The Army Rapid Fielding Initiative

The army's rapid fielding initiative (RFI) is the process by which new equipment is distributed to soldiers either at home station or in a theater of operations. Currently, equipment is shipped from over SO suppliers around the United States to a single central warehouse on the east coast where it is packaged into sets. The sets are then shipped to the end user stationed at one of over 40 locations around the world. It is a process that costs the army time, money and a great deal of effort to execute. The purpose of this research is to develop various alternatives for improvement to the supply chain management system and equipment fielding operations. To develop a more efficient process, Lean methods are applied in conjunction with the systems decision process (SDP). The SDP is a four step process developed by the Department of Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy. SDP is a value-focused thinking (VFT) approach where values are the driving force behind decision making. The primary focus for this project is in the decision making phase.