Finds errors and omissions between engineering and LSAR-036.
Builder™
Description
The biggest threat to a soldier isn’t necessarily the enemy. Serious threats may come from having the wrong equipment, parts or repair components. Being the most well-equipped military force in the world, the U.S. spends billions on protection for our soldiers however there are still challenges. LHG’s Validator™ was born from one of these challenges faced by a young Marine, forward deployed in Afghanistan, who was working to order repair parts for his MRAP.
His parts manual didn’t match the vehicle, and when the parts he ordered arrived he found that nothing matched. It was like ordering a steering wheel and getting a propeller. There was a complete breakdown of data relationships between the repair manual, the parts manual, and the order fulfillment activity.
Performance
Validator™ is a “Provisioning conference in a box” that programmatically evaluates the data relationships. It compares the engineering and vendor data to a Logistics Support Analysis Record (LSAR)-036 file to determine if all parts are supported in the 036, assessing compatibility between the two data sources. This comparison ensures the data specified in a bill of material (BOM) accurately represents the part and system information recorded in the 036 provisioning data set. Simply stated, Validator™ ensures that a repair defined in the 036 is supported with both the right part and the right part relationships backed up by supporting documentation.
Defining the right part relationship is vital to supporting the end user and their products. When we talk about the “Right Part Relationship,” we mean correctly identifying even the down parts on a given subsystem. Do we have the right down parts (children) to rebuild an engine (parent)?
The government’s provisioning process centers such as the U.S. Army’s Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) significantly increases provisioning acceptance requirements and helps to ensure data integrity. The system looks for a parentchild relationship and verifies relational database requirements are met to assist in the repair and procurement process. However, it can’t determine the difference between a “0” and an “O.” LMP can verify that a relationship exists, but is unable to verify that the correct children and parent records exist. Validator™ goes further than just determining a specific part is required. It ensures the right bolt, in the right place, for the identified “parent.”
One Less Worry
Ultimately, our goal is to make repairs easier for deployed soldiers, so that they have one less thing to worry about. If they have the correct logistics support, they can feel confident when issues occur. We want to empower our military with this confidence in their logistics operations.
Product support and quality costs can be significant, but cutting costs seldom improves quality. However, improving quality often cuts costs. Whether a project is large or small, investing in quality on the front end reduces the time and overhead it takes to produce any product. With LHG’s Validator™, downstream costs fall, and maintenance confidence rises.
