Articles
Military Logistics
Enabling Smarter Government Logistics
If I have learned one thing in my decades of navigating defense logistics, it’s that we can’t afford to solve tomorrow’s readiness problems with yesterday’s systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the first new technology with the viability to change how we forecast demand, manage obsolescence, and optimize supply chains. But the path to realizing its potential is met with structural, cultural, and bureaucratic hurdles.
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Veterans Find a New Frontline in Logistics
Military veterans bring grit, leadership, and a mission-first mindset to the logistics sector, proving to be the secret weapon in solving today’s tough supply chain challenges.
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Bringing Supply Chains to Breakthrough Research and Science
Allison Bennett Irion brings deep expertise in defense, government, and supply chain strategy to her work at Argonne National Laboratory. Learn how she’s helping shape the future of critical materials and science-driven logistics.
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Calling in the Troops
The ingenuity of America’s fighting forces has been the deciding factor in the greatest challenges the world has ever seen. Could history’s best-trained military men and women provide the answers to the supply chain workforce challenges we face today? Military leaders’ claim on logistics is pervasive throughout history. Everyone from Patton to Sun Tzu acknowledges […]
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FedEx Aims for Anti-Missile Lasers
In a new move for a carrier, FedEx has requested permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to equip a fleet of its Airbus A321-200 aircraft with an anti-missile laser system that disrupts heat-seeking missile tracking. FedEx referenced prior incidents in which attackers used portable air defense systems against civilian aircraft, such as Iran shooting down […]
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Combat Cargo: The Challenges of Military Logistics
Think you’re a project cargo master? If you really want to be all you can be, try moving difficult cargo into an area with terrible infrastructure and hostile combatants, something military logisticians do every day.
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Calling All Logisticians: Assist the Military to Bridge the Gap
Military missions are complex logistical efforts, requiring a significant understanding of supply chain and transportation management. Service members at all levels have logistical knowledge. Whether moving to a new location, planning training, or executing maneuvers, all military personnel are intimately familiar with mission execution and the associated logistical operations. As professional logisticians and supply chain […]
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Military and Manufacturing Outsourcing: Not All Guns and Roses
The U.S. military fights its war on high costs through outsourcing. Can manufacturers arm themselves with the same weapon?
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Kelvin Miller: Home Away From Home for the Troops
Kelvin Miller is an equipment and mobility readiness spare parts allocation supervisor with military contractor DynCorp International, in Dohar, Qatar. He has held this position since 2013. Responsibilities: Managing and shipping equipment to the field to support Air Force deployments in the Middle East. Experience: Section chief, materiel distribution, U.S. Air Force. Education: A.A., psychology, […]
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Five Customs Compliance Tips for Aerospace Companies
Aerospace manufacturers and distributors who move shipments across international borders face an often-complicated, high-stakes process as they navigate export rules and local customs regulations. Fines for non-compliance can amount to millions of dollars. That makes understanding guidelines a vital business priority. For some companies, the hassles associated with customs can dissuade them from expanding into […]
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Managing the Aerospace Supply Chain
Today’s aftermarket aerospace and defense supply chain requirements are changing how companies secure the critical spare parts needed to improve customer service, enhance product uptime and profitability, and increase customer loyalty and retention. It’s nothing short of a global logistical transformation. Budget cuts are helping fuel the transformation, with the need to maintain existing military […]
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Trends—September 2014
HCS Updates: Asked and Answered The Occupational Safety and Health Administration‘s (OSHA) 2012 Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is sure to elicit a supply chain reaction from chemical manufacturers, distributors, and end users. The updates to HCS 1994, OSHA’s previous convention, feature some cosmetic changes—"material safety data sheets" are now referred to as "safety data sheets"— […]
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Casting Vets Into the Private Sector
After serving Uncle Sam, former military personnel are armed with the experience and skill needed to battle supply chain challenges.
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Aerospace Logistics: Building for Growth
Supply chain improvements, and specialized service providers, keep the aerospace industry flying high.
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Hiring Heroes: A Good Deal for U.S. Companies
The logistics sector is waging war against high unemployment among veterans with aggressive hiring programs that benefit both sides.
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Trends—December 2012
Bringing Logistics Efficiency To the Front Line In The Art of War, Sun Tsu teaches that "every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought." It is a reminder of the planning and logistics necessary to move and replenish supplies and armaments during successful military operations. The completion of a three-year study conducted […]
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Battlefields and Boardrooms: The Military-Private Sector Connection
Military skills are put to good use in the private sector. The traits of an exceptional soldier—leadership, persistence, teamwork, order—are also the traits of exceptional logistics professionals.
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Capt. Kazimir Kostrubala: Winging It
Capt. Kazimir Kostrubala, USAF, is squadron operations officer and installation deployment officer with the 19th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 19th Airlift, at Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB) in Arkansas. He received the 2011 Beyond the Call of Duty: Logistician of the Year award for his work with the Institute for Defense and Business. Responsibilities: Supervising 550 […]
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Amazing Race: Questions & Answers with Brigadier General John O’Connor
Inbound Logistics goes behind the scenes of a five-month pursuit to move the U.S. military from Iraq to Afghanistan with Brigadier General John O’Connor, director of logistics, Third Army, and commanding general of the Army Materiel Command.
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From the Service to the Supply Chain
Can you really model best practices from the military? After all, they invented the acronym SNAFU. But companies are finding veterans’ experience and skills help promote ship-shape supply chains.
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