Page 154 - 2018 Defense White Paper

the point of an order shrank from 34.2 to 6.4. The MND plans to apply these distribution

innovation measures to more units and types of military supplies.

| Maintenance Support Innovation | To maintain adequate availability of equipment

through timely maintenance support amid increases in the acquisition of advanced weapons
systems, the MND has been building a maintenance support system that integrates and utilizes
civilian, public, and military assets.

The Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) program, which started in 2010 as a pilot project
for the KT/A-1 aircraft of the Air Force, was applied to nine units of equipment by 2017,
delivering outcomes including a reduction in procurement lead time, improved availability rate

of equipment, and cost savings.
To boost the performance of the PBL program, the scope of equipment subject to the program,
which has been mainly air equipment, is being expanded to include tanks and self-propelled
guns. For the object verif ication of its outcomes, in-depth assessments of the program have been

carried out under the supervision of the KIDA since 2017. The assessments concluded that the
availability rate of equipment increased, inventory costs decreased, and the pace of logistics

support improved. The assessment resulted in a recommendation on the direction of improving
and developing rules and regulations to expand the program in the future. The MND plans
to revise the “Directives on Performance-Based Logistics” by embracing the recommendation,
and optimize the PBL projects in consideration of the environment for maintenance and parts

procurement for major equipment.
Furthermore, since 2015, the MND has set up f ield operation maintenance support centers to
attract a large number of civilian maintenance contractors spread across the country to forward

areas, where many f ield operation units are located. As a result, it has utilized the technical skills
and resources of civilian maintenance contractors, achieving the result of swift maintenance
support including the shortening of delivery and waiting times. The MND plans to gradually

expand field operation maintenance support centers.

| Improving the Quality of Military Supplies | The MND has been listening to

servicemembers’ opinions on the use of military supplies to improve their quality while seeking
the commercialization of military supplies and the enhancement of the national defense standard
to help expand private-sector companies’ participation in the military procurement market.

152 Chapter 4 Building Elite Armed Forces Using Advanced Technology