Best Practices in Supplier Relationship Management and Their Early Implementation in the Air Force Materiel Command

摘要

As is the case with all military services, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) is under pressure to reduce the costs of its logistics operations while simultaneously improving their performance. In FY 2008, 43% of the total Air Force budget went to purchases of goods and services--including all weapon system support costs, base operating support, military housing and construction -- from the private sector. Thus, any efforts to generate significant savings must target purchases from the private sector. Since 2002, as part of its Purchasing and Supply Chain Management (PSCM) initiative, the Air Force has had a program called Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) within the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) that has the goal of reducing the cost and improving the quality and performance of purchased goods and services by carefully managing relations with suppliers to the mutual advantage of each. Commercial firms have long had such programs and have garnered large savings from them. However, the scope and pace of the savings generated by the SRM program at AFMC have been less than anticipated by senior leaders. As a result, the Air Force asked PAF to identify steps the Air Force can take to improve the outcomes of its SRM program, particularly for contracts for sustainment spares, repairs, and other depot-level services. In performing this research, we first reviewed the academic, business, and defense literature on best SRM practices and interviewed representatives of commercial best-in-class firms that have successfully implemented SRM to identify the most effective practices.