Air Force told to tighten up logistics reform efforts

Efforts to curb waste and inefficiency at Air Force maintenance depots are inconsistent and could benefit from tighter management controls, the General Accounting Office has reported.

Under a reform program dubbed "Agile Logistics," the Air Force Materiel Command has been trying to adopt commercial business practices at its five logistics centers. The reforms are aimed at speeding up delivery of spare parts, reducing the time and cost of aircraft maintenance and repairs and improving contractors' work. But such efforts are plagued with management problems, according to the report, "Air Force Depot Maintenance: Management Changes Would Improve Implementation of Reform Initiatives (NSIAD-99-63)."

"AFMC does not yet have the more streamlined and standardized organization originally envisioned to improve personnel and equipment efficiency," GAO said.

One part of the reform effort involves changing the way depots prioritize repairs. Under the old system, repairs were made only in response to customers' immediate needs. Now, every day an automated system prioritizes the next day's repairs. AFMC is also seeking to improve aircraft repair turnaround times by managing supplies and maintenance more efficiently. Finally, the contract reform effort calls for improving performance on work done by contractors.

While the goals of the Agile Logistics program are clear, the Air Force has no systematic method to determine if those goals are being achieved, GAO found. Depot repair reforms, for example, have only been applied to about 30 percent of the depot's reparable items. Aircraft repair reforms have been put in place for 65 percent of the aircraft with scheduled maintenance, and contractor reforms have been used intermittently at each AFMC center, GAO determined.

"Each of the three initiatives are in various stages of implementation. However, only broad goals were established for the initiatives and the Air Force did not establish tracking measures to assess whether the three depot enhancement initiatives were achieving the desired results," the report said.

GAO made several recommendations for improving the Air Force's reform efforts, mostly on the managerial side. To begin with, GAO officials said, AFMC needs to standardize operations, including organizational structures and responsibilities, and establish common measures of performance for all five logistics centers.

The Air Force should adopt other business practices, such as improved technology and better financial management, the report said. Much of the data for the Agile Logistics program was collected manually, GAO noted. In addition, costs of the reform efforts are not clearly tracked. As a result, managers make premature budget reductions based on inaccurate savings estimates, GAO contended.

Like most government reform initiatives, the Agile Logistics program won't work without the support of both managers and front-line employees, GAO noted. "One of the greatest challenges to the success of the initiatives, according to AFMC officials, is convincing supervisors and workers at the centers to accept the new way of doing business," the report said.

Air Force officials concurred with GAO's recommendations and outlined some of the measures it has taken to put them in place. But according to GAO, the reform pledges were too general to ensure that actual improvements will be made.