DLA Program Receives David Packard Acquisition Award

The awards were presented during the two-day Program Executive Officer-System Commanders' Conference, hosted by the Defense Acquisition University here.

DOD EMALL was among three programs honored, along with the B-2 Total Systems Support Partnership between the Air Force B-2 program office and Northrop Grumman and the governmentwide purchase card team of the 374th Contracting Squadron.

The winning teams "each used new ways to expand the talents of their people, extend the life of our material and stretch the purchasing power of every dollar," said Michael Wynne, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, who selected the top three for accomplishments during the 2003 calendar year. "They also were able to demonstrate new ways to work with their partner industry and to manage products as we move into the 21st century."

Aiming to provide a centralized, efficient and cost-effective procurement experience for its users, DOD EMALL allows its users to search, browse and purchase commercial and government off-the-shelf products and services through a single interface in an easy-to-use on-line format.

DOD EMALL, hosted at the Defense Logistics Agency's Defense Logistics Information Service, plays a key role in eMarketplace. It provides a common online access to governmentwide acquisition contracts and other multiagency contracts to simplify selection and facilitate leverage of government buying, under the E-Gov Integrated Acquisition Environment Initiative.

DOD EMALL increases the number of transactions in the DoD procurement system through an active marketing campaign while promoting beneficial cost savings through electronic purchasing. Costs for manual purchases, for example, averaged $146 per transaction. The cost for the same transaction carried out on DOD EMALL averaged $11.31 -- resulting in $134.69 in savings per transaction.

DOD EMALL has seen tremendous growth from $14 million in sales in fiscal 2002 to $233 million in sales for fiscal 2003. The Department of Homeland Security has estimated it will save 15 percent in addition to its existing business processes through DOD EMALL, while providing a better user experience for buyers.

Before DOD EMALL Team Lead Debra Fryar accepted the award on the program's behalf, Wynne specifically thanked DLA Director Vice Adm. Keith Lippert and DLA Acquisition Executive Scottie Knott for the agency's "incredible customer service rate" to all soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen around the world.

"When these awards were established nine years ago," Wynne said, "no one could have imagined what has occurred since then with terrorist attacks on our nation's soil and the entry into two engagements. All of these factors complicate the logistical requirements that make our warfighters successful.

"It is unprecedented the way the logistics community has risen to that challenge," he said. "The field of logistics will frankly never be the same. It has been transformed by each and every one of you wherever you work in acquisition, because all of us now think a little bit differently about what it means to be a logistician."

Named for the late David Packard, a former deputy secretary of defense and co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., the award was established to recognize Department of Defense civilian and military organizations, groups or teams who have made significant contributions to improving acquisition practices.

There were 30 nominees for the award. Twelve will receive the Defense Acquisition Executive Certificate of Achievement, and 15 will receive the Defense Certificate of Recognition for Acquisition Innovation.

(Joy Kress works for Defense Logistics Agency Public Affairs Office, Fort Belvoir, Va.)