DLA buys system to manage employee training programs

The Defense Logistics Agency has purchased software to manage training for 22,000 employees across the United States and 28 other countries, an application the agency expects to improve the readiness of its workers and bolster its ability to track expenses.DLA has awarded Plateau Systems of Arlington, Va., a five-year contract worth about $1 million for its Plateau 4 Learning Management System.Plateau last month began system implementation, which will be conducted in four phases. The last phase should be completed by September, DLA officials said.Supervisors can use LMS to track employee skills. It also offers access to e-learning through a secure Internet connection and Web browser.“It’s a very broad spectrum of training. We have a lot of certification training,” said Karlon Roop, project manager of LMS for the agency, based in Columbus, Ohio.Training includes quality assurance, safety and environmental programs, and a new supervisor certification program. Roop said DLA also has annual training requirements in other areas, including records management, information assurance and ethics.The system will be integrated with DLA’s Human Resources Information System, giving administrators a picture of each employee’s job and mission requirements.Plateau Systems will update the e-learning system regularly with training information to mesh with Defense Department career changes and emergency deployments, company officials said.Roop said LMS would manage tuition assistance payments for college courses, and also track training expenditures by individual, organization and agency.Plateau’s Web-based architecture complies with Defense standards and technical requirements, including Advanced Distributed Learning, Shared Content Object Reference Model, Instructional Management Systems and Learning Objects.