Defense Inventory: Improvements Needed in DOD's Implementation of Its Long-Term Strategy for Total Asset Visibility of Its Inventory
GAO-05-15
Published: Dec 06, 2004. Publicly Released: Dec 06, 2004.
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Highlights
For more than 30 years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has worked to achieve full visibility over and accessibility to its spare parts inventory. This initiative, called total asset visibility (TAV), aims to provide timely, accurate information on the location, movement, status, and identity of units, personnel, equipment, and supplies. In 1999, GAO examined DOD's TAV implementation approach and recommended that DOD develop a strategic plan to guide its efforts. DOD did not concur and stated it would rely on the components to individually achieve TAV. DOD's current target to achieve TAV is 2010. As requested, GAO examined DOD's progress towards, and impediments to, achieving TAV over its spare parts inventory. GAO also assessed DOD's progress in ensuring that its inventory management systems comply with federal financial management standards.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| If the Congress wants a better understanding of the department's plans and progress for attaining TAV, it may wish to consider having the Secretary of Defense include a section specifically addressing TAV implementation in its annual report to the Congress on the progress it is making in refining and implementing the business enterprise architecture in support of the business management modernization program, as required by section 332 of the fiscal year 2005 national defense authorization act. Specifically, the Congress may wish to consider requiring the Secretary of Defense to outline in this annual report the department's plans, milestones, performance measures, and progress for attaining TAV throughout the department. |
Closed – Not Implemented
|
DOD, in conjunction with OMB, has developed a plan to guide the department's effort to have supply chain management removed as a high risk area for DOD. Achieving total asset visibility is one of the key elements of DOD's plan. This effort has been the subject of Congressional hearings in October 2005 and July 2006 and will continue to be monitored by Congress. Therefore, DOD will be reporting the status of efforts to achieve TAV to Congress on a periodic basis, which was the intended outcome of this recommendation. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | DOD should develop a cohesive, departmentwide plan to ensure that TAV is achieved. Specifically, the Secretary of Defense should develop a departmentwide long-term TAV strategy as part of the Business Enterprise Architecture that describes the complete management structure and assigns accountability to specific offices throughout the department, with milestones and performance measures, for ensuring timely success in achieving TAV. |
Closed – Implemented
By including TAV as part of its efforts to remove supply chain management as a high risk area, DOD has created the departmentwide plan as we recommended. The DOD plan creates a management structure for addressing supply chain issues, including TAV, and assigns responsibility for achieving TAV to specific offices within the department. In addition, the initiatives identified in the plan have milestones and performance measures to ensure success in achieving the plans goals, including TAV.
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| Department of Defense | DOD should develop a cohesive, departmentwide plan to ensure that TAV is achieved. Specifically, the Secretary of Defense should develop a departmentwide long-term TAV strategy as part of the Business Enterprise Architecture that identifies the resource requirements for implementing TAV and includes related investment analyses that show how the major information technology investments will support TAV goals. |
Closed – Implemented
While DOD has developed a plan to remove supply chain management as a high risk area, which include achieving TAV, the plan does not identify the resource requirements needed to achieve TAV or to implement the plan. GAO has continually identified the need to identify the resource requirements associated with the supply chain management to the department and we continue to believe the department needs to identify its resource requirements. GAO will continue to monitor the plan and DOD's progress as the department continues its efforts to improve supply chain management.
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| Department of Defense | DOD should develop a cohesive, departmentwide plan to ensure that TAV is achieved. Specifically, the Secretary of Defense should develop a departmentwide long-term TAV strategy as part of the Business Enterprise Architecture that identifies how departmentwide systems issues that affect implementation of TAV will be addressed. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has developed a plan to remove supply chain management as a high risk area. This plan identifies asset visibility as one of three key focus areas and identifies achieving total asset visibility as one of its long-term goals. In addition, the plan requires the department to more fully incorporate asset visibility into DOD's logistics business enterprise architecture. By linking asset visibility to the logistics BEA, systems issues will be addressed since DOD's systems used to provide asset visibility will have to be compatible with the architecture.
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| Department of Defense | DOD should develop a cohesive, departmentwide plan to ensure that TAV is achieved. Specifically, the Secretary of Defense should develop a departmentwide long-term TAV strategy as part of the Business Enterprise Architecture that establishes outcome-oriented TAV goals and performance measures for all relevant components and closely links the measures with timelines for improvement. |
Closed – Implemented
In fiscal year 2014, DOD published its Strategy for Improving DOD Asset Visibility. This strategy has also been updated in fiscal years 2015 and 2017. These strategies have included specific outcome-oriented goals along with associated performance measures and timelines for implementation. These actions meet the intention of this recommendation.
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Topics
Inventory controlInventory control systemsEnterprise architectureMilitary inventoriesSpare partsStrategic planningLogisticsU.S. ArmyFinancial managementU.S. Air Force