The F100 Engine Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Demonstration: Findings from Air Force Spend Analyses

Abstract : Purchasing and supply chain Management (PSCM) offers the Air Force a Means to Make better use of its resources in general and to improve several of its logistics processes specifically. Conducting a spend analysis is one of the first steps in implementing PSCM practices. A spend analysis that documents what is purchased how much is spent and where goods and services are purchased can help an enterprise to identify specific performance quality and cost goals in relationships with providers and can suggest where time and resources should be focused to achieve those goals. In fiscal year (FY) 2002, the Air Force chose engine parts as an area for examining the feasibility of employing best practices for purchasing and supply management initiatives. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC), which is responsible for supporting Air Force engines, then selected the F100 engine as its platform for a PSM demonstration. RAND was asked to assist OC-ALC in conducting a spend analysis on F100 engines, which led to a spend analysis of jet engine bearings, a critical component for jet engine maintenance.