Chapter 3 - NPR Principles: Getting Back to Basics

Index

Introduction
Putting Customers First
Empowering Employees
Cutting Red Tape
Getting Back to Basics

The Army's strong support for the NPR principle of "Getting Back to Basics" has produced better organizations that use their resources more wisely. These effective, entrepreneurial organizations constantly find ways to make themselves work better and reduce overhead. They reengineer how they do their work and reexamine programs and processes. They abandon the obsolete, and eliminate duplication. They invest in greater productivity, through smarter use of funds and long-term capital programs and they embrace advanced technologies to garner savings.

In its continuing effort to create a businesslike environment that "works smart," is accountable, and stops doing unnecessary things, the Army strives to reduce, eliminate, or spin off programs that are not needed. Key to this effort is identifying and using the best management practices, investing in greater productivity, especially through business partnerships, and more measurement, accountability, competition, and privatization. This section outlines the successes Army organizations have made in getting back to basics--back to their core missions.

The U. S. Army Center for Army Analysis (CAA) has developed the Global Deployment Analysis System (GDAS), an evolving, high-resolution, multi-modal model for the comprehensive simulation of end-to-end force deployment: Continental United States (CONUS)/Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) origins to Theater Tactical Assembly Areas (TAAs). The model is incorporated with an expandable relational data base structure.

The Reception, Staging, Onward-Movement, Integration plus Strategic (RSOIS) Study (1996) was the first GDAS application to global, multi-modal deployment simulation. The study assesses the relative impact of two major systems, vehicle availability and facility capability, affecting deployment of US forces from CONUS/OCONUS locations into TAAs of the Republic of Korea. The GDAS was used in the Support Force Requirements Analysis for FY 2005 ( RA-05), the Decision Support Model-RSOI (DSM-RSOI), the Strategic Lift Tradeoff (STRATLOFF), and in support of' other analyses, to include the Quadrennial Long-Range Deployment Analysis and Force XXI. The GDAS accepts current force movement or program force requirements in association with CAA's Computer-Assisted Match Program (CAMP) and can be used for capability assessment or requirements determination for lift, network, or facility assets.

The GDAS is unique in its capability to distribute distinct types of cargo onto vehicles of multiple modes (e.g., road, rail, air, sea, pipeline, and inland waterway) across an expandable global network with detailed facility structure. It also combines optimization techniques for achieving effective selection of mode and route and assignment of vehicles with an objective 0-time deployment in combination with efficient use of resources. Adjustable deployment benefits and penalties also serve as a mechanism for prioritization. The GDAS data structure is expandable by network, vehicle type, and facility type and provides flexibility and capability to perform a wide range of studies, control of the simulation design by the analyst, and advanced mobility analysis.

GDAS has replaced TRANSMO as CAA's transportation model. Installation discs and training manuals have been exported since April 1995 to interested DOD organizations. The first formal GDAS training was held at CAA in 1995. Refinements through FY 98 continued to address emerging DOD mobility issues.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Albuquerque District improved the Request for Proposal (RFP) process through a team effort with Little Rock District. They developed a Design/Build RFP package for family housing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and for a water system at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The revised RFP process used a "back to basics" concept to:

This process resulted in a well-defined scope of work, greater efficiency, and better service to the customer by: improving quality by 15 percent and reducing customer costs by 30 percent. This new procedure has also allowed the District to incorporate the customer's needs and requirements immediately, as well as obtain information and resolve issues in a short time frame. Additionally, it has expanded the services offered by the Corps districts.

The 19th Theater Army Area Command (TAACOM) which provides logistics support to US Military forces in South Korea has undertaken an initiative to contract with local firms for industrial services.

This initiative has a potential cost savings/avoidance of $2.9M in FY 99. Because of the higher labor rate in the continental United States (CONUS) for depot level maintenance and stock fund surcharges included in unit price of a CONUS repaired replacement engine, in-country repair is a candidate for the Logistics Cost Sharing program funding.

U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) has continued its effort to eliminate activities outside of its core missions. This section highlights the successes of several subordinate elements of this command in this area

As the only U.S. Army pilot project representing the research and development (R&D) function under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) was required to provide a methodology for strategic planning and performance evaluation.

The ARL developed a four-volume business plan that is coupled to the DOD budget process by virtue of a series of quarterly management meetings. At these quarterly meetings, the ARL's leadership deals with each volume at the appropriate point in the fiscal year to allow input into the PPBES.

Volume I is a Strategic Plan that lays out major vectors with goals for the organization up to ten years in the future. Volume II is the Long Range Plan which resources Volume I by a detailed analysis of fiscal, personnel, and facilities assets through the POM period. Volume III is the Annual Performance Plan, which translates Volume II into the year of execution for individual tasks with measurable goals and allocations of resources. Volume IV is the Annual Performance Report which summarizes the results of the year just ended including a one for one evaluation of the progress made on the individual goals and the corporate metrics that were set in Volume III.

As a pilot project representing the R&D function under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) was required to provide a methodology for evaluating the performance of the R&D function and organization. This is a decades-old challenge.

ARL has developed a novel performance evaluation in which several areas requiring specific evaluation are addressed. In regard to the quality of the research, a peer review process is used. For this purpose, an ARL Technical Assessment Board was established by the National Research Council. To address the relevance and productivity of the lab and its programs, a survey instrument has been developed to gather feedback from those customers to whom we deliver a specific product.

For those ARL stakeholder's who do not receive a specific deliverable, a Stakeholders’ Advisory Board consisting of ten members of the Army’s senior leadership and chaired by the ARL Commanding General has been established to give us strategic-level feedback on our performance. Finally, metrics are used to ascertain the functional health of the organization and to determine whether an environment in which quality work can be performed has been established.

All these aspects of the Construct have been directly linked to the performance appraisals of our senior executive service (SES) level leadership. This Construct has been briefed throughout the government and proposed to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be the GPRA standard. It has been widely benchmarked in industry.

The US Army Industrial Operations Command (IOC) Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) has obtained a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air emission permit, construction permits, and is modifying heat treat furnaces. These permits and modifications enable RIA to use its foundry and heat treating facilities to recycle and dispose of ton containers, munitions casings, and process equipment that may have held one or more types of agent during their lifetime.

The arsenal can recycle or demilitarize 2,400 tons per year on a single shift basis and can triple capacity without major equipment upgrades. Finally, RIA has found potential buyers for the high-grade steel ingots produced from the recycled containers.

The US Army Aviation and Missile Command's LCOE was established as a Velocity Management initiative to provide limited wholesale supply and secondary item repair support for PATRIOT units located at Fort Bliss. By providing a centralized single, supply/repair service point, the LCOE has been able to maximize readiness for PATRIOT units while simultaneously reducing the cost of doing business, known as "cost of readiness," for the PATRIOT community.

The LCOE Centralized Distribution Activity (CDA), a Government-owned/contractor-operated (GOCO) facility, provides 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week, on-call, "one stop shopping" for collocated PATRIOT units located at Fort Bliss. As a result the Materiel Release Order (MRO) processing time, an integral part of Order to Ship Time (OST), has been reduced from an average of 6 days to 1 day or less for PATRIOT units at Fort Bliss.

The AMCOM used the LCOE at Fort Bliss as a model to establish another LCOE at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for the Multiple Launch Rocket System. This GOCO facility currently has only a supply mission; however, plans are to expand those activities to include component item repair for the MLRS weapon system.

The LCOE is teaming with the Fort Sill Directorate of Logistics and Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) for component item maintenance support. An LCOE to support AMCOM aviation systems is also being considered--location and timeframes are to be determined.

The U.S. Army Communications-Electronic Command Research Development and Engineering Center (CECOM RDEC) Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate's Information Technology mission continues to evolve at a rapid pace which makes it a formidable task to keep up with and provide the latest capabilities available for customers. Because of the cross cutting nature of Information Technology and in particular Communications Technology, organizational structures associated with Information Technology groups have always been a challenge.

Additionally, many systems use some degree of common technologies (although the implementation may vary drastically and has a major impact). Experts are needed in specific technologies and in the system level integration of the same. Recognizing this, the CECOM Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate began a process of reorganization for more customer/technology focus and efficiency. Prior to this, the structure was along the traditional hierarchical lines of a Director and Deputy Director (and appropriate staff support) with five line Divisions. Each division consisted of two or three relevant branches.

A unique approach was subsequently designed that totally eliminated the Divisions. In place of the divisions, Program Director (PD) positions were created around specific technology/product focus areas.

Each PD was given total responsibility for focusing, resourcing and executing all the programs under him/her and also given the ability to hire from any branch within the organization (without regard to reporting chains) to get the expertise that the PD needs to accomplish the mission. PDs were also created to target specific new customer areas and emerging technologies (eg: Soldier, Tactical Operations Centers, Platforms, Warfighter Information Network and Mobile Networking).

In addition to better alignment with the PEO/PM customers, it also allowed focusing critical mass on specific Information technologies that have multiple system applications. A Special Project Office was maintained from the old organization to manage the systems level integration of all the products and technologies.

This past year has witnessed great strides made by MEDCOM in focusing its efforts and resources on the mission of "conserving the fighting force." This section provides several examples of the commands initiatives.

US Army Dental Command (DENCOM) is using practice management software to revolutionize workflow in the test sites. Automated scheduling systems have increased appointment availability over 25%. Downtime in the clinics has been reduced from approximately 20% of available time to as low as 2%. The result is improving dental readiness and a rising level of oral wellness in the population. The technology is reducing administrative burdens on the clinical staff and fully automating the workload reporting process. This frees the staff to address the needs of patients and alleviate tedious paperwork.

Improving readiness classifications and increasing oral wellness measures in the population are outcome measures that demonstrate the value of automation in supporting the organization in fulfilling its core mission. Test facilities are exceeding the DoD standards for dental readiness and establishing a benchmark for the percent of the population requiring no dental treatment (highest state of oral health).

One test site has designed internal metrics to estimate the savings generated by the use of practice management software. Currently, it is estimated that $50,000 per year in labor costs can be avoided by using the automated scheduler and report generation functions.

The US Army Medical Department Center and School redesigned the existing 20-week in-residence course. It was converted to 10-week Phase 1, which re-purposed 17 correspondence sub-courses, followed by a 10-week Phase 2 resident course.

Officers complete the Phase 1 at a self-paced schedule prior to their arrival for the resident course. The Phase 1 course is available in paper-based correspondence course format, delivered by mail on one CD-ROM, and retrievable from the internet via the Knowledge Management Network at http://kmn.army.mil.

Savings resulting from this initiative are reduced TDY and per-diem costs for 125 students for 10 weeks, for each course iteration and a reduction of mailing costs from $17.00 per set of printed materials to $.72 for the CD-ROM.

The US Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) has adapted and implemented nationally developed, evidenced-based clinical practice guidelines in Army Medical Department (AMEDD) medical treatment facilities as the best method of improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care in the AMEDD.

Expected benefits include improvements in referrals to specialty care, decreased laboratory and pharmacy costs, avoidance of inpatient care, decreased hospital length of stays, improved access, and improved customer and provider satisfaction.

These practice guidelines are also expected to facilitate AMEDD hospital accreditation through integration of the guideline initiative with Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) outpatient ORYX accrediting procedures. Practice guidelines can also assist in MEDICARE subvention by becoming the quality improvement "projects" required by MEDICARE.

This merging and integration can yield AMEDD organizational efficiencies through decreases in data collection costs and personnel costs associated with collection, analysis and packaging of the data for the ORYX and JCAHO initiatives.

The US Army Cost and Economic Analysis Center (USACEAC) and the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (ACSIM) are implementing Cost Management throughout Army installations. Cost Management improves installation resource management through a cycle of continuous improvement. Cost Management focuses on managing costs, improving quality, and improving operations through informed decision making.

Cost Management is being introduced at three levels: Activity-Based Costing for local managers to gain the information they need to improve operations; Service-Based Costing for senior-level decision making; and Standard Service Costing to provide planning, programming, and budgeting performance information. An interactive Managerial Costing Training CD-ROM has been developed for use at all management levels. This CD-ROM is being distributed throughout the Army to teach installation managers.

Cost Management is coordinated through an Army-wide Managerial Costing Steering Committee, which meets quarterly to provide an open forum for Cost Management issues across HQDA, MACOMs, and installations. The overarching impetus behind these initiatives is the need to manage costs while providing a high-quality service and creating an environment in which the Army can continually improve that service.

The General Support Center - Europe’s (GSC-E) Theater Logistics Maintenance Contract Management Office (TLMCMO) ensures that customers get "best value" for their maintenance dollars by centrally managing those maintenance contracts in Central Region that exceed $50K. The TLMCMO leverages buying power by consolidating requirements at theater level, providing central visibility of requirements and cost of contracted maintenance, enforcing unified standards through centralized quality assurance, and providing the best possible service with the least involvement of the customer. The TLMCMO consists of an interdisciplinary staff of acquisition management and maintenance functional experts, handling theater maintenance contracts throughout all phases of requirements determination, contract initiation, Statement of Work preparation, contract administration and quality assurance. Through continuous cost analysis and comparison, the utilization of GSC-E organic repair facilities are maximized by actively competing with contractual tools, such as European commercial sources, TACOM's Focused Sustainment Maintenance, the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA), and other contract tools in place. Additionally, a working partnership with TACOM established a full time representative to provide additional analysis services in the competitive analysis process. To date the TLMCMO manages over $127M in ground and aviation maintenance contracts and ensures best value of this buying power to the U.S. Government.

Competitiveness with DOD and commercial organizations in providing products and services necessitates change in the way we are doing business. Providing quality products and services at the best possible price are key to customer satisfaction and maximizing resources. The General Support Center-Europe (GSC-E) has realized that emphasis on quality is leading that change. We are committed to make quality an integral part in all areas of production: maintenance, supply, materiel testing, oil analysis services and other logistical services. The ISO 9002 is one of five international standards that provide guidance in the development and implementation of an effective quality management system. The three basic elements of ISO standards are:

An independent registrar reviews compliance to the ISO standard. It is the goal of the General Support Center Europe to obtain certification in all areas of services by fall 99. One of our organizations, the Maintenance Activity Mannheim, obtained full certification in December of 1998.

The BMC has been established to support a concept of operation of best business practices and optimal mix between contractual and organic services for special purpose vehicles, commercial electronic equipment, furniture and furnishings and privately owned vehicle (POV) inspection.

After transition of the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) non-tactical vehicle (NTV) fleet to the Interagency Fleet Management System (IFMS), the previous concept of 22 decentralized and independently operating maintenance activities was no more economically sustainable. Centralization of management, administration, parts support and production control and execution through decentralized, pure wrench turning capability at the customer’s location (Customer Support Teams) was established this past year. This enabled central visibility of requirements and cost and produced economies of scale in contracting while performing over 95% of the repairs at the customer's location. The BMC is a flat organization (less than 10% overhead) and this concept of operations puts the customer up front. Breaking with long-standing maintenance traditions, work-orders are not required from the customer: A phone call initiates the process and the BMC manages the process until the repaired asset is returned to the customer. High-Priority maintenance requirements in are turned around in 5 days (the previous standard was 30-days) and routine requirements in less than 10 days. As a result, the BMC achieved verified savings of $4.9M (equates to 40% of the budget baseline) in the first year of operation.

	Leading Change
	Army Reinvention and Quality Initiatives Report - 1998