RICHMOND, Va. –
While the rest of the world seems to be shutting down, Defense Logistics Agency employees are ramping up their efforts in support of our nation’s ever-evolving warfighting mission.
It was in late March, that the Fleet Readiness Center-Southwest Voyage Repair Team contacted the DLA Voyage Repair Team resource center for assistance with expediting delivery of a body-crosshead assembly needed by the USS Nimitz. The Nimitz, docked in Bremerton, Washington, needed the part before it could deploy on its next mission.
The body-crosshead assembly is a depot-level-repairable used as part of the slider-crank linkages of long reciprocating engines and compressors to eliminate sideways pressure on the piston.
DLA Aviation-San Diego, California, and DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, employees confirmed the assembly’s availability and arranged for shipping. However, upon confirmation of shipment, it was discovered that the material had not been expedited for priority delivery and instead had been placed on a transportation truck with other shipments.
“Normal shipment time is based on priority,” said Emil Haury, the deputy commander for DLA Aviation-San Diego. “In this case, the order was entered into the system as low priority which would have taken 7-14 days for delivery. The intent was to deliver the materiel via air; however, the weight of the item exceeded air transportation requirements.”
After learning of the delivery issue, Cesar Trinidad, an inventory management specialist with DLA Aviation-San Diego worked with Latosha Owens-Turner and Sheri Brennecke, both resolution specialists on the aviation resolution specialist team, to have DDSP employees re-prioritize the issuing and delivery of this part. The Resolution Specialist team then escalated the issue to George Watson, material management cell chief for DLA Aviation-San Diego, who coordinated the transportation change while the material was in transit thanks to help from DLA Distribution personnel.
“Rerouting of materiel is challenging once it is processed in distribution systems,” said Haury. “Manual intervention and communication is needed to change the priority for both systems.”
With expediting the delivery, the FRC-SW voyage repair team received the part within five days of the initial order being placed and were able to install it on the ship without causing any deployment delay.
“Thanks to the combined efforts of the team, the transportation method was changed while in transit and shipment was monitored and tracked by the RS team until it was successfully delivered to its destination,” said Haury. “This was a total team effort between DLA Aviation and DLA Distribution, reflecting outstanding teamwork and both internal and external customer service.”