VP of Logistics Looks toward Future

As vice president of logistics for DHS Technologies LLC, Philip Yff oversees customer support across the United States and around the world. The Reporter recently sat down with Yff, who, as a retired colonel with the U.S. Marine Corps has enjoyed a career in logistics spanning more than 30 years, to discuss how DHS has expanded its logistics operations in recent years and why the use of global service contracts is providing customers with greater support than ever before.

The Reporter: How did you first become involved in logistics?

Philip Yff: When I first joined the Marine Corps more than thirty years ago, I was assigned to the position of supply officer. From there, I became involved in various aspects of logistics, from transportation to maintenance, until my retirement in 2005.

The Reporter: As a retired member of the Marine Corps, do you find that your time in the military has helped you in your civilian job?

Philip Yff: Absolutely. When I was in the Marine Corps, I was involved in just about every aspect of logistics. I served on several Department of Defense and private industry working groups and was exposed to the differences between the public and private sectors. Today, as a member of a commercial contracting company, I know how civilians do things, as well as how the military does things. I'm fortunate enough to be able to take practices I've learned from both sides and make sure that we provide the best support possible to our servicemen and women.

The Reporter: You joined DHS in 2008 as the company's vice president of logistics; what responsibilities does your position entail?

Philip Yff: I oversee logistics operations across the country. In addition to our staff in Huntsville, we have field technicians located across the U.S. and in select international locations. We have regional support facilities near Fort Lewis, Fort Hood and Fort Bragg, and technicians in Korea and Germany. All of our support facilities are equipped to provide a wide range of services, including maintenance ranging from simple preventive maintenance to complete equipment resets. The logistics technicians are located so that they are easily accessible and can quickly address issues about proper equipment operation and warranty claims. Our department also includes a technical publications group that provides manuals to accompany all of our equipment.

The Reporter: What are some of the changes your department has undergone since you joined?

Philip Yff: In just the past few years, DHS has grown rapidly. In that time, the number of DRASH trailers in circulation has nearly doubled. Such expansion has led our department to explore new ways of ensuring that we're able to assist our growing customer base when they need us. One way of doing this has been working closely with the company's Quality Assurance Department to continuously evaluate our product line and look for possible improvements. Each time we're called to fix a piece of equipment, we do not merely fix the problem; we try to determine what caused the problem and what we or the customer can do to ensure that the problem does not happen again.

The Reporter: Have there been other changes made to better serve our customers?

Philip Yff: One of our goals is for our customers to find us easy to do business with. To that end, we recently introduced the use of fixed-price service contracts, which provides our customers with a one-stop shopping approach to resetting organizational equipment. Under these contracts, our customers pay a firm, fixed price based on the type and number of units of equipment they have and we in turn provide a technician to remain onsite and provide service support and maintenance as needed. This allows our technicians to service equipment in the most efficient way they find possible rather than be limited to what has been included in a work order. It also helps us better plan for the various services our customers will need in the future and allocate the proper resources.

The Reporter: What are the department's goals going forward?

Philip Yff: Going forward, we plan to continue a three-pronged approach to enhancing the viability of DRASH equipment throughout its life cycle. This approach includes our field technicians providing feedback to our quality assurance personnel to help enhance equipment designs and manufacturing processes, properly allocating repair parts at our various support facilities and going out of way to support legacy equipment belonging to the customers who helped put us on the map.