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FRONT BURNER

DLA Troop Support Controls Equipment Backorders

group of Defense Logistics Agency to track orders after contracts were He said his team and fellow Subsis-
A Troop Support employees have awarded, said Dean Schoendorfer, the tence co-workers in food-equipment
managed to minimize the number of supervisor in charge of the food service acquisitions strive to ensure their cus-
equipment backorders for military food equipment buying team. The new post- tomers have the equipment they need
service and food field items. award team identified several issues, to feed the warfighter. An increase in
Backorders hovered near zero dur- known as quality notifications (QNs), backorders could mean more service
ing July and early August of 2017, and which caused delivery disruptions due members stationed in remote locations
since 2013 had averaged no more than to minor processing errors. must eat prepackaged Meals, Ready
100 at any time. This contrasts with With the help of quality assurance to Eat, known as MREs, instead of a
August 2011, when the supply chain’s specialists, quality technicians, resolu- freshly prepared meal.

DLA Troop Support acquisition professionals have
backorders grew to more than 2,000. tion specialists, and other employees reduced back orders in the Subsistence supply
“It’s an accomplishment we’re in the organization, the post-award chain from more than 2,000 in 2011 to zero in
2017. Pictured are: (front row, from left) Roberto
proud of,” said Thomas Hall, the su- team rectified many of the disruptions, Santisteban, Sabrina Morgan, Steven Weeks, Henia
pervisor of Subsistence’s Group Rations ensuring the warfighter received their Montague, John Graybill, Khuong Nguyen; (back
and Equipment branch. product in a more timely manner. row, from left) Lauren Breisch, George Patrick, John
King, Tom Hall, Orrin Williams, Dean Schoendorfer,
Early last year, former Subsistence “We started with a lot of QNs, but and Tim Coyle. Other team members not pictured
Director Navy Supply Corps Capt. Chris we worked it down to about a dozen,” include Wayne Williamson, David Sharp, Peggy
Mosher challenged food-equipment Schoendorfer said. “We really worked Grady, Lori D’Alessandro, Wardell Smith, John
Golden and Dominique Vaugh-Gadson. (Photo
employees to reduce backorders. on quality notifications to make sure by Shawn Jones, DLA Troop Support)
Hall said they started a regularly stock didn’t become blocked due to
recurring meeting to specifically deal unrelated errors, such as incorrect “It’s all about readiness,” said Rich
with backorders, and they soon identi- labeling.” Faso, Subsistence’s deputy director. “No
fied and implemented several process The food-equipment team also matter the item or the priority, it is
improvements. conducts a monthly meeting with the important to the overall mission.”
“This is truly a group effort, from Army Natick Soldier Systems Center, While the team met its goal, Faso
supplier operations to customer opera- in Natick, Mass., in an effort to in- said there’s always room for improve-
tions and our support folks,” he said. crease the lines of communication. ment when it comes to supporting
“We have a lot of dedicated people The meetings help the team identify the warfighter.
who took it as a personal goal to get potential issues before they become “Overall, when put into perspective,
backorders down to zero.” major problems. of the thousands of orders we receive,
First, they improved communica- Backorders can lead to quality-of-life only a small portion are missed,” Faso
tion. Material planners developed a and morale-related concerns for service said. ”But to that customer, it doesn’t
weekly report that helped contracting members stationed across the globe. matter how great we were on every-
officers prioritize their efforts in a man- “If they require a griddle assembly, thing else to everybody else. To them,
ner that would mitigate the effects of and we don’t have it, well they’re not we missed, and that bothers us and
product demand surges or inventory eating pancakes that day or anything will make us better suppliers.”
shortages. else they make on the griddle,” Hall —GFS
Next, a team was established said.
8 GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • NOVEMBER 2017