Improving Department of Defense global distribution performance through network analysis

Abstract

In October 2015, the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) implemented a new global shipping performance assessment method. USTRANSCOM assesses shipping lane performance by analyzing the distribution of the start-to-finish shipping time for all requisitions during a given time period and comparing the 85th quantile to an established time standard for the lane. The command assesses overall network performance using the total number of shipping lanes that perform better than the standard. Previously, USTRANSCOM grouped shipping lanes according to shipping method and destination with no consideration given the origin. The new method includes the origin information. Using parametric and non-parametric statistical tests and data analysis techniques, we show that the addition of requisition origin information enables more accurate analysis of the shipping network. Optimization provides node improvement recommendations. We find that focusing improvement on commercial air and military air shipments provide the greatest overall network performance increase.