The Implications and Risks of an Agile Manufacturing Industrial Base to U.S. Army Materiel Readiness for Rapid Reaction Major Regional Conflicts.
Abstract
The evolution of 'agile manufacturing' techniques and practices in the industrial base of the United States and the victory of capitalism over communism in the Cold War have far-reaching economic, political, and social implications for the coming decade. Agile manufacturing promises high-quality, individually customized, price-competitive products produced on demand. Post-Cold War budget reductions will cause many major weapons systems in the U.S. Army inventory to be used at least through the next decade, long after production has ended. The synergy of agile manufacturing expectations and the rapid dismemberment of the defense industrial base as weapons systems go out of production represents a subtle but potentially dangerous threat to the Class IX repair part materiel readiness of U.S. Army weapons systems in projected major regional contingencies. A stochastic simulation methodology is presented which enables: (1) parametric estimation of the daily repair part requirements for all repair parts for a particular major weapons system in two nearly simultaneous regional conflict scenarios; and (2) comparison of alternative policies of inventory and industrial capacity in accommodating repair part requirements. Business as usual will lead to severe shortfalls of critical repair parts rendering major weapons systems unavailable during contingencies and potentially cause entire battalions to become ineffective.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA303580
Entities
People
- Kenneth L. Jones
Organizations
- North Carolina State University