NEWS

Robert Kline and Dr. Tovey Bachman Win SOLE Space Logistics Field Award

MCLEAN, Va., October 23, 2007—Robert C. Kline and Dr. Tovey C. Bachman won the prestigious Space Logistics Field Award at this year’s SOLE International Logistics Conference. SOLE—The International Society of Logistics—established the SOLE Field Awards to recognize technical achievement and professional experience in, and contributions to, a given specialty of logistics. Field Awards are given annually by the Field Awards Committee and Awards Board, and no more than eight awards are given in any year.

The award citation reads in part as follows:

Robert C. Kline and Dr. Tovey C. Bachman of Logistics Management Institute Government Consulting are co-developers of a hybrid analytical and parametric model for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that estimates spares mass and volume for human missions beyond low-earth orbit. Estimating the required mass and volume of spare parts is an important first step toward determining spares requirements for the next generation of NASA mission that will send humans to the moon, asteroids, Mars and beyond and then return them safely to Earth. The model minimizes the spares resources for different missions and different timeframes (from preliminary designs to mature architectures) in a mission. They also co-developed the Spacecraft Sustainability ModelTM (SSMTM) for the space shuttle to assess the supportability of prospective launch schedules. The SSM uses detailed shuttle parts data and estimates fleet performance over time. In addition, Mr. Kline developed a spare-parts model for NASA’s Space Station Freedom that enables three NASA centers and their prime contractor to estimate spare-part requirements and their associated budgets as the station is assembled and operated. Dr. Bachman discovered a relationship between the number of shuttle launches and repair parts demand over time that was useful for characterizing the space shuttle repair parts-demand process. Mr. Kline and Dr. Bachman have made unique and lasting contributions to systems-based logistics support through their tireless efforts in adapting modern inventory management theory to the challenges of space logistics and provisioning.

Since joining LMI in 1986, Rob Kline has led research programs in logistics capability assessment and materiel management policy for such clients as the Israeli Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Air Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and commercial aircraft manufacturers. He was one of the principal developers of the LMI Aircraft Sustainability Model, a mathematical model that relates system readiness to funding for procuring spares. The ASM is now a core of the U.S. and Israeli Air Force spares requirements system.

Tovey Bachman, who joined LMI in 1989, specializes in modeling performance-versus-resource relationships and inferring functional relationships from empirical data. Dr. Bachman invented the Peak Policy for ordering items with sporadic demand, dramatically improving customer service without increasing inventory investment, for which he won the Military Operations Research Society’s Barchi Prize. He is the principal developer of LMI’s Financial and Inventory Simulation Model for analyzing complex interactions between inventory and financial systems when item demand patterns do not fit theoretical probability distributions. His clients include the Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, Amtrak, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and U.S. Congress.

LMI is a not-for-profit government consulting firm established in 1961 at the behest of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. Best known for its logistics expertise, LMI’s work now includes acquisition, facilities management, financial management, information technology, and organizations and human capital. Numbered among its clients are Department of Defense organizations and civil agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Service.