BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
For Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services personnel in Alabama, 2024 kicks off with a major transition as the Anniston site becomes just the latest to adopt DLA’s modern Warehouse Management System.
Over the course of the past year, the agency has rolled out WMS capabilities at both DLA Disposition Services and DLA Distribution sites across the continent. The Anniston go-live marks the first time one geographic location will activate WMS for both major sub-commands simultaneously.
“This is the first time that we have done that throughout this entire project,” said Liberty Moore, WMS project lead. “The [demilitarization] center will be down for about two weeks during the training period, so this is going to be a huge impact to our customers.”
Customers are still able to turn property in during this down period, but all items will be placed in a “hold” status until the transition and training is completed on January 22. This major undertaking affects the site employees as well as its customers as the Anniston team has a unique set of missions.
“Anniston has three distinct missions – two of which are only done in Anniston in the receipt of small arms parts and receipt of weapons,” said Disposition Services Area Manager Pat Leverett. “Anniston does have some seasoned employees who have help develop WMS from start to finish. We will lean on those employees to serve as the SME’s during this transition period and bring everyone down to the same playing field,” said Leverette.
Anniston WMS activation marks the completed adoption of WMS for all DLA Disposition Services sites in the continental U.S. Becky Watson directs the agency’s property disposal efforts across the South-East directorate that includes Anniston, and she said her regional team looks forward to taking advantage of the technological advances and efficiencies this new system should bring.
“We will be better able to properly account for property in an auditable fashion, and adoption gets us up to speed with the other CONUS sites,” said Watson.
Moore and the WMS training team have compiled lessons learned during training and adoption events at each site and carry those forward, helping to improve each go-live event. She said she has personally seen the compounding positive effects of those lessons.
“I am really happy to see how our agency has embraced the change and how we have had such strong collaboration between the field and headquarters to ensure that we are getting processes down right,” said Moore.
Adoption of WMS across the entire global network of DLA property disposal sites is projected to wrap up in May.