Ageing IT systems are contributing to persistent problems in the management of inventories for national defence, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
It has highlighted the issue as one of the significant factors in its new report, Defence Inventory Management, which says weaknesses are putting at risk the delivery of equipment and supplies to the frontline.
The report is focused on the management by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of an £11.8 billion portfolio of inventory that includes weapons, spare parts, raw materials and consumables. It says they are managed by many organisations with different policies and ways of working, which creates a complex landscape with inefficiencies and makes it difficult for the MoD to achieve its strategic objectives.
One of the major problems, according to the NAO, is that the MoD has been slow to upgrade its legacy IT estate, which includes two 40-year-old core inventory systems for the Army and Navy. The systems often cannot easily communicate with each other, which requires manual interventions, and it is difficult to obtain the data to get a clear picture of inventories.
The report says some aspects of data quality are poor, citing the example of the Navy’s system being able to record that an item is damaged but not to what extent, which makes it difficult to know what could be repaired.
Rationalisation of systems
It adds that between 2010 and 2022 the MoD reduced the number of logistics support systems it uses from around 250 to 89, and while this has produced some benefits its data remains in siloes and difficult to access across the department.
It is currently seeking to rationalise and modernise its information systems further, partly through its Business Modernisation for Support Programme.
This all contributes to limitations in the MoD’s inventory data that undermine its ability to make effective decisions.
While an update of systems is underway as part of a series of transformation programmes, there are risks to the delivery as the MoD does not have in place all the staff it needs.
Other issues identified in the report are that the ministry does not have a comprehensive picture of the support workforce and where it has gaps, it does not consistently dispose of inventory it no longer requires, and it has further work to do to reduce over-purchasing.
Limited powers
An underlying problem is that, while the MoD set up Defence Support in 2019 to establish common standards, there are still challenges in doing so as it cannot direct other defence organisations but has to rely on influencing their aims.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “The Ministry of Defence has taken steps to improve its inventory management, and these have resulted in improvements in logistics and commodity procurement and reductions in over-purchasing. However, longstanding weaknesses with its inventory management remain, primarily from legacy IT systems.
“The MoD must ensure it prioritises the resources it needs for its transformation programmes, otherwise its ability to build resilience and deploy the people and equipment it needs in the right places will be frustrated.”
