Analyzing Underway Replenishments Through Spatial Mapping
Abstract
The United States Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) employs its Combat Logistics Force (CLF) to supply the combatant fleet through replenishments at sea (RAS). These RAS events need to be conducted where the combatant fleet operates. The Replenishment at-Sea Planner (RASP) is an operational planning tool that supports the Navy's mission of conserving fuel as it seeks optimal schedules for CLF ships to service customers operating worldwide. RASP relies on data input of customer positions to schedule replenishments. Planners currently forecast expected customer positions at the geometric center of an Operational Area Box (OP Box) because there is a deficiency of data to support more accurate location forecasts. We introduce logistics planners who use RASP to a more accurate forecast of future RAS locations. We begin by collecting historical replenishment data and giving a visual representation of the data through geographical spatial heat mapping. From the historical RAS locations, we calculate the most probable location for a future RAS by determining the centroid. The centroid is determined by taking the weighted averages of each historical RAS location. We create a fabricated scenario of the U.S. Pacific Coast that includes OP Boxes for customer ships to operate and ports for logistical sources to CLF ships. We utilize RASP to run our scenario. We conduct separate RASP runs to produce the optimal schedules for replenishments from geometric center and calculated centroid locations within the OP Boxes, then compare the results to determine the impact of each method on CLF assets, fuel costs, and time. The results show that the centroid location offers significant improvements in customer readiness and total CLF underway fuel usage planning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA574675
Entities
People
- Michael C. Blackman
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School