Integrated Logistics

Written by Dawn S. Onley

This process took time and the quoted rates were not always competitive or the best rate available.

Under the recently awarded, $1.6 billion Defense Transportation Coordination Initiative (DTCI), that process is getting an upgrade that is every bit as effective as what you’d see in commercial industry, officials say.

The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), in August, awarded the DTCI prime contract to Menlo Worldwide Government Services, LLC. The logistics contract is designed to streamline and improve domestic transportation and distribution operations across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Menlo is responsible for deploying an integrated logistics solution for shipment planning, execution and management. Currently, each of the services and Defense agencies use their own system for freight distribution.

“DTCI is a team effort, in partnership with the Defense Logistics Agency and the military services, to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of DoD freight movements in the continental United States,” said Air Force General Norton A. Schwartz, commander USTRANSCOM, in a news release. “Menlo will utilize best commercial practices to enable load consolidation and optimization, use of more efficient intermodal means of transportation and tailored scheduling to meet the customer requirements. These improvements will increase the precision and reliability of freight movements, leading to increased customer confidence, cost savings, and increased efficiency in our CONUS shipping operations.”

The DTCI contract also includes key performance metrics that require Menlo and its team of subcontractors to maintain, including a 96-97 percent on-time pick-up and delivery rate; a 99 percent IT systems availability rate; and a 99 percent ability to process claims in a timely manner.

Subcontractors under Menlo include Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), One Networks Enterprises, Inc. and Olgoonik Logistics. CSC will provide IT infrastructure hosting, network management and integration services; One Networks will provide the transportation management software for shipment planning, optimization and execution; and Olgoonik will provide professional services supporting the participation of minority-owned and small business firms as service contractors for DTCI.

“We didn’t have any central planning coordination or control. We want to reach our full transportation consolidation potential,” said Air Force Colonel Jim Lovell, director of the DTCI Program Management Office headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. “We’re reengineering some processes.” Rather than shippers picking up the phone and calling on carriers, DTCI will largely automate the process through the use of electronic data messaging interactions (EDI). The online system will better synchronize up to 260 independent shipping sites and hundreds of transportation service providers.

“It’s basically an electronic offer. You look at what’s the best mode to service that need and apply best commercial rates to do that and best mode,” Lovell explained of the EDI system. “In addition to the efficiencies and expected cost savings we’ll gain, this long-term partnership with Menlo Worldwide Government Services allows us to implement several commercial best practices into our transportation operations.” Lovell said all four services contribute to the funding of DTCI through the Distribution Process Owner (DPO) initiatives fund.

“This is a milestone win for Menlo and our partners,” said Robert L. Bianco, Jr., president of Menlo Worldwide, in the release. “USTRANSCOM is to be commended for their foresight, vision and commitment to a best-in-class solution for improving distribution and logistics for our nation’s war fighters. This is a tremendous opportunity to leverage and apply our experience with some of the nation’s largest commercial businesses into a highly efficient logistics solution for the military.”

Lovell said expected benefits of the program are increased operational efficiencies and cost savings and better visibility of freight movements from point to point. ♦