The Potential Effects of Alternative Concepts for Managing the Distribution of Resupply Cargo

This report describes an evaluation of alternative concepts for managing the distribution of non-unit-related, or resupply, military cargo in wartime, all of which focus on procedures for effectively coordinating the day-to-day and week-to-week operations of a given set of supply and transportation resources. Specifically, the authors consider dynamic approaches to four wartime resupply management tasks: (1) directing specific shipments into appropriate resupply pipelines and managing the resulting flows of cargo and transportation vehicles to most effectively utilize scarce resources; (2) organizing transportation assets to connect materiel sources and destinations; (3) allocating available transportation among competing demands; and (4) allocating available materiel among competing demands. The authors also consider the potential contribution of an enhanced priority system that would provide distribution system operators with more information than is offered by the current DoD priority system.