DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

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Requirements Planning for 

Clothing & Textiles

Bruce Carson, Customer Operations

Randle LeSure, Planning Division

November 7th, 2019
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Agenda

• Commonality and Standardization

• Ways to Establish Requirements

• Roles and Responsibilities (Demand Planner/Materiel Planner)

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Cells/New Product 

Introduction (NPI) Process

• Questions
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Customers & Items Sales

Inventory Personnel & Vendors

The Big Picture

$1.7 $1.8 $1.8 $2.0

0

1

2

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Class II...Clothing & Textiles

Customers: 11,749

Orders: 4.6M annually

Items: 77,846 NIINs

Employees (FY19 Actual):

344 civilian

+ 7 military

Suppliers: 441

$Billions

$1.5 $1.3 $1.2 $1.2

0

1

2

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

$Billions

FY20 

Mid-Year Projectio

$2.094B
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Clothing & Textiles... A Unique Supply Chain

Focus on Customers

• Agencies

–Army

–Navy

–Air Force

–Marine Corps

–Coast Guard

• Offices

–AAFES, NEXCOM, MCEXC

–Recruit Centers

–Central Issue Facilities

–National Guard / Reserves

Focus on Industry

• Domestic manufactures

–Usually small business

–Berry Amendment

• Mandatory sources

–National Institute of the Blind (NIB)

–Source America

–Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR)

• Other business considerations

–Women-owned 

–Veteran-owned 

–HUB zone

• Characteristics

–Driven to support the customer

Military unique

• Simple garments to 

complex protective clothing

(combat helmet, chem suit)

• Service driven requirements

Sized items

• Combat boot... 156 sizes

• Operational Camouflage Pattern

Uniform (OCP)... 178 sizes

• Men’s Army

dress coat... 100 sizes

BLUF: Class II is a complex supply chain

Working with services 

to implement new 

sizing tariffs to 

support changing 

service demographics
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Commonality/Standardization

• Commonality Practices

- Services should include maximum participation of potential 

users during the development and execution of test plans

• Provide for integration and consolidation of development 

efforts where applicable

• Use Cross Service - Warfighter Equipment Board as a way 

to socialize plans

• Standardization

- C&T items will be subject to the highest degree of 

standardization

- Whenever feasible, existing military and/or commercial 

design will be utilized in developing military operational 

requirements

- Actively seek to reduce costs by standardization of basic 

materials and accessories

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Ways to Establish Requirements

• Supply Request Package

- Used for new item introductions

- Should outline requirements by customer group (i.e. AAFES, NEXCOM, National 

Guard, Recruit Training Centers, etc.)

- If replacing an existing item, should address how the replaced item will be utilized

• Catalog Action Request

- New customer wants to be added to an existing item

- 3 year requirements should be provided 

• Discussions between Subject Matter Experts (Service and DLA)

- Communication should flow both ways

- Service provides information when mission requirements change

- DLA contacts Service when drastic change in demand pattern

- DLA also reaches out to Services twice a year on major items when 

developing fiscal year funding plans
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• It all starts with a customer requirement:

- National Defense Authorization Act 2019 – 3 year notification requirement

- Completes research, development test and evaluation

- Refines requirements

- Develops final technical document

- Conducts Low Rate Initial Production

- Completes initial fielding

- Collaborates with DLA to document sustainment requirements

Customer

NDAA 2019 Sec. 356.Notification requirements relating to changes to uniform of members of the uniformed services 

(a)DLA notification.—

The Secretary of a military department shall notify the Commander of the Defense Logistics Agency of any plan to implement a change 

to any uniform or uniform component of a member of the uniformed services. Such notification shall be made not less than three years 

prior to the implementation of such change. 

(b)Contractor notification.—

The Commander of the Defense Logistics Agency shall notify a contractor when one of the uniformed services plans to make a change 

to a uniform component that is provided by that contractor. Such a notification shall be made not less than 12 months prior to any 

announcement of a public solicitation for the manufacture of the new uniform component.

(c)Waiver.—

If the Secretary of a military department or the Commander of the Defense Logistics Agency determines that the notification 

requirement under subsection (a) would adversely affect operational safety, force protection, or the national security interests of the 

United States, the Secretary or the Commander may waive such requirement.
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• Reviews demand data and develops forecast based on customer 

intelligence 

- System uses models and algorithms to determine forecast pattern 

in the absence of customer intelligence

• Develops forecasts by Customer Relationship Management Cells

• Demand Workbench shows history and future projections

• Records accessions for fiscal year planning

Demand Planner
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Forecasting Techniques

• Service is to provide 3 year requirement for new item

• Service needs to provide a phase-in/out plan, where 

applicable

• Separate meetings will be held by planning to map out 

transition

ALL DISCIPLINES HAVE A STAKE IN PROPER FORECASTING

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New Product Introduction (NPI)

Clothing & Textiles (C&T) started using the NPI planning process to 

introduce new items in FY16

Since FY16, DLA has introduced 417 Items representing a total of $1.58B 

in forecast for new items

• C&T uses NPI to validate Supply Request Package (SRP) requirements

• Allows for flexibility to adjust the donor (small tariff shifts, exclude 

customers, add customers, etc.)

• Donors are mapped to recipients at the Item and Customer Relationship 

Management (CRM) Cell level in order to allow for adjustments to meet 

SRP requirements

• NPI follows a “like item” modeling approach, questions include:

• Is there a like Item that could be leveraged as a donor?

• Will this product be sold to the same customers?
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C&T CRM Cells

C&T uses CRM cells to aggregate customer demand history into programs to 

generate forecasts and create item tariffs for customer groups 

Custom CRM Cell

CRM_AAFES

CRM_AFJROTC

CRM_ARMY_JROTC

CRM_ARMY_SROTC

CRM_ARNG

CRM_USAR

CRM_CMO

CRM_RESET

CRM_ADO

CRM_NEXCOM

CRM_NAVY_RESERVES

CRM_NAVY_ROTC

CRM_MC_OCS_QUANTICO

CRM_San_Diego_Other

CRM_PEO_SOLDIER

CRM_ICEMP

CRM_WILDLAND_FIRE

CRM_AIRFORCE_NESO

CRM_NAVY_NESO

CRM_AFGHAN_NAT_ARMY

CRM_AFGHAN_NAT_POL

RTC CRM Cell

RTC_FT_BENNING

RTC_FT_JACKSON

RTC_FT_LEONARD_WOOD

RTC_FT_SILL

RTC_PARRIS_ISLAND

RTC_SAN_DIEGO

RTC_LACKLAND

RTC_GREAT_LAKES

Service CRM Cell

SVC_ARMY

SVC_AIR_FORCE

SVC_NAVY

SVC_MARINE_CORPS

SVC_COAST_GUARD

SVC_DLA

SVC_CIVILAGENCY_OTHE

CRM Overview C&T CRM Cells

1. C&T forecasts at the CRM level

2. Individual customer demands (NSN 

/ sold-to / ship to DoDAACs) are 

aggregated to CRM Cells

3. CRMs defined for the total item and 

a collection of customers

CRM Cell CRM Cell

Customer Customer Customer Customer

12K 

Customers
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Description: Shirt

Demand Workbench
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Description: Shirt

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Cells

Customer Cell 1

Customer Cell 2

Customer Cell 3

Customer Cell 4

Customer Cell 5

Customer Cell 6

Customer Cell 7

Total

Customer Cell 1

Customer Cell 2

Customer Cell 3

Customer Cell 4

Customer Cell 5

Customer Cell 6

Customer Cell 7

Total
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• Responsible for the overall health of an item

• Prepares monthly studies to review supply posture by NSN

• Works with Demand Planner to analyze any spikes (or dips)

• Initiates purchase requests

• Collaborates with Demand Planner and Customer Account Specialist to determine 

customer needs

• Develops plan to deliver product where and when it is needed

Materiel Planner
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Strong Partnerships