Army Inventory: Fewer Items Should Be Stocked at the Division Level
NSIAD-91-218
Published: Jul 24, 1991. Publicly Released: Jul 24, 1991.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined whether the Army was taking full advantage of opportunities to streamline its logistics system, focusing on whether the Army: (1) needed to buy and maintain all of the items it stocked at the division level; and (2) could reduce its investment in divisions' inventories without adversely affecting supply responsiveness.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should direct that divisions in the United States not stock non-demand-based items that do not meet the retain criterion of at least three demands in a 360-day period. Until the items qualify for stocking at the divisions based on the add criterion of nine demands in a 360-day period, the items should be stored at the wholesale-level depots and issued to the divisions when needed. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army has agreed to implement the Department of Defense Reduction Inventory Plan which will generally store non-demand based items at area-oriented depots. The Army has also placed constraints on the number of non-demand based items which can be retained to 5 percent of demand based items.
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| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should direct inventory managers to pursue opportunities for reducing inventory investment by: (1) maximizing the use of alternatives such as direct vendor deliveries and expedited deliveries from the depots; and (2) evaluating the inventory management lessons learned during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. This should include the continuing emphasis on evaluating the requirements factors used in determining stock levels for demand-based items to ensure that they reflect improved technologies in communications, transportation, and inventory distribution methods. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army is evaluating several alternatives for reducing demand-based inventories at the division level to include elimination of safety levels and placing greater reliance on direct deliveries from vendors. On April 4, 1992, the Army created a task force to facilitate implementation of inventory reduction tasks to include direct vendor deliveries.
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Topics
Army suppliesFederal supply systemsInventory control systemsLogisticsMilitary inventoriesPlanningProperty and supply managementMilitary forcesInventoryInventory control