Today I’m going to use this forum to share two articles that caught my eye back in July that I shared with some of the team through e-mail and posted to ePMO with some of the other preliminary market research.
The articles were in the July – August issue of Defense AT&L: A Publication of the Defense Acquisition University.
The first one is an interview with the man on the cover, Major General Edward G. Usher III, Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics. The article is called “Logistics in a Changing Environment: Supporting Marine Expeditionary Units.
The second article I’ll add to your reading list is “Pushing a Pull System: Transforming Marine Aviation Logistics.”
Back in July I e-mailed some of you:
Relevant to GOTS discussion, USMC is using Oracle E Business Suite to replace their log IT systems.
Just read article from 2 star in charge of logistics. I’ll pass URL when I can get it.
He described plan to use when disconnected from network. May be some ideas to steal. Also provides a bit of confirmation that limiting look at COTS tools we have or use (Ellipse, Maximo, Oracle) and those DHS uses (SAP, Planet IRM, Sunflower) may be sufficient.
USMC may be good reference model for us in its need to both integrate with and operate independently of Navy.
The next day I passed along the URL and pointed them to the section of the interview I thought would be useful for us to explore. According to MajGen Usher:
Our capstone logistics technology enabler of the future is the Global Combat Support System–Marine Corps, which will give logisticians a worldclass, Web-based management tool for use, while deployed, to request logistics support via both classified and unclassified connections. The GCSS-MC will allow units that are deployed to austere environments to operate in a disconnected mode to register their needs without having to tie into a Web-based information system located in the United States.
If the Marines have figured out a way to use the Oracle E Business suite to meet the needs of deployed units, perhaps we can learn something from them. We’ll be reaching out to find out what lessons we can learn from them and their implementation.
CG-LIMS 
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Part of the reason it’s so important to understand what the Marine’s are doing with Oracle’s E-business suite is that since our recent round of market research was completed, I’ve received feedback that ranged from advice to explore “partnering with other Services (i.e. USMC) vice going it alone” to skepticism over ERP solutions and advice to “at least give alternatives to ERP solutions a fair look” because of the “significant time and money needed to prep these systems for go-live[.]”
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
CDD (JCIDS req’t doc roughly equivalent to ORD) from 2005 for Global Combat Support System – Marine Corps / Logistics Chain Management (GCSS-MC/LCM)is available at:
http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil/lmt/GCSS-MC/web%20page/GCSS-MC%20LCM%20Block%201%20CDD_05_25_05_Final.doc
May be useful resource as we develop ORD and CONOP.