A baseline analysis of Combat Logistics Force scheduling efficiency

Abstract

Combatant ships in the Fifth Fleet sphere of operations depend upon Military Sealift Command (MSC) to supply stores and fuel while they are underway. Scheduling the delivery of supplies has predominately been customer driven, which has led to inefficiencies in the utilization of MSC resources. The introduction of Replenishment at Sea Planner (RASP) in 2013 provided a new tool that is expected to increase efficiency of scheduling operations by reducing scheduling errors and manpower needed for fulfillment. The purpose of this research is to analyze data from Fifth Fleet collected before and after RASP with a goal of establishing a baseline efficiency in Combat Logistics Force (CLF) ship utilization. Supply and demand models were built over the data sets, presenting an interesting view of the disproportion of available commodity available to customers. Efficiencies were compared before and after RASP, resulting in a recommendation that the Fast Combat Support Ship (AOE) be the ship of choice due to better efficiency and cost to deliver commodity to the warship in the Fifth Fleet area of responsibility. The trends from the data were mostly inconclusive, however; as a result, this paper recommends expanding the research years for further data analysis to include 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016.