Short overview of expertise from the LMS team

LMS is a Logistic Engineering consulting company based in Pretoria, South Africa. Dr. Andrew Meyer (Executive Manager of LMS) studied Obsolescence Management (OM) as the subject for a Masters- as well as a Doctoral degree (Engineering Management).

LMS has been involved with ongoing research on the subject of obsolescence management (OM) with involvement from various institutions. The OM support to several major projects is being used as actual case studies together with inputs from other related commercial projects. This results in specialist understanding and knowledge of OM. Dedicated strategies to mitigate applicable obsolescence risks were developed as well as dedicated tools to support obsolescence management during all life cycle phases of products / systems, were subsequently developed by LMS.

Dr. Meyer has published several articles in local Engineering- and Defence industry journals. He is frequently being requested to make presentations to the South Africa Defence sectors, related Defence industries as well as other industry forums on the subject of OM.

 Presentations were made and papers published at international forums such as:

• International Engineering Management Conference (IEMC 2004) in Singapore during October 2004 (2 Papers/presentations);
• Component Obsolescence Group (COG) conference in Wales, UK during June 2005;
• International Configuration Management Conference, Midrand, South Africa during March 2006;
• Components for Military and Space Electronics (CMSE) Conference and Workshop during June 2006 in Portsmouth, UK;
• South African Institute for Industrial Engineering Annual Conferences: SAIIE 2007, SAIIE 2008;
• South African International Aerospace Symposium, September 2008, Spier in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Invitation received for OM presentations at:
• South African Institute for Industrial Engineering (SAIIE) Annual Conference: SAIIE 2009, Sept 2008;
• International Aerospace Symposium of South Africa 2009 Conference, November 2009, Pretoria, South Africa.

A growing demand by clients for specialized support regarding mitigation of obsolescence risks resulted in LMS to provide dedicated OM support services. It includes OM planning, performing obsolescence risk assessment on products and systems, costing analysis regarding cost effective solutions, finding substitute component replacements, support design upgrades to mitigate obsolescence etc.

Orders for OM support were concluded for several complex weapon systems for example, the Rooivalk Attack Helicopter, Ingwe missile, GV6 155mm self propelled gun, Rooikat Armoured vehicle and several others. LMS has also being contracted by the South African (SA) Army to support them in implementing an OM programme for the SA Army Products Systems. LMS is currently engaged in negotiations regarding various other OM support orders including commercial products for various sectors of industry and other commercial sectors that also experience a rapid growth in obsolescence problems.

LMS also specializes in the full spectrum of Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) including Logistics engineering, reliability engineering and Product support contract management.