New Systems Make Military Moves More Efficient

[Sweet*Southern*Lady]

I took this from http://www.militarywives.com/index.php/component/option,com_content...

By Donna Miles 

American Forces Press Service 

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2010 - With the busiest season for permanent-change-of-station moves under way, officials at U.S. Transportation Command are
encouraging servicemembers to take advantage of new systems designed to
make the process more convenient and efficient. 

Transcom launched the new Personally Procured Move, or PPM, system to better compensate servicemembers who personally move their household goods on military orders, said Dolly Davidson, a change management
outreach specialist at Transcom. PPM replaced the old "Do It Yourself,"
or DITY, move system. 

Under PPM, servicemembers can receive up to 95 percent of what it would cost the government to move their goods using a commercial carrier. They can
hire a commercial mover if they choose, move some or all of their goods
themselves, and pocket any savings they receive. 

While converting to PPM, Transcom also introduced a new system, the Defense Personal Property System, to process and manage household moves. 

DPS is a computerized management system for moving the household goods of military members and Defense Department civilians, Davidson explained.
It automates many steps involved in military moves: pre-move
counseling, scheduling, tracking, invoicing and claims-filing for
household goods shipments. 

This eliminates the need for servicemembers to schedule appointments at their base to arrange their household goods moves face-to-face, she said, allowing
them to make arrangements anywhere, any time. 

"In DTS, you can go in 24/7, you can counsel yourself, you can put in your shipment and move arrangements, and everything else is done
automatically," she said. "You can do it from your laptop, from your
work station, even your living room couch. And you can also track your
shipments online, too." 

And unlike the legacy paper-based system it replaces, DPS is equipped to process moves servicemembers make themselves ? which constitute the vast majority of
moves. 

Aside from convenience, DPS is a big money-saver for the government, not only reducing PCS processing costs, but also generating lower cost estimates from many moving companies,
said Roland Amos, chief of the DPS functional and requirements branch
at Transcom. 

That's a big factor for the military, which spends about $2 billion a year for more than 550,000 household moves, Transcom reported. 

With all these factors in DPS' favor, Transcom officials are encouraged by the dramatic increase in its use since the Personally Procured Move
rollout. 

"The services and the servicemembers have definitely embraced it," Davidson said. "[Usage] went up to about 50 percent right from the get-go." 

Now, Davidson added, with the legacy system expected to remain operational until December along with DPS, her mission is to encourage
servicemembers to choose DPS to process their moves. With more than
half of annual moves occurring between May and August, Davidson is
particularly interested in getting that word out now. 

"We really want them to understand the advantages, and why it's best for them," she said. 

Transcom officials also encourage servicemembers to register their household-move experiences through a new online customer service survey
found at http://www.move.mil. The results will be used to help the
command select the best-performing moving companies for future military
moves, Davidson said. 

 

*Related Sites:* 

U.S. Transportation Command [ http://www.transcom.mil ] 

Defense Department Household Goods Portal [ http://www.move.mil/ ]