WID -

by Lois F. Brand (April 2003)

E-Commerce Tool Transforms Medical Buying
The Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support system improves medical logistics at reduced costs, according to Patricia J. "Trisha" Parson, president and CEO of AmerInd, Inc., Alexandria, Va.

Deployed by all branches of the armed services, DMLSS is a Web-based, integrated system used to equip and stock more than 200 military medical treatment facilities around the world, she explained. "After the Gulf War, the military medical logistics community set out to reengineer its antiquated medical logistics processes," Parson said. "This led to the development of DMLSS. Today, every military medical treatment facility on land or sea has the benefits of large-volume purchasing and coordinated procurement." The system was developed by the Defense Logistics Agency's Directorate of Medical Materials, Parson said. Amerind was asked to help one element of DMM--the Defense Supply Center, in Philadelphia--to build the wholesale portion of the system. "DMLSS facilitates product acquisition, business intelligence, product price, cataloging, and contingency planning," explained Parson. Between fiscal 2002 and 2012, she said, the DMLSS program is projected to return $5.98 in benefits for every $1 of costs incurred in developing and maintaining the system. The result is likely to be lower prices for military medical supplies, according to Parson.

Delivery time has also been reduced. The average logistics response time has been cut from 71 days to 15 days, and some orders now are completed in 24 or 48 hours. Depot stock time decreased by 80 percent, reducing warehousing, depots, and transportation costs. At the same time, product selection was increased from 250,000 medical items to over 2 million. So far, the process has saved "well over $2 billion," Parson reported.

Amerind is helping the Defense Supply Center with the readiness management application of DMLSS, Parson said. RMA looks into the warehouses of supply vendors and determines the local capacity of a given product in order to assess the readiness, she said. "It works very quickly, and it can sort the information 20 different ways. RMA insures that the commercial warehouses, vendors, and suppliers are capable of meeting Defense Department store requirements," Parson explained. "For example, if we are looking for an antibiotic, RMA can determine if there is a month's supply or that they must notify the vendor to manufacture more." The RMA system has eliminated the necessity to destroy expired or obsolete products, Parson said. "In fact, they don't even get stale products anymore, and that is a tremendous savings."

Parson is a member of the industry panel at WID's first national conference, on April 11, at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, in Tysons Corner, Va. The theme of the conference is Defense Workforce Outsourcing: Opportunities for Business.

WID Annual Meeting and Dinner
Beth M. McCormick, director of policy in the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, is the guest speaker at WID's annual membership meeting, reception, and dinner. The event begins at 4:30 p.m., April 10, at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, the same location as the conference. A combined registration fee is available for both events. Consult the Web site for details.

WID Pursues Chapter Development
Exploratory efforts were launched in early February to establish a WID chapter in Huntsville, Ala. Norma Powell Byron, national president of WID, visited the Tennessee Valley Chapter of NDIA, in Huntsville, to rally support for the new unit, which would become known as WID's Northern Alabama Chapter. "The business community here is very dynamic," said Powell. "It's a great place to be a woman in business. A local WID chapter would help these women develop their skills to advance their careers in the defense industry." Heading the organizing committee for the Huntsville chapter is Tara Ragan, deputy director of the Information Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. For more information, contact her at tara.ragan@smdc.army.mil.

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