Following the 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the introduction of Smart Procurement a number of structural changes were made within UK defence procurement. Procurement activities, previously co-ordinated by the Procurement Executive (PE), were transferred to the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) in 1999. At the same time, planning and delivery of support activities were centralised in a new tri-service body, the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO).
Whilst the PE had been a part of the MoD, the DPA was formally established as an independent agency on the road to trading fund status. One benefit of this transformation was that it afforded the DPA greater financial freedom to pursue its objectives. Less tangibly, but importantly, the move was designed to establish a direct customer / supplier relationship. As has been shown in Chapter 7, under the DPA cost and time performance improved and performance against KURs remained broadly stable at a high level.