The LCIA was developed jointly between the MOD and industry through the UK Council for Electronic Business (UKCeB). Around 20 major defence companies were involved including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, AgustaWestland, EDS, IBM, Oracle, Logica CMG, Steria, and IFS Defence. The context for this work was, inter alia, the Defence Industrial Strategy and the significant increase in Contractor Logistic Support (CLS) for major equipment platforms being undertaken by industry. In contracting for availability (CfA) the majority of end-to-end (E2E) logistic processes are industry processes and this changes the balance of overall logistics risk between the MOD and Industry. It also requires a change in the way the MOD and industry interact and how they share logistic information.
In simple terms LCIA standardises the interface between the MOD and industry in terms of logistics functions and logistics information: It
- provides joint agreement on what logistics functions are performed (e.g. asset management, maintenance, configuration management, inventory management, etc) and the terminology to describe them;
- identifies the typical logistics information that needs to be exchanged between the MOD and industry in order to execute such logistics functions; and
- defines the technical information standards that everyone will work to so that information can be exchanged electronically between MOD and industry systems without the need for bespoke interfaces specific to each defence project.
LCIA is essentially the back-office tool that enables specialists in the MOD and industry to jointly identify the logistics information that has to be shared in order to execute a project's logistic support solution effectively.
Industry and the MOD both recognise that under CLS arrangements, there is a clear need for the effective sharing of information. Logistics information is seen as foundational to delivering improved through life management and to help drive support costs down.
Both the MOD and industry see LCIA as simplifying logistics processes and information systems (IS), and enabling the reduction of costs across different equipments and product lines.
Logistic Information Planning is now being applied to over 160 major UK defence projects to varying degrees and is producing the following real benefits:
- Improved supportability and through life cost optimisation
- Greater understanding of your logistics & supportability business
- Through life logistic process improvement
- Real value from logistic and supportability information
Project Teams developing new support solutions for the equipment(s) they manage should consult Support Solutions Envelope v5.3.1, KSA 4, GP 4.1 to determine what action they should take to achieve Logistic Information Requirements Planning assurance at each stage of their project. Information on the SSE can be found within the Aquisition Operating Framework, please follow the related link on the right.
DE&S Standing Instruction No9 mandates budget holders and Project Team Leaders to consult the Log NEC Programme Front Door at the earliest opportunity in the project/contract concept stage, so the requirement can be assessed and potential high level solutions defined. Once the requirement has been established the Log NEC Front Door will arrange introduction to the LCIA team to assist with Logistics Information Planning and completion of a Logistics Information Plan (Log IP).
Further advice can also be obtained from the LCIA Team via the contacts below. An introductory high level LCIA presentation is also accessible via the links on the right hand side of the page.