Unleashed - there really should be an App for this.

“Give me a call at home tonight.”

What a quaint concept.  Over the years, the world has changed, and you no longer need to know where somebody is to reach them by phone.  All you need is their mobile number, and if you dial that number, the system finds them, no matter where they are.

We’ve been unleashed from the tyranny of the land line.

So, if your phone knows where you are, why do you need to provide a ship to address when you order something?  Why can’t the delivery system track you and get to you, no matter where you are, just like your cell phone does?

In logistics, we often equate a logical address with a physical address, and our delivery systems think that way.  That’s just the way it needs to be, right?

Trust me when I tell you:  it doesn’t.

Suppose you’re going to be in Denver next week, but aren’t exactly sure where you’ll be staying.  Just have a package mailed to you at General Delivery, Denver, CO 80202-9999.  Once you get there, call on the post office at your convenience, present ID, and pick up your package.

This is better, but still imperfect.  The package still requires a physical location at the time the shipment is launched, and if the forecast of where you are going to be is good, it will meet you.  If your plans change, and you end up in Houston instead of Denver, you’ve got a problem. 

The military understands the need for adaptability, and they have figured out how to untether shipments, just like phone calls, because their plans do change.  Wars are funny like that.  The enemy gets a vote. 

The Department of Defense Activity Address Code (DoDAAC) is a six position code that uniquely identifies a Department of Defense unit, activity, or organization that has the authority to requisition and receive material.  Note that there is no specification of location, just a unique identity.

A DoDAAC is a logical address, not a physical address, just like your cell phone number.  It serves as the key to a relational database that cross-references to a real-time physical location of the unit.  As long as the database is current, the unique identifier can then be used to find an accurate and unique real-time location.

The relational database includes relevant data for unit mailing addresses, freight shipment addresses, billing information, routing information, and small parcel shipping addresses – all linked to the six-digit DoDAAC.  As individual military units move, they update the database to reflect their current location.

The Department of the Navy takes this a step further with a capability that enables shipments to mobile units – the Cargo Routing Information File (CRIF), which is linked to the DoDAAC.  The CRIF is updated 8 times a day based on input from the operating forces.  It provides geographic location information to shippers for routing cargo shipments to Navy ships and Marine Corps embarked units throughout the world in a near real time environment. 

As shipments arrive at intermediate nodes, they are redirected to the ship or unit’s updated location.  We’re talking about a transportation system designed for in-transit redirection of shipments.  Shipments ‘catch up’ to the ship or embarked Marine Corps unit.  Wow, what a concept!

They are unleashed.

Think about it, and think about the implications.  If a critical shipment is needed on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan steaming around in the Western Pacific, you don’t ship to the anticipated location of the Reagan.  You just ship it to the Reagan, and the network figures out where the shipment needs to be.  It’s as if cargo behaves like a heat seeking missile (minus the explosion on arrival.)

That’s the genius of the military’s transportation network.  As locations change for a unit, the DoDAAC remains constant but the associated location data changes.  As a shipment moves along its routing and hits transshipment nodes, it is directed based on the current location of the DODAAC, not the prior location of the DoDAAC.  

That’s an absolute requirement for units on the move or for ships at sea.

This is yet another case where military logisticians are ahead of commercial practitioners.  They’ve figured out how to ship things to customers at address unknown, in volume, but that is still an alien concept in the commercial world.  Maybe Amazon will be smart enough to link their drones to your cell phone, so that a delivery can really be addressed to you, not just where you think you will be.

Until then, the military guys will continue to run circles around us.  Let’s put some millennials on it.  There should be an App for this.