Adopting New Procurement Methods in the U.S. Air Force

摘要

The U.S. Air Force is adopting widely accepted commercial 'best practices' to change the way it purchases goods and services, with the goals of reducing costs and improving performance to better support its missions. Part of this effort involves the implementation of commodity councils teams of technical experts and other stakeholders from different parts of the Air Force who develop corporate-wide strategies for purchasing specific categories of commodities such as medical supplies or computers. This practice is intended to replace the functionally oriented approach in which consumers, commodity specialists, and procurement professionals work largely in isolation from each other and execute specific purchases rather than taking into account demands across the Air Force. Commodity councils will enable the Air Force to leverage its purchasing power and to manage its contracts more effectively. Implementing commodity councils requires a transformation in the Air Force's procurement workforce. A study of commercial sector experiences with commodity councils conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) suggests that commodity councils require members who possess a wide range of skills, including the ability to use computers, training interpersonal skills, business skills such as creative problem solving, core purchasing and supply-management skills such as cost analysis, analytical and technical skills such as statistical analysis, and contracting skills. PAF analyzed procurement training programs in the Air Force and the commercial sector to determine how the Air Force can best prepare its personnel to adopt new purchasing practices.