Second test phase of Logistics ECSS commences; team remedies response-time issues

  • Published
  • By Capt. Geoff Buteau
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Members of the Hanscom logistics community transitioned into the second phase of pilot testing -- Pilot B -- Dec. 20 when they expanded their use of the Expeditionary Combat Support System to information technology and supply equipment management, including communications security and small arms accountability.

The progression of the pilot program also adds 18 users to the 54 original at Hanscom and goes beyond Pilot A's focus of vehicle maintenance. The release of Pilot B means the Air Force is moving closer toward more efficiently managing and accounting for its logistics activities with the ECSS software program. The goal of the software migration is to increase equipment availability and reduce the operation and support costs of the logistics mission.

"Just as Release 1 Pilot A Go-Live was a groundbreaking event, today represents another significant day for ECSS," said Grover Dunn, the Air Force director of transformation, in an e-mail on Dec. 20 to ECSS professionals across the Air Force after Pilot B went live. "It marks the next big step in the long journey to deliver on the full promise of ECSS, to transform how we manage global logistics and support our Warfighters more effectively than ever before."

Logistics professionals working on the ECSS pilot at Air Force bases all over the country make up the Enterprise Support Organizations. They had a conference call with the fielding location team here at Hanscom Jan. 6 to discuss Pilot B's early results.

Shortly after the team went live with Pilot B, they made a decision that the system was working well enough to stay live and begin production support, meaning they do everything they can to sustain the pilot, working out each and every bug and kink until the system works as it is intended to, said Greg Laing, Hanscom's ECSS Change Agent coordinator.

"Our main concern [with the ECSS] at Hanscom now is the system [network] response time," he said.

Furthermore, the team wants to pay special attention to the additional interim manual processes that are required until the third pilot -- C -- goes live. Finally, he said, the team here wants to ensure they maintain full compliance with regulations and policy as the transformation unfolds.

"This is a good opportunity to optimize the network and ensure the ECSS solution is as efficient and effective as possible for our end-users and logistics customers," Mr. Laing said.

Logistics agencies across the Air Force anticipate manufacturing, maintenance, financial and distribution information will all be united in this one Oracle data management enterprise platform once full implementation is complete. The current systems are operated on a base-level, but with the transformation, said Mr. Laing, tracking and searching historical and current logistics information across the Air Force will become much more efficient.

"I'd say that these are exciting and challenging times for the LRS [Logistics Readiness Squadron] and SC [Communication and Information] end-users," said Mr. Laing. "There are always issues that need to be worked out as with any pilot program, but it's good to keep in mind that our efforts will help make future fielding go smoother."