CSC deploys enterprise resource planning system to support Air Force logistics modernization
Posted by Courtney E. Howard
FALLS CHURCH, Va., 9 Nov. 2010. CSC has fielded the first portion of the United States Air Force’s (USAF) Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS), a major Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program undertaken by the Department of Defense (DOD). When fully implemented, ECSS will significantly upgrade the Air Force’s global logistics capabilities, says a company spokesperson.
“We are now at the point of putting capability into the field,” says Brig. Gen. Kenneth J. Moran, Air Force program executive officer and director for the Expeditionary Combat Support System and Integrated Logistics Information Technology Systems. “It comes down to a different way of doing business as an Air Force. We know that when we get through this journey our Air Force is going to be stronger than ever.”
The fully deployed ECSS will support more than 250,000 Air Force personnel managing $33 billion in assets at over 600 locations worldwide. ECSS will integrate all key supply chain stakeholders, including other military services, industry trading partners, DOD headquarters, and various federal agencies, providing the capability to optimize asset management worldwide. ECSS is expected to generate a 20 percent increase in equipment availability and meet an Air Force primary business process improvement objective for the 21st century.
In addition, ECSS is expected to reduce costs across the Air Force Logistics enterprise. During recent fact gathering by the House Armed Services Subcommittee, the Air Force’s Chief Management Officer identified more than $12 billion in projected savings from ECSS during its operational lifecycle. ECSS ultimately will replace more than 250 disparate and increasingly costly legacy information systems with a single logistics solution and global access. According to a representative, it will streamline inventory management, improve materiel and maintenance management, enable accurate enterprise planning, and increase financial visibility and accountability.
“This first pilot of the ECSS resource planning capability is a result of deep involvement by Air Force subject matter experts and an unprecedented partnership between industry enterprise resource planning leaders, CSC and Oracle,” says Jack Gallagher, CSC vice president and ECSS program executive. “The foundation built through these efforts will significantly contribute to a highly agile, combat ready future Air Force.”
This initial pilot is one of three that will be conducted over the next year at Hanscom AFB (Mass.). Other locations, including Langley AFB (Va.), Scott AFB (Ill.), Gunter Annex (Ala.), Wright-Patterson AFB (Ohio), and Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon, are involved in this initial operational pilot.
