DLA Troop Support launches food management system

PHILADELPHIA— The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support has officially launched Joint Food Management Analytics, a new digital platform to secure, monitor and manage the Subsistence supply chain.

Explained in their key objectives, the application known as JFMA, aims to address gaps in monitoring, managing and protecting the supply chain by providing DLA Troop Support and its service partners with advanced data visualizations, artificial intelligence use cases and geospatial mapping.

To support the transition, Subsistence supply chain held a three-day training course in May, drawing participants across eight comprehensive training sessions. These sessions included instruction on how to utilize nine JFMA applications, covering a wide range of analytic capabilities to provide real time visibility of the supply chain. Some examples include Combatant Command Readiness, Surge / Contingency Modeling, and In-transit visibility.

When handling critical information, cyber security is priority. JFMA has both authentication and authorization protocols using Common Access Card enablement and role-based access.

Before rolling out the new system, leaders within the Subsistence demonstrated the JFMA to DLA Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Sean P. Kelly, who provided positive feedback on the initiative. “From development to rollout was a little over a year,” said Strategic Material Sourcing Group Division Chief Jacob Slotnick. “It is a great success to be able to roll out this product in that short of a time. We provided Troop Support Commander Brig. Gen Sean P. Kelly with a demonstration, and he gave all positive feedback.”

The JFMA tool assists data-driven decisions to modernize and improve supply chain operations.

“We are able to identify risk much sooner,” Slotnick said. “Spotting potential risk sooner would contribute to time savings and potentially cost savings, as we are able to see gaps before they occur.”

John Trunzo, deputy chief of the Subsistence's Readiness Division, expressed enthusiasm for the system’s potential.

“It is a game-changer,” Trunzo said. “This real-time, at your fingertips, capability has never existed for any military in the history of warfare. JFMA will be a decisive advantage in future operations as we navigate the contemporary security environment that remains characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.”

Trunzo highlighted why the tool is a game changer and how it will directly improve warfighter readiness.

“With JFMA, an Army Logistician in Germany, for instance, could tell the local comptroller how much money would likely be required for all types of operational rations supporting the Theatre over a given training year, because JFMA will provide an immediate answer based upon multi-year historical feedback. We have finally cracked the code to ‘see ourselves.’”