Modifying the supply chain.(Repair Network Transformation)

Repair Network Transformation will allow the Air Force to reduce base level maintenance manpower while still providing high quality repair of Air Force equipment and spares. To ensure the Air Force supply system computes accurate buy and repair requirements and provides the right levels to the right bases and depots, AFLMA has centrally managed the update to the affected Air Force supply systems. These actions should contribute to a smooth transition to Repair Network Transformation without any decrease in mission capability.

The Air Force is facing a significant challenge: Continue to provide expeditionary, agile combat support in an era of significant reduction in forces. In the last 10 years, the Air Force supply community has reduced the number of supply personnel by nearly 40 percent by consolidating back shop supply functions into regional supply centers. These regional supply squadrons consolidated supply functions and achieved economies of scale. Perhaps more importantly, it opened the Air Force to the myriad of opportunities of enterprise management--the management of items across a weapon system or across the entire Air Force instead of account by account. Over time, the five regional supply centers evolved into two logistics support centers (LSC)--one for the Combat Air Forces and one for the Mobility Air Forces.

Once the LSCs were formed, it soon became apparent that consolidation should not stop at just management across multiple accounts, but should also encompass the entire supply chain. Thus, the Global Logistics Support Center (GLSC) was implemented in early 2008. The GLSC will manage an item from sourcing (either from buy or repair), to determining where to stock and repair, to the final disposition and disposal. When Program Budget Decision (PBD) 720 mandated significant maintenance manpower reductions, one of the initiatives the Air Force maintenance community looked at was centralizing maintenance back shops at consolidated repair facilities (CRF) and at the depot. PBD 720 reduced over 35K active manpower authorizations over the 5-year defense period and over 20K Guard and Reserve authorizations.

Repair Network Transformation (RNT) (formerly Repair Enterprise for the 21st Century [RE21 ]) is the initiative to transfer base level repair responsibilities to CRFs or depots (direct to depot [D2D]). RNT under its former name, RE21, is described in the C-130 PPLAN draft dated 1 March 2007 as:

 
   A lean logistics initiative and an integral part of the 
   GLSC concept of providing global logistics support 
   to the Air Force. RE21 leverages global visibility of 
   all repair assets, centralized funds management, 
   strategic sourcing, and partnerships with industry to 
   provide the Air Force highly technical logistical 
   support of equipment and reparable spares. RE21 
   accomplishes this by using the GLSC command and 
   control network that ensures all data collected is 
   immediately captured and available for use in a central 
   database. The GLSC will provide oversight 
   throughout the entire end-to-end repair processes, offer 
   the ability to make timely and informed decisions and 
   better plan Air Force repair priorities. 

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