ECSS blueprinting: blueprinting is the first phase of the ECSS implementation plan. It consists of critically looking at Air Force logistics processes as they currently are, mapping them, and improving them to take advantage of business best practices. It also considers the software capabilities and how we want it configured to best support the newly mapped processes.(2007 the Year in Retrospect)(Air Force Logistics Management Agency's )

If you had an opportunity to hang out around the Air Force Logistics Management Agency (AFLMA) over the past year, you would have heard a lot of discussion about architecture and blueprinting; no need to worry. The AFLMA isn't expanding into civil engineering; rather this is the lexicon used to describe new ways of organizing logistics. Architecture refers primarily to the structure used in Logistics Enterprise Architecture, or LogEA. LogEA is the model the Air Force logistics community is using to provide a common structure for many of the new processes and innovations that are being developed to support Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21) while also ensuring the new processes work together efficiently. It is also the topic for another article. This article is about that other word blueprinting. Blueprinting, as we use it, is mapping out logistics processes, so that the connections between different processes can be seen in detail. Mr Grover Dunn is leading the effort to create a blueprint of the future of Air Force logistics as empowered by the Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS). This article will briefly describe ECSS, the blueprinting process, and what the AFLMA has done in 2007 in this revolutionary effort. It will end with a brief preview of what to expect in blueprinting for 2008.

If you are in the Air Force logistics community, and especially a reader of this Journal, you may already know about ECSS. For others, the following is a brief description of ECSS. As a result of increasing Air Force logistics costs that reached more than $27.5B in 2003, the Secretary of Defense charged all the military services to optimize warfighter support and reduce operating costs. Out of this effort to increase warfigbter support and reduce costs, cLog21 was born. The cLog21 campaign consists of several initiatives, one of which is ECSS. ECSS is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that is in part new software and, in part, a new set of processes designed to optimize business processes at the enterprise level. ECSS will be the largest ERP implementation in the Department of Defense and among the largest implementation of any ERP system. It is considered a critical component of eLog21 success. The contract for the software to power ECSS went to Oracle in October 2005, and in September 2006, Computer Science Corporation (CSC) was awarded the job as system integrator. When fully implemented, ECSS will consolidate more than 250 legacy logistics systems into one, integrated, commercial-off-the-shelf system. At its core are the goals to increase equipment availability 20 percent and reduce operations and support costs 10 percent. ECSS will go beyond this; it will revolutionize Air Force logistics. The implementation of ECSS will usher in an age when logisticians will have an enterprise view of logistics rather than the current retail and wholesale stovepipes. After ECSS implementation, one system will be used to manage the life cycle of materiel from supplier to warfighter. Duplication of effort, wasted movement, excess levels, and excess or stock outage cycles will be reduced or eliminated. Increased visibility, optimized enterprise stock levels, more responsive and flexible support will result from using one system for managing most Air Force logistics processes. The question then becomes how do we get from where we are today, to where we should be with the implementation of ECSS? The answer comes primarily through blueprinting.

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Blueprinting is the first phase of the ECSS implementation plan. It consists of critically looking at Air Force logistics processes as they currently are, mapping them, and improving them to take advantage of business best practices. It also considers the software capabilities and how we want it configured to best support the newly mapped processes. In addition, change management, project team training, and data migration issues need to be considered. This is no small undertaking. CSC has broken down blueprinting into three phases, the first two running 18 months total. The first phase is Enterprise Blueprinting, which is a high-level review of the logistics process. Next is Process Area Blueprinting, which entails taking the results from the first phase of blueprinting and going into more detail in each process area. It also looks at the software capabilities and begins to meld the processes and software capabilities together into a final product that, at minimum, meets requirements identified in the ECSS integration contract. The last phase of blueprinting is Release Planning. During this phase, team ECSS will prioritize and schedule functional specifications; that is to say, it will plan when different parts of ECSS will be implemented.

So what was AFLMA's role in ECSS blueprinting in 2007? AFLMA's support for ECSS during 2007 actually began prior to blueprinting, so when blueprinting began in March 2007, AFLMA had members in place and ready to help. In 2007 AFLMA had a total of four individuals embedded on ECSS blueprinting teams. Others were available back at the Agency for research and analysis as it was needed. Embedded members were Master Sergeant Glenn Dredden, a senior enlisted ...