Welcome to the Performance Based Logistics (PBL) PWS Development Job Support Tool (JST)!
In support of the Better Buying Power (BBP) 3.0 “Incentivize Productivity in Industry and Government” initiative to “ensure effective use of Performance Based Logistics”, DAU has established this resource to assist defense acquisition workforce members successfully develop effective and comprehensive performance work statements (PWS) for implementing best value PBL Product Support Arrangement (PSA). Whether you are serving as a Product Support Manager (PSM) or as Contracting Officer Representative (COR), this resource is available to you.
DAU has developed a comprehensive Acquisition Requirements Roadmap Training (ARRT) Tool as a Better Buying Power (BBP) job aid designed to help you improve tradecraft in service acquisitions, including crafting the requirements for PBL product support arrangements. Primary features of the ARRT Tool include:
Keep in mind that this is not the only tool available to you, as there are other ways to craft performance work statements. It is, however, a tool that provides a structured, disciplined and consistent process that enables you to develop a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-compliant PWS that includes task standards and acceptable quality levels (AQL).
Support for and help using this job support tool is available from both the ARRT website and the Service Acquisition Mall (SAM). The ARRT team will also monitor questions and issues logged here and will attempt to resolve user issues, however there is no express warranty or direct support guaranteed in the use of ARRT. DAU also offers a number of related learning assets that leverage the Acquisition Requirements Roadmap Training (ARRT) Tool, including:
DoD personnel are highly encouraged to request a WSM 012 Service Acquisition Workshop (SAW) at SAW@dau.mil when they first begin planning for a services acquisition contract. The SAW is tailored to assist your Services Acquisition (SA) team in conducting the seven-step process for a services acquisition to include:
- Forming the Team
- Reviewing Current Strategy
- Market Research
- Requirements Development
- Acquisition Strategy Development
- Execution of the Strategy
- Performance Management
Other related -- and potentially helpful -- references include:
In addition, DAU also offers a series of mission assist workshops for all types of contracting efforts; these include:
A few key considerations before you get started. First, keep in mind that PBL, by definition is not synonymous with Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) or Interim Contractor Support (ICS), nor do successful PBL Product Support Arrangement (PSA) necessarily require a commercial sector Product Support Integrator (PSI) or Product Support Provider (PSP) in order to successfully deliver desired performance and cost outcomes. According to ASD(L&MR) PBL Comprehensive Guidance, “PBL is synonymous with performance based life cycle product support, where outcomes are acquired through performance based arrangements that deliver Warfighter requirements and incentivize product support providers to reduce costs through innovation. These arrangements are contracts with industry or inter-governmental agreements.” By virtue of the fact this tool is used to develop a contractual documents that include a Performance Work Statement (PWS), Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP), and Performance Requirements Summary (PRS), it is intended for crafting a product support arraignments with commercial sector industry integrator(s) and/or provider(s). Additionally, keep in mind when envisioning commercial sector involvement in a PBL arrangement, that such arrangements do not necessarily have to be in the form of a services contract. There are actually two major approaches that can potentially be used to implement PBL contracts: the supply or the service contracting approach. Both types have been used successfully. See the frequently asked questions section of the PBL CoP for additional details.
Instructions for developing a tailored PBL PWS in the ARRT Tool:
- Proceed to sam.dau.mil where you will click on the Acquisition Requirements Roadmap Tool (ARRT) Suite on the right hand side of the page. On the next page, just click on “ARRT Requirements Definition” and you will be taken to the ARRT Requirements Definition description. Below the definition of the left side you will select “Click Here to Download ARRT Requirements Definition”. This will take you to a registration page. Once you register, you will receive a link via e-mail enabling you to download the ARRT file. You will require MS Access 10.0 or later on your computer.
- The ARRT Requirements Definition tool enables you to develop a PWS and QASP and export them to MS Word for further editing, routing and/or review. Please note that you cannot insert tables or graphics while using ARRT but you can do so once it is exported to MS Word.
- ARRT comes pre-loaded with some sample PWS and you can import other as they become available to you. ARRT methodically leads you through the steps of entering Project Information, Requirements statements, Standards, Acceptable Quality Levels (AQLs), Deliverables and Inspection criteria/responsibility in a standardized, consistent and disciplined manner compliant with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
- The focus of developing performance based tasks is on the Results, Context and Action(s). The next step is documentation of the standard(s) used to perform the task as well the AQL for that task. In simple terms, the ARRT forces you to consider three aspects of each task:
- What do you want?
- When/Where do you want it?
- How do you know it’s good when you get it?
This methodology forces the requirements developers to perform the critical thinking necessary to develop specific, results-based requirements as well as acceptance criteria.
- Once the task is written with one or more standards and AQLs, the ARRT leads you through documentation on inspection criteria of what is inspected/reviewed, how, the frequency and by who as well as any applicable incentives or remedies. These factors will be used to develop the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)
- DAU plans to introduce one or more PBL PWS sample(s) as part of the ARRT Requirements Development download within the next year. Additional PBL-functionality will also be incrementally added over the same timeframe.
