BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The directorate at the center of Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services is wrapping a productive 2024 with an eye on what’s ahead.
“As we close out the year, it's exciting to reflect on the significant strides we've made in optimizing operations by harnessing the power of data analytics,” said Operations Director Tim Dauten. “We still have a long way to go, and our team is dedicated to ensuring we can move forward in 2025.”
The agency’s Reutilization, Transfer and Donation effort finds new homes for much of the used and surplus items the military turns over to DLA. During the fiscal year that concluded in September, more than 92,000 requisitions originally worth $1.6 billion had been made by the agency’s RTD customers. Of that, about $700 million was reutilized by the armed services.
In October, DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon set a goal for the major sub-command to triple the amount of items that fall into the reutilization category, meaning the Operations team will have work to do to help achieve that mark.
“I want us to transition this year to the mindset that our real job, our real benefit to the warfighter, is giving them free stuff,” Cannon said during a leadership summit in Battle Creek, Michigan, October 21. “It’s using the disposal process to [reutilize] as much as possible.”
The RTD program also serves as a reliable cog in the nation’s humanitarian and disaster response efforts, as used and surplus property gets shipped out to states and nations in need in the aftermath of emergencies. During one of the most active hurricane seasons in recent years, DLA Disposition Services sites donated everything from flashlights to forklifts in storm-struck states like South Carolina and Florida. But not all emergencies are due to weather. During the summer, the Maui wastewater authority in Hawaii experienced a critical equipment failure, and DLA’s RTD abilities allowed the speedy donation of an operational centrifuge from Navy customers in Pearl Harbor to the island, restoring wastewater pumping abilities and saving local taxpayers $600,000.
Not to be forgotten, the transfer part of RTD is important, too, with $83,000,000 in equipment going to DLA’s whole-of-government partners, like the U.S. Marshals, who acquired three former Air Force planes through the agency at no cost in the first half of the year.
The year brought a significant milestone when the major sub-command celebrated the end of an 18-month rollout period and the full adoption of the Warehouse Management System in June, bringing all of DLA under a single warehousing system and better aligning the agency with industry standards. Some additional benefits of WMS are more easily auditable functions and more streamlined access to the raw data created every day by property turn ins and requisitions.
To try and take full advantage of WMS and meet the agency director’s desire for improving data acumen in the workforce, DLA Disposition Services began working with a data analytics, data integration, and artificial intelligence platform called Qlik that, in short, is expected to provide agency personnel with data management tools that can form connections and associations between different data and help leadership visualize opportunities for greater efficiencies and more responsive customer support.
Providing responsive support to the agency’s customers remains the realm of its front-facing workforce, and there is no property disposition role more critical to that effort than that of the agency’s disposal service representatives, or DSRs. They primarily focus on property disposal, providing personalized help to customers navigating forms and documentation, reviewing property prior to turn-in, and offering scheduling assistance. They are often consulted on disposal decisions regarding complex types of property. An internal program to strengthen DSR capabilities kicked off in 2024, and Dauten called it a “communication centerpiece” for focusing on the needs of representatives in the field.
“We are focused on ensuring that all DSRs have the tools and knowledge to assist and educate the customer,” Dauten said. “We’re investing in our customer-facing team members by improving their access to resources of a wide variety that can be used to enhance the customer experience.”
Jen Ganka manages the program and said her job is to ensure DSR role priorities are aligned to ensure exceptional warfighter support and standardization of the position description.
“The program is focused on communication, training, and the location of DSRs to best support the customer,” Ganka said. “These things will work in combination to support the success of our business.”