C&T hosts 10th annual industry event, instills collaboration, communication

More than 1,000 representatives from the Defense Logistics Agency, military services and domestic clothing and textiles industrial base participated in the 10^th annual Joint Advanced Planning Brief for Industry, hosted by DLA Troop Support's Clothing and Textiles supply chain, November 20-21.

With the highest attendee turnout to date, the event consisted of a 'big picture' info conference-style forum and 'speed dating' breakout sessions structured for networking with DLA and the military services, C&T Strategic Materiel Sourcing Division Chief and event curator Catherine Dillon described.

"All the times you've come to us at DLA with a possible solution and we say, 'we need to talk to the service,' now is your opportunity to do that for those solutions," Dillon said.

Clear and open communication was the key takeaway instilled by keynote speaker Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Landis C. Maddox.

"That will only enhance our partnerships," Maddox said. "This forum to me, is more than just a meeting. It is an opportunity. Use today to engage in open and honest dialogue. Connect with our experts and gain valuable insight in our shared vision. Together, we can build the resiliency and innovation necessary to face the challenges ahead."

C&T Director Army Col. Bernard K. Monroe also honed in on the importance of collaboration and "why" domestic clothing suppliers are critical to the warfighter support DLA provides to military servicemembers with a video titled "Behind The Threads."

"This industry is a [service member's] first engagement at every recruit training center," Monroe said. "This is their first touchpoint. And everyone in this room plays a part in it. It's all the small intangibles, that are happening on a daily basis, behind the scenes, so that our servicemembers can execute their real-world missions at a moment's notice, supporting this nation."

Monroe also highlighted the future of the supply chain, aligned with the DLA Strategic Plan 2025-2030.

"We're investing in IT modernization that gives us total asset visibility, increases our data acumen…to anticipate and be more precise in decision making and executing," Monroe said.

C&T Director of Supplier Operations Leighann Mazoki shared inventory projections and special topics related to supply chain business. Mazoki also emphasized the importance of collaboration with stakeholders for DLA to maintain its standard as logistics experts.

"We work really hard with our customer partners to get our projections right and our industry projections, which are posted on our DLA C&T website," Mazoki said.

Balancing forecast and demand to ensure suppliers can perform steady production of items was also discussed during a joint panel with military service representatives, moderated by Mazoki and C&T Director of Customer Operations Bruce Carson.

"We recruit 35,000 Marines every year… so there's some data we can push out [on] our utilization rate," said Marine Corps Col. Paul Gillikin, Combat Service Support Equipment Program Manager Combat Support Systems at Marine Corps Systems Command. "I think that would be important for industry to know, so they can get better at how much raw material they'll need and potentially drive down some pricing for them and lower some [costs] for the Marine Corps too."

Uniform re-use and recycling was also discussed.

"[With] the maternity pilot program, the Navy is doing exceptionally well as we go into our third year," said Navy Cmdr. Terri Gabriel, Deputy Commander of Navy Uniforms and Navy Exchange Service Command. "And that is the reutilization of the maternity seabag."

Military service and item specific topics were also discussed during JAPBI breakout sessions, including dress clothing, individual equipment in addition to other DLA specific topics including Small Business.