Between The Seat Cushions

The Aerospace Industries Association has highlighted 10 things it argues the Defense Department can do within the current acquisition regulatory framework to wring costs from the procurement system.

The list is drawn from a package of 97 initiatives AIA submitted to the Defense Department in late July in response to Pentagon acquisition executive Ashton Carter's call on June 28 for ideas from industry on how to restore affordability and productivity in defense spending, Richard Sylvester, AIA's vice president for acquisition policy told InsideDefense.com:

Here are some things that we believe DOD can implement immediately, within their power to do. They can put into effect today and they can begin to accumulate cost savings.

The recommendations, delivered to DOD on Aug. 17, include:

* Propose additional multi-year procurements.

* Increase the use of long term performance- and outcome-based product support contracts.

* Expand the definition of commercial products to include defense products with competitive direct commercial sales to foreign governments and buys “of a type” and use commercial-type contracts for commercial items.

* Reduce the volume of cost or pricing data for all proposals, especially for those where such data does not already exist or for re-procurements when no significant changes have occurred.

* Re-institute timely enterprise-wide rate negotiation and use of forward pricing rates.

* Eliminate serial reviews of contractor proposals prior to negotiation.

* Reinvigorate the use of weighted guidelines to develop profit objectives. Recognize contract technical difficulty and contractor cost saving initiatives.

* Combine multi-agency compliance reviews.

* Establish a single point DCMA/DCAA authority at major primes to drive commonality and consistency.

* Base audits on materiality and risk.