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Army Logistics: Better Approach Needed to Identify Systemic Causes of Problem Parts

NSIAD-93-86 Published: Mar 16, 1993. Publicly Released: Mar 16, 1993.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army Aviation Systems Command's efforts to identify systemic problems with the quality and availability of certain helicopter parts.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense Because the Department of Defense (DOD) now has functional responsibility for DRS, the Secretary of Defense should develop a strategy for identifying the systemic causes of problem parts that is built on the information and systems, such as DRS and the System Supply Support Status (S4), that are already in place. As a minimum, the strategy should ensure that the terms used to identify the causes of problems with quality are defined and that the terms are applied consistently by those responsible for capturing the data.
Closed – Implemented
DOD took action to improve the accuracy and currency of DRS; reduced processing time for all customer submitted deficiency reports; and standardized the coding system used to identify reported problems.
Department of Defense Because DOD now has functional responsibility for DRS, the Secretary of Defense should develop a strategy for identifying the systemic causes of problem parts that is built on the information and systems, such as DRS and S4, that are already in place. As a minimum, the strategy should require the directorates that investigate problems with quality to promptly forward the results of their investigations to the centralized database in sufficient detail to keep the system accurate and up-to-date.
Closed – Implemented
DOD took action to improve the accuracy and currency of DRS; reduced processing time for all customer submitted deficiency reports; and standardized the coding system used to identify reported problems.
Department of Defense Because DOD now has functional responsibility for DRS, the Secretary of Defense should develop a strategy for identifying the systemic causes of problem parts that is built on the information and systems, such as DRS and S4, that are already in place. As a minimum, the strategy should ensure that supply managers are provided appropriate and timely data on problems with quality or on issues pertaining to the parts they manage so that they will be aware of the identified problems and the corrective actions.
Closed – Implemented
Information is now available to all users as part of the Equipment Improvement Report Digest.
Department of Defense Because DOD now has functional responsibility for DRS, the Secretary of Defense should develop a strategy for identifying the systemic causes of problem parts that is built on the information and systems, such as DRS and S4, that are already in place. As a minimum, the strategy should use the information in the centralized database to develop trend data to identify functional areas requiring corrective actions.
Closed – Implemented
DOD took action to improve the accuracy and currency of DRS; reduced processing time for all customer submitted deficiency reports; and standardized the coding system used to identify reported problems.
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should direct the Commander of the Army Materiel Command to test the proactive supply availability reporting system on an Aviation Systems Command-wide basis. If the test results prove beneficial, the Commander of the Army Materiel Command should determine whether the system should be established at the other Army buying commands.
Closed – Implemented
The Commander, Army Materiel Command, is testing the use of the proactive supply availability reporting system to determine whether it should be used at other Army buying commands.

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Topics

Aircraft componentsCombat readinessData collectionInformation systemsInventory control systemsMilitary cost controlMilitary inventoriesMilitary materielWeapons systemsMilitary forces