productivity | The Contracting Education Academy

June 15, 2015 By AMK

Streamlined acquisition process nets results for DLA’s Land & Maritime

By increasing productivity and putting an emphasis on automation, the Defense Logistics Agency’s Time to Award initiative is one of the primary focuses of DLA Land and Maritime’s workforce.

Better Buying Power (BBP) is based on the principle that continuous improvement is the best approach to improving the performance of the defense acquisition enterprise.

Matched with the Department of Defense’s acquisition efficiency initiative Better Buying Power 3.0, Time to Award strengthens the organization’s ability to realize savings, avoid costs and improve warfighter support.

“Enterprisewide aggressive goals were established when Time to Award was introduced, but the associates at DLA Land and Maritime have stepped up to the plate in a big way and delivered,” said DLA Land and Maritime Commander Navy Rear Adm. John King. “We foster an environment that unlocks the full potential of our workforce, enabling them to achieve peak performance and meet efficiency challenges such as Time to Award. It’s important that this organization continues to make good, smart decisions while keeping our customer and readiness focus.”

Time to Award began in 2013 to improve agency contract award procedures and better support warfighters. The agency took a look at the average time it took to award contracts from October 2011 through March 2013, established a baseline and set new goals to anticipate the changing needs of customers while aligning its goals, processes and performance with those needs.

Standardized processes were developed to streamline the acquisition process agencywide in order to reduce the amount of time spent on awarding a contact. At DLA Land and Maritime, a Time to Award working group was responsible for “game changing, strategic process changes,” according to Mindy Tisone, procurement analyst. Some of these changes included modifications to associate performance plans, reductions in automated solicitation periods and purchase request regeneration.

Land and Maritime has reduced automated lead times by 39 percent, or seven days, from the baseline of 18 days to 11 days as of April 2015, Tisone said. Getting vital spare parts, such as pipes, tubing, microcircuits and fuses to ships, tanks and wheeled vehicles, sustains warfighters in an era of complex, competing and often urgent needs.

“Automation is a huge part of Land and Maritime’s ability to procure items in an efficient and timely fashion,” Tisone said. “Ninety-nine percent of Land and Maritime’s procurements are below the simplified acquisition threshold of $150,000. Of that population, 90 percent are solicited through our automated system. This process allows us to maintain a lean, effective workforce and deliver quality material in a timely manner to our warfighter.”

Equally important is the awarding of long-term contracts. LTCs are for high-frequency, high-demand items, Tisone said. Land and Maritime is using continuous process improvement metrics as it increases its focus and resources on LTCs. Since the inception of the Time to Award initiative, LTCs under $10 million have decreased by 53 percent. A baseline of 494 days was established and, in April, that average was reduced to 233 days to the award.

Looking ahead, Land and Maritime leaders will engage the workforce, requesting feedback on the program to keep processes and techniques fresh and effective. From simplification of rules to increasing automation output, associates look forward to eliminating unproductive processes as Land and Maritime pursues the goals of Better Buying Power.

Source: http://www.dla.mil/DLA_Media_Center/Pages/newsarticle201505210100.aspx

April 23, 2015 By AMK

DoD stresses cybersecurity in acquisition reform update

The Defense Department is focusing part of its acquisition overhaul on cybersecurity, according to new guidance.

Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall on Thursday issued instructions for implementing Better Buying Power 3.0, the third version of an efficiency directive originally introduced in 2010. The directive aims to increase productivity and reduce costs in DOD technology and logistics. Specific strategies include using commercial technology and encouraging more prototyping and experimentation, among other approaches.

The update includes specific plans to strengthen cybersecurity. Though DOD is already working to improve military system cybersecurity, “from concept development to disposal,” the instructions added, “much more needs to be done.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2015/04/dod-stresses-cyber-acquisition-mandate/109885

June 19, 2014 By AMK

GAO: $10 billion worth of current federal IT contracts could fail

At least $10 billion in federal technology contracts are currently at risk of failing, according to a new review by the Government Accountability Office — and the number could be larger.

Chief information officers across federal agencies reported that 183 of 759 major IT investments were at medium to high risk of failing before completion, the congressional watchdog found. Other IT projects also may be at risk, but federal agencies appear to be underreporting potential problems or removing or reclassifying IT investments that once were part of a public scorecard.

The GAO’s IT management director, David A. Powner, outlined the findings last week at a hearing of the Senate subcommittee on efficiency and effectiveness of government programs. His report comes as the government continues to recover from the problem-plagued rollout of HealthCare.gov and other high-profile IT miscues.

“Information technology should enable government to better serve the American people. However, despite spending hundreds of billions on IT since 2000, the federal government has experienced failed IT projects and has achieved little of the productivity improvements that private industry has realized from IT,” Powner said in written testimony.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-it/gao-10-billion-worth-of-current-federal-it-contracts-could-fail/2014/06/13/1e6ee728-f24f-11e3-9ebc-2ee6f81ed217_story.html

June 4, 2013 By AMK

DoD waging ‘continuing war’ on unproductive acquisition bureaucracy

DoD acquisition leaders are making the rounds in and outside Washington, explaining the latest iteration of their blueprint for improvement: Better Buying Power. As they do, they’re telling members of industry that they’re sensitive to their concerns about a growing oversight bureaucracy.

One of the tenets of Better Buying Power 2.0, the version leaders are rolling out right now, is a carryover from the original version: reducing nonproductive processes and bureaucracy in the acquisition process. Officials said many of those non-value-added processes are in the area of contract oversight.

“I share industry’s concerns about an excessive oversight culture,” said Ashton Carter, the deputy secretary of Defense. “I’ve long been concerned that the number of watchers in the department is approaching the number of doers. We may in fact be reaching that threshold, especially with respect to things like audits. We’re trying to work internally and work with industry to address these issues.”

Keep reading this article at:http://www.federalnewsradio.com/394/3338189/DoD-waging-continuing-war-on-unproductive-acquisition-bureaucracy

May 4, 2013 By AMK

Contracting professionals need to travel … and train

No one can forget the image released a year ago of a government executive holding a champagne glass in toast while sitting in a Las Vegas hot tub — paid for with federal dollars. Congressional leaders were rightfully indignant and called for a halt to such events. However, taxpayer costs for government acquisition may now be increasing as a result of overreach policies implemented since then.

The less than $1 million expenditure for the General Services Administration Western Region conference in 2010, wasteful as it was, has evolved, justifying the imposition of far more comprehensive restrictions on the government acquisition community that are not reducing government waste or budget deficits. Though nominal savings come from prohibiting training, travel and public interaction, this is overshadowed by the hidden increased costs caused by gaps in knowledge, business communications and relationships otherwise derived through in-person interactions and learning. A workforce improperly trained or communicating poorly with industry results in badly managed contracts and misunderstandings that cost taxpayers. In a time of increased contracting activity, as agencies realign their budgets to meet deficit reduction targets, it is no surprise that contractor protest activity is up. Nondelivering contracts affect federal budgets more adversely than small short-term agency training cuts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20130428/ADOP06/304280004/Contracting-professionals-need-travel-8212-train

By increasing productivity and putting an emphasis on automation, the Defense Logistics Agency’s Time to Award initiative is one of the primary focuses of DLA Land and Maritime’s workforce.

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