The First Annual General William G.T. Tuttle, Jr., USA (Ret.) Award for Business Acumen in Defense and Government

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bringing together select leaders from the U.S. Department of Defense, The Department of Homeland Security, other government agencies and the private sector, the Center of Excellence in Logistics and Technology (LOGTECH) held the First Annual General William G.T. Tuttle, Jr., USA (Ret.) Awards dinner.  This special event occurred on February 3 at the Kenan Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.  The attendees consisted of participants, students, and program faculty participating in the LOGTECH Program for Executives in Logistics and Technology, the Depot & Arsenal Executive Leadership Program, and the LOGTECH MBA.  UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) partner on development and delivery of LOGTECH. Members of the IDB Board of Directors, the NC Governor's Administration, and other distinguished guests also attended.

The evening also included the graduation of participants from the LOGTECH Executive Program.  Graduates consisted of flag and field grade officers, as well as senior civilians and high level corporate executives.  After giving the keynote address, General Tuttle himself presented the first annual General William G.T. Tuttle, Jr., USA (Ret.) Award for Business Acumen in Defense and Government to Mr. Michael Hansen, and the U.S. Transportation Command's Logistic Sustainment Division that he heads.  Nominations for this award were sought from over 250 participants who had attended six previous LOGTECH Advanced Programs in Logistics and Technology.  The nominations documented real-world results from applying what each participant had learned in the program to improve the efficiencies and operations of their organizations.  

"I am extremely proud of Michael Hansen and his Logistics Sustainment Division for their work in optimizing transportation options available to support our warfighters," said Maj. Gen. Michelle Johnson, USTRANSCOM's director of Strategy, Policy, Programs and Logistics. "It is indeed an honor for all of USTRANSCOM for them to receive this recognition as the winner of

the inaugural LOGTECH General Tuttle award."  

Executive Education Optimizes Enterprise Distribution

Hansen and his Division team optimized distribution at USTRANSCOM's Logistic Sustainment Division which develops, assesses and implements deployment and distribution capability solutions for Combatant Commanders, the Military Services, Federal Agencies and others to improve forecast accuracy.  

The fundamental principle the team utilized was to take an enterprise-wide look at how best to pack shipping containers in order to overcome inefficiencies and excessive costs. Hansen's Division found that containers packed only with deliveries for a single customer were often not speeding delivery to that customer as intended. Their analysis showed that the benefits of reduction in handling and potential speed gains at forwarding distribution points by pure pack shipments were outweighed by the extended pipeline created by the resulting light loads.  The solution was to find the optimal balance between pure pack and mixed pack pallets or containers based on the receiving distribution center's capacity to repackage or route cargo from full pallets or containers.  The Logistic Sustainment Division's use of business principles and analytics produced straight forward tools and procedures--netting savings of $123 million in 2010, improving velocity by 20% in sea containers and increasing aircraft utilization on all airlift missions by 11.7 percent.

About the GEN William G. T. Tuttle, Jr. (Ret.) Award

An annual award will be given to a participant in the prior year's LOGTECH Advanced Programs in Logistics and Technology who best demonstrates a return on investment to his/her organization by successfully leading his or her organization in applying the lessons learned in the Program.  The IDB developed this award to recognize an exceptional business application in Defense and Government.  

This award is a fitting tribute to General Tuttle for his many years of staunch support for LOGTECH, and is emblematic of his life-long contributions to logistics in the Department of Defense and the private sector.  

About the IDB

The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) is a non-profit research and education institute formed in 1997 by UNC-Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina. The IDB offers a series of educational programs for the military, government, non-governmental organizations, and private industry, in the areas of logistics and technology, life cycle management, organizational leadership and change, and economic stabilization.

For more information:  Please contact either Theresa Esposto Raines, Director of Industry Relations at [email protected], or April McGill, Military and Industry Outreach Associate at [email protected] or call at 919-969-8008.

SOURCE Institute for Defense and Business