If you are a program manager in the DoD/DoW or supporting agencies, chances are you’ve been told you need to “connect to ELMS.” For many, the requirement sounds like another compliance directive without much context.
ELMS — the Enterprise Logistics Management System — is far more than a line item on a compliance checklist. It’s the department’s authoritative system for property management, mandated to track and report assets critical to national defense and emergency preparedness. Essentially, ELMS is how the DoW proves to Congress (and ultimately taxpayers) that every asset is accounted for.
Why does that matter to your program? Because every time your program accepts, moves, or disposes of controlled property, each of these actions is supposed to be reflected in ELMS. ELMS is the official record that OUSD/W(C) auditors check to verify your program’s books. If your program’s property activity isn’t being automatically communicated to ELMS, then at best you’re dependent on manual uploads and error-prone hand reconciliations. At worst, your program may show asset discrepancies that could trigger funding holds or corrective action plans.
Connecting to ELMS is more than just a policy statement — it’s the backbone of your audit trail. Yet the manual path is daunting: programs that try to push data through spreadsheets and hand-generated DLMS transactions often burn countless hours, tie up skilled personnel, and still face audit gaps. Additionally, as announced in April 2025, the manual input (self-service) option for interacting with ELMS is being discontinued.
Scope Mission Support changes that equation. Our solution includes automated ELMS communication via secure DLMS messaging. That means every inventory movement, valuation update, and transaction instantly and automatically flows directly to ELMS in the format required by DoW standards — no manual manipulation, no risky data lag. Scope Mission Support is how programs move from paper-heavy, staff-intensive reporting to a streamlined, audit-ready posture.
So, next time you hear “you must connect to ELMS,” the requirement doesn’t have to spark confusion or dread. With Scope Mission Support, ELMS interactivity becomes an integrated part of how your inventory is managed daily — supporting your team as they fulfill their true mission objectives and turning compliance from a costly burden into an operational advantage.
Nathan Plowman is the General Manager for Scope Mission Support at Focused Support and led the original development of the ScopeIMS platform.
