The rate at which some military units can be resupplied with ammunition and other materials has increased fivefold thanks to a nationwide cross-service computer network that the Combined Logistics Command has built, the command announced yesterday.
The combined logistics information system was activated in 2001 and its effectiveness has been proven after a two-year trial period. The network is accessible only to authorized users in the military.
"The system lets regional material storage centers to know which units in the region are short of supplies and what materials they need. The centers then take the initiative to resupply without waiting to be informed," said Colonel Chiang Jen-hung (
"This system can completely replace the old one, which relied on human labor. In the supply of ammunition for Taiwan proper, for instance, the resupply speed has been increased by five. For offshore islands, the resupply speed is 2.7 times faster," Chiang said.
Chiang was speaking at a regular Ministry of National Defense press conference, where he gave a briefing on the effectiveness of the newly-developed system.
The system took six years to develop and was first used on an experimental basis in 2001 mainly by the army. Now is will be used by all three services
Its development marks a great advance in military logistics, which used to be one of the most backward areas in the military because of lesser attention from top leaders.
For decades, service units wasted a lot of time by having to fill out resupply orders, getting the orders approved and waiting for regional materials storage centers to respond. The process took weeks, months and sometimes years before the orders were filled.
The combined logistics information system has helped reduce the waiting time from weeks to days for most items. The CLC has achieved a high efficiency in the supply of ammunition, cloth, fuel and food rations, but other items, such as car parts, can take longer.
Officials acknowledged that the computerized system could be paralyzed or destroyed in times of war.
"The system is vulnerable to attacks because it is a centralized system. If the center is under attack, all of the systems under its control could fail and we would have to go back to manual modes of operation," Chiang said.
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