FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
New technology being tested at select facilities throughout the Defense Department is generating data on warehouse capacity and unused storage space that could lead to warehouse consolidations or reorganizations, putting material closer to users to support more efficient operations and saving an estimated $600 million.
The Defense Logistics Agency is assisting the DOD-led effort by working with the military services to test and implement LiDAR, or light detection and ranging, technology that uses light waves to create a 3D blueprint of storage space that optimization software then uses to create better storage solutions. Decentralized warehouse management in which each service stores its own material and creates additional storage solutions for newly developed weapons systems has contributed to a blooming storage footprint, said Jim Liberko, a DLA employee leading the project for the deputy assistant secretary of defense for logistics. As-is, in-place transfers of some service-owned storage facilities to DLA through the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decisions were intended to help consolidate warehousing functions but still leave a vast network, he continued.
“Because of the way DOD warehousing has evolved over time, there’s really no single system that tells us exactly what our collective storage capability is, where it’s all located and exactly what’s there,” Liberko said. “Now what we’re saying is look at all these small piles across the country. Imagine if we consolidate them into fewer warehouses in areas that make the most sense for customers.”
The effort also includes placing data on warehouse capacity and utilization in Advana, a digital analytics platform the department developed in 2019 to track everything from finance to readiness.
Initial test locations were chosen by military officials and include San Diego for the Navy; Barstow, California, for the Marine Corps; Oklahoma City for the Air Force; and Anniston, Alabama, for the Army. Studies at those sites indicate space utilization is less than 50%, Liberko said.
“Our goal is to get utilization up to 75% on average by collaborating with the services to better align facilities with organizations and their missions,” he continued.
Recommendations for optimized storage plans are expected to be completed for three of the pilot sites by the end of June, and demonstrations at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow are already done. Officials there are implementing recommendations and expect to save about $70 million. Changes include realigning stock so DLA-managed parts are closer to maintenance facilities, thereby improving response time, and relocating hazardous material spread across six buildings not originally intended for HAZMAT storage in outlying areas into one.
“Since the focus was to get more vehicles under cover and eliminate corrective maintenance before issuing them to units, it makes sense to consolidate HAZMAT in a single building and use the lager facilities to store those vehicles inside to protect them from the elements,” said Paul Ott of Accenture Federal Services, which is helping DOD develop LiDAR practices that can be transferred to and performed by the services.
LiDAR technology and processes will eventually be shared with the services for use at over 4,000 warehouses throughout continental United States. LiDAR devices are simple to use and resemble a camera that a warehouse worker moves through storage aisles to collect images that are uploaded to a database that calculates total warehouse capacity, storage types, how much space is being used and how much is empty in just minutes.
“If we sent a team of about five engineers to one location to manually measure warehouse space without LiDAR, it could take them a month to gather measurements depending on the footprint,” Ott said. “That doesn’t include the amount of time it would take on the back end to process all the raw data or the possibility for human error.”
Consolidating inventory could also help eliminate the need for the services to spend money on commercial warehouses outside military installations, Liberko added.
“With the system we’re trying to put in place, no one has to go out and contract for storage space because they can contact their service representative to quickly find warehouse space within DOD-owned facilities,” he said.
Liberko stressed that the project is designed to give warehouse managers analytics that enable them to make decisions on effective storage and cost reduction – not control the services’ inventory.
“We’re not questioning whether you should have one or two of something or whether you should get rid of it,” Ott added. “Instead, we want to help sustainment commands and program offices store material smarter and at the same time put it in a building that’s on some type of system of record that’s visible not just to who owns it but to the larger DOD supply chain.”
Though roles and responsibilities are still being refined, Liberko said one possible outcome might be warehousing managers for each service. The deputy assistant secretary of defense for logistics will oversee warehousing policy and sustainment of the initiative, he added.