Long-term contracting increases productivity by reducing the number of routine contracting actions required. It can shorten Administrative Lead Times (ALTs), thus increasing the ability to react swiftly to increasing or decreasing demand, and thus increasing supply availability and decreasing potential supply excess. Long-term contracts reduce the contractor''s administrative burden and result in stable production runs, thereby incentivizing contractors to do business with the Department of Defense (DoD). The purpose of this handbook is to assist contracting offices in utilizing long-term contracting types and techniques. It provides information for contracting, supply, technical, quality, and finance personnel to use in developing common sense applications of acquisition methods that result in extended contractual coverage. The handbook attempts to integrate and correlate the multitude of long-term contracting techniques, explains how they can be used in conjunction with one another, and explains the various roles and functions of the complete spectrum of logistics specialists in achieving the optimum contracting approach for the most efficient utilization of resources and sustained supply support.
