“An army travels on its stomach.” “Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.” Militaries throughout history have recognized these and related sayings, and logistics are especially important to a force that must cover a large land mass and often finds itself deployed abroad. Borrowing from civilian improvements over the past three decades, the USA continues to lead the way in this field – but allies are working to catch up.
Along those lines, Australia’s Government has approved the first A$ 100 million (about $77 million) phase of JP 20772B, the Improved Logistics Information System.
JP 2077 Phase 2B.1 will deliver the Military Integrated Logistics Information System (MILIS) used to manage and track assets, and will provide a range of enhancements including improved financial management via integration with Defence’s finance information systems and compliance with Australian Equivalent International Financial Reporting Systems Standards. It will also add advancements in mobile warehouse technologies, information technology controls, and automated stocktaking. This is considered the highest priority gap. A 24 month acquisition and implementation phase is scheduled to commence in September 2006, with ‘go live’ planned for the third quarter of 2008.
Under the project the prime contractor Mincom in Brisbane is enhancing the functionality of its ‘Ellipse’ ERP product to produce a Military off the Shelf (MOTS) version. Mincom is one of the largest software firms in Australia.
The next phase, JP2077 2B.2, is envisioned to provide flexible and enhanced operational support in the deployed environment (Australian Defence Force Deployable Logistics System) and an improved capability to track and manage inventory and assets while in-transit (Integrated In-Transit Visibility). This phase has not yet been addressed by the government, who is likely to wait until Phase One is farther along before making further commitments.