Defense Inventory: DOD Could Improve Total Asset Visibility Initiative With Results Act Framework
NSIAD-99-40
Published: Apr 12, 1999. Publicly Released: Apr 22, 1999.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of its Total Asset Visibility (TAV) initiative, focusing on: (1) the difficulty in determining the status of the initiative's implementation; (2) planning weaknesses that affect the initiative's implementation; and (3) strategies for addressing those weaknesses.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct that actions be taken to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan and associated component implementation plans based on the outcome-oriented management principles embodied in the Government Performance and Results Act and the Clinger-Cohen Act; such plans must be agreed to and supported by relevant components. Specifically, all plans should describe a complete management structure and officials (including component officials) that will be accountable for ensuring the timely success of the TAV initiative. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD does not intend to respond to this recommendation. GAO continues to believe that, without such a plan, TAV will be sub-optimized, and there will be marginal movement toward DOD goals set for TAV on critical points such as asset visibility and transfer among components. GAO's concerns were supported in a May 14, 1999, DOD IG report describing inappropriate disposal and retention of assets that could have been distributed to other components through appropriate use of the TAV system.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct that actions be taken to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan and associated component implementation plans based on the outcome-oriented management principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger-Cohen Act; such plans must be agreed to and supported by relevant components. Specifically, all plans should describe how the initiative will be incorporated into DOD work processes in support of DOD's TAV performance goals and how appropriate training will be put in place to support the new work processes and the related cultural change that must be made to support Departmentwide asset sharing. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has taken preliminary steps to be fully responsive to this recommendation. The fiscal year 2000 DOD Logistics Strategic Plan, includes a new goal where components determine how their business processes will be changed to use the TAV system by the end of fiscal year 2000.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct that actions be taken to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan and associated component implementation plans based on the outcome-oriented management principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger-Cohen Act; such plans must be agreed to and supported by relevant components. Specifically, all plans should identify how Departmentwide systems issues that affect implementation of TAV will be addressed. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has taken preliminary steps to be responsive to this recommendation. DOD stated in the fiscal year 2000 DOD Logistics Strategic Plan, that it will determine asset information requirements by the end of fiscal year 2000.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct that actions be taken to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan and associated component implementation plans based on the outcome-oriented management principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger-Cohen Act; such plans must be agreed to and supported by relevant components. Specifically, all plans should establish outcome-oriented TAV initiative goals and performance measures for all relevant components and closely link the measures to improvement targets established in documents such as DOD's Logistics Strategic Plan and the Results Act Performance Plan in the Annual Report to the President and Congress. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has taken preliminary steps to be fully responsive to this recommendation. DOD stated in the fiscal year 2000 DOD Logistics Strategic Plan, that it will determine user/business methods, asset information requirements, and associated measures by the end of fiscal year 2000.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct that actions be taken to develop a Departmentwide TAV strategic plan and associated component implementation plans based on the outcome-oriented management principles embodied in the Results Act and the Clinger-Cohen Act; such plans must be agreed to and supported by relevant components. Specifically, all plans should identify complete resource requirements for implementing the TAV initiative and include related investment analyses that show how the major information technology investments will support TAV initiative goals. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD does not intend to take action on this recommendation. DOD has stated that it will not perform an investment analysis of funds being spent to support the Total Asset Visibility (TAV) system. GAO continues to believe that describing the costs and benefits of the investments in TAV initiatives would help focus the Department on the intended results to be realized by the program. During GAO's review, inadequate resource budgeting was cited as a major, constant impediment to realizing progress on the TAV initiative.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Data integrityFederal property managementInternal controlsInventory control systemsLogisticsMilitary inventoriesMilitary materielSpare partsStrategic planningY2K