Guest post by CDR Dan Taylor, CG-LIMS Project Manager
Earlier this month I had the privilege of starting the Commandant's staff meeting with a 2 1/2 minute brief on the Coast Guard Logistics Information Management System (CG-LIMS). I provided a high level description of CG-LIMS and why it is critical to modernization. In the few minutes of discussion afterward, the Sponsor (CG-4) and Chief of Staff made their support crystal clear: we have to fund and execute the project to complete the modernization of our logistics and financial systems.
Here is the message I shared with the slides: /CGLIMS.pdf
To boil the project down to its essence, it's the recapitalization of our logistics tools in a way that's connected, standardized, and delivered in segments. We'll preserve and integrate with the modern parts of ALMIS, replace the legacy parts, and do it in a way that supports enterprise logistics and financial requirements.
CG-LIMS will rationalize the connection between our logistics systems and our financial system. It will capture logistics transactions and feed a single general ledger. We'll use commercial-off-the-shelf logistics tools that have successfully integrated with a federal agency's Core Accounting System. Using proven COTS tools will minimize integration risk, but integrating CG-LIMS with other Coast Guard systems is the greatest risk for the project.
CG-LIMS will connect maintenance and supply far better than ALMIS does today. The mechanic in the field will know they have the parts on hand to execute a maintenance plan without going into multiple systems. All the commercial tools we've looked at have this integration at their core.
One of the biggest pain points for ALMIS is that it works only when connected to the network. When it's not, we capture everything on paper and enter it later. That's clearly not acceptable for months underway. Fortunately, there are solutions in the market that will support limited bandwidth and interrupted connections.
Aviation processes evolved to provide the best support possible within the constraints of the legacy tools, often requiring workarounds and duplicated work. Future product line managers for all asset types will manage logistics a standard way, with far better integrated tools.
So how will we deliver CG-LIMS as a connected, standardized logistics system? We'll do it in discrete useable segments.
The first part of ALMIS we'll replace is ACMS, the 20-year-old system used for configuration and maintenance management. The Asset Project Office (APO) and Logistics Transformation Program Integration Office (LTPIO) will continue to use ALMIS to support transformation until we deliver the first segment. As CG-LIMS is delivered, the legacy parts of ALMIS will be retired, and shore, surface, and C4 assets will be migrated to CG-LIMS. Then the other legacy logistics systems will be retired.
The future segmentation is based on requirements priority, functional boundaries in the systems we're replacing, and timing of DHS financial transformation. It's a risk-based approach that provides a solid foundation and takes consistent small steps forward.
This blog is one of the many tools we've used to stay connected to the field. Jim Sylvester and I wrote an overview post in June, and we'll continue to provide updates.
We'll maintain transparency with our stakeholders using enterprise tools like CG Portal, ePMO, the CG-9 website, and the wiki and blog tools of Intelink-U.
We'll take a much deeper dive during the Annual Brief later this month, and with the Leadership Council in early October. But for now, think of CG-LIMS as the IT part of a connected, standardized logistics system delivered in segments to support modernization.
