Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Karolina Oseguera | U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Destiny Dansby sterilizes surgical tools after a...... read more read more
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PHILADELPHIA - Two Defense Logistics Agency organizations collaborated to clear backlogged medical surgical items ordered by the U.S. Navy fleet, a DLA Troop Support Medical tailored vendor logistics specialist said.
Employees from the DLA Troop Support medical supply chain visited DLA Distribution Norfolk, Va., where they cleared approximately 140 delayed shipments for items like gloves, bandages and surgical instruments, Mary Webb said.
In logistics terms, such delays are known as “frustrated” shipments, meaning they are delayed for any of several reasons, including improper packaging or labeling, missing inspection signatures or paperwork, incorrect documents, quantity disparities between the invoice and the actual shipment, or material that is damaged or noncompliant with shelf-life requirements.
Monica Lassiter, a customer service representative at the distribution center, confirmed that as of Jan. 14, all 140 cleared shipments had been shipped to customers.
In addition to clearing the frustrated orders, which lacked complete information for shipping, the two teams worked on improving the process to ensure speedier deliveries in the future, Jackie Basquill, a DLA Troop Support Medical team supervisor, said.
The team provided computer training on the applications used to manage medical supply chain orders to 10 employees in the DLA Distribution division responsible for receiving, staging and shipping orders to the fleet, Webb said.
“When the [DLA] Distribution personnel cannot use the first tier of software applications, they can send me an email asking for the customer number corresponding to the contract number provided by the vendor on the shipment,” she said. “Once I supply that information, the order can continue on its way without delay.”
Norfolk employees working the medical cage, a secure area in the warehouse reserved for medical items, handle these orders, she said.
In an attempt to improve the process even more, Webb said, DLA Distribution now has a designated person assigned to the medical cage to handle the frustrated freight.
This helps enormously, she said, because the problematic freight can be addressed immediately.
DLA Distribution Norfolk Production Chief Ron Rickman said the goal is to process shipments as soon as they come into the cage.
“That’s what we are shooting for,” he said.
Basquill said the two organizations will continue to work together, looking for new ways to decrease the time it takes to get an order to the fleet.
Due to its mobility and the vast organizational structures, the Navy fleet is a very challenging customer, Basquill explained. Each port comes under a different organization, and establishing points-of-contact and forging relationships with each port is a challenge.
“Our common goal is simple, to continue to improve the process for optimal support to the fleet,” Basquill said.
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2014 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 119868 |
| Location: | PHILADELPHIA, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, DLA agencies working to improve medical deliveries to Navy fleet, by Dena Selkow, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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