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Computer keeps ;pores discipline
Page 35
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1E PROSPECT of a budget £40m a year on vehicle ares alone would excite my fleet engineers who are mpelled to exercise ingent economies to keep ir vehicles running. But this it sum of money takes on a ferent perspective when it is m to cover the requirements over 100,000 vehicles.
Lt-Col A. J. (Tony) May, of e Royal Army Ordnance ■ rps, painted a vivid thumbii sketch of the Army's role vehicle purchasing when he oke to the Northern Area nference of CAV at Harrote recently. He is Officer immanding Mechanical ansport (Spares Provision), sed at Chilwell, Notts.
The Army organisation for hide acquisition and spares rchasing is arranged in two inches. The acquisition and ue side, with responsibility a periodical — and doubts very necessary — vehicle nsus, is the role of one anch. The other branch, in iich Tony May has a key le, is concerned with spares pply for vehicles operated all arms of the Services; the ivy and Air Force indent on iilwell or its subordinate ses for spares.
Colonel May, who joined e Army in 1946, is one of the w breed of officers with a ose understanding of the ceties of inventory control .cl computers. He needs to be mething of a wizard to pre side over an inventory of some 340,000 items.
One would expect a disciplined approach to the task of spares provisioning on such a vast scale. There is an emphasis on the purchase of the correct items for the cor rect reasons, from the correct agencies and delivery to the correct user. Of course, time is of the essence.
The -Army system involves no less than 13 "time frames'? depending on the location to be served and the need to ensure that the right quantities are dispatched in the correct condition and at the right cost. The delivery method selected depends, naturally, on a number of factors, such as available facilities and urgency. Some spares are sent in containers to the Continent. Some overseas destinations are served by air.
Logistical exercise
Colonel May made no secret of the Army's dependence on computers for much of the logistical exercises necessary to supply vehicle spares to locations spread across the world. The first computer at Chilwell was installed in 1962. It was reinforced by a larger installation at Bicester in 1971, designed for a 10-year useful life and a third, still larger installation — a third generation computer — is already being designed to reinforce the Bicester installation. In essence, there is computer control of stocks throughout the chain of supply. Satellite communications are used for some links, such as to Hong Kong.
The stocks held by the Army relate to what is termed the service repair philosophy. Drawings of new vehicles go to the Army Scaling Authority (REME) who determine the number of spare parts needed to support 100 vehicles for one year, and estimate where they will be needed. The initial spares requirement is ordered at the same time as the order for the vehicles is placed.
Chilwell is the primary stocking point for the world, but each service has its own stores. Just as main dealers in vehicles place orders with a manufacturer, so does Chilwell, and subsidiary stores demand stores from Chilwell.
As far as possible equipment is repaired as near as is practicable to the operating unit. Some specialised workshops undertake the repair of Chieftain tanks, which cost around £300,000. Lighter vehicles, up to 10 tons, are disposed of at a predetermined age or mileage.
The Services run vehicles, as is well known, long after certain models are out of production. This means that the Army have to retain repair capacity for use overseas in emergency.
How does the Army decide what stocks to maintain? Each item is reviewed quarterly. There are complicated calculations to forecast the likely demand per quarter, and for much longer periods, in relation to relevant factors such as price and delivery.
Proprietary items
There are many proprietary items and for these the Ministry of Defence has running contract prices, which could be as manufacturers' list prices, with a discount or a surcharge depending on circumstances. Nonproprietary items are the subject of local purchases against an approved list, but orders costing more than £5,000 would be requisitioned through MoD procurement arrangements.
Keeping old vehicles serviceable obviously provides the Army and the vehicle manufacturers with considerable problems. Small orders placed for special items involve long lead times and they are not popular with the manufacturers.
Although the Army has the facility of very large computers, predicting future needs cannot be foolproof. "Sometimes," said Colonel May, "we try to project forward 10 or 15 years. Changes in operational deployment affect the rate at which spares are used. Even our highpowered computer is not infallible."