Although the Army planned to use Balanced Flow only to jump start fielding of the new uniforms, it worked so well that the Army continued to use the software to support troops in Iraq and Afghanistan until the major troop drawdown in 2014, according to company officials. The software synchronized production from multiple direct contractors together with replenishment from the Defense Logistics Agency. It enabled the Army to avoid stock-outs and approximately a $250 million investment in safety stocks that would have been needed had they relied on traditional systems, Balanced Flow said.
Balanced Flow Supply Chain Solutions, LLC now makes the software available to help any firm improve inventory management by reducing stock-outs and inventory levels at the same time.
“A majority of the software developers in this LLC are career Army veterans who appreciate the opportunity they had to continue serving warfighters by helping to ensure every soldier deploying for combat in the last eight years did so in the best possible combat uniforms,” said Bill Kernodle, Balanced Flow president.
Balanced Flow helped field a new U.S. Army combat uniform system for Iraq and enabled fast fielding for new versions during a 30,000 troop surge.
Posted March 3, 2015
SENECA, S.C. – Technology application company Balanced Flow(TM) Supply Chain Solutions, LLC has completed its final contract for assisting the U.S. Army in the support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006 with combat unique textile-based uniform systems, an accomplishment of which company leaders said they are proud.
The Army called on Clemson Apparel Research (CAR) to help field a new combat uniform system for Iraq on an emergency basis in 2005. The Army had a rough prototype developed by soldiers with recent Iraq combat experience, but from that point forward standard practices required three to five years to actually distribute a new uniform to troops. The Army needed a much faster way to save lives, avoid injuries and improve combat capabilities.
Under CAR’s guidance, the Army immediately issued fabric contracts to all finishers capable of dyeing the fabrics to develop shade standards and separately awarded contracts for sets of combat uniforms even before specifications and stock numbers were available. CAR engineers quickly completed development of specifications for the new uniforms as they trained over a dozen uniform manufacturers to make them.
The contracts required all supply chain participants to use Balanced Flow software recently developed by CAR for the Defense Logistics Agency to synchronize the flow of yarn, weaving, dyeing and finishing, and end-item production. Only 13 months later the Army equipped a deploying brigade of the Georgia National Guard without any shortages and with very little remaining inventory.
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Balanced Flow’s warfighter support ends with high marks
