Transforming US Army Supply Chains

Chapter 21

Contributions of (Transactional) Information System Technology and (Analytical) Operations Research

We need to alleviate the collection of useless data and information. Too many bureaucratic layers managing unnecessary information continue to exist because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” We need to collect only that information that adds value to the decision making process.

—General Paul Kern, Commanding General, Army Materiel Command

What matters most is what the data means…Information is most certainly not wisdom…The transformation of information into knowledge has in fact represented an intractable and almost unsolvable problem that has not significantly improved over the past half-century. Masses of information tend ...