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Depot opens 24/7 to better serve warfighter

  • Published
  • By Darren D. Heusel
  • 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFMCNS) --  To help meet the growing demand for getting aircraft replacement parts downrange more quickly, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center established a one-stop Customer Service Center, or CSC, that provides its customers timely, accurate, 'action-based' service around the clock.

Mark D. Johnson, 448th Combat Sustainment Wing director, said the center goes hand-in-hand with the Air Force's Lean transformation initiative and is another example of the wing's Purchasing and Supply Chain Management effort of providing expeditionary logistics for the 21st century.

Former OC-ALC Commander Lt. Gen. Terry Gabreski, now Air Force Materiel Command vice-commander, came up with the idea to establish a service center as the single point of contact for warfighter support following her visit to the Middle East last fall.

"One of the outcomes of General Gabreski's trip was that she received a number of suggestions from folks who are actually fighting the war on how they could better get in touch with us whenever they needed replacement parts," said Darla Bullard, CSC process subject matter expert.

The biggest problem customers faced was that, because of the extreme difference in time zones, they were placing calls at odd hours, and those calls were being re-routed a number of different times before the situation was resolved, said Ms. Bullard.

"So, General Gabreski decided Tinker would have a single, 24/7 operation that would provide better support to our customers," she said.
The center merged materiel support distribution functions under one roof in an effort to reduce wait time and provide a single face to the customer.

Expected benefits include improved customer satisfaction, a first-call resolution rate of 80 percent, improved manpower resolution and a strategic focus on demand planning.

"One of General Gabreski's directives was that the CSC would be an office that would have the authority to take action," Ms. Bullard said. "We are not simply going to relay the news. We are going to be proactive instead of reactive."

"Since March, the OC-ALC has seen a 70 percent decrease in unconfirmed shipments," said
Josh Rooker, project officer.