{"id":2051,"date":"2011-01-31T10:05:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-31T15:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2011-02-21T17:06:23","modified_gmt":"2011-02-21T22:06:23","slug":"lightning-strikes-at-wright-state-for-air-force-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2011\/01\/31\/lightning-strikes-at-wright-state-for-air-force-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightning strikes at Wright State for Air Force, businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tom<\/a>

Tom Murray, Mike Magnusson and Chery Deckard found big savings opportunities in the Air Force supply chain of spare parts inventories.<\/p><\/div>\n

Project Lightning.<\/p>\n

Is it a covert CIA operation? Maybe a combat plan for an elite military extraction team?<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s the name of a final project led by three Wright State students. They may have found a way to save the Air Force hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

All are graduate students in the Masters of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management degree program in the Raj Soin College of Business, and the trio just delivered a capstone presentation that epitomizes the program\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to save the taxpayer money,\u201d said Cheryl Deckard, a team chief for the Air Force Audit Agency and one of three students working on the project.<\/p>\n

Deckard and her cohorts were laser-locked on a mission to identify efficiency opportunities in the Air Force budget using their new supply chain and logistics skills.<\/p>\n

After a year of study, the group is recommending changes that could reduce Air Force inventory costs by $190 million and generate $29 million in annual savings a year.<\/p>\n

Project Lightning determined that if just 4 percent of spare parts inventories for the F-15C Eagle were consolidated from decentralized warehouses to three global distribution centers, the Air Force could save millions.<\/p>\n

Deckard, Tom Murray and Mike Magnusson, two supply chain project managers who often do consulting for the Air Force, targeted spare parts inventories from the get-go. The Air Force calls the parts \u201creadiness spares.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur project was for one series, of one design, of an air-to-air aircraft fighter,\u201d said Deckard. \u201cBut the results on that one series, of one design, of one fighter are huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The beauty is it could be done with many other aircraft in the Air Force, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now the government business model is high-cost, high-capability. They want everything. They want it fast. They want high availability, and they\u2019ll pay top dollar for it,\u201d said Deckard.<\/p>\n

But recently General Norton A. Schwartz, USAF chief of staff, made these public comments:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to find ways to economize certain aspects of our portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Project Lightning appears to be a good place to start.<\/p>\n

Frank Washburn, a Wright State alumnus, is the director of the 401 <\/sup>Supply Chain Management Squadron, 591 Supply Chain Management Group; that is part of the Air Force Global Logistics Support Center (AFGLSC).\u00a0 He was among the first supply chain graduates at Wright State six years ago.<\/p>\n

Washburn sat in on the group\u2019s capstone presentation this month and noted the value of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFGLSC and Air Force Logistics Management Agency (AFLMA) are working together on a readiness spares \u2018evolution\u2019 initiative right now,\u201d Washburn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this study links perfectly with what the AFGLSC and AFLMA are doing to seek improved economies in our supply chain while not degrading support to our global customers. I want to get this capstone study in the readiness spare parts evolution team\u2019s hands,\u201d said Washburn.<\/p>\n

The benefits of the master\u2019s program, however, don\u2019t only extend to Air Force supply chain management efficiency.<\/p>\n

One project mined a half million dollars in potential savings for a DuPont small business unit.<\/p>\n

A group of information systems students believe they\u2019ve found a way to increase worker productivity by 40 percent with an IT support team at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

The largest capstone discovery for the private sector?<\/p>\n

A potential annual savings of $40 million at Kroger through improved decisionmaking in the company\u2019s vast supply chain.<\/p>\n

Department Chair Dwight Smith-Daniels says results from these projects are the greatest selling point for the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy pitch is simple. This master\u2019s degree program will provide your organization with a half million dollars in financial benefits annually,\u201d said Smith-Daniels about how he\u2019s selling the programs to employers across the region.<\/p>\n

In fact, Smith-Daniels says last year the information systems final projects averaged about $1 million in potential savings and the supply chain management projects about $5 million.<\/p>\n

No sales pitch is necessary at Wright-Patterson.<\/p>\n

Deckard, Murray and Magnusson say the earliest a pilot program based on their recommendations could be implemented would be for fiscal year 2014, but the results are promising.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s familiar territory for a Wright State master\u2019s program that\u2019s really taken off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Project Lightning. Is it a covert CIA operation? Maybe a combat plan for an elite military extraction team?<\/p>\n

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