TRACY, California –
Matthew Gomez, Distribution Group chief at DLA Distribution San Joaquin, California, is the recipient of the 2016 Donald P. Brown Award for Operations Cost Effectiveness.
His exceptional leadership, in concert with his strategic and operational emphasis on Warfighter First and Process Excellence, led to his selection.
“Matt expertly manages DLA Distribution San Joaquin's Consolidation and Containerization Point, our center's most critical operation in direct support of the agency's mission of delivering innovative and responsive solutions to Warfighters which serves the entire U.S. Pacific Command theater of operations, including Alaska and the Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions,” commented Marine Col. Andre Harrell, distribution center commander. “Under his guidance, his team provided unparalleled support to 4,000 plus DoD Account Activity Codes, 12 Break Bulk Points and four Theater Consolidation and Shipping Points.”
With a continued focus on the DLA Director’s goals of Warfighter First and Process Excellence, Gomez was steadfast in his commitment to customer service in the Consolidation and Containerization Point. He aimed his time and energy at improving the Logistics Response Time, or LRT, in the CCP by getting the materiel to the Warfighters in the shortest amount of time all the while practicing smart financial stewardship to reduce costs.
Gomez and his CCP team led to a sustainable improvement in LRT by ten to 14 days for San Joaquin’s U. S. Pacific Command customers. His coordinated leadership efforts – total team concept – were essential in orchestrating lasting changes in the CCP’s processing capability and throughput processes.
Moreover, his proactive strategic engagements set the groundwork for strengthening partnership opportunities with commercial carriers and military LRT stakeholders. He and his team continue to take the initiative when it concerns Warfighter support and have taken on more responsibility to help integrate, inform, and educate everyone involved in the supply and transportation chain.
Through Gomez’s leadership, the CCP was able to implement many cost saving solutions. He contributed to a $245,000 cost avoidance by developing a more cost-effective solution to the CCP’s inefficient mobile workstations. The workstations were experiencing excessive wheel drag, impeding natural movement. Rather than replacing the stations at a cost of $275,000, Gomez discovered that by replacing the pneumatic wheels with a polyurethane composite it would significantly decrease the amount of force required to push and pull the carts by up to 24 pounds, vastly improving the safety posture and saving money.
He also oversaw approximately $75,000 in transportation savings by optimizing cargo consolidation through the reutilization of discarded tri-wall boxes. This improvement yielded a three percent increase in overall cube utilization and provided loaders with squared cubes, allowing greater overall consolidation into outgoing sea vans.
“Matthew is a servant leader and highly respected as a valued mentor, coach, problem solver, and thinker amongst Team San Joaquin’s family of stalwart professionals,” said Harrell. “For his tremendous efforts and countless process improvements, he truly deserves the distinction of receiving this prestigious award.”