Support Facilities Concept
Definition
An early analysis and consideration of how facilities will be used to support the system. The system design heavily influences the number and types of support facilities that will be needed to sustain the system during operations.
General/Information/Narrative
Analysis must be done to determine alternative ways to support and maintain the system being developed and to identify the potential support resources required considering the alternative system designs for meeting the user requirement. One of the key support areas to be considered is the anticipated requirements for support facilities.
Support facilities are the permanent and semi-permanent real property assets needed to support operation, maintenance and storage of a system and its support equipment. Support facilities include existing, new and modified facilities, special environmental control capabilities, and utilities. Support facilities must be initially identified prior to Milestone B and finalized as soon as possible after Milestone B because it can take up to five years to obtain funding for support facilities. Even after funding is obtained, facilities can take a significant amount of time to build. The PM must coordinate all facility requirements with the Corps of Engineers. Refer to DA Pam 700-56.
Areas for consideration include:
-- Training facilities
-- Depot maintenance facilities
-- Fixed and Mobile maintenance facilities
-- Fixed and mobile storage facilities (including hazardous materials storage)
-- Testing facilities
-- Facility physical security requirements
-- Utilities (common or unique organic/commercial power)
-- Housing and dining facilities
Determine requirements for, conduct trade-off analyses and acquire the permanent and semi-permanent real property assets needed to support operation, maintenance and storage of a system and its support equipment. Assess the adequacy or inadequacy of existing facilities for both the end item and its maintenance and support needs (for example, TMDE, ATE, TPS). Determine any modifications necessary to existing facilities. Wherever practical, design the system to utilize existing support facilities. As a last resort, justify any new facilities requirements for personnel using, testing, training, operating, and doing field and depot maintenance. This element includes any special environmental conditions, utilities and security required. To assure that satisfactory lead times are provided for advanced funding planning (typically 5 to 7 years before occupancy), major gaining commands should be advised of projected new and modified facilities requirements following identification of the facilities programming and scheduling of required actions.
For U. S. Army requirements, the HQDA must also be expeditiously informed of facility requirements for input and budgetary requirements Identified in the facilities concept which describes anticipated requirements for facilities that will be needed to sustain the system as well as the process for determining these requirements. Associated utilities and security requirements should also be addressed. The goal should be maximize use of existing facilities and minimize the costly construction of permanent facilities. It must be kept in mind that the acquisition process for facilities involves very long lead times. The facilities concept is developed by the combat developer in coordination with the materiel developer and must be described in the capabilities document.
Policies, Directives, Regulations, Laws
Army Regulation 700-127, Integrated Logistics Support
DA Pam 700-56
Best Practices, Lessons Learned, Stories, Guides, Handbooks, Templates, Example Tools, Communities of Practice, LEC Tools
Department of the Army Pamphlet 700-56, Logistics Supportability Planning and Procedures in Army Acquisition
MIL-STD-1388-1A, Logistic Support Analysis
PowerLOG is capable of storing data related to support facilities and produces the Facilities Requirements (LSA-012) report in support of this activity. PowerLOG is a logistics data management system developed to support the development, integration, and review of logistic product information throughout the acquisition life cycle. PowerLOG implements the Logistics Support Analysis Record (LSAR) requirements defined in MIL-STD-1388-2B as well as Logistics Product Data (LPD) standards defined by GEIA-STD-0007. PowerLOG also supports legacy data standards such as MIL-STD-1552 (PMR). PowerLOG is available free to all Government agencies and their contractors and can be obtained by visiting: https://www.logsa.army.mil/lec/powerlog/.
The Computerized Optimization Model for Predicting and Analyzing Support Structures (COMPASS) is a system Level of Repair Analysis (LORA) modeling tool. LORA is the analytical methodology used to determine the maintenance repair levels where items should be removed and replaced; and ultimately repaired or discarded. COMPASS estimates the cost to repair or discard items at various maintenance levels, with contractor facilities included as a separate level. COMPASS optimizes both the maintenance and support to achieve your target operational availability (Ao). COMPASS can consider up to four levels of organic maintenance (supports Two-Level Maintenance studies), supply support, and contractor support. You can also use COMPASS output data as a source for developing the MAC and SMR codes. COMPASS is a free tool available to both DoD and contractors at: https://www.logsa.army.mil/lec/compass/.
The Cost Analysis Strategy Assessment (CASA) Life-Cycle Cost Estimating Software uses an engineering cost model to estimate total cost of ownership based on RDT&E, Acquisition/Procurement, O&S, and Disposal activities. CASA can compare lifecycle costs based on different support facility configurations. Request from foreign nations for CASA and associated training and technical support are handled through a Foreign Military Sales Case (FMS). CASA can be obtained here: https://www.logsa.army.mil/lec/casa/.
Training Resources
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