The L3Harris Logistics team of Rick Byno, Chad Bacastow and Andrew Antenorcurz traveled to South Korea to present the second and final delivery to Korea’s Department of Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the Korean military. The event celebrated the delivery of Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggles (GPNVG) five months ahead of schedule.
The relationship L3Harris and the Korean Military have cultivated over the years, according to Rick Byno, Director of Logistics for Communications Systems’ Integrated Vision Solutions (IVS) sector.
IVS began work on the GPNVG program in 2018 when the Republic of Korea officially awarded the company a the contract award for 1,052 units, as well as Logistics support to the equipment, repair parts, training and technical support. The contract was split between two deliveries, the first of which was made in November of last year, and the second originally scheduled for December 2020. However, during a Program
Management Review following the first delivery, Korean military officials requested an expedited delivery for the second shipment – almost half a year earlier than originally scheduled.
“Operations did a fantastic job meeting the milestones we were setting early,” Byno said. “This wasn’t one individual going above and beyond. We couldn’t have delivered early if it weren’t for Purchasing pulling in parts and monitoring delivery, Operations building the product, Product Management planning the build schedule within the other system sales, Quality ensuring it was inspected and tested, Packaging to get it to Korea and Exports and Finance to provide supporting paperwork. They all played a critical part in this. And our Logistics team didn’t bat an eye going over there during the pandemic.”
To meet the accelerated schedule, the company needed to pull material in earlier than expected, but IVS’ manufacturing team was “building like gangbusters” throughout the project, all without pulling in additional staff or adding shifts to the production line. According to Byno, employees operated as a unified team with a common goal and objective, committed to speed and excellence.
“That’s why they like doing business with us: we’re able to adapt and overcome to provide them with what they wanted,” he added. “Our relationship with their Special Forces organization is very close, and they’re always looking for the next piece of
equipment that will be a combat multiplier.”
The two-week trip began with spending one night in a Korean government quarantine facility and getting tested for COVID-19. Negative test results came back in less than 10 hours, after which the team’s travel was monitored, and they were required to check in with an app downloaded on their phone every day. “It was quite the experience,” Byno said. Mission complete!