Air Force 319th Supply Squadron receives new tracking system
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (USTCNS) --- Members of the 319th Supply Squadron will start scanning supply items being delivered to customers as part of the new Supply Asset Tracking System with tools that somewhat resemble a ray gun from old Martian movies.
The hand-held terminals, called JANUS 2020s, look like ray guns with calculators on top. The terminals are small portable computers with a built-in scanner and radio transmitter.
SATS is a paperless initiative designed to improve the efficiency of warehousing and asset movement by using barcodes and radio links.
Instead of signing for property on paper, a smart card is inserted into a handheld terminal and individuals punch in a personal identification number, just like an automatic teller machine. The biggest change is that squadron customers will no longer accept deliveries by signing a paper document.
Several other bases have already converted to SATS and the feedback on the new system has been very positive. The new system, installed by Logicon, based in Williamsburg, Va., costs approximately $200,000.
Glade Brown, from Logicon, has trained about 150 people on the new system.
"From the trained supply personnel, I am hearing that the system is good because it cuts down on their workload, paperwork and lets them manage their workload better," said Brown.
SATS was designed for the Air Force to interface with the 30-year-old Standard Base Supply System. It tracks the same type of data that a system in use by Federal Express or UPS might use to track items.
SATS is an initiative that adapts the best practices being used in private industry. SATS is definitely a win-win scenario for 319th SUPS and their customers. SATS will simultaneously allow for a more efficient, less labor-intensive operation while providing greater accountability, accuracy, and customer support.
SATS is designed to replace all of the paper issue documents and it will also provide total asset visibility on base. From the time a part arrives in the base system until it reaches the customer, supply will know where the part is every step of the way. Supply officials say they will know who has handled the part and the exact time it was delivered to various locations.
The system uses tracking numbers and code labels that can be processed real time from the handheld terminals using radio waves into Supply’s computer. At every step of the way, somebody scans the part and that information is input into the central computer housed in the 319th Logistics Group building.
In cases where the hand-held terminal is out of range of the nearest radio frequency antenna, the squadron's delivery drivers will upload the delivery information to a personal computer and download it when they get back to supply.
The installation should be finished in about two weeks. The two weeks following installation will be spent training members on the proper use of the system.
Although some procedural and equipment issues will still need to be resolved, the system should be operating at full capacity by the end of May.
The system will be installed Air Force wide within the next two years.
SATS cuts labor and manpower costs by eliminating the need to file and maintain paper documents. It also automates many of the older paper-oriented processes.
For example, people that work in receiving can "in-check" property in real time by using a handheld receiver, as opposed to walking across a room to type it up into a computer. It’s quicker and more convenient.
SATS is a great tool for researching inventory discrepancies, as well as knowing that handled a given part and when. There is a chain of custody every time a part changes hands; SATS will have a record of the person’s name and the date and time they handled the part.
Logicon in conjunction with Standard Systems Group at Gunter Annex, started installing SATS in 1997 as a "proof of concept" system at Shaw AFB, S.C., an Air Combat Command base.
Air Mobility Command waited until SATS was approved for Air Force wide installation before initiating the first installation at Charleston AFB, S.C.
AMC needed to verify that the system would work with the command’s slightly different supply system where aircraft are often gone for several weeks before parts could be installed.
This new system will require some shifts in the way 319th SUPS does business. A lot of their people are accustomed to seeing, handling, and filing the paperwork.
What’s been found at Shaw and Charleston is that many people are keeping the label that comes with the property instead of the old paper documents as part of their own internal tracking system.
To be successful, a great deal of support will have to come from the customers, the ones carrying the smart cards. The smart card contains a microchip and looks just like an ATM card.
The only way to accept delivery of a part is to use the smart card. Signing a paper document is no longer an option. Simply stated: no card, no part. No longer will paper documents have to be stored, searched for, or retrieved, often with illegible signatures.
Initially, the base will receive 3,000 of the smart cards. Eventually, the goal is to have everyone who routinely deals with supply to have his or her own card. This will include maintainers, equipment custodians, and materiel controllers. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
The hand-held terminals, called JANUS 2020s, look like ray guns with calculators on top. The terminals are small portable computers with a built-in scanner and radio transmitter.
SATS is a paperless initiative designed to improve the efficiency of warehousing and asset movement by using barcodes and radio links.
Instead of signing for property on paper, a smart card is inserted into a handheld terminal and individuals punch in a personal identification number, just like an automatic teller machine. The biggest change is that squadron customers will no longer accept deliveries by signing a paper document.
Several other bases have already converted to SATS and the feedback on the new system has been very positive. The new system, installed by Logicon, based in Williamsburg, Va., costs approximately $200,000.
Glade Brown, from Logicon, has trained about 150 people on the new system.
"From the trained supply personnel, I am hearing that the system is good because it cuts down on their workload, paperwork and lets them manage their workload better," said Brown.
SATS was designed for the Air Force to interface with the 30-year-old Standard Base Supply System. It tracks the same type of data that a system in use by Federal Express or UPS might use to track items.
SATS is an initiative that adapts the best practices being used in private industry. SATS is definitely a win-win scenario for 319th SUPS and their customers. SATS will simultaneously allow for a more efficient, less labor-intensive operation while providing greater accountability, accuracy, and customer support.
SATS is designed to replace all of the paper issue documents and it will also provide total asset visibility on base. From the time a part arrives in the base system until it reaches the customer, supply will know where the part is every step of the way. Supply officials say they will know who has handled the part and the exact time it was delivered to various locations.
The system uses tracking numbers and code labels that can be processed real time from the handheld terminals using radio waves into Supply’s computer. At every step of the way, somebody scans the part and that information is input into the central computer housed in the 319th Logistics Group building.
In cases where the hand-held terminal is out of range of the nearest radio frequency antenna, the squadron's delivery drivers will upload the delivery information to a personal computer and download it when they get back to supply.
The installation should be finished in about two weeks. The two weeks following installation will be spent training members on the proper use of the system.
Although some procedural and equipment issues will still need to be resolved, the system should be operating at full capacity by the end of May.
The system will be installed Air Force wide within the next two years.
SATS cuts labor and manpower costs by eliminating the need to file and maintain paper documents. It also automates many of the older paper-oriented processes.
For example, people that work in receiving can "in-check" property in real time by using a handheld receiver, as opposed to walking across a room to type it up into a computer. It’s quicker and more convenient.
SATS is a great tool for researching inventory discrepancies, as well as knowing that handled a given part and when. There is a chain of custody every time a part changes hands; SATS will have a record of the person’s name and the date and time they handled the part.
Logicon in conjunction with Standard Systems Group at Gunter Annex, started installing SATS in 1997 as a "proof of concept" system at Shaw AFB, S.C., an Air Combat Command base.
Air Mobility Command waited until SATS was approved for Air Force wide installation before initiating the first installation at Charleston AFB, S.C.
AMC needed to verify that the system would work with the command’s slightly different supply system where aircraft are often gone for several weeks before parts could be installed.
This new system will require some shifts in the way 319th SUPS does business. A lot of their people are accustomed to seeing, handling, and filing the paperwork.
What’s been found at Shaw and Charleston is that many people are keeping the label that comes with the property instead of the old paper documents as part of their own internal tracking system.
To be successful, a great deal of support will have to come from the customers, the ones carrying the smart cards. The smart card contains a microchip and looks just like an ATM card.
The only way to accept delivery of a part is to use the smart card. Signing a paper document is no longer an option. Simply stated: no card, no part. No longer will paper documents have to be stored, searched for, or retrieved, often with illegible signatures.
Initially, the base will receive 3,000 of the smart cards. Eventually, the goal is to have everyone who routinely deals with supply to have his or her own card. This will include maintainers, equipment custodians, and materiel controllers. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
Follow Us On:
