Stackers go private

[ORAC]

Leidos Triumphs in Major UK Support Bid (http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/support/2015/02/18/leidos-secures-british-lcst-deal/23603507/)

LONDON — Leidos has secured its first major support deal from the UK Defence Ministry, the MoD announced on Thursday. The US contractor was named as the preferred bidder on a multibillion pound program aimed at transforming how commodities are procured and stored for the military. Industry sources said Leidos, formerly known as SAIC, beat local defense support giant Babcock and a bid from an in-house team from the Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) arm of the MoD.

"Today's announcement is a key step in bringing defense logistics up to the standard of industry best practice," Philip Dunne, minister for defense equipment, support and technology, said in a statement. "It will deliver state of the art warehousing systems to improve availability of supplies and better management of inventory for the armed forces."

The Logistic Commodities and Services Transformation (LCS(T)) program is reckoned to be worth around £7 to £8 billion (US $10.7 billion to $12.2 billion) over the 13-year life of the deal, but that figure could rise to as much as £13 billion if the MoD expands the range of products set to be handled under LCS(T). The deal includes a three-year transition phase.

For the moment, the outsourcing deal includes procurement of commodities such as food, clothing, general stores, some fuels and other items.

Winning the deal is a major breakthrough for Leidos. The company has secured some defense-related business here but nothing remotely on the scale of the LCS(T) program. Leidos Senior Vice President Barbara Doornink told Defense News last year that fuel distribution and ammunition storage and distribution are two areas the company might eye in the future to expand its UK business. Doornink said she saw "plenty of opportunities in Britain beyond LCS(T) for the sort of integration, IT and other solutions Leidos provides."

The program is part of wider MoD efforts to transform the efficiency of its equipment and support procurement effort. Part of the deal will see more than 2,000 DE&S staff move into the private sector under Leidos management.

Under the current organization, each DE&S commodity area operates largely in isolation, resulting in duplication and increased costs. Leidos and its subcontractor partners Kuehne & Nagel and TVS Supply Chain Solutions, are expected to invest in updating the storage infrastructure and rationalizing the numerous sites operated by DE&S. The storage activity is conducted from about 70 warehouses across 11 sites holding around £8 billion of stock.

An announcement on the winning contractor had been expected in the final quarter of last year, but the complexity of the deal and other issues slowed negotiations.

With the election purdah set to kick in on March 30, LCS(T) is likely to be among the last major program awards ahead of the general election. Under the long-standing purdah agreement between the main political parties, major announcements that could influence voters are banned until after the election.

With a government spending review due after the election threatening the defense budget, followed by a strategic defense and security review that could well run into 2016, the next 12 months will likely be thin for big contract announcements.

[VinRouge]

Any chance we will be able to get a freight weight then outside of 5 minutes to chocks?

[dervish]

The in house bid failed.

The in house staff are being transferred to the private sector to run this contract.

:D

[MPN11]

Does this also means off-shore clothing design and procurement? The mind boggles!

Sorry to see another chip out of the foundations of HM Forces ... By the time I peg out it will be Civvy everything, with just the aircrew .... Being contracted mercenaries. When will CAS become CEO RAF Ltd?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

contracted mercenaries

Perhaps the Emperors in Westminster might like to reread their Decline & Fall..

193 AD would be worth a look. ;)

[Wander00]

Used to be "We have only one in stock, and someone might want it". Now it will be "Sorry, none in stock, you will have to wait at least 6 months!"

[ricardian]

Or "How many more people to I have to tell - there's NO demand for it!"

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

"I do 'ave some Sir, but they're in Boxes."

............................................................ ............

I recall Day 2 of Desert Shield
"xxx sets of NBC suits, please"
"You can't 'ave them Sir, they're War Stocks"

[MPN11]

Extending the non-supply story, some will remember the 'shortages' of official stationery in the mid-80s.

On my regular Staff visits around 11 Gp, my briefcase was always full of things like memo pads, which were unobtainable 'in the field'. There was one Tower I visited where memo sheets [one page, writing on for the use of] were issued from the sole remaining pad to the user, which were then photocopied to multiple addresses and file.

My visits were always welcomed :cool:

Remember, kids, we went through some pretty hard times in the past too :)

[Bob Viking]

I hadn't heard that one before. It made me chuckle. Sums them up perfectly.
BV:ok:

[downsizer]

Stores are for storing, not issuing!

[MPN11]

I had, from my RN flying days, a pair of aircrew sunglasses. The frame went ... I tried to exchange them, but as they weren't on my RAF stores chit, I couldn't do that.

So I got an RAF aircrew mate to do the exchange ... "no problem, Sir" ... and the storeman gave him the broken ones back for future replacement use :mad:

[Dan Gerous]

Leidos! Thought that read Lidls for a second.

[Mr C Hinecap]

The MoD was not willing to make the changes it needed so I guess it will change when someone else makes them. It's always the way, like bringing in a consultant to tell the higher management what everyone beneath them knows is wrong.
Archaic procurement practices supported by empire-building Single Service dinosaurs who worked in their respective stovepipes and damn anyone else who knocked at the door with an idea. I look forward to less meddling by those not qualified who always cocked things up in the past.

[dctyke]

Just put all spares on eBay and units buy them with PayPal, it works for everything else!

[AnglianAV8R]

"better management of inventory"

Oh dear, I fear you maybe about to be subjected to 'just in time logistics'

I wish you luck.

[Mr C Hinecap]

better management of inventory

It's been crying out for years. Single Service stovepipes and procurement that is just stupid and blinkered. It won't take much to improve things and turn a profit.

[NutLoose]

Will this be a blanket coverage?

[Laarbruch72]

It's hardly a new thing, Serco were running much of the supply chain for the last decade of my service and I've now been out for three years. Northolt was entirely civilian for my whole 9 years there, and the last service supplier I saw in a stores was at Odiham in about 2003.
I know the RAF still have service suppliers but they tend not to be in the stores on most stations, tending to be more in the deployable role as with a lot of trades now.

[NutLoose]

and the last service supplier I saw in a stores was at Odiham in about 2003


Did he have a market stall? :E

[Willard Whyte]

Oh dear, I fear you maybe about to be subjected to 'just in time logistics'

It would be an improvement on the 'not quite in time logistics' that were certainly around a few years back.

[ian16th]

Stores are for storing, not issuing! I understood that the change in name from Storeman to Supplier was an attempt to get rid of this mentality.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

It was either an attempt to deflect criticism, or an attempt by a 1* to get promoted.

[Mr C Hinecap]

For those who are talking about something else, this is not the civilization of RAF Logistics. This is the contractorization of many off-base aspects that have largely been in civilian hands for most of the last 2 decades if not longer.
What you have seen on-base is civilians working in non-deployable roles to allow logistics to happen despite the downturn in manpower and the focus on deployed ops.

[tucumseh]

WW

It would be an improvement on the 'not quite in time logistics' that were certainly around a few years back.

Quite. I'm sure your comment is slightly tongue in cheek :) but it is actually spot on. In April 1990 AMSO formally introduced a "Not in time" policy, whereby contracts were not let to replenish spares until there was an outstanding demand. Overnight, MoD went from a Max/Min stock level system to (approx) 12 months lead time to satisfy even the highest priority demands. The FUD system went out the window.

This was compounded by AMSO issuing instructions that all stocks held forward at 4th line (to support contracted turn round times) should be scrapped. A policy that wasted hundreds of millions in one financial year; swiftly followed by the spares having to be bought again. TRTs went from weeks to over a year.

Therein lie the reasons for IFS's criticism of AMSO in, for example, his Hercules ART report of 1996; and the explanation behind the Nimrod Review's "Savings at the expense of safety". The "savings" (not holding stock and other contract cancellations) were necessary because the scrapped spares had to be replaced, and there was only a finite budget. But it was the same people involved. They chose the "savings" instead of simply rescinding the NiT policy.

NiT was eventually replaced with "Just in Time", which was a compromise whereby the Max/Min levels were reinstated, but at much lower levels. It took no account of the concept of random failures. JiT was sold as a savings initiative, but it was actually a panic reaction to the ART reports which, inter alia, complained of 2nd Line having to carry out unauthorised and unverifiable repairs using stock of questionable quality. On one notorious occasion, the Lynx office issued an instruction to fit a scrap main rotorhead as the aircraft was "only needed for a transit flight from Fleetlands to Portland". The MRH workshop refused to certify it. That stance forced the issue.

[rarelyathome]

And for the Stacker critics, just remind me what Branch AMSO was :p

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Regarding the Naval supply system, Max/Min provisioning was a rarity due to the DASA designed statistical provioning system. It needed to be understood, though, to work intelligently and Contractors, sorry, Partners found it rather complicated. Add to that the head scratching by the IPT not clerkies and a slow degeneration to Max/Min began. How fortunate for the Competition winner.

I'm now visualising all the Trident critical Items in the GS and Gen POL ranges. Still, it must be a low risk as the grownups wouldn't have signed up to it, would they.

[4mastacker]

Did he have a market stall?

Nutty,

That bloke's dividend for going private was three and a half years inside for burglary.

[SirToppamHat]

Now it will be "Sorry, none in stock, you will have to wait at least 6 months!"

Nothing new about that. The last pair of shoes I got from my Unit took 9 mths to come in and I'd ordered them twice. Apparently there wasn't much demand for officers' shoes at the Unit (HW) - that could be because they increased the price from £42 to £143 a pair. Fortunately, I was exchanging mine because they were the wrong size.

STH

[Jumping_Jack]

Single Service stovepipes and procurement that is just stupid and blinkered.

A number of posters here are under the mistaken assumption that this is about procurement; it isn't. This is the contactorisation of the Depots that are currently run by LCS. The procurers are untouched but will now be up against a company (and contract terms) to store their 300years worth of kit (at current consumption) and are likely to have to pay for that storage (which they don't do at present). Should be fun.....:p

[Lordflasheart]

Regarding the Naval supply system,Nothing wrong with the Two-Bin System ! .... ;) .... LFH

[Mr C Hinecap]

A number of posters here are under the mistaken assumption that this is about procurement; it isn't. This is the contactorisation of the Depots that are currently run by LCS.

The broken procurement system exacerbates the broken storage and maintenance system. There are multiple contracts for the same and similar items across all areas, leading to storage problems brought on by these issues. It might give some cohesion to the storage capabilities and a single decent voice that can effectively shout at Abbey Wood & the FLCs.

[dragartist]

Does anyone recall the proposals for a Common Range Aircraft Parts IPT at Wyton circa DLO changing to DE&S era?


I was party to only a few daft decisions leading to duplication of inventory. Most of this was standard low value nuts and bolts that had been classified as ** aircraft only, so yy aircraft team bought the same against a different NSN. This was never meant to happen, or so I was told.


When I first set out we had C stores up the Ying yang.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Nothing wrong with the Two-Bin System

Indeed not; horses for courses. You may remember, though, that the totally adequate Twin Bin systems in the Dockyard Retail Ready Use Stores were replenished from the CRISP provisioned (statistical) Base Main Stock.

[Al R]

FOFAD, anyone?

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Would that require Donnington having another bonfire?