LOGLINES

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MARCH – APRIL 2016

PROCESS

EXCELLENCE

Loglines MarApr 2016.indb 1 2/10/16 
Lt. Gen. Andy Busch, USAF

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

for DLA’s core end-to-end processes 

coupled with the CPI methodology.

 I know our senior leaders aren’t 

the only ones looking at this and that 

around the agency, we have many teams 

striving for process excellence as a 

priority in their everyday activities. In 

this issue of Loglines, you will find some 

great information on how we can work 

together as an agency to achieve process 

excellence. Our focus on CPI is hardly 

a new initiative; as you’ll read further 

on, we have a proud history of working 

to streamline our logistics processes 

dating back to before World War II. 

Additionally, in this edition, Marcus 

Bowers, our new Director of Strategic 

Plans and Policy, will provide insight 

into supply chain integration. 

Every significant success stems from 

process excellence through continuous 

Process excellence is one of the key 

goals in our strategy, as it encourages 

assessment of all our processes by 

employees at every level. As we strive to 

ensure we meet our customers’ needs, 

DLA must continuously evaluate how we 

are doing and deliberately consider ways 

that we can improve our processes. Our 

drive to achieve enterprise-wide process 

excellence starts with a systematic process 

that helps us to assess our procedures and 

improve our performance while allowing 

us to become a more agile organization. 

Reviewing how we do things is not 

new to DLA, but it is something we 

need to do as a good business practice. 

Time passes, things change and new 

capabilities or requirements present 

themselves. I have asked our leaders 

and J5, our strategic plans and policy 

staff, to look at how our programs and 

governance groups are providing us the 

ability to continually review and improve 

our processes in a timely manner. 

Continuous process improvement is 

the linchpin of process excellence. I have 

asked our senior leaders to work some 

specific initiatives that our J5 team 

will manage through the Supply Chain 

Integration Council. This dedicated 

team will lead the efforts and ensure 

process improvement activities are 

standardized and systematic issues are 

addressed. They create the framework 

process improvement. I challenge you 

to look through your processes find 

ways to simplify and optimize them 

to obtain the most effective outcome. 

This course of action will lead to 

improved communications and a more 

comprehensive understanding of each 

team member’s role within our enterprisewide operations. It is up to each of us 

to ensure our agency is committed 

to providing the exceptional logistics 

solutions our customers have come to 

expect — on time, every time. 

DLA Director

Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch

DLA Vice Director

Ted Case 

Chief of Staff

Renee L. Roman

Director, Public Affairs

Joseph M. Yoswa

Deputy Director, Public Affairs

Patrick H. Mackin

Loglines is the authorized publication for 

the Defense Logistics Agency’s workforce of 

federal civilians, active-duty military and Joint 

Reserve Force augmentees at agency activities 

worldwide and industry customers of DLA. 

Contents of this publication are not necessarily 

the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. 

government, the Department of Defense or the 

Defense Logistics Agency. 

LOGLINES

Official Flagship Publication

of the Defense Logistics Agency

LOGLINES STAFF

Managing Editor: Phil Prater

Senior Editor: John Bell

Writers: Beth Reece

Chris Erbe

Layout/Design: Paul Henry Crank

Headquar ters, Defense Logistics Agency, Office of Public Affairs 

8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 2545, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

Phone: 703-767-6200 E-mail: loglines@dla.mil

Loglines is prepared electronically, using desktop publishing applications; no commercial typesetting 

costs are involved. Photos not credited are courtesy of agency sources. Submissions and correspondence 

may be sent to the address below:

DIRECTOR

FROM THE

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Loglines l March - April 2016 1

A Conversation with ... 18

Marcus Bowers

DLA NewsWire 20

History Highlights 24

World War II Logistics Lessons

I am DLA Back Cover

Olivia Lynn Kortuem

2

10

12

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

16

22

2

5

10

12

16

22

PROCESS EXCELLENCE 

A Better Way 

Enterprise Process Management will align DLA’s

internal processes with customers’ needs and show

employees how their work contributes to the agency’s

overarching mission.

Risk & Reward 

By keeping the big picture in mind, DLA employees

can help the agency mitigate risk.

Measure for Measure 

DLA officials will soon begin measuring how well the 

agency meets customers’ needs by using existing data to

establish baseline goals for time, cost and performance.

In Tune with Process Management 

With DLA ready for an audit this year, agency planners

are looking forward to the next phase in the agency’s

progression: fine tuning its end-to-end processes. 

Process Ideas Wanted

The Defense Logistics Agency is embracing change

through a rejuvenated continuous process improvement

program which encourages its employees to submit ideas

to improve the process activities in which they participate.

Resiliency: Learn It • Practice It • Share It 

Take advantage of the range of programs DLA offers to 

help you handle life’s challenges.

DEPARTMENTS

DLA ON www.dla.mil www.facebook.com/dla.mil www.twitter.com/dlamil www.youtube.com/dodlogisticsagency

THE WEB

CONTENTS

MARCH - APRIL 2016

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resident John F. Kennedy was touring the NASA space 

center in 1962 when he noticed a janitor sweeping the 

floor and stopped to ask what he was doing.

“I’m helping put a man on the moon,” the janitor 

replied.

Defense Logistics Agency employees may not always see the 

results of their work, but the enterprise process management 

initiative will show them how their daily efforts impact the 

agency’s overarching mission and give them a new sense of pride 

in their contributions, said Angela Evans, chief of DLA Strategic 

Plans and Policy’s Enterprise Process Integration Division.

P “No matter what work they do, whether they’re a buyer or 

forklift driver, they have a direct role in DLA’s mission to supply 

America’s warfighters,” she said.

The agency’s commitment to EPM is outlined under the 

process excellence goal in DLA’s Strategic Plan for 2015-2022. 

It will involve employees at all levels and functional areas 

simplifying and streamlining processes from beginning to end. 

Processes will then be standardized across the enterprise where it 

makes sense.

“Every day, our employees take a series of steps to produce a 

service or product for our customers. It generally starts when the 

Story by Beth Reece

Photos by Pam Jones

A BETTER WAY

PROCESS EXCELLENC

Lisa Hershmann (right), founder of The DeNovo Group, trains DLA leaders on process re-engineering 

concepts that are expected to increase efficiency and improve performance across the agency. 

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customer sends us a requirement, at which point we take several 

actions to fulfill that requirement,” Evans said.

A new order, for example, triggers a series of coordinated 

actions from employees in a variety of functional areas, from 

planning and procurement to distribution, Evans said. It may 

also involve employees from more than one DLA activity. But 

whether DLA meets customers’ needs depends on the outcome of 

all those steps combined, not just one. 

DLA’s approach to enterprise process management is based 

on process-reengineering concepts by Michael Hammer and 

Lisa Hershman, authors of “Faster, Cheaper, Better: The 9 

Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done.” According to 

their research, most people want to do a good job and strive to 

meet specific goals, but they get so lost in fragmented processes 

that they never truly understand how their job fits into their 

organization’s goals or overall purpose. That changes when 

employees think beyond their own work and consider the 

numerous tasks that make up the entire process. 

“Some companies explain it to their people with the phrase, 

‘look left, look right.’ That is, don’t just pay attention to your 

own job, but think about the work that comes before you and the 

work that comes after you; think about the totality of work that is 

creating value for customers,” Hammer and Hershman wrote.

Hershman, who founded The DeNovo Group to help 

organizations create strategies that increase efficiency and 

improve performance, has been training DLA Headquarters and 

field-activity leaders on EPM since early 2015. Some initially 

questioned whether DLA is too large to standardize its processes 

and metrics, especially since the agency offers an extensive list of 

products and services around the world. 

“The commodities and material that DLA manages are 

inherently different. It’s okay that some of them need to be 

managed differently, but the goal should be to standardize 

whenever possible and localize when necessary,” Hershman said. 

Art Canales, DLA Installation Support, leads a group project during enterprise process training that is based on concepts from the book “Faster, 

Cheaper, Better: The 9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done.” 

DLA employees take a series of steps to produce a service or product for their 

customers. Whether DLA meets customers’ needs depends on the outcome of all 

the steps combined, not just one.

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Leaders’ commitment to process improvement and 

employees’ passion for supporting warfighters gives DLA a “huge 

advantage” in its quest to implement EPM, she added. “When 

we first met with DLA’s leaders, it was absolutely clear how 

connected, aligned and devoted to the [warfighter] and mission 

everybody was. That might sound unusual for me to say, but with 

a lot of industries we have to spend time reminding people who 

their customers are.”

One of the biggest obstacles DLA will face as it pursues EPM 

is its reliance on existing technology, Hershman continued. 

“Changing and managing processes often requires adjustments to 

technology. That can be difficult and time consuming, and many 

organizations run into funding issues along the way.” 

DLA Strategic Plans and Policy is leading the EPM 

effort. Because it doesn’t own any of DLA’s business cycles 

or functional processes, the headquarters-level directorate 

can enable positive interaction and collaboration among 

key stakeholders, Evans said. Also, specialties such as risk 

assessment, policy management and continuous process 

improvement already fall 

under DLA Strategic Plans 

and Policy and can be 

seamlessly integrated 

into EPM.

As leaders evaluate 

processes, employees 

at all levels will have 

the chance to suggest 

ideas for innovation 

and improvement, 

added Kristin Kremer, chief 

of DLA’s EPM branch.

“The process owners and process executors are the ones 

who know their processes the best. They’re the ones most likely 

to have a great idea about how to improve something in their 

work area or whether there’s something different that we should 

consider doing to make the customer experience a lot better,” 

she said.

Ideas can be pitched during routine process evaluations and 

through the electronic Process Excellence Pipeline, available to 

DLA emplyees at DLA Today via the “Process Excellence” button 

on the left side of the page. 

Suggestions made through the Process Excellence Pipeline 

that are deemed actionable will be monitored by the Supply 

Chain Integration Council, which will also assess potential 

impacts to other functional areas that have a role in process 

completion. The group, which comprises leaders at the GS-15-

level from field activities and DLA Headquarters directorates, 

will evaluate and recommend approval for process changes 

before they’re presented to executive-level leaders.

“The council provides us with a routine methodology by 

which we can manage process change, measure success and 

integrate multiple end-to-ends with all the key players and 

stakeholders,” Evans said. “Usually there is a lot of dialogue that 

needs to occur to hash out the final details of whether a change 

is recommended and how that change will take place.”

Most organizations need about three years to successfully 

implement EPM, according to Hershman’s research. Evans’ 

team is developing an EPM 101 course to help employees 

understand the initiative and 

plans to conduct roadshows 

to teach key points to 

managers and supervisors. 

Process evaluations and 

subsequent changes will 

then occur gradually. 

“With all these 

phases and the size of 

DLA, if the agency can 

fully implement this in 

one to three years, that’s 

actually lightning speed,” she said, 

adding that benefits include increased customer satisfaction, 

improvements in productivity, cost reductions, reduced cycle 

times and higher morale.

“This also gives employees a seat at the table when the work 

they do is being analyzed and changes are being explored. I’ve 

even heard employees say they feel like they’re doing more 

honorable work because they know how it impacts the mission,” 

she said. 

Suggestions made through the Process Excellence Pipeline that are deemed actionable 

will be monitored by the Supply Chain Integration Council, which will also assess 

potential impacts to other functional areas that have a role in process completion.

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t the gate of a Defense Logistics Agency facility in Ohio, 

a police officer looks at the driver’s common access 

card to make sure the face in the photo matches the 

face of the driver. 

Somewhere in California, a DLA warehouse 

employee asks her coworker to clarify the code on a packing order.

Across the Pacific, a foodservice manager makes sure the 

purchase record is updated and matches the data in the system — 

and suggests a new way to reconcile the costs against the budget 

with less chance of human error.

In each example, an employee is helping the agency avoid 

risk, maintain audit readiness, and move toward achieving 

A process excellence, according to DLA audit-readiness experts.

Any employee, no matter the role or location, can help sustain 

audit readiness by understanding and following procedures; 

communicating with colleagues; safeguarding documentation; 

and looking for ways processes could be improved.

Logistics — like any large, complex system — is inherently 

a risky business. But helping mitigate that risk is everyone’s 

business.

Internal Controls: Knowing the Rules of the Game

In using an everyday work process or contemplating how 

that process could be more efficient, faster or more accurate, 

Story by John R. Bell

RISK & REWARD

Three Lines of Defense to Help

Sustain Audit Readiness

PROCESS EXCELLENC

AVOID

RISK

MAINTAIN

AUDIT

READINESS

ACHIEVE

PROCESS

EXCELLENCE

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every DLA employee must bear in mind that some processes 

exist to reduce or prevent risk — serving as what in the audit 

and finance world are called internal controls.

Many internal controls prevent fraud, waste or abuse, 

and some preserve documentation DLA will likely need 

in a future audit, said Simone Reba, deputy director 

of DLA Finance. She noted that DLA will face its next 

financial audit in June or July this year. But if employees 

are following their standard operating procedures, “a 

clean audit is the outcome,” Reba said. Internal controls 

are implemented by literally everyone in the agency, she 

emphasized — who completes a timesheet, submits proper 

travel documentation or complies with SOPs.

DLA employees are encouraged to think of ways to 

improve existing processes and to share those ideas with their 

managers, through the Process Excellence Pipeline. At the 

same time, some processes that may seem redundant serve as 

internal controls, Reba noted. 

Tommie Horton

Being aware of internal controls and what they are 

designed to mitigate can help the front-line employee do 

the job in a way that helps the agency reduce risk — not 

only against fraud, waste and abuse but also against faulty 

products, delays and other problems that would hinder the 

warfighter or other DLA customers.

Because it’s crucial for employees to know where their 

internal controls are, Reba said, she encourages employees 

to participate in training DLA Finance and DLA Human 

Resources have developed on internal controls. This training 

will go beyond SOPs by teaching employees about process 

cycle memorandums. PCMs offer an in-depth, end-to-end 

analysis of a process, including its internal controls and the 

risks those controls help mitigate. 

First Line of Defense: You

Billie Sue Goff, DLA’s chief of risk and controls 

assessment in DLA Strategic Plans and Policy, explained 

Internal controls are implemented by literally everyone in the agency 

who completes a timesheet, submits proper travel documentation or 

complies with SOPs.

No matter what you do for DLA, you can help implement internal controls.

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internal controls through the game of 

football: “The defensive line consists of one 

or two defensive tackles and two defensive 

ends that play outside the defensive tackles, 

she noted. “In a similar way, the first line 

of defense in risk and controls is with the 

front-line and mid-line managers who have 

day-to-day ownership and management of 

risk and control. 

Those managers are required by DoD and 

other regulations to maintain internal controls 

to prevent fraud, waste and abuse, said 

Goff, who is also acting branch chief of the 

Continuous Process Improvement Branch. 

Controls to reduce risk — whether 

management controls or internal controls built into systems 

or implemented by front-line employees — are the first line of 

defense against problems ranging from excess cost to safety 

violations, Goff said. And the employee can take any of several 

actions to control the amount of risk, she noted — avoidance, 

acceptance, transfer or mitigation. Because DLA managers 

are responsible for the outcome of any risk, Goff said, they 

decide how to mitigate the risk, by designing and executing the 

controls. Improper management of risk through established 

controls can prevent DLA from accomplishing the objectives in 

the Strategic Plan.

For the DLA employee in the warehouse, distribution center, 

depot, or disposition facility, what does that mean, exactly?

It comes down following the play book — the standard 

operating procedures — as well as communicating with 

coworkers, keeping the big picture in mind and maintaining all 

documentation in the required format, for the required duration, 

said Angela Evans, chief of DLA Strategic Plans and Policy’s 

Enterprise Process Integration Division. 

“For someone on a packaging line, it might mean making 

sure the request you’re getting — whether from another person 

or a system you use — is clear, and then providing feedback if 

it isn’t,” Evans said. “On the flip side, it means being open to 

feedback if you’re the one being asked for more information.”

Likewise, proper recordkeeping is crucial, she said, given 

that almost every audit any agency undergoes requires a large 

volume of documentation to prove the agency is complying with 

a requirement or law. Recordkeeping is just one form of internal 

control, Evans noted. 

Another common example of such an internal control is the 

timesheet, Evans noted. “It may be tedious to get a supervisor’s 

signature or to have to fill out a form to request leave — but those 

are there to prevent fraud and to ensure we have documentation, 

should it be required by an audit,” she said. 

This is just one example of a critical responsibility 

management has, according to Goff, in addition to risk 

assessment, control activities, and information and 

communication. “Just as the defensive line in football is critical to 

preventing the opposing team from scoring, first-line managers 

prevent and mitigate risk.”

Second Line of Defense: Management Controls

Using the football analogy, Goff said, the second line of 

defense is management’s oversight function — entailing risk 

management and compliance functions to make sure the 

processes in place are actually being used correctly and are 

serving as effective safeguards.

Internal controls identify and assess risks, execute 

activities as intended, highlight inadequate processes, address 

control breakdowns, and communicate their assessments to 

leadership, Goff noted. To do this, they typically use internal 

controls, codified by the Government Accountability Office in 

a set of 17 principles, of which 12, she said, are the primary 

responsibility of first line and mid-line managers, whom she 

considers the first line of defense. 

“Operational managers develop and implement the 

organizations’ control and risk management processes. They 

maintain the line of defense in the day-to-day operation to move 

the process toward excellence.”

In particular, DLA supervisors can help, not only by 

emphasizing the importance of process compliance but also 

by confirming that employees are in fact following established 

processes. “You get what you measure,” she said. “It has to be 

more than just lip service.”

Management controls include monitoring of operations, 

financial reporting and compliance. 

Elizabeth Stoeckmann

Knowing the risks in any process depends on consistent communications. 

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Evans noted that these management controls are really 

there to protect against the very small number of persons who 

might act in ways that introduce fraud, waste or abuse. But 

these measures also ensure compliance with regulation. “It’s 

important to note that compliant processes are not always 

efficient,” Evans said.

Goff offered another illustration of how management controls 

are the agency’s second line of defense: a visit to the doctor. “The 

exam also gives you a chance to talk to your doctor about any 

ongoing pain or symptoms that you are experiencing or any other 

health concerns,” she explained. “The second-line functions are 

similar to the specialist being called in to give their expert view 

of the issue.” In the DLA world, Goff said, that specialist could 

be risk management, information security, health and safety, 

compliance, inspection, legal, environmental, financial control, 

physical security, quality, among others.

Third Line of Defense: Internal Audit

The internal audit is as an organization’s third line of defense, 

Goff said. It offers independent, objective assurance designed to 

add value and improve operations. Using a disciplined approach 

to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, 

control and governance, the auditor provides leadership the 

second set of eyes, she noted.

“Fast-paced environments and complex tasks can often make 

it a challenge to pay close attention to details of every element of 

your job performance,” Goff said. “But overlooking details can 

sometimes be costly, detrimental to the quality of work, or in 

some cases, even dangerous.”

She raised the example of parts that DLA supplies to 

deployed service members. “If we didn’t take the time to examine 

closely the products we receive that support our warfighter, 

we might be putting their safety in jeopardy,” she noted. “The 

internal audit function is the second set of eyes.”

The final, “hail Mary pass” of controlling for risk is the 

external audit. “When coordinated effectively, the external 

auditor can provide important views and observations to 

leadership, stakeholders and employees, Goff explained. “The 

external auditor’s contribution is valuable information, but it 

shouldn’t substitute our internal lines of defense.”

What does this mean for the DLA employee working in the 

warehouse, fueling station, disposition center, or maintenance 

facility? It means looking out for risks is thing to keep in mind in 

thinking of new ways DLA can do its work. A suggestion to the 

Process Excellence Pipeline might not necessarily save costs in 

the short term or reduce the time to conduct a process — but the 

suggestion is just as valuable if it helps the agency prevent fraud, 

waste or abuse, while preserving DLA’s internal controls.

Susan Fonteno

The third line of defense is the internal audit function. Every employee 

can help sustain audit readiness by being attentive to detail.

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It comes down to three things, according to Evans. “Follow 

your standard operating procedures, communicate with 

those around you, be open to feedback, and work with your 

managers to make sure you’re keeping the right documents in 

the right way.”

By doing these things, every employee can 

help sustain audit readiness — and the agency’s 

continued service to the warfighter and all who 

depend on the Defense Logistics Agency.

 “A lot the problems with audit is where 

handoffs fail,” Reba said. Those handoffs 

can be between systems, between a person 

and a system, or between two people, she 

explained. Reconciliations can help prevent 

handoff errors (such as interim document, or 

IDOC errors) and establish completeness of 

documentation for an audit, she noted.

An example is the physical inventories some 

primary field-level activities perform. Although 

a record exists in the Distribution Standard 

System and the Fuels Manager Defense system, 

data errors can occur when one system provides 

data to the other. Later, a financial audit may compare both 

records with the data in the Enterprise Business System. Thus 

manual, human verification that DSS and FMD show the same 

data for the same transaction is an internal control, as is a review 

of the property book, Reba explained.

The End Zone: 

Clean Audit, Best Possible Customer Support

As important as a clean audit is, it’s not the only goal of 

internal controls, Reba noted. “Having the wrong data in EBS 

can lead us to buy the wrong things,” she said. “Say they go to 

Bin ABC, and it has 100 widgets in it. They 

go over to DSS, and then they make sure 

they adjust the DSS record to say there are 

100 — but if no one is checking EBS, and a 

handoff problem between the systems has 

caused EBS to say there are only 50 widgets, 

then the planning system will cause us to buy 

more than we need.” This in turn leads DLA to 

buy the wrong product or the wrong number 

— which can in turn hinder the warfighter in 

operations. “It’s more than just an accounting 

exercise or a grade from an audit,” she 

emphasized. “The wrong number can lead us 

to have a mission problem.” 

In terms of process excellence, the recent 

achievement of documenting all of DLA’s 

processes is helping the agency standardize its 

operations and be more efficient, Reba said. Fewer processes, 

where possible, mean fewer systems requiring training, as well 

as fewer opportunities for error, and ultimately a more efficient 

use of funds. “We’re dealing with the taxpayers’ money, and we 

need to make the most of it.” 

Brianne M. Bender

Maintaining documentation is key to helping the agency avoid risk.

“Follow your standard 

operating procedures, 

communicate with those 

around you, be open to 

feedback, and work with 

your managers to make 

sure you’re keeping the 

right documents in the 

right way.”

— Angela Evans

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mployees won’t have to guess how much faster or better 

their work should be as the agency strives to improve 

operations and performance through enterprise process 

management in the coming years. They’ll know exactly 

what to do and change, because they’ll have specific 

metrics to track and improve their performance.

“Each buyer, each person on the floor, each supply planner 

will have their own personal metric they’re measured by, and 

they’ll know how what they do contributes to the overarching 

metric of the entire process from beginning to end,” said Angie 

Evans, chief of DLA Strategic Plans and Policy’s Enterprise 

Process Integration Division.

Using metrics to evaluate processes is critical for 

E organizations that want to improve how they do business, said 

Tony Merritt, director of performance optimization for Optimize 

Consulting, a team of experts helping DLA improve its processes 

and customer support. 

“The data we get as a result of using metrics reveals actionable 

information that can drive behavior and change. It shows us exactly 

where we stand on quality, speed and cost,” he said.

But just deciding to measure processes isn’t enough, Michael 

Hammer and Lisa Hershman write in “Faster, Cheaper, Better: The 

9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done,” which outlines 

the process reengineering concepts that DLA is adopting. Choosing 

the right metrics is key.

“Most companies get metrics all wrong. They allow each 

Story by Beth Reece

MEASURE

FOR MEASURE

PROCESS EXCELLENC

DLA executes four core processes: Procure to Pay, Order to Cash, Plan to Stock and Acquire to Retire. 

These core processes are central to provide value to the customer.

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DIRECTOR – VICE DIRECTOR 

EXECUTIVE BOARD

ALIGNMENT GROUP – PLFA COMMANDERS

ENTERPRISE BUSINESS CYCLE OWNER

J & D CODE DIRECTORS

PROCESS OWNERS

PROCESS CYCLE INTEGRATORS

FIELD PROCESS MANAGEMENT

ACTION OFFICERS – ASSOCIATES

PROCESS AND

METRIC RELATIONSHIPS

WHO RESIDES AT WHAT LEVEL?

department to determine what it wants to measure. And because 

you get what you measure, each department gets a different and 

often uncoordinated result,” Hammer and Hershman write.

DLA already has online data sources that depict real-time 

information about everything from the status of orders to stock 

levels and locations, but that data doesn’t give a detailed picture 

of how a process is completed from beginning to end, Evans said. 

“For example, we don’t know how much of the total salesorder processing time is value-added time and how much is 

wasted time,” she said. “DLA does not proactively manage 

handoffs between functional areas, such as customer-facing 

personnel to supplier-facing personnel. As a result, the processes 

are fragmented.”

Creating a formula for measuring the many steps in DLA’s 

processes begins with the question, “What matters to the 

customer?” Merritt added. 

“The military services expect DLA to have a positive impact 

on materiel readiness. So how can we do that sooner rather than 

later, in the form that is needed and at a cost that provides value 

to the customer without spending more money than we bring 

in?” he asked.

Officials will begin measuring how well the agency 

accomplishes that by using existing data to establish baseline 

goals for time, cost and performance. Common goals will then be 

created to drive integration and cross-functional innovation. The 

initial focus will be on four core DLA processes: order to cash, 

plan to stock, procure to pay and acquire to retire. 

Variables being assessed will range from response time and 

whether items are on-hand for shipping to whether the correct 

items are shipped and correct documentation is included. 

The word “failure” will not be used to define areas that need 

improvement, said Heather Vickers, a senior continuous process 

improvement analyst for DLA Strategic Plans and Policy.

“Employees should view these areas as an opportunity, a 

place from which goodness can come. If we set a metric that we 

can always achieve, we won’t get better,” she said.

When data reveals weak spots, the agency will reach out 

to commercial industry and other Department of Defense 

organizations to learn what makes their operations successful.

“We’ll reach out to organizations that are logistics managers like 

us, such as Amazon and FedEx, those with multiple product lines, 

multiple distribution channels and multiple vendors. By identifying 

their best business practices in particular areas of operations, we 

can compare ourselves and learn from them,” Merritt said.

DLA will also turn to other defense organizations with a 

common mission, such as the Air Force Materiel Command.

“AFMC, for instance, has won several awards for innovation 

and improvement. What they do is only a portion of what goes on 

inside DLA, but we can find ways to improve by benchmarking 

with these organizations,” he added.

After benchmarking, employees will use tools such as 

continuous process improvement to identify root causes for 

why a particular level of performance isn’t being achieved. Next, 

they’ll chart steps to the desired end state.

The metrics DLA uses could change as business processes 

change, when the agency takes on new, unique missions and as 

new ideas for improvement emerge, Evans said. And although the 

ultimate goal is greater customer satisfaction, employees will also 

reap benefits.

“Investing in something like this makes their jobs easier. As 

employees become familiar with metrics and all the functional 

areas involved, they recognize how their work impacts others and 

how we’re all dependent on one another to get things right,” she 

said. “That will eliminate cases where something like a purchase 

request needs to be reworked — something that probably leads to 

some of the frustration folks are feeling today.”

Metrics can also be used to cite specific achievements in 

employees’ performance appraisals and serve as justifications for 

monetary or time-off awards. 

“The way we work together as a team to support our 

customers makes all the difference in how happy our customers 

are with the support they get from us. By using metrics and 

measuring ourselves by process rather than functional areas, we 

can reach a whole new level of success,” Evans added. 

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he audience quiets as the concert is about to begin. The 

conductor makes his entrance, turns to the musicians 

of the orchestra and, with a gesture, starts the music.

The string section sweeps in with a stirring melody. 

The musicians then hand off the melody from one 

section to another, relying on their training and skill to make 

seamless transitions. The performers constantly and deliberately 

listen across the orchestra in order to perform their parts with 

finely tuned precision and expression. 

T The conductor, who oversees the entire process, is deeply 

respectful of the specialized knowledge and experience each 

musician brings to the performance. He also knows that, while 

everyone performs their specialty, they all focus with intensity 

on the same goal: to deliver to the customer – the audience – an 

exceptional performance.

The process of music making holds certain similarities to 

the Defense Logistics Agency’s end-to-end business processes. 

DLA wants its employees to “read from the same sheet of music,” 

Story by Chris Erbe

IN TUNE WITH

PROCESS

MANAGEMENT

PROCESS EXCELLENC

12 www.dla.mil

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The Atlanta Symphony

— Photo by Jeff Roffman

listen and collaborate with one another and continuously fine 

tune their procedures so they can deliver exceptional service to 

DLA’s main customer – the warfighter.

There are obvious differences, too – the most challenging 

being that DLA’s processes take place in 48 states and 28 

countries around the world and generate more than $38 billion 

in sales and revenue.

With the signing of the agency’s audit readiness assertion 

letter Sept. 30, 2015, DLA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch 

indicated DLA is ready for an audit in 2016. This was a huge step 

that involved years of hard work by DLA employees to establish 

standard operating procedures and tighten internal controls. 

While the audit readiness effort is by no means complete, 

planners are looking forward to the next phase in the agency’s 

progression: fine tuning its end-to-end processes.

“Through audit readiness, we’re to the point where we 

understand our processes, that they are well controlled, that 

we’re being good stewards of taxpayer resources,” said Simone 

Reba, deputy director of DLA Finance. “And by having our 

processes documented, now we can make them better.”

DLA engages in many business processes, but at the core 

are procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, plan-to-stock and acquire-to 

retire. Each process touches specific functional areas, such as 

finance, procurement, planning, product technical and quality 

testing, order fulfillment and real property. Procure-to-pay, 

for example, starts with a purchase requirement and ends with 

the vendor paid and the contract closed out. Along the way, the 

process touches the planning, procurement, order fulfillment, 

technical/quality and finance functional areas. 

In a traditional business model, employees in functional 

areas do their work without knowing much about what comes 

before or after their involvement in the process. The result is a 

stovepipe, or silo effect, where employees aren’t aware of how 

their actions affect other functional areas. End-to-end process 

management seeks to break down stovepipes by requiring 

communication and collaboration between functional areas. 

“In an integrated, holistic end-to-end agency, we look at how 

processes relate to each other,” said Kristin Kremer, Enterprise 

Process Management Branch chief in DLA Strategic Plans and 

Policy. “Are they talking to each other? How do they influence each 

other? Instead of stovepipes, we look at functions horizontally 

across an entire process instead of as individual elements.” 

Reba uses the procurement process as an example. “If 

procurement buys more of an item, they get a better price. But 

The process of music making holds certain similarities to the Defense Logistics Agency’s 

end-to-end business processes. DLA wants its employees to “read from the same sheet of 

music,” listen and collaborate with one another and continuously fine tune their procedures 

so they can deliver exceptional service to DLA’s main customer – the warfighter.

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then we have to consider the cost of storing it and whether we 

have the space to store it – so that’s how end-to-end comes 

into play. What’s good for procurement may not be so good for 

distribution. What’s good for one functional area has to be good 

all the way down the line,” she said.

The handoffs, when one functional area passes work to 

the next area, are a source of concern in a traditional business 

process, said Stephen McClanahan, an analyst in DLA 

Strategic Plans and Policy. Traditionally, those in-between 

places outside the functional silos hold the potential for 

inefficiencies and errors. 

“In traditional stovepipe processes, no one addresses the 

handoff issue,” McClanahan said. “It’s easy for employees to 

say, ‘We did what we’re supposed to do – it’s not my problem!’ 

Enterprise process management gets people in these functions 

thinking about how they can improve the handoffs. We call this 

‘thinking end-to-end.’ ”

Angela Evans, chief of the Enterprise Process Integration 

Division in DLA Strategic Plans and Policy 

adds that handoffs are about ensuring 

documentation is accurate and that each step 

is clear to everyone.

“When I get a transaction, product or 

email that I can’t take action on, it creates 

a rework loop, which is a waste of time and 

money,” she said. “In general, one day saved 

from process delays amounts to an increase 

in purchase power that could be used to 

support the warfighter.”

Planners know that successful 

implementation of end-to-end process 

management will depend on continuous 

process improvement. Those improvements 

will depend on the input of employees at 

every level, not just that of senior managers. Focusing on end-toend processes will increase workers’ understanding of how their 

activity contributes to the success of the overall goals, which will, 

hopefully, fuel their desire to improve the process.

To that end, DLA developed the Process Excellence 

Pipeline, a web-based process management tool that 

allows DLA employees to submit and track process-related 

improvement ideas. The purpose of the site is to assist those 

closest to the actual work activity to drive innovation within 

the agency.

“DLA is looking for the forklift driver to say, ‘I think this 

process can be done better,’ and then to make a proposal for 

a process change,” Evans said. “DLA is carving paths for them 

through the Process Excellence Pipeline and through their chain 

of command to make improvements. We have these avenues 

today, but they are not as well-known as they will be.” 

DLA has established governance over the end-to-end 

processes in the form of the Supply Chain Integration Council, 

which will execute enterprise process management strategies and 

serve as the nerve center for process transformation. The council 

will be concerned with relationships and interconnectedness 

between functional areas. It is important to note that the Supply 

Chain Integration Council will not take the place of traditional 

managers of functional areas. 

“Traditional managers will always be essential because of 

their deep knowledge of their functional areas,” Kremer said. “It’s 

not possible for end-to-end process managers to be experts in all 

of those functions.”

Traditional managers will not have responsibilities taken 

away; instead, they will be asked to be more collaborative, 

Evans said.

DLA will also use metrics to help free itself 

from the stovepipe effect. While still valuing 

the traditional measurements for individual 

functional areas, DLA will establish overall 

metrics to measure the success and efficiency of an 

entire end-to-end process. 

Like musicians in an orchestra, DLA 

employees can expect more communication, 

collaboration and coordination in their future 

daily work lives. DLA employees at all levels will 

be exposed to process education and training 

through social media messaging, town halls, 

internal website pages and online courses, 

Kremer said.

“Process excellence is about the entire 

agency working together toward perfecting the 

customer experience,” she said. “It’s about making sure the 

warfighter gets the right thing at the right place at the right 

time at the right cost.” 

Kevin Scheetz, the DLA HQ sales order processing branch 

chief, agreed, adding that it’s going to be a more interactive 

environment at DLA from here on out.

“The employees that work in order management have to be 

in tune with not only their immediate counterparts, but also 

with the other process area touchpoints,” he said. “If I make 

a decision in a vacuum without looking at the secondary and 

tertiary impacts on these other people, it may fix what I want 

it to fix. But if my actions cause a problem in another process 

area, then what good did I do?” 

Focusing on end-toend processes will 

increase workers’ 

understanding of how 

their activity contributes 

to the success of the 

overall goals, which will, 

hopefully, fuel their desire 

to improve the process.

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Who:

Forward deployed Navy Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15, known as the HELMINERON 15 Detachment, whose mission includes 

patrolling waters to locate and destroy sea-based mines and mapping safe sea lanes of travel. This unit is home-based at Oceana Naval Air Station, 

Norfolk, Virginia..

What:

Filter element (fluid) needed for scheduled maintenance of a MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter.

Where: When:

Forward deployed to Muharraq, Bahrain. Priority 02 (mission essential – required immediately).

Type of order:

DLA Direct, which means the customer ordered an item that DLA stocks in its inventory. 

PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT ORDER

Kevin Scheetz and Chris Erbe

Capture Customer Order:

The customer submitted the order through the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning 

System, which routed the request to DLA Transaction Services, DLA’s entry point, Dec. 9 

at 6:41 a.m. (all times are Eastern Standard Time). Within seven minutes, DLA Transaction 

Services had entered the order into EBS for processing. EBS then took the order through 

233 validations and edits without a hitch and created a sales order by 7:37 a.m. 

Manage Customer Order:

This phase encompassed the steps between capturing the customer order and fulfilling 

the order, including checking asset availability, reserving and releasing items, resolving 

open orders, managing any changes to the order (not required here), and updating the 

customer on the status of the order. Because there were no modifications or errors found 

with this order, DLA moved it to the Fulfill Order process.

Perform Distribution:

The Distribution Center received the Material Release Order and processed it for 

shipment. Once the item was shipped, a final shipment confirmation was provided back 

to DLA at 12:13 a.m. and a shipping status was sent to the customer. The customer 

received the shipment at 6:07 p.m. Dec. 10 and responded with a Material Receipt 

Acknowledgement to close out the sales order. Total time from when the customer 

submitted the order to when they received the shipment: 35 hours and 26 minutes.

Manage Accounts Receivable:

DLA generated the invoice upon receipt of the shipment confirmation and transmitted 

the final billing transaction Dec. 12.

Functional Area Touchpoints:

The Order Fulfillment and Finance functional areas were directly involved in completing 

this order. Although they are outside the Order-to-Cash process, the Planning, Technical 

and Quality and Procurement functional areas were responsible for procurement, quality 

testing and positioning of the correct item where it was needed at the time it was required.

Manage Customer Profile:

Before the order was submitted, the customer 

established a customer master record 

through DLA Transaction Services using the 

DoD Activity Address Database, including 

addresses, points of contact, payment 

information and optimal delivery points. DLA 

imported the information into its Enterprise 

Business System, which supports DLA’s 

supply chain and financial activities. For this 

order, DLA had the correct billing address 

(home base Norfolk); delivery location 

(forward base Bahrain); and the optimal 

distribution center (DLA Distribution Bahrain).

Fulfill Order:

Because it was DLA Direct, the order 

was entered into the Available to Promise 

software logic, which matched the order 

with assets from the best location. The 

ATP process is a comprehensive and 

flexible solution designed to provide 

optimal support based on Time Definite 

Delivery standards, transportation costs, 

distribution center capabilities and 

customer requirements. It also executes 

other steps to adhere to Military Standard 

Requisitioning and Issue Procedures 

practices. Once sourced to a depot, the 

system generated a Material Release 

Order to have the order filled. In this 

case, the ATP logic identified the product 

available at the customer’s optimal 

delivering plant, DLA Distribution Bahrain. 

EBS generated the Material Release Order 

by 8:29 a.m., 1 hour and 48 minutes after 

the order was submitted.

Even as DLA readies for an audit in 2016, its business of supporting the warfighter continues. DLA processes 100,000 requisitions and awards 

over 10,000 contract lines every day and, with every order, DLA employees strive for perfection—the right product to the right location at the 

right time and at the right cost.

To demonstrate just one of DLA’s processes, we followed an actual order from end-to-end through an entire order-to-cash business cycle.

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hange is a process, not a destination. Change is 

inevitable; progress is optional. If you change nothing, 

nothing will change.

There’s a reason business authors quote liberally 

about change: In business, change is necessary for 

improvement, and improvement is necessary for survival. 

The Defense Logistics Agency is embracing change through 

a rejuvenated continuous process improvement program that 

encourages employees to submit ideas to improve the process 

activities they participate in. CPI is a means for employees 

to bring about changes that will sustain and improve DLA’s 

effectiveness and efficiency. The CPI Program Office wants 

C employees throughout the agency to know the push is on for 

more project ideas that could improve support to DLA’s primary 

customer, the warfighter.

CPI first gained momentum at DLA in 2008 in response to 

guidance by the Department of Defense. DLA stood up an office 

and worked to train and educate its workforce about the benefits 

of continuous process improvement. DLA’s efforts included 

training a segment of the employee population to serve as CPI 

practitioners and mentors. However, before CPI could reach full 

maturity, competing priorities changed leadership emphasis 

within DLA. Although CPI never went away, it was given less of a 

priority within the agency.

Story by Chris Erbe

PROCESS IDEAS 

WANTED

Mikia Muhammad

PROCESS EXCELLENC

From left, Clothing and Textiles supply planner Aileen Dungee discusses a user-friendly job aids database 

she created with the help of Continuous Process Improvement supervisory program analyst Henry Jansen 

and team members David Cortes and Karla Van Horn for DLA Troop Support Philadelphia. 

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When Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch arrived as director of 

DLA in January 2015, he brought a renewed sense of urgency for 

continuous process improvement, and he included it as part of 

DLA’s Strategic Plan 2015-2022. 

“Gen. Busch has long been an advocate of CPI as a way to 

make permanent change and permanent improvements to the 

agency,” said Heather Vickers, senior CPI analyst. “As a result, 

we’re looking to rekindle CPI and focus on achieving goals and 

identifying projects that will make a difference to the agency.”

CPI, as a part of the broader process excellence strategic 

goal, encourages employees at all levels to think about how they 

conduct their work every day and to submit ideas and innovations 

that may help streamline and improve DLA’s business processes. 

The CPI Program Office, which collaborates with local CPI offices 

as appropriate, is open to process improvement ideas in many 

subject areas, including finances, operations, production, human 

resources, infrastructure and sustainability.

CPI program managers also want to be made aware of 

process problems with no known solution. Project examples may 

include processes that perform poorly, result in quality problems 

or cause cost over-runs. 

“If we have a problem without a known solution, CPI is 

the perfect vehicle to assess that problem and move forward,” 

Vickers said.

The agency has opened more avenues for submission 

than ever before. The Process Excellence Pipeline was 

introduced to the agency in 2015. DLA’s internal website is 

home to the PEP webpage, the best avenue for employees 

who have an improvement submission but don’t know 

whom to contact. Employees can also contact the CPI 

Program Office through the process excellence email 

address, process@dla.mil. 

In addition, employees 

are encouraged to forward 

ideas through their own 

leadership chain or email 

them directly to process 

owners or managers. 

“The goal is to get the 

ideas,” said Kristen Kremer, 

enterprise management branch chief in DLA Strategic Plans 

and Policy. “We want to make available as many avenues as we 

can in order to cast a really wide net.”

Once a submission is received, CPI managers perform an 

integrated holistic analysis that involves subject matter experts, 

process owners and senior managers. The idea is to analyze the 

change not just on its merits, but also to take into account all of 

the ramifications associated with that change. 

“We ask a lot of questions,” Vickers said. “How would 

we implement solutions? What does the solution look like? 

What is the impact both upstream and downstream from this 

change? How have we addressed risk and controls? What kind 

of policy changes will this entail? How will this change affect 

analytics and metrics?” 

We analyze whether we’ve solved the root cause of the 

problem, not just the symptom, Kremer added. 

“If we’re solving symptoms, we’ll have to go back in a year 

and address the problem all over again,” she said. 

Once a process change has been identified, approved and 

implemented, CPI mangers continue to monitor and evaluate to 

make sure that new procedures are observed and sustained.

“That’s the essence of CPI,” Vickers said. “We take a process 

from beginning to end, making sure that we instill and build in 

acceptance of the change.” 

Changes come in all sizes, and while some are local, 

others can affect the entire enterprise. The CPI Program 

Office brings high-impact initiatives to be vetted before the 

Supply Chain Integration Council, responsible for executing 

all aspects of DLA’s enterprise process management 

strategy. Its members, senior managers representing 

key divisions of the agency, discuss and vote on change 

initiatives, making sure systemic problems are addressed. 

If appropriate, the council may move the initiative on to the 

Alignment Group and the Executive Board, which oversee 

DLA’s mission execution.

It all starts with an idea and ends up with an actionable 

problem, said Vickers. “It doesn’t matter what level of person 

in the agency identifies 

an opportunity, we need 

everyone’s help to improve 

DLA’s processes.” 

Change is inevitable, 

so DLA is seizing the 

initiative to find ways 

to perform its processes 

better, faster and with 

higher levels of quality and service. Whether the impact 

is local or enterprise-wide, DLA encourages its employees 

to contribute ideas and projects to the continuous process 

improvement program. The benefit will be felt not only by 

the agency, but — more importantly — by the customers 

DLA serves. 

Continuous Process Improvement, as a part of the broader 

process excellence strategic goal, encourages employees at 

all levels to think about how they conduct their work every 

day and to submit ideas and innovations that may help 

streamline and improve DLA’s business processes.

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Teodora Mocanu

Could you give the readers a brief 

explanation of process excellence 

and how DLA Strategic Plans and 

Policy is involved?

Strategic Plans and Policy is the 

agency lead for process excellence, but 

the concept of process excellence is an 

enterprise-wide effort. So first let me 

define what process excellence means. 

The concept is to strive every day to 

achieve and maintain the most efficient, 

effective and reliable processes across 

the DLA enterprise. The end result of 

achieving excellence will optimize the 

customer experience and improve 

Marcus Bowers

DLA’s New Director of Strategic Plans and Policy Talks about Process 

Excellence and the Role It Will Play in the Future of the Agency.

support to the warfighter. The director 

wants process excellence to be a part 

of our culture. The path to achieving 

this goal requires empowering our 

employees and successful collaboration 

across the workforce. This makes 

process excellence a primary goal for 

Strategic Plans and Policy. 

How do we achieve the goal? 

Enterprise Process Management is 

a branch within the Strategic Plans and 

Policy Directorate that, on behalf of the 

director, integrates the process for all DLA 

operating divisions and primary-level field 

activities. The exceptional professionals in 

EPM identify improvement opportunities, 

facilitate process improvement and 

integrate EPM initiatives to align with and 

mutually support the DLA Strategic Plan. 

In the traditional role of Strategic 

Plans and Policy, we lead DLA in strategic 

planning, governance management and 

policy oversight. EPM through the goal 

of process excellence supports the overall 

mission of the Strategic Plans and Policy. 

In a sense, one side of Strategic Plans and 

Policy oversees the rules of the road, while 

the other, EPM, explores how we build a 

better one. This makes for perfect balance 

in our mission set and multiplies collaboration and innovation. The EPM staff 

and Strategic Plans and Policy at large are 

experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated to the DLA mission. Their collaborative effort sets the pace for maintaining 

enterprise focus and the successful result 

is achieving process excellence.

How does process excellence affect 

how the DLA employee working 

in the warehouse, depot, fueling 

station or other facility goes about 

the job?

Considering the exceptional DLA 

workforce, those who can best identify 

areas of improvement, frame new 

concepts and provide innovative thinking 

are the ones who do the work. The seeds 

of process excellence are found in our 

people who know their process the best 

and live it every day.

Let’s say, for example, we see a 

metric indicating there’s an opportunity 

to improve a picking and packing 

timeframe. We’d use a continuous process 

Marcus Bowers, Director of Strategic Plans and Policy. improvement tool to map the process and 

A Conversation with . . .

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Loglines l March - April 2016 19

The full interview with Marcus Bowers 

can be found in the online version of 

Loglines at http://www.dla.mil.

then talk to the people who execute that 

process. Then we can develop a detailed 

graphic, so we can see every step in the 

process. Then the leadership and the 

front line, working together, can observe, 

compare and test options that make the 

process more efficient and effective. This 

improves DLA business and better serves 

the customer. 

But the best ideas — the real opportunities for improvement — nearly always 

come from the people who work the process directly. It is important to remember 

almost everything we do is a process. 

Process excellence is applicable across 

DLA from staff work to supply-center 

work and from distribution to disposition.

Is this how the Process Excellence 

Pipeline comes into play?

The Pipeline is designed as a portal 

for sharing process-change ideas — 

specifically, when the process owner is 

not known by the submitter. It lets the 

people doing a job share ideas directly 

with the Supply Chain Integration 

Council, which is managed by the EPM 

staff. Using the prior example, someone 

might suggest: “If we didn’t have to 

type this data into two systems, using 

two different machines, we’d reduce 

the risk of error and could cut seven 

minutes off each pick.” As you can see, 

no idea is too small and the smallest 

idea can have the greatest impact.

The senior leaders are eager to get 

more of these ideas so they can analyze 

them to see if they would improve the 

given process. The Pipeline is just one 

avenue for process change. And so far, 

out of 27 ideas submitted to the Process 

Excellence Pipeline, three have been 

accepted, and four are part of existing 

projects. We’re responding to employee 

suggestions faster than ever. And we’re 

getting ideas implemented to make our 

processes better.

What happens after the employee 

submits an idea to the Pipeline?

The SCI Council and process 

community determine what area the 

idea belongs to, who can assess it, 

and who should lead the effort. They 

coordinate across the agency to make 

sure the idea is integrated, actionable, 

and doesn’t negatively impact any 

other process.

Going back to that pick example of 

entering the data twice: Could that be a 

compliance requirement for audibility? 

Is it a segregation-of-duties function, 

to make sure someone can’t send a 

shipment to themselves at their home 

address? So the SCI Council makes sure 

we sustain auditability, that we don’t put 

at risk any required internal controls — 

and that we don’t optimize one segment 

of an end-to-end process at the expense 

of another.

Once an idea is accepted and 

resourced, the SCI continues to track 

it through implementation and follows 

up to monitor short- and long-term 

benefits. It’s one thing for senior leaders 

to say we want to improve processes, 

but the reality is that we need the people 

on the ground to weigh in with their 

ideas. They know better than we do the 

specifics of how we can process orders 

faster or dispose of old equipment with 

fewer systems and personnel involved. 

So if the Pipeline is the “grassroots” piece, is there proactive 

outreach from leadership to the 

workforce as well? 

Definitely! The leadership solicits 

process change ideas from across the 

agency. In addition to the Pipeline, 

there are the process, risk management, 

internal controls, and continuous process 

improvement “communities of practice.” 

The EPM staff and I are available any day 

or time for any suggestion, but one of the 

best ways to get an idea evaluated is to 

submit it through their process owners 

and their own SCI voting member. 

Anyone in DLA can submit processchange ideas, so there are opportunities 

at every DLA entity for the right people to 

get involved. 

For example, we have five enterprise 

CPI projects, in different areas across 

DLA. Two examples are distributionto-disposition and customer facing. The 

director is very interested in CPI projects 

and tracks them very closely. He is 

briefed on the highest level of detail at the 

PLFA Roundtable each week and holds 

the champions and sponsors accountable 

for their respective project.

People sometimes confuse process excellence with CPI. Could 

you help our readers understand 

the difference?

Process excellence is the overall goal, 

and CPI is a collection of tools and techniques that help the agency achieve process excellence. Process excellence is the 

big picture and as mentioned earlier uses 

enterprise process management (EPM) 

to conduct risk evaluation, compliancy 

checks, procedure and policy changes, 

training updates, metrics, communications etc. CPI is a component of process 

management that looks at a process and 

determines if or how it can be improved. 

Any final thoughts for the 

workforce?

Make sure you know not just your 

job, but also the job of the person next 

to you and the person in next step of 

your process. Ask questions; ask them 

often. And when you see something that 

doesn’t make sense or could be done 

more quickly or with less red tape, speak 

up! No matter how small it may be, we 

want to know about it. Leadership wants 

to know about it. 

We need to make sure everyone is 

comfortable submitting ideas and keeps 

the big picture in mind. The already 

exceptional workforce at DLA does great 

work, and we need to leverage that professionalism in improving on that great 

work at every opportunity. Remember: 

Without a workforce, nothing at DLA 

gets done, and what gets done doesn’t 

get better without you. Process excellence should be everyone’s goal. 

From Strategic Plans and Policy, thank 

you for all you do and thank you for letting 

the J5 be a part of your team. 

DLA Public Affairs

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20 www.dla.mil

DLA NEWSWIRE

DLA ENERGY AWARDS ARMY’S FIRST 

HYBRID RENEWABLE ENERGY CONTRACT

The Army’s energy needs are getting 

another boost thanks to a first-ever hybrid 

solar and wind energy contract, with projected 

savings of at least $168 million in energy costs 

over the next few decades at Fort Hood, Texas.

Working with the Army Office of Energy 

Initiatives and Fort Hood, Defense Logistics 

Agency Energy awarded the contract Jan. 15.

“This project demonstrates that renewable 

energy can both decrease costs and increase 

the security and resiliency of our installations,” 

said Richard Kidd, deputy assistant secretary 

of the Army for energy and sustainability. 

Once complete, the project will provide Fort 

Hood with 65 megawatts of alternating current, 

with the on-site solar system providing 15 

megawatts AC and the remaining energy coming 

from a 50-megawatt off-site wind facility. 

The firm fixed-price contract for 

renewable energy is lower than the projected 

prices for conventional energy and will 

provide Fort Hood with greater budget stability 

for electricity over the 28-year delivery period. 

— Elizabeth Stoeckmann

http://go.usa.gov/cyEPC

DLA DISPOSITION SERVICES SCRAPS FIRST DECOMMISSIONED SHIP SINCE 1990s

A chapter in Navy and Defense Logistics 

Agency history ended recently with the 

scrapping of the USS Forrest Sherman, a 

Navy destroyer that is the first ship scrapped 

by a DLA contract since the late 1990s. Metal 

from the 418-foot, 4,600-ton vessel will be 

sold at auction. 

Commissioned in 1955, the Forrest 

Sherman was the namesake lead ship of the 

first post-WWII destroyer class. She sailed for 

30 years before the Defense Department sold 

her as scrap to a North Carolina firm in the 

1990s. The company went bankrupt before it 

could destroy the vessel, and the U.S. Navy 

reacquired her. 

The service prepared to sink the destroyer 

during an exercise in 2001, but the ship got 

a stay of execution when a non-profit group 

petitioned Naval Sea Systems Command for 

permission to bring the Forrest Sherman to 

Delaware for use as a floating museum. 

The group’s financing fell through, 

however, so in 2011 the ship was removed 

from museum hold. Before the vessel hit the 

scrap-auction block yet again, Naval History and 

Heritage Command personnel boarded her and 

pulled key items to use in rebuilding the bridge of 

a Cold War-era ship. 

— Jake Joy

http://go.usa.gov/cyEPR

DLA DOCUMENT SERVICES DELIVERS CRITICAL PRINT-ON-DEMAND PRODUCTS

Printing manuals for flight safety and 

navigation, atlases for troops fighting Ebola in 

Africa, booklets for the Pan American Games 

and maps for an overseas presidential visit 

are all examples of Defense Logistics Agency 

Document Services’ print-on-demand capability, 

which provides critical support to warfighters 

while saving the agency time and money. 

“Print-on-demand projects have provided 

the proof of concept that Document Services 

can deliver high-volume, quick-turnaround, 

multi-facility deliverables,” said DLA 

Document Services Director Steve Sherman.

Sherman cited such recent successes 

as reference books for flight safety and 

navigation, atlases for roving Ebola treatment 

units and the elimination of warehouse stock. 

DLA Document Services keeps its ondemand capabilities sharp by participating 

in exercises and tests throughout the year. 

During the Cold Start 15 III exercise in 

September, for example, the activity printed 

and shipped 22 different maps to Korea 

within 48 hours. 

A defined quality assurance program 

also helps ensure product integrity, said 

Daral Valtinson, a DLA Document Services 

project manager. 

“Everyone has a vested interest in putting 

out quality maps. We have customers going 

into battle with these maps,” he added.

Future print-on-demand projects are in 

negotiation and will include partnerships with 

the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

and DLA Aviation. 

“Document Services’ niche market is 

low-volume, quick turnaround projects. With 

print-on-demand, we’ve reached a stretch 

goal, and we’re gong to keep stretching for our 

customers,” Sherman said. 

— Gina Napoli

http://go.usa.gov/cyEPW 

DLA DOCUMENT SERVICES

Loglines MarApr 2016.indb 20 2/10/16 
Compiled by Beth Reece

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NEW RAPID DEPLOYMENT TEAMS 

READY TO RESPOND

The Defense Logistics Agency’s ability 

to quickly respond to national emergencies 

and global contingencies is stronger due to a 

new group of employees who are available for 

deployment on short notice.

The Rapid Deployment Initiative program 

consists of two 13-member teams that are 

mission-tailored to augment logistics capabilities of geographic combatant commands and 

the U.S. Transportation Command’s Joint Task 

Force Port Opening. The task force is a joint 

expeditionary organization that can rapidly 

establish and operate a port of debarkation, 

as well as conduct cargo-handling and movement operations. 

RDI team members are volunteers 

from DLA Headquarters and field activities, 

representing each of DLA’s supply chains, 

distribution, disposition, information technology, 

DLA RANKED AMONG TOP DEFENSE AGENCIES IN FEDERAL SURVEY

expeditionary contracting and legal services. The 

teams will alternate on alert status every 60 days, 

said Jeff Crosson, a logistics operations specialist 

for DLA Logistics Operations.

“These teams give DLA the flexibility 

to react quickly and avoid going through 

a request for forces process, which can 

be very time consuming,” he said. “We 

went through a thorough qualification and 

screening process to make sure we had 

people with the right grade and skill set.” 

— Beth Reece

http://go.usa.gov/cyEPd

Responses to a recent survey of federal employees showed Defense 

Logistics Agency employees view the agency in an overall favorable light, 

and the agency was ranked highly among similar organizations.

The Partnership for Public Service’s annual Best Places to Work in the 

Federal Government rankings places agencies in five different categories 

based on their size: large, mid-size, small, agency subcomponent and 

very small. DLA is listed in the “agency sub-component” category and 

ranked in the 64th percentile, or 116 out of 320.

“Overall, this is good news for DLA,” DLA Human 

Resources Director Brad Bunn said. “Although we’re 

ranked 116 among agency subcomponents, we’re far more 

comparable to the large agency category because of our size and 

scope and would rank in the top 10 for that group.”

DLA’s highest rankings in individual categories were in the areas 

of Work-Life Balance, in the 75th percentile (77 out of 319 agency subcomponents) and Training and Development, in the 64th percentile (116 out 

of 319). The agency also ranked highly in Performance-Based Awards and 

Advancement in the 62nd percentile, with a ranking of 112. 

— Kathleen T. Rhem

http://go.usa.gov/cyEPF

Best Places

to work in the

Federal 

Government

Beth Reece

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22 www.dla.mil

he boss is asking again about 

the requirements you owe 

him. Grandma hasn’t been 

feeling well for the last three 

weeks, and she’s refusing 

to go to the doctor. It looks like the 

pending winter storms are no longer 

pending but will most likely close the 

office tomorrow, which doesn’t help you 

get those requirements done.

How do you as a DLA employee 

deal with such problems? Will they 

overwhelm you, or can you work through 

them? Will you do just enough to deal 

T with the immediate effects of each 

challenge, or will you find a way to deal 

with the stress each one brings? And 

how do you even begin to do all that?

A great place to start is to know 

about the variety of services available 

to you. Some may be in the community that you live in — but as a DLA 

employee, you should know that there 

are resources available to you at your 

workplace that can help you handle 

life’s challenges. Using these resources 

can improve your resiliency. 

Resiliency — the ability to deal 

Story by Joseph M. Yoswa

RESILIENCY:

Learn It • Practice It • Share It

Exercise helps promote physical and mental resiliency — as these airmen taking part in a Resiliency Run” are demonstrating.

with pressure, ambiguous or emerging 

conditions and competing tasks while 

remaining optimistic, or at least 

productive and good-humored — is a 

DLA value. 

To some degree, people instinctively 

deal with the stress and confusion of life. 

But some people handle adversity better 

than others. Is that an innate ability? 

An instinct? Or is it an acquired skill? 

The answer is probably somewhere in 

between, but we know that individuals 

have different levels of resiliency. 

The uniformed services have been 

trying to make soldiers, sailors, airmen 

and Marines more resilient for a few 

years. And in 2016, Defense Logistics 

Agency will focus on encouraging our 

workforce to become more resilient. 

Throughout this year, you will hear how 

supervisors, managers and directors 

can coach and lead their teams to be a 

resilient workforce.

Fortifying workforce resiliency is 

part of Goal 2 of the DLA Strategic Plan 

Army Spc

Christopher Wellner

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Loglines l March - April 2016 23

2015-2022: People and Culture. DLA 

leadership recognizes that the agency’s 

success depends on the readiness of 

the workforce to meet evolving mission 

requirements. For DLA to achieve its 

mission of supporting the warfighter, 

both the overall workforce and each 

individual in it must be resilient.

“We must be ready to adapt to 

our changing environments, but we 

each respond to changes differently. 

As a workforce, we can leverage our 

differences and deliver more innovative 

and effective outcomes,” said DLA 

Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch. 

DLA employees at all levels can 

adapt to change not only by taking 

advantage of employee resources, but 

also by openly talking about strategies 

for being resilient, Busch said. 

“Supervisors and their teams should 

continually find opportunities to talk 

about resiliency,” he added. “I also 

encourage managers and employees 

to bring resiliency into their everyday 

discussions, so that we have an ongoing 

dialogue about how to deal with 

challenges we face.”

There are several agency programs 

that fall under the resiliency umbrella, 

managed by organizations such as 

Human Resources; Morale, Welfare 

and Recreation; Equal Employment 

Opportunity; and the Chaplain’s Office.

“Resiliency is a process, not an 

initiative,” said Phil Dawson of the 

Resiliency Program Management Office. 

“This is a living, growing and expanding 

program. Resiliency is not a new idea, 

but DLA wants to ensure everyone 

knows what it means to them and where 

they can turn if they need resources to 

help improve.”

He noted that programs to help 

employees with life-work challenges have 

been around for years. “Our mission is 

to help employees recognize there are 

programs that will help them be more 

resilient and that we can help develop 

coaching materials and sometimes even 

new programs,” Dawson said.

Many DLA employees are already 

participating in these programs. 

The DLA Fitness Program allows 

workforce members three hours per 

week to engage in physical fitness 

activities, use the agency fitness centers 

and participate in fitness events.

DLA’s Employee Assistance Program 

provides confidential assistance to help 

employees deal with personal issues that 

might impair their job performance, 

health or well-being.

DLA Life Connections helps DLA 

military and civilian employees manage 

important events in their lives while 

meeting the demands of work and 

home. The program is available at no 

cost, and assistance is available 24/7.

The Relocation Assistance Program 

helps authorized DoD civilian employees 

relocate between duty stations.

The Chaplain’s Office provides religious logistical support and confidential 

pastoral services to DLA employees. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity 

Office is the Agency’s lead on all EEO, 

affirmative employment and diversity 

matters and ensures agency-wide 

compliance with federal statutes, 

regulations and executive orders. 

“Resiliency is not something 

someone does to you or gives to you,” 

said Renee Roman, Ph.D., DLA’s chief 

of staff. “It is something each of us 

does for themselves, to help weather 

the storms that may come at work or 

at home. We want our employees to 

know we recognize this is an important 

component of life. We are committed to 

providing the resources, programs and 

processes that support their personal 

efforts to become more resilient.” 

DLA will have four focus areas to help 

employees understand what resources are 

available to them: mental, physical, social 

and (if desired) spiritual. 

“Dealing with stress and adversity 

in healthy and productive ways is really 

the cornerstone of what we mean by 

‘resiliency,’ Brad Bunn, DLA Human 

Resources director, said. “Lt. Gen. Busch 

has committed to helping the DLA 

workforce strengthen its resiliency in the 

face of personal and professional stressors — not only because it’s the right thing 

to do for our people, but also because a 

more resilient workforce is more engaged, 

productive, and high performing.”

DLA will soon provide an online 

overview of what resiliency means to our 

workforce, as well as supervisor/manager 

training and coaching tools. 

Chris Born, DLA Public Affairs, contributed to 

this article.

Resiliency

DLA defines resiliency as how an 

individual deals effectively with 

pressure, ambiguous and emerging 

conditions, and multiple tasks; 

remains optimistic and persistent, 

even under adversity or uncertainty. 

Recovers quickly from setbacks. 

Anticipates changes and learns from 

mistakes.

DLA’s resiliency model areas are:

Mental – The ability to effectively 

cope with mental stressors and 

challenges. Pay attention to your 

needs and feelings.

Physical – The ability to adopt and 

sustain healthy behaviors with 

wellness and fitness programs and 

healthy eating opportunities.

Social – The ability to network and 

connect with others to further job 

skills and development.

Spiritual – the ability to adhere 

to beliefs, principles, or values 

needed to persevere and prevail in 

accomplishing missions. 

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24 www.dla.mil

WORLD WAR II

LOGISTICS LESSONS

lthough the United States was 

not really ready for war when 

the Japanese bombed Pearl 

Harbor on December 7, 1941, the 

nation had for two years been 

supplying England and France in their 

fight against the Axis powers in Europe. 

This experience, combined with a growing 

capability and capacity as the nation 

emerged from the Great Depression, 

made the nation better prepared for the 

war than it would otherwise have been.

There are many parallels between 

the United States’ logistics needs during 

World War II and today. Standardization 

A and management control — two areas 

where DLA can streamline the logistics 

process — trace their modern roots to the 

Second World War.

Early in the war, overload and lack of 

coordination made it difficult to ensure 

standardized parts and products. In June 

1940, the Douglas Aircraft Company was 

manufacturing seven variations of one 

aircraft for seven different customers, 

each requiring frequent and specific 

modifications from the production model. 

Inventory-control problems and tailored 

production setups meant inefficient 

workflow and slow production. Costs 

increased and deliveries were delayed. 

Different technical manuals were required 

for each version of the aircraft and this, 

too, taxed relatively untrained workers. 

What Douglas needed was some form 

of standardization of both components 

and the end products, along with a set 

schedule for production. Recognizing this, 

a joint American/British committee agreed 

on forms of standardization and delivery 

schedule so the root problem could be 

solved. Today, DLA has international and 

interservice agreements for a wide variety 

of goods and services — from agreements 

with Oman over fuel prices to agreements 

HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS

Story by Chrissie Reilly, DLA Historian

Photos courtesy U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Stockroom at the Long Beach, Calif., plant of Douglas Aircraft Company.

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Loglines l March - April 2016 25

DLA HISTORY PROGRAM

with U.S. Transportation Command to 

provide materials to troops stationed 

overseas, to agreements with U.S. Strategic 

Command for DLA to provide support to 

the nuclear enterprise. 

The groundwork for increasing 

capacities while maintaining efficiencies 

began in 1922 with the Army-Navy 

Munitions Board, which allotted for 

the planning for strategic and critical 

materials, industrial capacity, and 

production priorities. Just as the Strategic 

Plans and Policy in DLA issues policy 

guidance and requires the Agency to 

update its policies to stay relevant, the 

Munitions Board did the same thing. It 

drafted an Industrial Mobilization Plan, 

issued in 1931 — a full decade before 

America’s entry into World War II — and 

revised it in 1933, 1936 and 1939. 

In addition to this type of oversight, 

the Army Service Forces developed a 

series of internal controls that could be 

used to assist both government workers 

by establishing techniques for simplifying 

A Douglas A-20 attack bomber leaves the assembly line at the Long Beach, Calif., plant for 

transfer to the flight line and a test flight before delivery to the Army.

work and measuring efficiencies. The 

same concepts of best practices emerged 

during World War II in the Work 

Simplification Program. 

The WSP reduced industrial 

engineering techniques to their 

fundamental aspects while providing 

clear instructional materials on how 

to accomplish these changes, at the 

same time training personnel on these 

practices. Over 10,000 people received 

instruction in the WSP, and the activities 

reviewed the efforts of over 800,000 

people. The savings in manpower 

averaged 18 percent, or the equivalent of 

144,000 people. 

Today, the aircraft production 

problems of 1940 are largely preempted 

by planning, having agreements in place, 

and standardizations established. DLA 

accomplishes this by engaging with 

industry and government partners to have 

signed agreements even in peacetime, 

along with well-written contracts to define 

the scope of work. Even something that 

modern logistics employees might take 

for granted, such as the national stock 

number, helps ensure products are easily 

provided to customers for the right price 

and on time.

The United States was able to 

supply, fight and help win the Second 

World War, but not without overcoming 

significant logistics hurdles. There were 

a massive number of forces to move, 

multiple theatres of operation, and 

the responsibility to supply and equip 

Allied forces spread across the globe. 

These same responsibilities are part of 

warfighting today, and DLA is able to 

leverage the logistics lessons of history to 

meet the needs of its customers. 

World War II is an example of a true 

logistics achievement, but it not owed 

only to foresight or advance planning but 

also to ingenuity of those in the service 

organizations. Advance planning played a 

large role in initiating activity and troops on 

the line in the services who made logistics 

work effectively during the war. 

Myriads of lights at the Long Beach, Calif., 

plant of Douglas Aircraft Company form pleasing star patterns in the shatterproof plexiglass 

windows of noses for A-20 attack bombers.

Loglines MarApr 2016.indb 25 2/10/16 
I AM

My name is: 

Olivia Lynn Kortuem. 

I am: 

A program management analyst in the Military Service Support Division of DLA Logistics Operations. 

Describe your job in a sentence. 

Along with colleagues from various DLA offices and activities, I represent DLA at expositions and 

symposiums across the United States by staffing a booth, where we share information, answer customers’ 

questions and make them aware of the full range of products and services DLA provides. 

How long have you worked at DLA? 

As a full-time employee, since spring of 2012 — but I had previously worked in the DLA Office of 

General Counsel for two summers, under the Workforce Recruitment Program. 

What is your favorite thing about working for DLA? 

I really enjoy representing an agency that supports the military services, as well as emergency 

responders — the people who protect and secure our country and help those in need. I also love meeting 

and working with so many different DLA employees who help staff the booth. Their expertise and their 

concern for our customers they interact with is so inspiring and exciting to see — that all of us at DLA take 

such pride in what we do and who we serve. 

What are your best memories of working here? 

On so many occasions, customers and stakeholders come to our booth 

to ask for help. Being able to provide direction and information that helps 

them is rewarding every time. At one conference, a DoD firefighter was 

concerned about the costs of various equipment items his department 

needed. I recommended his department use DLA’s Reutilization/Transfer/

Donation program for available items, to avoid having to spend any money 

at all on them. He hadn’t known about this program and was really glad 

to have that option. It was a great feeling for me, because I managed to 

resolve his frustration and walked away with another helpful option. 

How do you make a difference? 

I get to interact with a wide variety of folks, from the highest level of 

government to ROTC cadets, to give them information that helps DLA build 

a positive relationship with them. I think our team helps them put a friendly 

face to what can seem like a massive, faceless bureaucracy. So I like being 

able to directly boost perceptions of our agency by helping DLA customers 

find solutions to their logistics problems.

Olivia Lynn Kortuem

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