SUPPLY MANAGEMENT BRANCH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-05599A000200030001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 11, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: REPORT

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ATT A
SUPPLY MANAGEMENT BRANCH
1. An examination of Supply Management Branch (SMB) was
conducted on 29 March and 1 April to analyze work flow and to
look for areas where efficiencies might be realized through the
elimination of processing steps or changes in methods. While time
did not permit the examination of every detail of the SMB operation,
sufficient observations were made to suggest some areas where
improvements are possible.
2. When one considers the conditions under which SMB began
operations on 4 March, and conditions as they exist today, it is
easy to note a marked improvement. Personnel are becoming familiar
with their tasks and work is flowing more smoothly and system-
atically. There are indications, too, that Branch management is
taking an active part in developing and coordinating operating
procedures. Each of the three commodity teams generally follows
the same processing flow and procedures. The only significant
differences appear to be, at least in part, to the staffing of
25X1A the teams. Team "B" is the only team which is fully
25X1A staffed. Team "A"
does not have an Analyst, ergo Mr.
must act as both Manager and Analyst. Team "C"
does not have an Identifier assigned, so that
assistance of a detailed employee . When the teams are 25X1A
function is being handled by the Analyst with the
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fully staffed; common procedures written, tested, and applied
uniformly; and personnel have gained more experience with the
system, the Branch will operate more efficiently. Using a common
base of procedures will allow a redistribution of personnel
within the Branch in the event of illness, vacations, and pockets
of backlogged work.
3. It may seem to be an insignificant difference in procedure
to have customer requisitions examined and acted upon first by the
Editor and then passed to the Identifier, as team "C" does, or
have them examined first by the Identifier before action by the
Editor, as teams "A" and "B" do; however, one of these procedures
should be chosen as a standard and applied by all teams. Insignifi-
cant deviations can often result in other, more important, deviations
within the organization which does not permit the effective rotation
of personnel during emergencies. In general, there seems to be
an effort by management and team leaders to achieve that kind of
coordinated procedure development.
4. During the examination, two processing steps in particular
seem to warrant question regarding the time they consume, on the one
hand, and whether they are truly the responsibilities of a supply
management organization on the other. Those steps concern the
assignment of the procurement action unit for non-stock items, and
the scheduling of depot delivery date by the procurement unit and
transportation date for items being procured. Each line item for
procurement is analyzed (currently by ),
to determine whether the procurement will be placed with a commercial
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or a Government source. If a Government source, the requisition
i ned to Interdepartmental Support Branch (IDSB) for action.
taken in total, require a considerable amount of time. In
addition, if the item has not been identified and stock-numbered,
these people also perform the research and identification functions.
5. The procurement unit assignment (Form 1931 - Procurement
Action, Assignment, Transfer or Cancellation) becomes part of the
record in the official voucher file for use by Central Control and
Distribution Branch (CCDB) follow-up personnel. A copy also
accompanies the action document going to PD. This system works
fairly well unless SMB makes an incorrect assignment of procurement
unit. When the latter happens, PD sends the Form 1931, with the
action document, back to SMB with the correct unit annotated thereon.
The corrected information travels its reverse route until all
records are updated, then goes back to PD for action. During the
course of this examination, a case like that occurred. It had
been signed out of SMB on 19 March. By the time the correct assign-
ment was determined by PD, and the documents returned to SMB for
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update on 29 March, 10 days had elapsed with no action having
been taken by PD. Allowing an additional day to get the action
back on the track, at least 11 days of potential processing time
were lost. Such instances occur frequently enough to warrant a
look at the whole process to determine whether those responsibilities
are properly placed.
6. Another time-consuming processing step concerns the
scheduling of dates when procured items should be in the depot,
and dates when those items should be packed and ready for trans-
portation action. This scheduling process is based upon reference to
a file of information containing average shipping times to overseas
destinations via the various modes of shipment. Using the
requisitioner's required delivery date (RDD) as the base date, the
procurement dates and transportation dates are calculated accordingly.
Those dates also become a basis or tickler for follow-up purposes.
The process is not applied to stock items, however. That is, the
transportation scheduling is determined by the Depot Control Unit.
Since the schedule determined by SMB does not insure that the
dates will be complied with, and in view of the effort that goes
into the initial scheduling and subsequent follow-up, it is
questionable whether the process is a cost/effective one.
7. Based upon observations of the processing steps described
in paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 above, it is recommended that steps be
taken to:
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a. Discontinue the assignment of procurement unit,
with the possible exception of IDSB, and transfer those
responsibilities to PD. Even in the case of IDSB, assign-
ment of actions to that Branch should not be based solely on
whether the item bears a National Stock Number (NIN) but,
additionally, whether the quantity justifies the cost of
processing through our and the other agency's system. It is
argued that effective CCDB follow-up cannot be accomplished
unless the follow-up clerk knows which unit in PD has the
action. If that is critical, then arrangements should be
made to have PD return a copy of Form 1931 to CCDB with
that information on it. If, on the other hand, complete
follow-up responsibility for procurement items were con-
ducted by PD, then the question is academic. The subject
of follow-up is covered in more detail in the discussion of
CCDB. In theory, it is argued further, that the appropriate
vouchered or unvouchered Procurement Allotment FAN cannot
be inserted on the requisition by SMB personnel unless they
know who in PD will be making the procurement, thus SMB
should determine the procurement unit.
the face of personnel reductions and the imminent retirement
of the two ladies currently performing the task, it would
appear that the task should be moved to PD which is
potentially better equipped and qualified to handle it.
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Hopefully, such a move would also obviate the loss of
processing time occasioned by moving documentation back
and forth because of incorrect procurement unit assign-
ments.
b. The scheduling of procurement delivery and
transportation dates might also be eliminated. It is not
a precise science by any means and is based, for the most
part, on calculating backward from the RDD. Both PD and
the depot can do the same. As noted, the Depot Control
Unit does that currently on items being issued from stock.
Again, if dates are scheduled by SMB so that a basis for
follow-up can be created, then the whole question of who
performs follow-up, when, and on what basis must be addressed.
Although it might not require a lot of time to establish
the scheduling, it is an additional step in the process which
does not appear to be critical to the total process.
8. At the time SMB began operating under its new organization
on 4 March 1974, 1,146 documents were backlogged awaiting action.
Approximately 950 of those documents were customer requisitions.
The balance were Property Turn-Ins (PTI), Reports of Inventory
Adjustment (RIA), Disposal Documents, Back Order Releases,
Receiving Reports, and Catalog Action Requests (CAR). As of
29 March, the backlog was down to 1,008 documents of which 588
were customer requisitions, and the balance consisted of the other
types of actions mentioned above. Emphasis is placed on customer
requisitions which are being aged, by all three commodity teams,
according to RDD. It is apparent from the backlog figure,
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therefore, that considerable progress is being made. Any signifi-
cant delays experienced by requisitioners are not attributable to
SMB -- at least not in its present operating environment. The
Branch is getting its procedures formulated (albeit a bit late),
personnel are becoming more familiar with their duties and
responsibilities, and by eliminating some of the questionable
functions, SMB promises to become a vary responsive organization.
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CENTRAL CONTROL AND DISTRIBUTION BRANCH (CCDB)
1. The Central Control and Distribution Branch (CCDB)
has an authorized Table of Organization (T/O) of
25X9 positions.
personnel are on board and are assigned
Authorized On Board
Office of the Chief
* One employee assigned temporarily
** One employee double-slotted pending reassignment
2. The primary function of CCDB is vouchering, reproduction
and distribution of documentation, maintaining accountable
voucher files, providing data input to Office of Joint Computer
Services for updating records, and maintaining follow-up and
status of customer requests.
3. On 4 March 1974, the effective date of the Supply
Division reorganization, CCDB transferred a backlog to the
Supply Management Branch of about 900 requisitions. This
backlog was attributed to the closeout of the 25X1A
and involved a transfer from = of 400 requisitions 25X1A
that had been abstracted previously by CCDB to - for action, 25X1A
plus simultaneous receipt of 300 requisitions from East Asia
Division (EA) Under normal circumstances these 300
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requisitions would have been directed by the field to= for 25X1A
processing. An additional 200 requisitions had accumulated
prior to the reorganization. Currently, there is no backlog
in the requisition processing area. However, delays and
backlogs have been encountered in reproduction and filing and
follow-up areas. These are elaborated upon further in the
appropriate sections of this attachment. During the immediate
post reorganization period the CD completed flow charts and
requisition processing procedures which have contributed
greatly to reducing processing backlogs which occurred during
the period 4 - 11 March 1974 and occasioned some customer
complaints.
1. All requisitions received in CCDB are logged in the
master voucher log. About 100 requisitions are received daily
and are checked for appropriate signature to determine if an
authorized official has signed the request. After recording,
the requisitions are then logged out the he"aappropriate
Commodity Teams in Supply Management Branch (See Flow Chart,
addendum 1). Upon processing by SMB, the requisition is
returned to CCDB for run-off and distribution. In addition to
maintaining the voucher file for requisitions, the voucher
control desk logs in Property turn-ins and shipments due in
from overseas. The call-in requisitions are also prepared
here. These call-ins are all Priority I and average about ten
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25X1A
requisitions per day. The is also
involved in key punching operations and resolving discrepancies
in the financial area, such as furnishdcg copies of documents
for Finance to support payment of vendor's invoices.
2. There have been no backlogs in the
Section since the reorganization and no problem area affecting
requisition flow or delays in processing requisitions.
3. As there are no backlogs in the
suggest that when possible personnel be spot reallocated to
the backlog in that gection.
to eliminate
1. M is responsible for reproduction and/or distribution
of requisitions, shipping documents, receivinZPXt1Aports covering
those direct deliveries which do not transit and
other documentation as required. In addition, this section
maintains the accountable voucher files for the Office of
Logistics.
2. = reproduces about 250 documents daily. An average
requisition requires twenty copies, a shipping document eight
copies and receiving reports five copies. Serious backlogs
developed in this section on several occasions during the post
reorganization period, as the xerox machine used in the
reproduction process malfunctioned repeatedly. Since 4 March
1974 there have been eight major machine breakdowns. Although
the machine was operating during the study, we understand that
h
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PD is attempting to obtain a replacement from the vendor because
the machine installed in CCDB is a rebuilt model. During the
intermittent breakdowns, the xerox machine in PD was utilized
and a back-up ditto machine is available in CCDB for reproducing
requisition and shipping document masters. In addition to
reproducing documentation, this section is responsible for
distribution of all requisitions, shipping documents and
receiving reports and for maintaining the accountable voucher
files.
3. Although an individual was assigned from 25X1A
28 March 1974 on a temporary basis and forty-eight
hours of overtime have been expended to alleviate the backlog,
the durrent backlog is handicapping a number of operations
with some 4,000 documents remaining to be filed as of 4 April
1974. Failure to maintain the files on an up-to-date basis has
resulted in an abnormal incomplete status situation on customer
requests, and as a consequence unnecessary follow-ups are being
made on customer requisitions.
4. CCDB is reluctant to release the master voucher file
(and justifiably so) when follow-ups by PD and/or IDSB are
required because of the time the files would be out, e.g.,
on numerous occasions PD or IDSB will require up to seven/
ten days, depending upon complications, while following up on
the status of requests. As in the interim period other paper-
work might require filing In the same folder, particularly
when there is a split stock/procurement action on a
4
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requisition, CCDB, as an expedient, has established what
amounts to duplicate files by providing all documentation in
separate folders. These separate folders are checked out to
PD and IDSB when follow-ups are required. These folders are
filed within the master voucher file when they are returned
from PD and IDSB.
5. Delays are caused in the filing process because of a
requirement that all receiving reports be accounted for on a
transmittal manifest sent to CCDB by the Since 25X1A
the reorganization over 2,000 receiving documents have been
25X1A received from
. Shipping Documents are also
received for reproduction by CCDB (again over 2,000 since
4 March and under a transmittal manifest). Although during
25X1A this period, on behalf of CCDB reproduced 1,000
shipping documents and distributed 8,000 copies, delays are
still encountered in the reproduction, distribution and
filing areas.
6. It is recommended that every effort be expended to
reduce the filing backlog in MFDS through extensive overtime
and where possible through the reallocation of personnel within
the Supply Division, i.e., CCDB,
Operational Support Branch (OSB), IDSB or Freight Traffic
Branch, OOD. Both OSB and IDSB are at `full strength, and the
25X1A recent
personnel in FTB.
Staff Study revealed a surplus of
7. In view of the heavy workload in _ consider that
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reproduce and make distribution on all of their
Receiving Reports including those for direct deliveries to
appropriate operating elements. Further recommend that
reproduce and distribute all shipping documents.
8. In planning the reorganization it was not anticipated
that there would be a twenty-three per cent increase in
customer requisitions. This situation has caused an increase
in reproduction, distribution of documentation and filing;
therefore recommend that an additional clerical position be
assigned to MFDS.
1. = is responsible for maintaining follow-up on
customer requisitions by exception and to provide status
including preparation of cables, dispatches and forwarding
copies of all run-off requisitions to field activities by
Transmittal Manifest. In addition CCS prepares requisitions
25X1A received through channels. - requests average 25X1A
about 150 per week and include about 20% action transfers from
Area Log Officers.
25X1A 2. .instituted the follow-up by exception prior to
the reorganization of SD. Initially the change was made in
July 1973. However, since the reorganization a noticeable
increase in workload has developed because customers are
conducting follow-up on their own requisitions. When the
follow-up procedure was established the intent was to review
only Priority 1 and Priority 2 requisitions and certain
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selected categories. During the month of March 1974 inquiries
were received primarily on requisitions in the Priority 3 and
4 category. These are not normally reviewed; however, some of
these requests were four to six months old. The breakdown of
the inquiries is listed below:
Office of ELINT 43
25X1A 20
OC/MSB 33
28 Cable requests during 19-day
work period, 19 Mar - 2 Apr
25 In addition to the cable requests,
follow-up requested by Telepouch
Total Requisitions 184 (Figures are not available on
line items, normally requisitions
average 3.2 line items)
3. As a result of the customers following up on their own
requests a backlog has developed and is affecting follow-up on
the higher priority requisitions. The backlog is not significant
at this time but could develop into a recognizable problem it
customers continue to initiate requests for status on non-
priority requests. The types of items that these customers
have conducted their own follow-up generally cover items in the
electronic spare parts area.
4. Another problem area affecting requisition status is
the backlog in the Since 25X1A
these files are not up to date queries are generated to the
Depot, PD and IDSB requesting delivery/s.ipphng information.
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In many instances unnecessary follow-ups are made as it is
eventually determined that the deadlines have been met and
the items received and/or shipped.
5. A procedure has not been established with Procurement
on expediting follow-up. Since the reorganization .does 25X1A
not call the vendor but pulls the duplicate files and sends
them to PD on a transmittal manifest. If feedback is not
received from PD within a reasonable time another follow-up
is made, hence follow-up on follow-up. Feedback in some
instances is inordinately lengthy. On cable requests for
status, a copy of the cable request is sent to PD requesting
a response, preferably within twenty-four hours.
Cancellations received from the military services or
other government agencies are received three to four weeks
after the item has been ordered with the respective government
agency. When the cancellation notice is finally received
other alternatives must be explored to obtain the item causing
further delays to the customer.
6. It is suggested that .emphasize to its customers
that requisitions will be followed. up normally by exception.
A recommendation was made in the IDSB section of this staff
In order to eliminate clutter from the supply system,
i.e., low dollar value items, shortddeaaline requirements, etc.,
recommend that a quick reaction capability be established in
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the Office of Logistics similar to the
which functioned in the past. Establishment of this facility
would eliminate about 12,000 line items being processed
through the supply system yearly. In addition the project
5,500 line item increase because of - closure could be 25X1A
transferred to the quick reaction facility for action.
Consideration may be given to establishing follow
up systems within PD and the 25X1A
similar to those employed by CCDB in order to have all
Logistics components on the same track.
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INTERDEPARTMENTAL SUPPORT BRANCH
1. The Interdepartmental Support Branch (IDSB) has an
authorized Table of Organization (T/0) 25X9
are on board; however, the employee slotted in
Position No. 2408 is physically located in SMB. On the other
hand, IDSB has one non-slotted person awaiting assignment.
The primary function of IDSB is procurement of materiel and
services from and liaison with other Government agencies.
Currently, there is no backlog in IDSB. Requisitions are being
processed normally within 24 hours providing problems do not
arise. There are a few problems which have arisen as a result of
the reorganization in the Supply Division and old problems which
have been recurring from time to time. These areas are identified
below:
a. New Problems Surfaced Since Reorganization:
(1) Filing backlog in the Central Control and
Distribution Branch (CCDB) has affected the workload
in IDSB because up-to-date status information is not in
the files. Status cards are received from other
Government agencies on Agency requisitions and sent to
IDSB which sends them to CCDB for the master voucher
file. However, when these cards are not filed on a
timely basis, unnecessary queries are directed to
other Government agencies requesting status, i.e.,
the information is available within SD but not in the
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(2) Requisitions are delayed in distribution to
IDSB for action. In some cases we noted that requi-
sitions had been in the Division several days before
run-off copies were sent to IDSB.
(3) The files which are returned to CCDB
occasionally are not returned to their proper location
within CCDB and when a query is raised in the interim,
delays are encountered in providing the information to the
customer.
b. Old Problems Which Are Recurring:
(1) Complete ordering information is not being
furnished by customers who prepare requisitions. Con-
sequently, several queries must be made.
(2) Requisitions are received with extremely short
deadlines that cannot possibly be met through other
Government agencies. Poor planning in many cases on
the part of the customer is evident.
(3) Split actions are assigned to the requisitions
by SMB. A certain number of line items are assigned to
PD for action and the remainder to IDSB, and vice versa.
2. Delays are being encountered in processing customer
requisitions; however, these delays are caused primarily before
the requisition arrives in IDSB.
3. Again, make an all out effort to eliminate the CCDB
filing backlog.
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4. Expedite distribution of run-off copies of requisitions
to IDSB.
5. Ensure that when files are returned to CCDB prompt
action is taken to return them to their appropriate location.
Suggest that all files be hand-carried directly to the Master
6. Encourage customers to prepare requisitions properly.
7. Advise customers to use prudence in planning more
effectively and by establishing more realistic dates. Suggest
that Logistics Notice LN 1-7 be distributed to all customers in
the Headquarters area. LN 1-7 lists the organizational changes
within the Supply Division and the effects on requisition
These recommendations would also satisfy recommendations 4 above.
8. Eliminate to the extent possible split actions assigned
to both PD and IDSB. The requisition should either be routed to
one element or the other for action depending on the requirement.
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ATT D
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