United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-01-26 monographic deposited born digital 35 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-00-30 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30 P0b002ee18037e2da f:ns00030 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30 NSIAD-00-30 Federal supply systems Inventory control systems Military inventories Military materiel Private sector practices Prices and pricing Defense cost control Defense procurement Logistics Privatization DLA Industrial Prime Vendor Initiative Letter Report NSIAD Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO evaluated the extent to which the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has implemented commercial inventory practice initiatives contained in a schedule submitted to Congress, focusing on: (1) DLA's progress in implementing the initiatives; and (2) opportunities to build on and expand existing efforts.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) DLA has made significant progress in implementing the initiatives listed in the schedule; (2) of the 75 initiatives listed in the schedule, 43 are considered by DLA as completed and 15 have been awarded contracts; (3) two initiatives were cancelled, 1 was incorporated into another initiative, and the remaining 14 were still in the contract negotiation phase or had an otherwise uncertain status; (4) sales related to these initiatives were estimated to be $2.2 billion, or about 27 percent of DLA's projected fiscal year (FY) 1999 sales of secondary inventory items, excluding fuels; (5) of this amount, over $1.8 billion of sales is associated with four initiatives that relate to medical, pharmaceutical, and food items while almost $400 million is associated with the remaining implemented initiatives; (6) the most effective initiatives to date have been the medical and food prime vendor initiatives, which have transferred inventory management functions from DLA to key suppliers; (7) these initiatives enabled DLA to reduce inventory levels and related costs and improve service to military customers; (8) initiatives related to hardware and clothing items have had only a limited impact on business operations, but recent initiatives may provide a foundation for future improvements because they also transfer inventory management functions to key suppliers; (9) DLA is attempting to build on the success of its implemented initiatives and expand the use of best practices, but significant implementation obstacles must be overcome; (10) over 90 percent of DLA's estimated FY 1999 sales of hardware items were not covered by the initiatives in the schedule; (11) to expand the use of best practices, DLA is developing a strategy that focuses on using commercial distributors to support military customers for hardware items that are used frequently and regularly and creating alternative methods for items that are more unpredictable and difficult to support; (12) in its efforts to adopt best practices, DLA and the military departments have faced a variety of implementation issues; (13) many issues are related to concerns over whether the new practices can adequately meet military supply needs and how the new practices will affect employees' jobs; and (14) though these obstacles were overcome in some cases, they are significant because they can slow or stop implementation efforts or deter the military departments' full participation in the initiatives. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30.pdf GAO/NSIAD-00-30 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-30 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-00-30; Defense Inventory: Opportunities Exist to Expand the Use; Federal supply systems Inventory control systems Military inventories Military materiel Private sector practices Prices and pricing Defense cost control Defense procurement Logistics Privatization DLA Industrial Prime Vendor Initiative