The Department of Defense is paying Lockheed Martin $89 million to converge the Defense Logistics Agency's and the U.S. Transportation Command's distribution networks to help the military better order and track important equipment and supply shipments.

Essentially, Lockheed Martin says it has been contracted to merge the DLA's Integrated Data Environment (IDE) distribution network with USTRANSCOM's Global Transportation Network (GTN) into one distribution system that the company calls IDE/GTN Convergence.

Angie Heise, Lockheed Martin's director of Savi Logistics Systems, says there is a glut of different systems that the DoD uses to track cargo for the DLA and USTRANSCOM networks. As a result, placing an inquiry on a piece of cargo's delivery status to two systems often yields two answers, she says. In other words, imagine what would happen if FedEx had three Web sites for tracking packages: one to check whether a package has been shipped, one to check on where the package is in its delivery route and another to track its estimated time of arrival.

"Take what happens when somebody is ordering repair parts for an airplane," Heise says. "First, you have to go to supply systems to see that it has been ordered; then you have to go to another system to see that it has been shipped; and then once that's over, you have to go to another system to look up information on exactly where it is in theatre."

Thus, the DoD is paying Lockheed Martin and its team of partner companies to create one centralized platform for the Army, Navy, Air Force and others to order and track their supply shipments. Lockheed Martin originally designed and currently maintains USTRANSCOM'S GTN system, and the company will work to synchronize that system with all other current systems. According to the company, the new platform will provide users with universal access to logistics data that will let them more easily manage all relevant supply chain information.

"We want this platform to essentially become the Google of distribution networks for the Defense Department, where it will be a one-stop location for them to get all the information they need," Heise says. "And with one central distribution system in place, the DLA and USTRANSCOM will be providing consistent information to their different users."