Plano, TX — April 10, 2003 — The U.S. Navy has deployed a new supply chain and maintenance management system, tapping solution provider EDS to help implement the Supply Maintenance Aviation Re-engineering Team (SMART) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program.
The SMART solution leverages application hosting services from EDS using the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) and commercial-off-the-shelf technology from SAP and Manugistics.
The SMART ERP program is a joint venture between the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to replace outdated supply, maintenance and financial management systems with a modern, responsive, accurate and integrated system.
The new system is designed to improve parts management for both consumable and repairable parts. Once fully implemented the solution is intended to provide total asset visibility, improve forecasting and planning of inventory requirements, improve financial management processes and accountability, integrate supply and maintenance actions into a single system, and facilitate data sharing among Department of the Navy operational and shore establishments that support Navy and Marine Corps forces.
The Navy estimated that once the SMART ERP solution is fully implemented, it could reduce inventory management-related infrastructure expenses by an estimated $100 million annually.
The single software and process solution for the Navy's fleet of E-2C "Hawkeye" and C-2 "Greyhound" aircraft and LM2500 turbine engines incorporates maintenance, supply and financial operations in one system. Approximately 400 users at four Navy locations can now access one system and use it to conduct normal business for the E-2C and LM2500 weapons systems. Other shore-based and deployed sites with these weapons systems will have their requirements processed by the SMART system.
As iSource Business reported on January 17, the Navy first put the SMART system to the test on January 3, when aviation storekeepers from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eight (HC8), Norfolk, placed two orders into the SMART system for four shear bolts from RSO Norfolk. Within minutes of the order being initiated by the squadron, the SMART ERP system responded, the location of the parts was identified, a picking ticket was printed, and the proper financial and inventory transactions were performed real-time and all within a single, integrated system. Moreover, the HC8 technicians received the bolts within 30 minutes.
Industry partners EDS, SAP, WebMethods, Manugistics and Deloitte Consulting provided core technology and services for SMART. The initial "go-live" sites encompass approximately 400 users at the Naval Inventory Control Point in Mechanicsburg and Philadelphia, Pa., the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center in San Diego, and the Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Detachment and Regional Supply Office (RSO) in Norfolk.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Norfolk will provide accounting support. SMART application hosting is provided by EDS using the NMCI Application Hosting facility in the Norfolk Network Operations Center (NOC).
Reaching this critical milestone culminated more than two years of design, development, testing and training. Initial process design started with teams at the various sites gathering requirements for the initial scope of the SMART ERP solution. EDS then created a development lab in Camp Hill, Pa., which was used during the build phase of the project to facilitate quick communication and expedite decision-making among EDS and Navy team members.
This phase of the project saw the SAP ERP solution and the Manugistics APS solution come together to create a unified product that was then tested as one integrated set of business processes.
"The SMART program has allowed the Navy to challenge itself and look at how to support the warfighter differently," said Tony Myers-Burton, the EDS client delivery executive responsible for SMART. "These types of projects are never easy and we take our hats off to the outstanding commitment and dedication the Navy demonstrated in getting this program live."
During the final testing phase, the team successfully transitioned the SMART production server infrastructure from the EDS Service Management Center (SMC) in Sacramento, Calif., into the NMCI Norfolk NOC. The SMART and NMCI teams installed and tested a complex security and communications solution that allows both NMCI and non-NMCI users to connect to the SMART solution within a secure environment.
For more information on how the U.S. federal government is using technology to streamline its acquisition processes, see "e-Pluribus Unum: Uncle Sam Wants 'e,' Or Does He?" in the June/July 2002 issue of iSource Business.
