Marine Corps Wide ATLASS System Standardization

1. THE PURPOSE OF THIS MSG IS TO ANNOUNCE THE
DESIGNATION OF ATLASS I, VERSION 4.0.1, AS THE MARINE CORPS-WIDE
STANDARD USING UNIT SUPPLY OPERATIONS SYSTEM.
2. BACKGROUND: THE ASSET TRACKING LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY SYSTEM,
ATLASS I V3.4, WAS FIELDED IN 1993. SINCE THAT TIME, THE SYSTEM HAS
UNDERGONE NUMEROUS CHANGES AND UPDATES. WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE NAVY-MARINE CORPS INTRANET (NMCI), THE SERVICE LIFE OF ATLASS I
V3.4 CAN NO LONGER BE EXTENDED. ATLASS I V3.4 WAS DESIGNED TO RUN
ON A DESKTOP PC IN A DOS ENVIRONMENT. THE CURRENT NMCI HARDWARE
UTILIZES THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT AND DOES
NOT ALLOW PROPER OPERATION OF ATLASS V3.4. THEREFORE, ATLASS I
V4.0.1 HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AS A TECHNICAL SOLUTION TO ENSURE
CONTINUED FORCE SUSTAINMENT UNTIL THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GCSS MC IN
BOTH DEPLOYED AND GARRISON ENVIRONMENTS. THIS VERSION OF ATLASS IS 
A STAND ALONE APPLICATION THAT OPERATES IN A WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT
UTILIZING WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM BUT PRODUCES THE SAME COURIERS 
TO SASSY AS VERSION 3.4. THE APPLICATION ALLOWS THE USER TO OPERATE 
ON OR OFF THE NMCI NETWORK.
3. FUNCTIONALITY. WITH THE RELEASE OF THE ATLASS I V4.0.1, ALL
PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF ATLASS WILL BE RETIRED BY THE END OF FY 2005,
AND WILL NO LONGER BE SUPPORTED OR DEPLOYED BY MARCORSYSCOM. ANY
DEPLOYED UNITS WILL HAVE 90 DAYS TO CONVERT ALL 3.4 DATA FILES TO
4.0.X AT THE COMPLETION OF THEIR DEPLOYMENT. ALL SUPPLY UNITS AND
SUPPORTING MARINE CORPS SUPPLY ACTIVITIES SHOULD RE-FAMILIARIZE
THEMSELVES WITH THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE ATLASS SUPPLY SYSTEM AND
UTILIZE IT FOR THE CONDUCT OF DAY TO DAY SUPPLY OPERATIONS. THIS
RELEASE OF ATLASS V4.0.1 CORRECTS THE NEED FOR DAILY Y80 DOWNLOADS,
AND RETURNS THE Y80 DOWNLOAD PROCEDURE TO A MONTHLY RECONCILIATION
TOOL OR EMERGENCY BACKUP FOR CORRUPT OR LOST DATA AS REQUIRED BY THE
USING UNIT. THIS RELEASE ALSO ALLOWS FOR A FUNCTIONALLY CORRECT
CLASS 1 SASSY DATA INPUT DEVICE.
4. TRAINING. DUE TO THE CLOSE SIMILARITY OF OPERATIONS BETWEEN 3.4
AND THE 4.0.X RELEASE, THERE WILL BE ONLY LIMITED TRAINING AVAILABLE
TO THE MSC'S, UPON REQUEST. MCCSSS WILL PROVIDE AND IMPLEMENT ALL
PHASES OF ATLASS I V4.0.X SYSTEM OPERATIONS TO INCLUDE
INTEROPERABILITY WITH SASSY AT THE SUPPLY SCHOOL TRAINING
FACILITIES. A TRAINING TEAM FROM PROGRAM MANAGER-LOGISTICS
INFORMATION SYSTEMS (PM-LIS), MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND, WILL BE
AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE TRAIN-THE-TRAINER SUPPORT TO THE MSC'S UPON
REQUEST. ALL USERS MANUALS, UM-4400-120 AND 121 HAVE BEEN RELEASED
IN DRAFT FORMAT ON THE BELOW LISTED PM-LIS WEBPAGE FOR YOUR
INFORMATION. THE TRANSFER OF V3.4 CMR DATA IS COVERED IN THE USERS
MANUAL AS WELL AS RELEASE INSTRUCTIONS POSTED TO THE WEB PAGE
"PROCEDURES TO EXPORT TECH DATA AND CMR DATA FROM ATLASS, VERSION 
3.4 TO ATLASS 4.0." 
5. SERIAL NUMBERS. ADVANCES IN LOGISTIC INFORMATION TOOLS HAVE
IDENTIFIED THE REQUIREMENT FOR CAPTURING SERIAL NUMBER INFORMATION
INTO A CENTRALIZED REPOSITORY. THE INTENT IS FOR ATLASS I V4.0.1 TO
REMAIN THE SYSTEM OF RECORD FOR CMR/SERIAL NUMBER INFORMATION AND TO
REPLICATE THIS DATA INTO SASSY. ATLASS I V4.0.1 WILL FORWARD ALL
CMR CHANGE TRANSACTIONS TO SASSY. A FUTURE RELEASE OF ATLASS I
V4.0.X WILL ENABLE RECONCILIATION OF THESE SERIAL NUMBER DATA FILES
AND WILL APPROPRIATELY UPDATE SASSY.
6. SYSTEM SUPPORT. ALL CURRENT NMCI USERS WILL CONSOLIDATE, BY
MSC, NMCI MACHINE NAMES, USER NAMES, USER E-MAIL ADDRESSES AND
MACHINE LOCATIONS THEN SUBMIT VIA E-MAIL ATTACHMENT TO THE POCS
LISTED BELOW. ALL FUTURE NMCI USERS WILL ENSURE THAT THE ATLASS
V4.0.1 SP2 APPLICATION IS LOADED TO THEIR USERS PROFILES. NMCI
PERSONNEL SHOULD REQUEST RFS# 88808 AND RELEASE PACKAGE #
L_ATLASS_401_B_W2X FOR INSTALLER REQUIREMENTS. NON-NMCI USERS CAN
DOWNLOAD THE NEWEST VERSION OF ATLASS, A DRAFT COPY OF THE USERS
MANUAL, INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, AND A HELP NOTES FILE FROM THE
PM-LIS WEBSITE UNDER MARFOR SYSTEMS TAB
HTTPS:WWW.MCSD.ALA.USMC.MIL/INDEX.HTML.
7. USER ASSISTANCE. POCS FOR SYSTEM SUPPORT ARE MGYSGT M.D.
PEEPLES /TEL DSN: 567-7396 COM: 229-639-7396 OR MR. J. HUNTER /TEL
DSN 567-7223 COM: 229.639.7223.