Global ILS Symposium

Aspire help bring together a global event for the integrated support community!

In June, Aspire was very proud to help put together an event for the global integrated support community. With events held across 2 days, in 3 time zones, this celebration was put together with the explicit purpose of recognising the positive impact that the integrated logistic support concept has had and will continue to have.

I am pleased to be able to bring the recordings of the UK event together here, for you.

Enjoy..!

Global ILS Symposium (UK) - June 19th 2024

Introduction - Lee Fitzsimons, Aspire Consulting Ltd

I know what you’re thinking…

Boy, do I know how to start a party!

But that is the rhetoric and the kind of messaging that we hear all day, every day. Isn’t it?

Not today! We’re taking back this one day to celebrate the often-maligned concept of ILS. On this day, sixty years ago – June 19th 1964 – the US Department of Defence published its directive 4100.35 – Development of integrated logistic support for systems and equipments.

Maybe not quite the birth of ILS but certainly the birth of the formalised concept. So, I am very pleased that you are able to join us, as a community, to wish a very happy birthday to ILS!

I am Lee Fitzsimons, a support solutions engineer and guide at Aspire Consulting Ltd, and I have the privilege of being your host.

Welcome!

This is the second of three events that comprise the global symposium.

Our partners at LES, in Australia, hosted the first of the events this morning at 1300 local time on the 19th. Our other partner, ASI, will host their event in the US tomorrow.

Putting together this global event wouldn’t have been possible if Ian Mortimer from LES and Vijay Chachra from ASI didn’t join me in this hair-brained scheme. It’s only fitting, that I start your event today by saying thank you to them.

When we started down the road to creating this global symposium, we had three broad aims.

We wanted to create an event that could be run in multiple time zones across the globe, at the same local time in each location, offering the same experience to attendees at all events. We wanted the event to exploit the opportunity of ILS’ 60th birthday to spread some much-needed positivity about the concept and we wanted to bring together a variety of speakers for you. Some speakers that you will probably hear from often and some that you may never usually hear from. We wanted to give an opportunity for a cross-section of the community to share their thoughts with you.

In the name of positivity, we’ve asked all of your speakers today to share their favourite thing about ILS.

Obviously, as your host, I have the prerogative to share mine first…

In essence, my favourite thing is that the core idea of ILS, the core argument to formalise the concept, has endured and is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s.

But, what is that core idea?

To answer that question, I want to refer to a slightly later document. 1968’s 4100.35G – Integrated Logistic Support Planning Guide for DoD Systems and Equipment includes this detail…

There are some key words in that statement. Words on which most of our arguments for correctly implementing ILS are based. Words like ‘timely’, ‘effective’, ‘efficiency’ and, the big one…

‘integration’.

That quote, from 4100.35G, is wonderful. I captures, in a nutshell, the essence of ILS. It doesn’t say it explicitly, sure, but the essence of ILS is that support is delivered by a system.

Coming forward, to this modern day, if I have to answer the question “What is ILS?” I say that…

That simple statement of fact, that is the idea that endures.

When you signed up to this webinar, we invited you to share a positive message about ILS as part of the process. Ciaran Dodd said “let’s share the benefits and what it does rather than worry about what we call ILS”.

Damn straight.

100% agree.

We are going to focus on the IDEA today.

But…

…

…if I were to change its name to anything, that’s what I would call it. The systems approach to support.

It’s the positive impact of taking the systems approach to support that we’re really celebrating today and this is how your celebration will run (Note: the timings in the image were more relevant on the day than they are for this article, please just use it as an indication of presentation order)…

Each of your speakers was asked to address specific questions during their presentation. For each presentation, you will see the questions that were posed to the speaker, their favourite thing about ILS and the video of the presentation.

Presentation 1 - Ian Mortimer, Logistic Engineering Services Pty

Ian Mortimer is the Business Development Manager at LES in Australia and says that his favourite thing about ILS is configuration management. It’s the one key part that an ILS program needs to get right as all other through life supportability factors hang off it.

Presentation 2 - Peter Stuttard, Aspire Consulting Ltd

Peter Stuttard is a support solutions engineer and guide, my colleague and mentor at Aspire Consulting Ltd. He says his favourite thing about ILS is that it is a logical and structured approach that can be used to address some very complex and critically important existential issues.

Presentation 3 - Ron Weinberger, Andromeda Systems Incorporated

Ron is the vice-president of foreign military sales at Andromeda Systems Incorporated. He says his favourite thing about ILS is Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (PHS&T). As a former International Product Support Manager (PSM), successful usage of the product came down to the PHS&T in support of the user. The PHS&T ILS element is one of the most internationally regulated elements, which showcases the mixture of science and art forms for success. This ILS element impacts the global supply chain yet has limited engagements by Government Product Support Managers, which is why he encouraged his logisticians to learn more about this ILS element.

Presentation 4 - Vanguard, Team Defence Information

The Vanguard (a subgroup of Team Defence Information [TDI]) is a network of early career professionals across the defence sector. They say that their favourite thing about ILS, as individuals in more junior roles, is discovering the profound impact that correctly designed support can have on the ability of equipment or services to perform effectively through life.

Presentation 5 - Steve Newbold, Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency

Steve Newbold is an ILS Manager within the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency. He says his favourite thing about ILS is how it transforms an equipment delivery into a robust and dependable capability.

Presentation 6 - James V Jones, Logistics Management Associates

James V. Jones is an internationally recognized authority in integrated logistics support. He plies his trade with Logistic Management Associates in the US and he says that his favourite thing about ILS is knowing I made a difference.

Concluding Remarks - Lee Fitzsimons, Aspire Consulting Ltd

I started off the symposium with this slide…

The words on that slide are a paraphrase of a statement made by General F J Chesarek during the first annual ILS Symposium held in Washington, DC in July 1969.

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that Ian referred to this speech during his presentation.

What General Chesarek actually said, when he addressed that symposium some 55 years ago was…

He went on to say…

In 1969, General Chesarek recognised ILS as the key to fully utilising our capabilities in a world of shrinking workforces and budgets.

The systems approach to support is still the key today.

One of the interesting features of the General’s statement is the word ‘rejuvenation’. All of you in the audience for this symposium know that the systems approach is the key. Our challenge, collectively, is to rejuvenate the enthusiasm for it outside of this community. My question for you is, how do we do that?

For now, though, I want to thank our contributors Ian, Peter, Ron, TDI Vanguard, Steve and James.

I want to thank you, the audience, for contributing to the celebration and for sharing your positivity.

We’ll catch up with you again very soon.

Aspire is passionate about partnership and about finding new ways to communicate about support. This symposium is a shining example of what you can achieve if you work with Aspire. If you work in support, and you have an idea that you would like some help with, reach out to Aspire because we love this stuff!

Hit the links to watch the videos from our partner events in Australia and the US.