Ukrainian Armed Forces integrate NATO-approved SAP resource management system

The ministry notes that the introduction of this system has helped the Ministry of Defence speed up the processing of supply requests from brigades from several weeks to 2-3 days, while previously this process could take a month.

The system is currently in pilot use, but is being scaled up to all military units, the ministry added.

Military units and operational commands, storage warehouses, and the Logistics Forces Command have access to the system for ordering and monitoring stocks. However, not all users of the application have access to information related to other military personnel and units. The principle of "need to know" is applied, when access is granted only to the information that the user needs to perform his or her task.

The Ministry of Defence reports that 44 countries use SAP products in the defence sector, including 28 of the 31 NATO member states. The largest users are the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Poland, and Australia.

The automation process started with the accounting of inventory and spare parts, and in September, automatic accounting of equipment was incorporated. The updates have already been implemented at several supply warehouses.

Basic operations at these warehouses are carried out using scanners, data collection terminals and other tools of the SAP-based management system. The Ministry of Defence noted that the system has already been adapted and trained to work with warehouse staff everywhere.

"The extensive adoption of the system is expected to lead to the total elimination of paperwork in logistics operations. The next step is to continue modernising all warehouses, implementing SAP and connecting them to the general system," the agency said in a statement.

• On 16 September, Arsen Zhumadilov, head of the Defence Ministry's Resource Support Agency, said that the current procedure for keeping records in the Ministry of Defence's resource support system is based on outdated methods and does not allow analysing the real needs of military units.