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NEWS | Oct. 25, 2021

LRC Italy organizes supercharged site visit to Maserati headquarters

By Cameron Porter 405th Army Field Support Brigade

In the 1980s hit rock song Wango Tango, Terrible Ted Nugent screams out the immortal words ‘It’s a Maserati, Maserati, Maserati. It’s a fast one too, man. That thing is turbocharged.’

More than 40 years later, the turbocharged team from Logistics Readiness Center Italy followed Nugent’s lead, organizing a tour of Maserati’s headquarters in Modena, Italy.

In attendance at the special Leadership Professional Development site visit to the iconic Italian supercar manufacturing facility, which took place in mid October, were leaders from the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s LRC Italy and Army Field Support Battalion Africa as well as U.S. Army Garrison Italy.

“We had the pleasure of touring the Maserati factory to appreciate the organization’s rich history while learning about its current, innovative parts sourcing, impacts of worldwide supply chain disruptions, quality control and streamlining practices, research and development initiatives, and ergonomics practices,” said Keli’i Bright, LRC Italy director, 405th AFSB.

During the visit, the LRC Italy, USAG Italy and AFSBn Africa employees received a guided, up-close and personalized tour of the Maserati factory and showroom to include prototype supercars not yet available to the public. Due to proprietary reasons, photos were not allowed or limited in many of the areas they visited, and the representatives from LRC Italy, USAG Italy and AFSBn Africa were some of the first people not affiliated with the company to see some of the supercar manufacturer’s newest consumer products.

The tour of the Maserati facilities also included a visit to its central receiving point, assembly lines, paint shop, component testing facilities, and its research and development section.

“We really enjoyed this opportunity to visit the Maserati headquarters,” said Bright. “One of the biggest takeaways for us was how reciprocal the relationship is between the Department of Defense and civilian industry.”

“We share the same operating constraints and global supply chain changes but also routinely learn from each other,” Bright said. “The Defense Department has learned concepts like 'just in time' and lean manufacturing from industry best practices, and Maserati specifically brought up how the U.S. Army's oil analysis program became a fixture of commercial industry, including in Maserati's own research and development facilities.”

When it comes to providing day-to-day installation services, LRC Italy directs, manages and coordinates a variety of operations and activities in support of USAG Italy. LRC Italy reports to the 405th AFSB, which is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.