-in-time (business) or JIT model emphasizes holding less (or no) inventory, whereas Military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
supply chains, due to the high costs of a stock-out (potentially placing lives in danger), keeping huge inventory is a more acceptable practice. Some examples of these are the Ammunition dump
Ammunition dump
An ammunition dump, ammunition compound, ammunition depot, bomb dump, ammunition supply point or ammo dump, is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives....
and Oil depot
Oil depot
An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...
.
Likewise Procurement
Procurement
Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...
process in military have much different criteria than the normal procurement process. Where focus is more in reliability of vendor during peace and war as compare to price and technology factor.