by Gary Pearce, ASCI ACT Chapter President and ASCI ILS College Secretary

This article is Part B of a 3 part series. Read Part A now.

What is ILS - Part A introduced the ILS Elements, as illustrated right with the through-life support disciplines relationship. The ILS Elements include all those functions and resources necessary to ensure that each Mission System can be, and contribute to be, effectively supported while in service. These can be seen from the following functions and descriptions. ILS activities associated with the elements are based on considerations, identification, processes, and not on physical day-to-day services.

The ILS Elements are briefly as:

• Engineering Support (also referred as Design Interfaces) - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the required Engineering Support capability is implemented, maintained, and modified when required. These activities are undertaken to ensure that suitable engineering and design management services are able to be provided, as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System. The ILS discipline may utilise certain engineering services (e.g., maintenance requirements determination, configuration management, RAM, etc) to implement or change the Support System; it typically encompasses the Logistic Support Analysis (LSA) processes however, ILS does not include the provision of day-to-day engineering services.

• Maintenance Support (also referred as Maintenance Planning) - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the required Maintenance Support capability is implemented, maintained, and modified when required. These activities are undertaken to ensure that suitable maintenance services are able to be provided, as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System. The ILS discipline may utilise certain maintenance services (e.g., to incorporate modifications to equipment) to implement or change the Support System; however, ILS does not include the provision of day-to-day maintenance services.

• Supply Support – ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the required Supply Support capability is implemented, maintained, and modified when required. These activities are undertaken to ensure that suitable supply services are able to be provided (e.g., warehousing services), as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System. The ILS discipline may utilise certain supply services (e.g., for the delivery of Support Resources) to implement or change the Support System; however, ILS does not include the provision of day-to-day supply services.

• Training Support - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the required Training Support capability is implemented, maintained, and modified when required. These activities are undertaken to ensure that suitable training services are able to be provided, as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System. The ILS discipline may utilise certain training services (e.g., for the delivery of initial and/or conversion training) to implement or change the Support System; however, ILS does not include the provision of day-to-day training services. It encompasses all the considerations necessary to provide all applicable personnel (Service, Defence Civilian & Contractor) with the skills necessary to acquire, operate, support and dispose of the capability/system.

• Packaging, Handling, Storage and Transportation (PHS&T) – ILS activities encompasses all considerations necessary to enable PHS&T resources and services to be provided so that a new or modified Materiel System is able to be operated and supported throughout its life. PHS&T services are managed and delivered through the Supply Support capability.

• Facilities - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the facilities needed for the operation, support, and disposal of the Mission System and Support System Components, are provided throughout the life of the Materiel System.

• Support and Test Equipment (S&TE) (also referred as Support Equipment) - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the S&TE needed for the operation, support, and disposal of the Mission System and Support System components is provided, as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System.  This includes identification of handling equipment (forklifts, trolleys, lifting devices, etc), tools, metrology (measurement devices) and calibration equipment, test equipment and automated test equipment, and diagnostic software for support equipment maintenance.

• Personnel (also referred as Manpower) - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that Defence and/or contractor personnel are available, when, where and with the skills needed, to operate, maintain, train, store, handle, control, supply, project manage and dispose of the Mission System and Support System components throughout the life of the Materiel System. This element has interactions with every other ILS element. Personnel often represent the single largest LCC contributor, particularly in the in-service phase.

• Technical Data (also referred as Technical Publications/Documentation) - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the appropriate data and information is competently managed and available, when, where and in the form required, for the operation, support, and disposal of the Mission System and Support System Components throughout the life of the Materiel System. Technical Data comprises all technical information of a scientific, technical and engineering nature relating to the capability/system. Technical data includes all forms of specifications, standards, engineering drawings, instructions, reports, manuals, tabular data, test results and software documentation, used in the development, acquisition, production, in-service operation and logistics support (such as maintenance, supply support, codification, testing and modification), and disposal of a materiel system. Includes data exchange transfer requirements.

• Computer Support (also referred as Software Support) - ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that the required Computer Support (Software Support) capability is implemented, maintained and modified when required. These activities are undertaken to ensure that suitable Software Support services, for embedded Mission System and Support System software and firmware, are able to be provided, as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System. Software Support services are managed and delivered through the Engineering Support capability.

It also includes Logistic Information Management Systems (LIMS), ILS activities encompass all of the considerations necessary to ensure that LIMS are implemented, maintained and modified when required. These activities are undertaken to ensure that suitable LIMS and LIMS services are able to be provided, as and when required, throughout the life of the Materiel System. While ILS activities consider the provision of LIMS and LIMS services, ILS does not include the provision of day-to-day services.

Key Core Through-Life Support Disciplines that support/assist ILS Decisions:

• Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) / Record (LSAR)

• Systems Engineering (SE)

• Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM)

• Failure Modes, Effects & Criticality Analysis (FMECA)

• Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA)

• Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM)

• Level Of Repair Analysis (LORA)

• Technical Data Management (TDM)

• Verification and Validation (V&V)

• Life Cycle Costing Analysis (LCCA).

In addition, ILS interfaces with:

• Project Management

• Procurement Management

• Risk Management

• Inventory Management

• Supply Chain Management

• Safety and Hazard Analysis

• Human Factors Analysis

• Trials and Acceptance

• Configuration Management

• Quality

• Environmental Requirements

• Design Reviews

• Contract Management.

In summary ILS Management is the process of planning, directing, controlling, coordinating and monitoring. ILS activities include consideration connected with the ILS/Supported Elements, to maintain ILS integration objectives. ILS activities including considerations associated with ILS.Support Elements ensure ISL integration objectives are achieved.

In the next article there will be continuing ILS theme howe currently throughout the world in particular Europe and USA, IPS is replacing ILS through the S-Series Specification process, changing of the guard which isn't a huge change. What is IPS, see the next article Part C coming soon.

ASCI Professional Accreditation Scheme

ASCI provide individuals with professional acknowledgement and recognition of competence through registration under the scheme. Registration under this scheme provides professional recognition of competence through the confirmation and acknowledgement to the individual and by implication, to the industry, of his/her career achievements against an industry accepted, globally aligned set of standards, on par with other professional disciplines in industry.

The Author

Gary Pearce is a retired ILS Practitioner with over 20 years direct ILS experience, and 50 years Defence and Defence Industry experience. He holds a Masters in Management Studies-Logistics (UNSW) and Master of Project Management (USQ). He also has accreditation as a Registered Practitioner ILS (ASCI), Certified Professional Logistician (Transport & Logistics Certification Council) and Certified Associate in Asset Management (Asset Management Council). In addition, he has an Associate Diploma in Engineering (Maintenance)-Electronics (ADF). Gary is currently the ASCI ILS College Secretary and ASCI ACT Chapter President. Previously he was a SCLAA Director and SCLAA ACT Division President.