NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
Robert Thurston, director, Enterprise Support, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Headquarters, Department of the Army, visited Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Headquarters in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, and toured the facilities at DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, Aug. 14.
During his visit, Thurston engaged with DLA Distribution leadership and staff, discussing topics including the Warehouse Execution System, Warehouse Management System implementation, and warehouse modernization and utilization. The overall goal of the visit focused on knowledge sharing relating to topics such as supply forecasting, enterprise resource planning modernization and prepositioned stock.
“We appreciate your time, and what brought us here is to see what you do,” Thurston said. “If we can all work together, we can make things better and easier for all.”
Perry Knight, deputy commander, DLA Distribution, facilitated the discussion and provided updates on key initiatives and highlighted specific modernization and innovation efforts.
“Our modernization plan focuses on a goods to person strategy. There was a great deal of preparation, and implementation didn’t happen overnight,” Knight said. “Where we’re at today is data-driven management that provides data visualization to the workforce.”
Thurston also received a demonstration of applications within Qlik, a web-based tool providing a unified operational picture to DLA Distribution personnel. These applications collect data from WMS and legacy systems to monitor network health and daily production.
“I can see that you’re managing risk regarding the Defense Working Capital Fund and readiness,” Thurston said. “At the end of the day, we have to be equipped to go into kinetic action.”
Thurston toured the Eastern Distribution Center. He received an update on modernization efforts and observed ongoing initiatives aimed at enhancing throughput capabilities.
“As we tour the EDC, you’re seeing the most cyber-compliant mechanization in the Department of Defense,” Knight said. “Here you can see how we’re redesigning the network and simplifying processes to improve productivity.”
The visit provided opportunities for collaboration, networking and information sharing that contributes to DLA Distribution’s mission of delivering readiness and lethality to the warfighter.