Israel joined the NATO cataloguing (codification) system. The IDF Technological and Logistics Directorate will implement the cataloguing procedures in the IDF ahead of the establishment of a national catalogue center.
The agreement for Israel’s participation in the NATO cataloguing system was signed in June, after a year of negotiations. Israel is currently an associate member in the system and will obtain full membership within three years. The NATO cataloguing (codification) system is designed to create a uniform framework of inventory and equipment use in all NATO member states.
Israel initiated negotiations to join the NATO cataloguing system two years ago, after an IDF Technological and Logistics Directorate committee studied the need to establish a uniform system of procurement procedures. The committee found that one of the greatest sources of waste in the defense establishment was the fact that there were about 100 independent procurement agencies.
The committee also found that the IDF, land, sea, air and intelligence arms simultaneously used dozens of uncoordinated cataloguing systems. The result was redundant procurements and a lack of coordination between different IDF branches, which caused inefficiencies and waste.
The committee recommended streamlining the logistics units in the IDF branches by establishing a catalogue center at the IDF Technological and Logistics Directorate. This center will establish a single tag for all IDF items, which will act as a kind of ID number.
The commander of the catalogue center said Israel’s joining the NATO cataloging system had immediate results. The NATO cataloging system includes 16 million items, and regularly publishes lists of equipment and supply items for sale. When the equipment is catalogued with the same uniform system, Israeli defense contractors can be included in the NATO database, and present their capabilities to all NATO states.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 15, 2006
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