Air Force developing 'smarter' supply chain contract
By
Nick Wakeman
The Air Force is looking for contractor support as its moves toward an enterprise-level supply chain that has a focus on readiness.
The Air Force is developing a contract to help it become smarter about how the branch manages spare parts.
In a new sources sought notice, the Air Force lays out its search for analytics and services for what it calls “readiness-based sparing.” The Defense Acquisition University defines readiness-based sparing as the practice of using advanced analytics to set spares levels and locations of spares to maximize readiness.
In a performance work statement, the Air Force says the contract will helps the Air Force Sustainment Center and other organizations uses RBS tools and processes. The work would span all aspects of the Air Force supply chain.
This will include making recommendations for improvements to the architecture and contingency support. Data quality is another area in need of improvement.
The contractor will also support Air Force efforts to transition to an enterprise logistics system.
“A key factor is the contractor’s ability to ensure the government has access to the wide range of expertise and experience the AFSC requires to perform enterprise-level management of the Air Force’s supply chain,” according to the performance work statement.
The Air Force Sustainment Center is based at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. It also has major facilities at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. It operates a global supply chain that supports a variety of aircraft such as B-52s, A-10s, B-1s, F-15s, F-16s and U-2s.
Responses to the request for information are due Aug. 7.