NAVAL Inventory Control Point
NAVAL INVENTORY CONTROL POINT
Managing more than 400,000 supply items with $15.5 billion in inventory, the Naval Inventory
Control Point’s (NAVICP) mission is to provide program and supply support for the weapons
systems that keep Navy forces mission-ready. The organization does this by procuring, managing
and supplying spare parts for naval aircraft, submarines and ships worldwide.
By Dawn S. Onley
The Naval Inventory Control Point’s (NAVICP) mission is to provide program and supply support for the weapons systems that keep Navy forces mission-ready. The Navy organization does this by procuring, managing and supplying spare parts for naval aircraft, submarines and ships worldwide.
Established in 1995 through the merger of the former Aviation Supply Office and the Ships Parts Control Center, NAVICP integrates all of the Navy’s program support inventory control point functions under a single command structure. Rear Admiral Michael S. Roesner is the commander of NAVICP.
NAVICP, which is headquartered in Philadelphia with a site in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and six fleet and industrial supply centers (FISCs), is the largest field activity under the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP). The FISCs offer logistics support services and products—including material management, contracting, transportation, hazardous materials management and supply consultation—to Navy and other military customers in their regions, according to GlobalSecurity.org.
Admiral Patrick Walsh, vice chief of naval operations, and Vice Admiral David Architzel, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, visited NAVSUP’s Mechanicsburg headquarters in February to learn how the command and its activities are supporting the warfighter.
“We are closely linked with our Navy stakeholders,” Rear Admiral Alan S. Thompson, NAVSUP commander and chief of supply corps, told the senior Navy officials during that visit. “Our performance remains strong as we continue to transform the way we do business.”
“This meeting gave us the opportunity to share our successes and some of the challenges we face. It’s vital for our Navy leadership to know where we are now, where we’re headed, and how we plan to get there,” Thompson added.
Thompson also provided the leaders with an overview of the command’s objectives, including the NAVSUP Commander’s Guidance for 2008 and its goal to reduce logistics support costs through efficiencies. The guidance addresses the challenge of meeting NAVSUP’s requirements today while implementing fundamental changes in the future.
Thompson also described the command’s daily operational functions, along with the basic elements of NAVSUP’s 26 products and services and how they combine to fit into three basic product lines: Navy Working Capital Fund Supply Chain Management, Services, and Navywide programs, according to the NAVSUP press release.
“The guidance links directly with the chief of Naval Operations’ three main objectives—to build the future force, to maintain warfighting readiness, and to develop and support our sailors and civilians,” Thompson said at a recent NAVSUP commander’s conference.
Among NAVICP’s responsibilities:
- More than 400,000 supply items, including repair parts, components and assemblies for ships, aircraft and weapons systems
- $15.5 billion in inventory
- Annual sales of $3.2 billion
NAVICP supports hull, electrical, mechanical and electronic components and repair parts for ships, submarines and weapons systems. NAVICP also provides logistics support to allied nations through the foreign military sales program.
NAVICP Programs and Contracts
In 2006, the Naval Inventory Control Point awarded Boeing a $995 million performance-based logistics contract for the F/A-18E/F Integrated Readiness Support Teaming (FIRST) program. Last year, the Boeing and NAVICP partnership received a Department of Defense 2007 Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) Award for increasing the F/A-18 Super Hornet’s mission capable rate from 57 percent in 2000 to 73 percent last year.
FIRST includes an automated maintenance environment, an integrated software program that improves maintenance data, fault diagnosis and decisions and integrated electronic technical manuals for F/A-18A-D models, according to a Boeing release.
The objective of FIRST is to improve fleet support and aircraft readiness while reducing costs. The contract covers asset management (spares and repairs), supportability improvements, obsolescence management, technology insertion and integrated logistics support.
“FIRST continues to offer the Navy affordable and reliable logistics support, which helps them sustain one of the highest readiness rates of any tactical aircraft in service,” said Chris Chadwick, Boeing’s vice president, F/A-18 program.
Also supporting the Super Hornet aircraft, Raytheon Company received a $93 million contract option from NAVICP in 2005 for performance-based logistics in support of its ALR-67 (V) 3 radar warning receiver system. The radar system is carried on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and has supported Navy troops during Middle East operations. The option award follows six annual support periods under an initial contract which started in 1999.
Work under the contract includes total mission support of the radar warning receiver system, including repairs, spares, reliability and maintainability system improvements, obsolescence management and field installation support. Contract performance is managed via a Web-based, PBL information management system that is integrated with Navy supply systems.
“Our PBL structure developed for the ALR-67 (V) 3 has been referred to as ‘the gold standard,” said Pat Hurley, vice president and general manager of Raytheon’s Electronic Warfare System. “It has resulted in our consistently exceeding availability and reliability requirements critical to providing mission support to the warfighter.”
The radar warning system has the ability to detect and identify threat radar emitters.
Another NAVICP initiative that is helping to bring about efficiencies is the technical assistance for repairables processing (TARP) program. In 2006, NAVICP selected SAIC a contract potentially worth $20 million to improve retrograde material processing across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Since 2000, SAIC has worked with both services to improve the retrograde pipeline. At the time, the Navy was losing material, receiving the wrong products or receiving damaged material during the retrograde process. After TARP was stood up, SAIC developed retrograde solutions to correct these problems caused by mishandling of material, loss of retrograde during shipment, receipt of wrong materials, and material packaged improperly to the point that damage during shipment rendered the material beyond economical repair, according to the company.
“We are pleased to continue our collaboration with the U.S. Navy on improving reverse logistics and packaging of depot-level repairables,” said Jim Cuff, SAIC senior vice president and general manager of the Logistics and Engineering Solutions Business Unit. “The team is committed to continuing the support for combat operations for U.S. forces throughout the Middle East … shipboard deployment operations and training to prepare units to execute their mission.”
AAI Corporation also has a piece of some NAVICP business. The Hunt Valley, Md., company won a PBL contract to provide repair, material acquisition, storage and management support for hydraulic components for Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler.
Awarded in 2005, the contract runs through 2009 and can then be extended an additional four years. The contract base is $4 million, although the total potential value of the contract—if all options are exercised—is $30.9 million.
The contract includes filling Navy and Marine Corps squadron requirements for hydraulic flight control components, maintaining and delivering spare parts and providing repair services, according to the company. ♦