Stockage Determination Made Easy

Every brigade combat team (BCT) and support brigade in the Army has a mobile minidistribution center that stocks repair parts and perhaps also class II (clothing and individual equipment), IIIP (packaged petroleum, oils, and lubricants), and IV (construction and barrier materials) items with national stock numbers (NSNs) in its authorized stockage list (ASL). This minidistribution center, called the supply support activity (SSA), is the key to high equipment readiness. When equipment fails and becomes not mission capable (NMC), but the needed parts are on hand in the SSA, that equipment can be returned to action very quickly. However, when the parts are not available in the supporting SSA, it can sometimes take awhile to get them, which only delays returning equipment to a mission capable status. In operations in Iraq, getting the part from the United States by air (if the part is well positioned for quick shipment) or from theater stocks in Kuwait takes an average of a little more than 10 days, with some shipments taking longer. If the item is in short supply at U.S. distribution centers, the wait can be much longer. Not having parts in the ASL sometimes leads units to take extraordinary actions, such as controlled exchanges, to get equipment back on line rather than accept lengthy downtimes on critical end items. Studies by RAND Arroyo Center have confirmed that high-performing ASLs have the greatest direct affect on equipment readiness through their impact on supply chain processes and resources. (Reliability, of course, is the other central factor affecting equipment readiness.) For example, a RAND Arroyo study at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California found that a 10-point swing in the ASL fill rate changed the equipment readiness rate by 4 percentage points. However, Army ASL fill rates were often under 20 percent in the late 1990s because of very limited breadths of parts and some issues concerning how depths were computed. (Breadth refers t Originally published in Army Logistician, v39 n4 article PB 700-07-04, Jul/Aug 2007.This product is part of the RAND Corporation reprint series. RAND reprints present previously published journal articles, book chapters, and reports with the permission of the publisher. RAND reprints have been formally reviewed in accordance with the publisher's editorial policy, and are compliant with RAND's rigorous quality assurance standards for quality and objectivity.