NEW CUMBERLAND, Pennsylvania –
George Atwood, Senior Executive Service, Defense Logistics Agency J3 executive director, visited DLA Distribution headquarters on Feb. 24 to discuss several important topics to the agency, and to see distribution in action at the Susquehanna facility.
Atwood, who previously served as the DLA Energy deputy commander, began with a roundtable discussion with key DLA Distribution leadership. He was particularly interested in improvement efforts in stock positioning, the current state of audit readiness at distribution centers, and the benefits of the newly implemented Trans-Arabian Network.
DLA Distribution is undergoing an improvement effort in stock positioning to determine how the Services support small, geographically dispersed units that do not generate large demand patterns, and how the organization can satisfy requests locally to minimize the requirements for shipping outside of the Area of Responsibility.
For audit readiness, DLA Distribution is continuing efforts to meet requirements at all locations. In the coming weeks, book-to-floor evaluations will begin at DLA Distribution Yokosuka and Susquehanna.
The Trans-Arabian Network’s purpose is to significantly decrease air transportation costs to the Service Components through forward stocking. For example, to forward-stock items as opposed to on-demand air shipments, DLA can save approximately 95 percent.
After the roundtable, Atwood visited DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, which is the organization’s largest facility, accounting for 33 percent of the workload across all 25 facilities.
Atwood spoke with employees about challenges in meeting Service requirements, and saw the distribution process from induction to shipment.
He was specifically interested in seeing the distribution center’s high-rise storage and retrieval system, which stores the fastest moving materials. He also toured the sorting area, where materials are separated into dedicated truck lanes. For routine materials, dedicated truck shipments can decrease the cost of delivery to the Services, as it maximizes the amount of items and the route of delivery for customers in the same area.
Atwood also held an internal town hall with his staff located on the New Cumberland installation, and noted how important DLA is to supporting the warfighter.