<$MTBlogName$

Archives for June 2015

We should be ashamed of ourselves. Again.

By Steve Geary | 06/26/2015 | 2:52 PM

The 2015 “Supply Chain Top 25” is out, published by Gartner, Inc., for the 11th straight year.  It's a pretty good list, and I do make a point of checking it out every year.

The top five-ranked organizations in 2015 include three who were in the Top 5 last year — Amazon, McDonald's, and Unilever are in the top three slots — joined by Intel and Inditex.

Take a moment to look at all of the names in the Top 25, and think about what you don’t see.

  1. Amazon
  2. McDonald's
  3. Unilever
  4. Intel
  5. Inditex
  6. Cisco Systems
  7. H&M
  8. Samsung Electronics
  9. Colgate-Palmolive
  10. Nike
  11. The Coca Cola Co.
  12. Starbucks
  13. Walmart
  14. 3M
  15. PepsiCo
  16. Seagate Technology
  17. Nestlé
  18. Lenovo Group
  19. Qualcomm
  20. Kimberly-Clark
  21. Johnson & Johnson
  22. L'Oréal
  23. Cummins
  24. Toyota
  25. Home Depot

Year after year, I have the same question:  where are the Aerospace and Defense companies?  There isn’t single one on the list.  We used to see Lockheed Martin, but they disappeared years ago.  As military logisticians we have a mission to serve the warfighter, but we also have a duty to serve the taxpayer.

We can do better.  We are expected to do better.  We know how to do better.  So why aren't we doing better?

Click here to see last year’s blog on the Top 25.

I don’t like to pay for the same real estate twice.

By Steve Geary | 06/14/2015 | 5:45 PM | Categories: Film

I don’t think Patton ever said it, but it was in the movie so I’ll go with it.  We all saw the movie, I loved the line, and it fits the man.  “I don’t like to pay for the same real estate twice.”

Last week the President authorized sending another 450 troops to Iraq.  As reported by the Associated Press, as well as a bunch of other news outlets, the U.S. forces will advise the 8th Iraqi Army Division, based at al-Taqaddum, on a lot of things, including logistics, to help them develop a plan to retake of Ramadi. The U.S. will help forge connections between Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribes, assisting them in identifying and reaching out to Sunnis in Anbar so they can eventually work with the Iraqi Army.

I’m looking at my map of Iraq from the dark days, and there it is.  Al-Taqqadum, or TQ as my Marine friends used to call it, right on Supply Route Michigan, and a short hop from Route Mobile, just about halfway between Fallujah and Ramadi.  It brings back memories, and not happy ones.

As I think about what the Pentagon wants to do I’m overcome with immense melancholy.  I don’t like what's happening for the very same reason Patton wouldn’t like it.  I don’t like to pay for the same real estate twice.

It looks like we are going to try to rerun the Anbar strategy from the surge.  Establish the logistics, control the supply routes, and reach out to our Sunni friends in a classic counterinsurgency plan.  On paper it makes sense.

Except many of our Sunni friends - those who led the Awakening and helped us control the supply routes - are no longer available.  Some have thrown in with ISIS out of desperation because of how they have been treated by the Iraqi government in Baghdad.  Some have died in the conflict with ISIS.  Some are in hiding.  Others have escaped the country. 

To pull this strategy off, we are going to have to rely on our Iraqi allies to hold fast when required, and project power into a region that even challenged the iron fist of Saddam before the lid came off.

Patton has another great quote, “"Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy."  This quote doesn’t come from Hollywood, but from Patton himself.  Is the strategy that will spiral out of TQ into Anbar a good one?  Perhaps.  Is the Iraqi Army tactically capable of pulling it off?  We shall see. 

And what will happen if the Iraqi Army fails?  Are our sons and daughters going to be asked to pay for the same real estate twice? 

Click here to read more on Anbar.

The opinions expressed herein are those solely of the participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of Agile Business Media, LLC., its properties or its employees.

About Mike Rudolph

Mike Rudolph

Mike Rudolph is a recently retired Marine Colonel with over 30 years of operational experience, proven leadership, and management success in the logistics and supply chain management fields. He is an executive consultant with ROSE Solutions and the Supply Chain Visions family of companies - consultancies that work throughout the government sector. Mike led the Marine Corps Supply Chain and Life Cycle Management Center at Marine Corps Logistics Command - responsible for supply chain and life cycle management of all ground weapon systems, equipment, and reparable components, the depot maintenance program, and equipment prepositioning program. During 2004-2008, he served two tours of duty in Anbar Province, Iraq as the G-4 for Multi-National Force – West, supporting all combat operations and coalition efforts to revitalize Iraqi economic development and stability. Mike's efforts were recognized with the Bronze Star for his first tour and the Legion of Merit for his second. He was widely recognized as a visionary and innovator in the Marine Corps logistics community.



Categories

Popular Tags

Subscribe to DC Velocity

Subscribe to DC Velocity Start your FREE subscription to DC Velocity!

Subscribe to DC Velocity
Renew
Go digital
International