SASPF - "Management" of the Troops
Berlin, 25.08.2004.
The Bundeswehr is given a new management information system. This is not linked to an organisation re-orientation measure: in the future the forces are to be increasingly managed under economic aspects.
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That is why the Bundeswehr takes advantage of whatever scope there may be to apply methods of managerial economics common in trade and industry.
One of the aims is to achieve better coordination of work processes. The forces intend to replace isolated and sometimes technically obsolete IT solutions that are not compatible with each other and incur a lot of expenditure in terms of maintenance and regeneration requirements.
The Bundeswehr now wants to subject this landscape of processes and information technology to drastic changes and is therefore introducing a new information system. The new methodology is called "Standard Application Software Product Family" - or SASPF for short.The key advantage of this universal information system lies in the fact that it optimises work processes, reduces costs, avoids redundancies and even allows better transparency. In practical terms this means that data once entered are instantly available to all users requiring and authorised to use them .Back on the road faster
If, for instance, a vehicle breaks down in a country of deployment, the home base supply section will be automatically informed about what spares are needed. At the same time the operations headquarters is informed about how many vehicles are actually operationally ready. This facilitates work and saves money, for instance in terms of inventory costs.To this end, however, procedural flows in the Bundeswehr need to be rationalised, which may necessitate the organisational structure to be adjusted. That is why the introduction of SASPF is not only a technical but most of all an organisational challenge: "The Bundeswehr is being geared to standards of managerial economics", is how Brigadier Hans-Herbert Schulz, commissioner for the Bundeswehrs SASPF process orientation defines the objective.The Federal Ministry of Defence has therefore decided to optimise the Bundeswehr internally. By 2010 all software used is to be gradually replaced by newly developed products capable of operating together and exchanging data. SASPF will connect more than 45,000 users in the forces, the defence administration and the armaments sector.Make the Bundeswehr learn from trade and industry
"What is special about SASPF is that the Bundeswehr is now trying for the first time to apply commercial standard software to support its business processes", explains Schulz. The new system is based on SAP R/3 software enriched to match the needs of the military user. This standard software used in managerial economics has proved to be successful in many enterprises for years.Using this software, the Bundeswehr is going to benefit from the experience made in trade and industry by adopting the tried and tested process flows implemented in it. This means that not only will the SAP standard software be enhanced to satisfy military needs with the implementation of SASPF, but the Bundeswehr will capitalise on the introduction of the new software to optimise its business processes and re-orientate the organisation where necessary.
Planning on new foundations
Brigadier Schulz speaks about a shift of paradigm. For instance: "In old-style materiel management every business economist was proud to have all necessary spare parts, to last him for up to 20 years if needed. Spares were possibly stockpiled for 20 years without anybody ever requiring them. What we are involved with now is process orientation, ensuring that the necessary information as well as the parts needed for a specific process, are available at the right time and in the right quantity".
