Design for support and support the design: integrated logistic support ‐ the business case

The cost of supporting multi‐million‐pound military systems and equipment during the “in‐service” phase is now often well in excess of two‐thirds of the total cost of ownership. The management approach used to predict, budget, validate and control overall support costs is known as integrated logistic support (ILS). Explains the military approach to “designing for support”, how this is integrated into the operational requirement, and the benefits which accrue. This leads to an analytical process known as logistic support analysis (LSA), which is integrated into a dynamic “supportability database” known as the logistic support analysis records (LSAR). It then becomes the definitive repository for information on all support activities, including provisioning and technical documentation, and continues “live” in the in‐service phase “supporting the design”. Under a US Department of Defense initiative, using electronic data interchange (EDI), known as CALS ‐ which was computer‐aided acquisition and logistics support, and has now been redefined as “continuous acquisition and life‐cycle support” ‐ the UK Ministry of Defence is currently fielding an Interim Defence Standard 00‐60, which it is promoting as a contender for a NATO and ISO Standard on ILS. The final edition will be a standard for contracting for ILS, provisioning, technical documentation and CALS using EDI.