LCAT User Guide

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Logistics Management

Logistics Capability Assessment Tool
(LCAT) User Guide

Federal Emergency Management Agency
Logistics Management
500 C ST, SW
Washington, D.C. 20472

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Logistics Management

Table of Contents
A.

Introduction............................................................................................................. 3

B.

Purpose.................................................................................................................... 3

C.

LCAT Question Summary ...................................................................................... 4

D.

Workshop Forum .................................................................................................... 7

E.

Sample Workshop Agenda ..................................................................................... 8

F.

Recommended LCAT Workshop Rules of Engagement (ROE) ............................ 9

G.

LCAT Instructions……………………………………………………………….10

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Federal Emergency Management Agency

Logistics Management

Logistics Capability Assessment Tool (LCAT) User Guide

A. Introduction
The Logistics Capability Assessment Tool (LCAT) is a collaborative logistics planning
and preparedness tool that improves the common operating picture for local, state, and
federal responders. As such, state emergency managers will garner the greatest benefit
from its implementation by bringing all public and private planning and response partners
together for a two-day workshop. Participants should include state emergency
management officials, as well as FEMA logistics personnel, FEMA Regional
representatives, local emergency managers, National Guard Bureau, and private sector
partners. Bringing together all partners involved in disaster logistics planning and
response ensures more complete and accurate answers to the LCAT and promotes
discussion, awareness, and cross-flow of information between the various agencies.
B. Purpose
The LCAT is tailored for use by states to evaluate their current disaster logistics
readiness, identify areas for targeted improvement, and develop a roadmap to both
mitigate weaknesses and further enhance strengths. The tool has been developed from
the perspective of state logisticians for their benefit. The LCAT and state responses to
questions within the LCAT are, and will remain, confidential and will not be shared with
any other states or agencies.
FEMA Regions will facilitate state workshops with FEMA HQ LMD support. The LCAT
can also be used by states for regular self-assessments. As such, states can track
improvements in particular functional areas from the time a state’s baseline score was
taken.

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Logistics Management

C. LCAT Question Summary


Logistics Planning (49 Questions)
– The development of a set of disaster logistics plans which consider demand recognition,
sourcing, acquisition, transportation, warehousing requirements and
distribution/management of goods, people, and equipment during a disaster
 Plans Development
 Contingency Planning
 Distribution Planning
 Training and Compliance
 Provider Qualification
 Procurement Procedures and Protocols
 Solicitation
 Existing Contracts



Logistics Operations (32 Questions)
– The procedural side of state logistics. Log Operations ensures SOPs and processes are
followed according to a previously created plan of action
 Identify Requirements
 Activate Critical Resource Logistics and Distribution
 Acquire Resources
 Common Operating Picture
 Procurement
 Transportation



Distribution Management (14 Questions)
– Everything that has to do with the end-to-end movement of people, commodities and
equipment. This includes communications with other stakeholders, ordering, order
processing, transportation asset identification and dispatch, delivery receipt and delivery
confirmation.
 Order tracking
 Transportation Coordination
 Inbound Shipment Management



Organizational Functions (19 Questions)
– How disaster logistics fits into your State’s overall Emergency Management; considers
training, credentialing, and acquisition of logistics resources, general administration, and
quality management
 Reporting Structure and Alignments
 Credentialing and Cross-Functional Team Structure
 Logistics Quality Management
 Logistics Knowledge, Skills, and Training
 Administrative Burden (State legal constraints)



Property Management (16 Questions)
– Includes the inventory management processes, in-transit visibility activities and
maintenance of both capital assets and commodities
 Property Management Personnel
 Warehouse and Facility Management
 Logistics Equipment Management and Maintenance
 Commodity Inventory Management Process and Enablers

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Logistics Management

The Logistics Capability Assessment Tool features 130 survey-style questions, which are
grouped into subcategories within each of the five functional areas listed above.
Participants respond to each question by identifying where the state fits along a range of
five capability levels, from Static to Synchronized. Capability levels are defined below:


Static – State has not yet developed and/or implemented a viable strategy
within the functional area.



Functional – State has implemented informal plans or processes, but
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have not been defined or adopted.



Horizontal Integration – State has developed and implemented formalized,
integrated SOPs across the state emergency management organization.



External Collaboration – State has coordinated plans and SOPs with other
state, local/tribal, and external partner agencies, organizations, and private
vendors.



Synchronized – All local, state, federal, and private partners have fully
integrated and synchronized plans, procedures, and operations. All plans
and SOPs have been documented and exercised regularly with all
participants. State has demonstrated mastery of this capability.

An example LCAT question can be found below in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1

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After all questions are answered within a category, the LCAT generates a results chart
which provides a snapshot of where the state’s relative strengths and weaknesses lie
within each functional area. After all tabs are complete, the tool generates an executive
dashboard summary view of overall capability levels. A snapshot of the executive
dashboard summary is below in Figure 2.

Figure 2

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D. Recommended Workshop Forum
In order to achieve optimal collaboration, FEMA recommends that the states conduct a two-day
workshop to perform the initial assessment. Recommended meeting participants are as follows:


FEMA State Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO)



FEMA Regional Logistics Chief



State Emergency Management Director



State logistics chief & support staff



State operations chief & support staff



State planning chief & support staff



Other key emergency management agency staff



State procurement officer(s)



State finance/accounting officer(s)



National Guard personnel



Major private sector contractors



Key state non-governmental organizations



County emergency management officials



City emergency management officials

The more decision-makers who are in attendance at the forum the better, as one of the most
beneficial aspects of the LCAT is the inherent educational nature of the tool. The meeting
doubles as both an assessment and a training session.

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E. Sample Workshop Agenda
The questions in the LCAT may be spread across the two day session should the coordinating
team desire. However, the implementation team recommends a forum agenda similar to the
following example. The questions will likely generate significant discussion and will require
ample time. It is important for the moderator to be diligent about managing time. Furthermore,
ample break time should be built in to the agenda.

Time

Description

Key Attendees

0830 – 0930

Introductions & Background

All

0940 – 1200

Logistics Planning

 Planning Staff

DAY ONE

 County, City & Private Partners
1200-1300

Lunch

1300-1400

Logistics Planning Contd

 Planning Staff
 County, City & Private Partners
 Procurement

1415-1530

Logistics Operations

 Logistics Ops staff
 Operations staff
 Procurement
 County & City Partners
 Private partners

1545-1630

Day 1 Parking Lot Discussion

All

0830-0900

Day 1 Recap

All

0900-1000

Distribution Management

 Logistics Planners

END Day One
DAY TWO

 Logistics Operations
 Inventory & Equipment Mgmt
personnel (State and Partner
agency)

1015-1130

Property Management

1130-1230

Lunch

1230-1400

Organizational Functions

All

1415-1500

Review LCAT Results, Discussion

All

1500-1600

Hot Wash, Lessons Learned

All

End Day Two

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F. Recommended LCAT Workshop Rules of Engagement (ROE)


The only “right” answer is the honest answer.



Encourage all meeting attendees to participate. Invitees all have valid opinions and
insights, and the group benefits from dialogue and discourse, as it tends to flesh out some
of the nuances of disaster logistics processes.



With only a limited time for each question, it is important that the moderator move issues
to the “parking lot” in the event that consensus is not reached in an acceptable time.
Parking lot issues can be addressed after all of the other questions have been answered.



It is advisable to identify a “section captain” for each LCAT section. This person should
be responsible for arbitrating disputed answers and if necessary, sending the issue to the
parking lot.



Remaining time in each section (if any) should be used to continue discussions from the
parking lot.



The FEMA LMD team is very interested in your input to the LCAT question content and
meeting conduct. Please keep track and note potential improvements to the LCAT; we
will conduct a hot wash at the end of the workshop.



Please refrain from cross talk.

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Logistics Management

G. LCAT Instructions
Overview
This user guide details the capabilities and instructions for FEMA’s Logistics Capability
Assessment Tool. The tool consists of a series of multiple-choice questions designed to survey
each area of state logistics readiness. After all the questions have been answered, the tool will
provide an output of graphs (to provide a visualization of the evaluation), as well as a results pane
with numeric scores per area, and an overall capability score.
How to Begin
How to install the LCAT to Your Computer
1. Locate the file named “New Questionnaire .xml” from the CD provided
2. Save the "New Questionnaire .xml" to your main My Documents folder
3. Double click the ‘LCAT.msi’ file. This will begin the install Wizard. Follow the wizard
instructions and click on "finish" when complete.
4. Go to your computer's Desktop. There will be a new icon called "LCAT." Double click the
icon to start the program.
How to Begin a new LCAT Assessment
1. Once inside the application, go to File > Open in the top left corner. This will prompt with
a dialog box
2. Double click on the “New Questionnaire (mmddyy)” file inside your My Documents folder
3. Questionnaire is ready to begin.
4. If, after loading the CD-ROM, you receive the error message "LCAT Tool cannot be
installed on systems with JRE Version smaller than 1.5," go to the java.com website and
click the "Free Java Download" button, which will update your existing Java software.
How to Save an LCAT Assessment
1. When the application opens, navigate back up to the File menu. Click “Save As”
2. Name the file using the following standard nomenclature: " Assessment (#) - .xml." (Example – “Oklahoma – Assessment 1 –
033009.xml”)
3. Next, save the LCAT file to your “My Documents” folder.
4. As you work through the LCAT, it is advisable to periodically save your work.
How to Open an Existing LCAT file
1.

Double click the ‘LCAT’ file on your desktop

2. When the application opens, navigate to File>Open
3. Select the .xml file that you want to open.

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4. If any changes are made to the file, re-save

Navigation
The LCAT features four tabs at the top of the screen: Assessment, Results, Graphs, and
Participants. The following text summarizes usage of each.
Assessment Tab
Once the questionnaire file has been opened, the display presents sets of questions divided
according to categories and sub-categories. The respondents choose the answer on a scale of 1
through 5 (1 being lowest and 5 being highest) that most closely captures the state’s process
maturity. Respondents may select their answer in half-increment (.5) if their reply falls between
two choices. Once each question is answered the respondent must click “next” on the screen until
completed and then move on to the next subcategory. It is best to finish all questions in each
category before moving on to the next however you can always return to modify your answer.
Within each category a count is shown to indicate the number of questions answered (from the
total number of questions). In order to correctly view results and the results graphs, all questions
will need to be answered first.
“Results” and “Graphs” are stored under separate tabs. These tabs will not be viewable until the
application has confirmed that all questions have been answered. Each question consists of a set
of multiple-choice answers, as well as a comment box that must be filled in if a state selects the
not applicable box. Please note that the assessment cannot proceed unless a choice has been
made or an explanation is given (if the answer is N/A). Each answer choice, when selected,
displays a detailed description of the choice (Static to Synchronized). Read each answer carefully
before selecting which answer most closely describes your organization.
Results Tab
After all the questions have been answered, the Results tab becomes available for view. Each of
the categories and sub-categories are processed and a score is derived for each section, with an
overall capability score displayed in the top-right of the panel. For each section selected, the
bottom pane displays the questions and answers provided for the section for easy viewing.
Graphs Tab
LCA generates multiple graphs based on the answers provided; first, a graph illustrating overall
readiness, and then graphs based on each category from the assessment. Each axis of a graph is
plotted according to the score for each category; scores are shown from 0 to 5. Visually, each
graph denotes readiness based on how filled-in each category is around the circumference of the
chart.
Participants Tab
Lastly, the Participants tab allows for a record of those involved in the assessment. This can be
used to track contacts for obtaining additional information pertaining to an assessment. While
many of the contact attributes are optional, a name is required in order to add a person as a
participant. For easier tracking, the state/territory and assessment date should also be filled-in.

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