JPEO-CBD seeks to reduce acquisition lead time through tailored professional training workshops with DAU
by Mr. Jeff Megargel
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
– Sun Tzu
As the Trump administration completes its transition, Better Buying Power may be replaced with something different, but the tenets and goals of acquisition reform will remain largely the same. All program executive offices within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) will be seeking ways to reduce administrative lead time while fielding and maintaining the best quality equipment and services possible within resource constraints.
The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) has partnered with Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Mission Assistance to sponsor a series of workshops designed specifically to improve acquisition timelines. The curricula are intended for pre-milestone A or B program teams of Acquisition Category (ACAT) III programs but can be tailored to any effort. They focus on understanding contracting and applying that understanding to achieve superior contract vehicles and contractor performance. Other workshops allow credentialed DAU instructors and program teams to immerse themselves in developing exceptional solicitation documentation and finding ways to reduce the administrative burden by eliminating oversight that is appropriate for ACAT I programs but overkill for the ACAT III efforts that make up the bulk of the JPEO-CBD’s portfolio. The JPEO-CBD is in the second year of this program and recently offered the curricula to other PEOs across ASA(ALT).
WORKING STEP BY STEP
The JPEO-CBD has partnered with DAU Mission Assistance to conduct tailored workforce development workshops throughout the procurement cycle. (Source: JPEO-CBD)
CONTRACTING AS A WEAPON
Doug Bryce, joint program executive officer, is convinced that program managers must have more than a fundamental knowledge of contracting in order to influence contracting-related decisions that impact their programs. “Far too often, the program management team throws their input over the wall to the contract team, and 24 months later we have a contract,” Bryce said. “This leads to the ‘contract of the day’ approach. The key is to use the right contract type and incentives for the program.”
With this goal in mind, Bryce directed his staff to reach out to DAU to create a “Contracting for Program Managers” workshop that orients newly assigned program management personnel to the art and science of government contracting. The topics include contracting strategies, types of contracts, incentivizing contractor performance, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, and how it is all related to DOD Instruction 5000.02, “Operation of the Defense Acquisition System.” The intent is not to create contracting experts, but to establish a level of understanding that facilitates proactive engagement with the contracting community as the program management team plans acquisition strategies.
The JPEO-CBD also has assigned former civil service contracting professionals to each program office. They assist in developing acquisition packages and liaise with their peers in the supporting contracting activities. This enables the program teams to collaborate with contracting subject matter experts who are also fully vested in program acquisition strategies. The result of this collaboration is acquisition packages that require far less rework between the acquisition and contracting shops, as well as procurement strategies that are more tailored to a specific requirement versus one size fits all.
The JPEO-CBD also has sponsored several workshops on contract incentives, with a DAU subject matter expert providing a comprehensive review of contract incentives and their appropriate use in acquisition programs. After completion of the workshop, everyone understands the fundamentals of how and when to incentivize contractor performance, when cost or fixed-price incentive contracts are appropriate and, most importantly, how to discuss contract incentives with the contracting professionals during formulation of acquisition and procurement strategies.
Bryce requires new start programs to complete a streamlined acquisition strategy development workshop well before milestone A. The workshop brings together program teams, functional staff and user community stakeholders to address major topic areas for development and potential streamlining of their program acquisition strategy. The DAU instructor tailors the workshop to one program and encourages the optimal levels of participation from the stakeholder community. This always includes the contracting officer and specialist, but also can include budget analysts, legal advisers, small business advocates and technical specialists who might only engage for selected topics. As an example, the workshop conducted for the Enhanced Maritime Biological Detection (EMBD) program included participants from the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. Representing the Navy user community, they provided insight concerning the challenges of upgrading a legacy sensor system on a surface platform, including compatibility with other shipboard systems and fielding the systems in line with deployment schedules.
Over several iterations, the program teams have universally praised the workshops for facilitating an immersive environment where the team can work as a team and develop critical thinking skills and ideas that are directly relevant to reducing the administrative burden as they develop and gain approval for ACAT III program acquisition strategies. The lectures cover multiple topics that must be addressed in the acquisition plans, including risk management, affordability, should-cost and supportability.
Immediately following the lecture, the teams “murder board” each topic as it relates to their program: Small teams address each topic and document any assumptions, constraints, risk mitigations and proposed solutions on a big sheet of butcher block paper. At the end of the session, each team briefs their findings to the workshop as a whole. The program team members can tear off the page and carry their brainstorming back to their workspaces for refinement and inclusion in formal documentation.
DOUBLE TEAMING
The JPEO-CBD and DAU have developed workshops that empower program teams to accelerate schedules and reduce costs while maintaining high standards of capability delivery. (Source: U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center/chipstudio/iStock)
“The workshop is very helpful in breaking down the components of the acquisition strategy into manageable parts,” said Michele Parrish, EMBD team lead. In some cases, the workshops have revealed the need for additional market research or more detailed analysis of data rights provisions. In others, the teams have identified how contracting methodologies can have a major impact upon reducing documentation requirements. For instance, using existing multiple-award contract vehicles often is more efficient than creating a new contract vehicle specific to one requirement. The assumed duration to complete all the steps necessary to award the typical stand-alone single award contract today is 18 to 24 months. But many program teams are unaware that they have access to existing contract vehicles that can reduce procurement schedules by months. They just need this input early enough that it can be incorporated into the acquisition strategy. Workshops can make teams aware of this benefit.
NONTRADITIONAL APPROACHES
JPEO-CBD’s portfolio contains a number of programs that are suited for procurement within the commercial marketplace, including vaccines and specialized textiles. As a result, the JPEO-CBD has established an other transaction authority (OTA) consortium in procuring vaccines and therapeutic drugs. “Companies that have never participated in a FAR-based procurement are now in line to support multiple Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program requirements,” said Gary Wright, director of the JPEO-CBD Contracting Management Office. The Joint Project Manager for Protection is also using an OTA to work with manufacturers of specialty fabrics and materials. The project office is seeking advanced chemical and biological protection ensembles and design concepts that might be used in handwear, footwear and respiratory protection systems.
Companies that produce cutting-edge technologies might not be willing to conform to accounting practices or other regulations that are mandatory for participation in DOD programs. For instance, maintaining a compliant accounting system is extremely expensive, but the revenue that results from a given DOD program may be immaterial in a company’s overall income stream. OTA agreements allow such companies to provide prototypes for the JPEO-CBD programs without having to meet the many regulatory requirements of an arrangement governed by the FAR.
To implement and sustain the consortium, the JPEO-CBD created two workshops that enabled potential program teams to leverage OTAs. The training is divided into an introductory workshop that allows program teams to test the waters and an advanced workshop that goes through the detailed process for establishing and managing an OTA program. In January, DAU conducted two basic workshops at U.S. Special Operations Command using the JPEO-CBD sponsored curriculum. One was tailored to the contracting community and the second for the program managers. The OTA training “was perfect to help expand our horizons and develop a full acquisition tool set,” said Col. John Reim, program executive officer for special operations forces – warrior. “… I suspect that you will be hearing more from SOF AT&L [special operations forces acquisition, technology and logistics] in the near future for additional information and lessons learned.”
The JPEO-CBD also offers workshops that are focused on developing high-quality solicitation documentation and training government personnel to serve on source selection evaluation boards. The RFP development workshop capitalizes on the work already completed by acquisition teams but blends in the best practices as presented by DAU. The DAU instructors have the benefit of observing program teams across DOD and can offer lessons learned as they lead the team through refinement of its documentation.
For instance, despite the best efforts of contracting and program management personnel, some solicitations require multiple amendments following release as a result of industry feedback and questions regarding the documentation. Borrowing from industry practice, the Joint Project Manager for NBC Contamination Avoidance adopted a process in which a senior contracting expert performs a formal crosswalk between the draft solicitation sections, including the Statement of Work (Section C), Instructions to Offerors (Section L) and the Evaluation Criteria (Section M). The emphasis is placed upon ensuring that statements of work reflect performance specifications and that instructions to offerors and evaluation criteria are optimized to ensure that the government procures the right solutions for its acquisition needs.
Using this process, the program team corrects the draft documentation before it goes to the contracting activity. Normally, these major sections of a solicitation are prepared by two completely different interests: The acquisition team generates the statement of work and the performance specification, but the contracting officer generates sections L and M—often weeks if not months later. The workshop seeks to complete all major sections in a deliberate and fully integrated environment. The result is less confusion among offerors when they prepare proposals; more realistic cost proposals as offerors are less likely to mitigate risks through management reserves; and better performing programs post-award because the government and the winning offerors have a clearer understanding of what the program really needs to provide the capability to the warfighter.
After the solicitation is released and before receipt of proposals, the JPEO-CBD’s source selection evaluation boards conduct a practice evaluation of the proposals using the actual solicitation documentation. The source selection workshop (DAU Course WSC 005) covers the roles of each member of the board, drafts practice source-selection decision documentation, and has the team conduct mock debriefs given to unsuccessful offerors.
Finally, the JPEO-CBD and DAU are providing the Acquisition Program Transition Workshop (DAU course WSM 011) that brings the government program team and the winning offeror’s program team together to reach a common understanding of the government’s expectations and the contractor’s understanding of how the contract will be managed. According to Ashton Carter, former secretary of defense: “The benefits of this workshop include early alignment of government and industry team organizations, publication of roadmaps to integrated baseline review and other near-term planning events, agreement on management of scope and processes, and resolution of issues including differences in interpretation of contracts and other documents.”
Throughout the workshop, DAU instructors leverage best practices they have observed across DOD. In nearly all cases, there are opportunities to improve the quality of deliverables—such as monthly cost reports or administrative processes—simply by demonstrating how a company uses automated tools and skilled employees to accomplish the same tasks on other contracts. There is opportunity for open dialogue that enables the company to demonstrate the value-added aspects of its reporting and to tailor the soft deliverables—e.g., monthly cost reports or government-furnished property inventories—based upon what the contracting officer’s representative can really use. This workshop provides a forum in which the government can meet face to face with its counterparts to emphasize the need to manage program risks and establish an effective methodology to leverage the contractor’s capabilities while meeting the government’s expectations.
CONCLUSION
Although Better Buying Power may be replaced with new direction for achieving acquisition objectives, the basic tenets will remain the same. The JPEO-CBD has demonstrated that PEOs can tailor DAU expertise to achieve material results at the program level. The key is to leverage the knowledge resident at DAU to tailor training for each program team depending upon where it is in the acquisition cycle, and then conduct the workshops in an immersive environment where teams can concentrate on producing quality results in collaboration with functional staff and technical experts.
The JPEO-CBD is planning a full calendar in FY18, including workshops for all PEOs across ASA(ALT). It is the JPEO-CBD’s desire to conduct multiple iterations of the training in the five geographic areas where the PEOs are concentrated. The Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support already has requested a streamlined acquisition strategy development workshop in the Warren, Michigan, area this summer. Some of the curricula, including the OTA workshops, are appropriate for any agency within DOD and beyond.
For more information, contact the author at jeffrey.w.megargel.ctr@mail.mil, or go to https://www.jpeocbd.osd.mil/ or https://www.dau.mil/consulting-services/.
JEFF MEGARGEL is a former Marine Corps contracting officer and vice president with Science Applications International Corp. He is currently supporting the JPEO-CBD Contracting Management Office as an employee of Moss Cape, LLC. He holds an M.S. in contract and acquisition management from the Naval Postgraduate School and specializes in assisting program teams develop contracting strategies.
Related links:
DAU Mission Assistance
WSC 005 Source Selection
WSM 011 Acquisition Program Transition Workshop
This article is published in the July-September 2017 issue of Army AL&T Magazine.
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