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April 24, 2017 By AMK

DoD in process of splitting responsibilities for two new acquisition offices

The Defense Department is parsing out exactly how it will split one of its biggest and most infamous sections after Congress mandated the division last year.

The Pentagon is doing preliminary work on splicing its acquisition office into two distinct areas: research and engineering, and day-to-day business acquisitions, said Mary Miller, acting assistant defense secretary for research and engineering during an April 18, 2017 speech at a National Defense Industrial Association event in Washington.

Part of that work includes assigning distinct responsibilities to each new office. DoD is now picking out actions that were once housed under one roof to be passed off to their new acquisition office parents.

“We wanted to create two undersecretaries [for acquisition]. One, the undersecretary for research and engineering that is really focused on maintaining technology superiority across the globe. It is risk taking, it will do prototyping, it will do experimentation. It will allow and challenge the Defense Department each and every step along the way to think differently, to think large, to think future,” Miller said. “And then there was the undersecretary of acquisition and sustainment, which will focus on affordability, efficiencies, getting things to the warfighter faster and making sure it is the right things.”

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/acquisition-policy/2017/04/dod-splitting-responsibilities-two-new-acquisition-offices/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition and sustainment, affordability, AT&L, DoD, efficiency, NDAA, research and engineering

February 6, 2015 By AMK

Georgia Tech ranks as top college that pays you back

Tech spotlighted for return on investment, affordability, and career placement.

Georgia Tech is ranked number 5 in the nation for colleges that provide return on investment.
Georgia Tech is ranked number 5 in the nation for colleges that provide return on investment.

Georgia Tech continues to place highly on rankings of American colleges and universities. The Princeton Review’s latest collegiate ranking focuses on a couple of primary concerns for college students and their families: landing a job and securing a good salary.

Tech is featured prominently on Princeton Review’s 2015 ranking of “Colleges That Pay You Back.”

The Institute is ranked number 5 in the nation for colleges that provide return on investment for students not eligible for need-based financial aid.

Tech is also ranked in the top 10 nationally for career placement of students.

Tech came in 24th overall out of the Top 50 Colleges That Pay You Back.

Princeton Review rated the top 200 colleges in the United States weighing data ranging from cost and financial aid, to student debt, alumni salary, and job satisfaction.

Here’s more information on the The Princeton Review’s Top Colleges That Pay You Back.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2015/02/04/georgia-tech-ranks-top-college-pays-you-back

Filed Under: Georgia Tech News Tagged With: affordability, career placement, Georgia Tech

June 5, 2013 By AMK

‘Industry needs profits and margins to be successful’ — DoD deputy secretary

Lowest price will no longer rule the day in federal contracting at the Defense Department, as the latest iteration of its procurement strategy recognizes the need for industry to to make money, said Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter in a speech Thursday.

In comments made at D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Carter was referring to Better Buying Power 2.0, the Pentagon’s effort to be more efficient and productive in the way the department buys goods and services.

The first version, introduced by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates in September 2010, sought to increase affordability in defense programs, provide incentives for productivity and innovation in industry through profit and partnership, promote competition, improve the effectiveness of services acquisition and reduce nonproductive processes and bureaucracy.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/fedbiz_daily/2013/05/deputy-defense-seretary-carter.html?page=all

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, acquisition workforce, affordability, audit, Better Buying Power, competition, cost, DoD, efficiency, low bid, lowest cost technically acceptable, lowest price, profits

November 26, 2012 By AMK

Pentagon acquisition chief focuses on workforce amid budget challenges

Improving and recognizing excellence in the Defense Department’s acquisition workforce are key to successful implementation of a new and expanded version of the Better Buying Power plan for government and industry, top Pentagon officials announced last week.

In releasing a preliminary, 2.0 version of the contracting efficiency effort first unveiled in September 2010, Frank Kendall, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, promised a “new professionalization” of what the department calls its total acquisition workforce. “We grow our own people in logistics, program management and contract officers,” he said, “and we want to really recognize people who run a program, which is like having a major command.”

Kendall acknowledged, however, that efforts to rebuild the acquisition workforce after it was downsized more than a decade ago have stalled and that salary and hiring freezes are “beyond my control.” People are still “motivated by the need to protect our national security,” he said, and the current budget crunch has forced all involved to “focus on quality.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2012/11/pentagon-acquisition-chief-focuses-workforce-amid-budget-challenges/59509/?oref=management_agenda_nl.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, acquisition training, acquisition workforce, affordability, AT&L, Better Buying Power, budget cuts, cost reduction, DoD, exportability, fixed price

June 16, 2011 By AMK

Assad, Ginman look to cut costs in new DoD roles

The Department of Defense has a new plan to cut an announced $400 billion from the bottom line over the next 12 years. Called the “Better Buying Power” initiative, the “23-point strategy seeks to restore affordability in defense procurement and to improve defense industry productivity,” said Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, Dr. Ashton Carter.

Under Better Buying, the role of the office of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) has grown to the point where it’s now created a new position, the director of defense pricing.

The new director, Shay Assad, appearing on Off the Shelf, told host Roger Waldron he’s “very excited about this because there are a number of things that we’re doing to improve the capability of the workforce and the capability of the department as it relates to the price we pay for the goods and services we buy and increasing the value to the taxpayers for every dollar that we’re spending on their behalf.”

As Assad assumes the duties of the new position, Dick Ginman has taken over Assad’s former position as the director of Defense procurement and acquisition policy.

“Fundamentally, what’s happening Roger, is that I will be focused on cost, price and finance aspects of acquisition as well as supporting programs….through the Defense Acquisition Board. And in addition, I’ll be responsible for advising Dr. Carter on acquisition strategies for multi-years and things of that nature. And finally, the workforce, which has been my passion, so I will continue to carry through on that.”

Ginman, said Assad, will be responsible for contingency contracting, e-business, and for the acquisition regulation side of DPAP.

In terms of policy, Assad will be advising Dr. Carter on pricing and profit policies and while Ginman will be advising on “all other matters related to acquisition contracting policy.”

Now that they’ve defined who will be handling what, the bigger questions would include how the initiatives work, and how they should work.

Assad explained, going even a step further, and considered how the initiatives should not work.

“The Better Buying Power initiatives are not at all a war on profitability of contractors. That’s not what this is about. What it’s all about is trying to understand how can we use profit to properly motivate contractors to reduce the prices that we pay,” he said.

For example, said Assad, “if we’re paying $100 for a product and included in that $100 is $10 of profit, we’d much rather pay $90 and if the contractor made $15 as a result of that, we’d be okay with that.”

At the bottom line, said Assad, is the bottom line. “What we’re doing is we’re trying to align profitability and performance.”

The area with the greatest potential for savings, according to Assad, is at the beginning of the acquisition process and in more clearly defining the requirements for contracts. “If we’re going to make a quantum leap in improving what we pay for goods and services, it’s going to be in this particular area.”

Communication with industry is an incredibly powerful, but intimidating tool, for contracting officers. Acquisition officers are generally uncomfortable sharing information with industry, not wanting to give the appearance of favoring any one contractor over others. Learning how to communicate, and why it’s important, is a priority for Assad.

“We’re really spending a lot of time with our contracting officers, encouraging them to spend time discussing the requirement with contractors; that there’s nothing inappropriate about it. That the better that contractors understand our requirement, the more precise we are and exacting about what we want, the better proposals and the better competition we’re going to get.”

Changing the acquisition workforce, from tooth to tail, in Defense has been one of Assad’s greatest challenges and satisfactions so far. He said about 8,600 people have been brought on board, with “another 4 or 5 thousand folks we’re going to hire.”

Frank Anderson, the former president of Defense Acquisition University and myself are kind of the key guys behind ensuring that we develop that acquisition strategy and what feels so good about it is that we’re seeing it come to fruition. I’m very excited about it because we’re not just hiring younger folks or folks with little experience. The reality is, Roger, the breakout is about 65 percent entry level folks, about 34 percent journeyman level and then one percent very senior folks, and that was kind of how we set it up. And we’re within one percent of the 65 and one percent of the 34 of getting to where we wanted to be, so we’re pretty excited that we’re, in fact, filling in the workforce with a good mix of folks.

Overall, Assad said the Better Buying initiatives are one of the biggest changes for good he’s seen in his career. “That was a statement from a senior leader that I think will have a profound impact on how we buy goods and services throughout the department.”

For more from Shay Assad and Dick Ginman, you can hear the entire Off the Shelf program by visiting http://www.wfed.com/?nid=46&sid=2412012.

— by Suzanne Kubota, Senior Internet Editor, Federal News Radio, June 7, 2011

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, acquisition training, acquisition workforce, affordability, DoD, pricing, productivity

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