Defense Inventory: Plan to Improve Management of Shipped Inventory Should Be Strengthened
NSIAD-00-39
Published: Feb 22, 2000. Publicly Released: Feb 22, 2000.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) plan for tracking inventory shipments, focusing on whether the plan: (1) responds to the provisions of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999; (2) contains the management elements needed for guiding effective implementation; and (3) adequately addresses other underlying weaknesses that led to ineffective control of inventory shipments.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include actions that more specifically address inventory shipment visibility weaknesses and the specific steps necessary for attaining DOD's goals. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include statements of objectives that are directly linked to each action. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include performance measures that contain quantifiable goals, methods for comparing actual results with desired outcomes, baseline data, interim measures, and clearly stated performance targets. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include implementation schedules that contain specific completion dates and interim milestones for monitoring long-range actions. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include accountability for overseeing and implementing each action. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include an identification of the resources necessary for implementing each action, together with an estimate of the annual costs. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include actions to address the errors in the systems that the military services use to manage inventory shipments. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include actions to address the problem of military supply activities failing to consistently follow existing DOD policies and procedures, including adequate training for supply personnel. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | To increase the likelihood that DOD's plan will enhance control over inventory shipments, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to revise DOD's plan to include actions that address how DOD will successfully overcome its long-standing cultural resistance to change to ensure consistent implementation by the military services. |
In lieu of revising DOD's plan, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and technology directed the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to prepare detailed implementation plans to provide greater detail on the proposed corrective actions and to address the recommendations in the report. As of June 30, 2000, all of these implementation plans were completed and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review and approval. In accordance with the mandate in section 349 of the 1999 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act, GAO is currently revising these implementation plans and monitoring the implementation of the corrective actions (GAO assignment code 709484). GAO will continue to monitor DOD's implementation of these plans over the next several years.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should submit DOD's detailed implementation plans, scheduled to be completed in April 2000, to Congress to facilitate appropriate congressional oversight. |
In its comments to this report and the follow-on report (GAO-01-30), the Department stated that it did not believe it was appropriate to send to the Congress the level of detail we had recommended. Therefore, the Department does not intend to implement this recommendation. GAO is continuing to monitor the Department's initiatives to correct in-transit visibility weaknesses and other related initiatives to reengineer the Department-wide logistics systems. This follow-on work will include an assessment of the extent to which the Department is keeping the Congress informed of its actions and initiatives to correct logistics weaknesses.
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Topics
Internal controlsInventory control systemsLogisticsMilitary inventoriesPerformance measuresStrategic planningPerformance measurementU.S. ArmyInventoryU.S. Navy