PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia’s Medical Directorate and Owens & Minor, as collaborative partners, won the “In-Theater Contractor-Military Collaboration Award” for the development, creation and successful implementation of the Medical Air Bridge (MAB). The two organizations use the MAB to furnish medical and surgical supplies to deployed troops in Europe and the Middle East.
Established to honor and promote Department of Defense and Defense Industry logisticians, a primary goal of the inaugural 2004 Defense Logistics Awards is to recognize people and/or organizations for exemplary contributions to the Department of Defense and, ultimately, the American Warfighter.
The Medical Air Bridge - Contingency Automation Application (MAB-CAA), the program for which the award was won, comprise an integrated, web-based application suite that provides logistical support of medical and surgical supplies to contingency operations.
“By utilizing the cross-dock capabilities and global reach of Owens & Minor, the MAB team reengineered the business processes to fully leverage the just-in-time logistics employed by industry-leading Owens & Minor. They streamlined order-to-receipt timeframes from a lagging 60-days to an expeditious three-day average,” said Army Col. Don Buchwald, Director, DSCP’s Medical Directorate. “By working in partnership with Owens & Minor and using the company’s state-of-the-art supply chain management techniques, we were able to make a considerable difference for our troops in the field.”
MAB supports shipment consolidation services provided by Owens & Minor, Medical’s cross-dock contractor, and provides detailed in-transit visibility during shipment to Medical customers in-theater. CAA provides DSCP-Medical Commodity Business Unit (CBU) personnel with a collaborative tool for receiving, validating, identifying, analyzing, sourcing and monitoring fulfillment of high-priority requisitions for medical materiel.
The innovation of the MAB/CAA application suite can be measured by the marriage of disparate organizations and information to maximize the preparedness of the American Warfighter during contingencies. By utilizing the cross-doc capabilities and global reach of Owens & Minor, the MAB/CAA team reengineered the business processes to fully leverage the just-in-time logistics employed by this industry leader.
When referring to the award, Steve McManus, Deputy Director of DSCP’s Medical Directorate said it was a real honor for the Medical Directorate and their partner in the initiative, Owens and Minor, to be selected for this award.
McManus said that the preface in the awards ceremony program said it very well -- ‘the programs nominated exemplify the best in current initiatives and set the new standards of excellence.’
“It was a positive experience to repeatedly hear from people who I met at the ceremony that DSCP is recognized throughout DoD as the most innovative and effective wholesale logistics provider in the Department.”
McManus said he felt privileged to accept the award on behalf of all the medics in the military.
In all, the 2004 Defense Logistics Awards handed out five awards, including: In-Theater Contractor-Military Collaboration, Logistician of the Year, Best Service Logistic Strategy, Logistician Leading the Way in the Joint Arena of Transformation, and Seamless Technology Implementation. The annual awards ceremony was established to honor, recognize and promote logisticians in the U.S. Department of Defense and the defense industry that have made a significant contribution to military logistics. According to the awards criteria, winners exemplify the best in current initiatives and set new standards of excellence. There were more than 100 entries for the five awards given this year.
Owens & Minor, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is the leading distributor of national name-brand medical and surgical supplies and a healthcare supply chain management company. With a diverse product and service offering and distribution centers throughout the United States, the company serves hospitals, integrated healthcare systems, alternate care locations, group purchasing organizations and the federal government. Owens & Minor provides technology and consulting programs that enable healthcare providers to maximize efficiency and cost-effectiveness in materials purchasing, improve inventory management and streamline logistics across the entire medical supply chain--from origin of product to patient bedside. The company also has established itself as a leader in the development and use of technology. For news releases, or for more information about Owens & Minor, visit the company Web site at http://www.owens-minor.com/.
Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), a field activity within the Defense Logistics Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, annually buys approximately $12.4 billion worth of food, clothing, medical, construction and equipment supplies and services for America’s forces worldwide. Of that amount, approximately $3.4 billion consists of medical goods, equipment, and logistics solutions. The DSCP serves both the Central Command and the European Command. Central Command encompasses all medical fixed-based facilities and deployed combat units in Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar, as well medical facilities and combat units involved in Afghanistan and the surrounding area. The European Command consists of facilities based in Europe, Africa, Southwest and South Central Asia.
DLA provides supply support, and technical and logistics services to the U.S. military services and several federal civilian agencies. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., the agency is the one source for nearly every consumable item, whether for combat readiness, emergency preparedness or day-to-day operations.
Defense Logistics Agency
CONTACT: Dena Selkow of the Defense Logistics Agency, +1-215-737-2274,or Dena.Selkow@dla.mil
