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introduced, long-range plans must be developed
for the adequate support of the equipment.
There is another area that calls for the deter-
mination of requirements. When the plans for an
operation have been approved, logistic planning
must provide the material needed to support the
operation. Elements such as the size and duration
of the operation, its distance from established
support activities, and the climate to be en-
countered are all factors that you must consider
in order to predict, with any accuracy, answers
to the questions: What? How much? When?
Where? and How?
Procurement of Materials
As soon as requirements have been estab-
lished, the next step is the procurement of
materials. Most procurement aboard ship is
carried out by requisition. However, before a
supply activity can issue the material on your
requisition, the material must first be procured
and then delivered to the location of that supply
activity. Although some items are manufactured
in Navy facilities (such as shipyards), the vast
majority of procured material is purchased from
commercial suppliers. The impact of procurement
by the Navy on the civilian economy ranges from
insignificant for the replacement stock of
shoelaces to staggering when procurement activity
includes all the material necessary to support an
all-out wartime operation.
Procurement comprises such functions as
establishing specifications for the goods required,
standardizing material, cataloging and identify-
ing material, inspecting material, investigating
costs, and assigning priorities. Procurement may
also involve the allocation of critical raw material
to a supplying manufacturer.
Distribution of Stock
The first phase of distribution is the accumula-
tion of material at CONUS bases, an action that
may be performed more readily during the pro-
curement process if the location to which the
material is to be delivered is specified. The other
phases of distribution are storage, issue, transpor-
tation, and control.
The distribution system must be capable of
reacting rapidly to unexpected changes in plans
and operations. The system must also be able to
adapt itself to changes brought about by new
developments in technical areas.
A distribution system should be as economical
as possible without sacrificing effectiveness. A
good distribution system can achieve considerable
economy by maintaining careful control of its
stock. For example, material requirements at one
location can occasionally be met by a redistribu-
tion of excess material from another location
rather than by the procurement of new material.
When equipments or systems are scheduled to be
phased out, the reduced demand for material
support can be anticipated and overall stock levels
can be reduced accordingly. On the other hand,
a good distribution system must be just as effec-
tive in anticipating increases in existing supply
requirements or additional procurement demands
as new equipments are introduced to the fleet.
Under all conditions, an expedient distribution
system must ensure that material support is
available when and where it is needed.
INVENTORY CONTROL
POINTS (ICPs)
Managing the hundreds of thousands of dif-
ferent items of stock in use by the Navy today is
not an easy job. To provide the proper balance
between supply and demand, the Navy supply
system has established inventory control points
(ICPs). In fact, the Navys two inventory control
points have been described as the nerve centers
of the Navy supply system. They are the
l Navy
Aviation
S u p p l y O f f i c e,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (ASO); and
l Navy Ships Parts Control Center,
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (SPCC).
Although they are not ICPc, three other ac-
tivities have been assigned specific inventory
management responsibilities. They are the
l Naval Publications and Forms Center,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
. Navy Fuel Supply Office, Alexandria,
Virginia; and
. Navy Resale and Services Support Office,
Staten Island, New York.
Each of these activities manages a material com-
modity or group of commodities.
You can identify the inventory manager for
any stock item by the cognizance symbol for that
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