Richmond, Va. –
Answering a challenge from Defense Logistics Agency headquarters to implement the use of automation software in Material Management, the Requisition Alert Robot team, commonly called the RA BOT team at DLA Aviation at Cherry Point, North Carolina, stepped up and developed a solution that earned them the Defense Logistics Agency Director’s Strategic Goals Award for the 3rd Quarter of 2023.
The RA BOT team received the request from HQ in 2021 and, Material Management led by Kesia McCoy, a supply systems analyst within the Order Fulfillment Division’s Business Process Support Directorate, immediately went into action.
“We felt we could automate a lot of the Requisition Alert process, which would result in time savings, increased customer support, and the simplification of a highly manual process,” said Scott Carpenter, Planning and Support Division chief, DLA Aviation at Cherry Point.
After several meetings, the team of analysts and on-site users developed coding for the BOT and worked through system processes between DLA and the customer before implementing the BOT in June 2022.
“Over time the team has solicited input from various disciplines both within DLA and the Fleet Readiness Center East to ensure we are capturing all elements required for the BOT to execute the workload successfully,” Carpenter said.
With the kick-off of the Naval Industrial Alignment Campaign at the start 2023, the team was asked to implement the BOT at two other Navy Industrial sites in San Diego and Jacksonville in compliance with the industrial support activities standardization level of effort.
“The team continues to refine the BOT logic as needed, and we have seen an increase in material issuing out of retail locations, which means faster, more timely support to the Warfighter,” Carpenter said.