Canadian Forces Overseas Supply Network: Strategic Need and Design Methodology (original) (raw)

The Canadian Forces (CF) relies on a supply network to support Canada's international disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and peace enforcement roles. Internal and external warehousing, maintenance and transportation assets support the deployment, sustainment and redeployment phases of each mission. Currently, this supply network does not incorporate any permanent overseas depots. Since international needs and Canada's roles have significantly evolved during the last decades, and given that supply network efficiency and robustness are critical factors for missions' success, the reengineering of the CF supply network to incorporate permanent international Operations Support Depots (OSD) has become a critical issue. This position paper discusses fundamental factors that may affect Canada's role fulfillment, establishes supply capability needs, and proposes a methodology to design the best overseas supply network for the CF.