Current Strategy Review

•  Profile Spiral

o  Develop communication and implementation plans

n  Continue to refine the council Communication Plan, with the focus on the specific spiral. The Communication Plan identifies all relevant stakeholders, what communication messages apply to each stakeholder group, what communication methods may be used for each message to each group as well as a schedule for the messages to be distributed. In addition, a feedback mechanism may be established to collect and evaluate data from stakeholders.

n  Coordinate with MAJCOMs, DRUs, and FOAs. The council needs enterprise buy-in at every step of the process. The level of buy-in increases council momentum while decreasing obstacles, thus making future steps in the process more efficient.

n  Begin to document action items and schedule constraints that may affect the implementation of the future strategy. Examples include policies that need to be written or revised, processes that need to be reengineered, and system requirements that need to be defined. Working groups may need to be formed to address specific action items as warranted.

o  Conduct spend analysis

n  Review spend analysis specific to the spiral. The spend analysis reflects how much money was spent, who spent the money, where the commodities are being used, the number of actions each base/installation made in conjunction with a commodity, and who the major suppliers are.

n  Identify any potential subcategories within the spiral and determine which ones may be incorporated into the strategy.

n  Determine the time span of pertinent historical information. The time frame determined by the council provides enough baseline data to develop and pursue council goals and objectives. Teams often use one year of data but may use more if there are known or discovered abnormalities that would impact understanding past requirements.

n  Gather additional spend data as required. The data provides factual and relevant information as to the spiral's historical information, commercial and governmental uses, acquisition processes, and other information about the commodity as deemed relevant. This can include, but is not limited to: CBIS; FPDS-NG; and Government Purchase Card (GPC) spend data. In addition, the team can examine commercial processes based on end-to-end procurement (order receipt to commodity delivery and ultimate payment). This data could also include government-buy cycles for the commodity, command practices, contingency processes, and operational commodity practices. Obtain forecast future spend data for the commodity through budgets and/or POMs.

o  Identify current initiatives / contracts

n  Review other DoD and federal agency activities to see if the same type of effort has been performed elsewhere. This may result in some quick wins early in the process and eliminate duplication of efforts.

o  Identify current policy and statutory requirements

n  Policy and statutory requirements should be considered early in the process in order to avoid unnecessary delays when developing a new strategy.

o  Detail current processes with users

n  Processes to be detailed include: user/customer requirements, acquisition processes, supply steps, transportation functions, vendor functions, and contingency processes.

n  Document current cost of the commodity from inception through disposal (life-cycle cost). Costs associated with the commodity may include:

o  Price of item

o  Air Force labor hours required from the original request through disposal

o  Internal maintenance and upkeep costs

o  Warranty costs

o  Normal transportation cost associated with the commodity

o  Disposal cost, including any special environmental handling and disposal costs

n  Identify process elements that need improvement

n  Identify current constraints and challenges associated with commodity, based on commercial demand and availability, changes to military and civilian manning, flexibility, field training requirements, technology demands, effects on readiness, regulatory and legal requirements, etc.

n  Consider the effect on small business participation. The Council's strategy should continue to meet small business goals. Engage the SAF/SB at initial stages. Support from that organization provides credibility for the Council's proposed strategies. See FAR 6.2 for additional guidance.

n  Begin to identify bundling and/or consolidation concerns, if applicable

o  Document current metrics being tracked

n  If available, this data may provide insight into the current strategy and may be useful as justification when defining future strategies. If the MAJCOMs do not currently maintain metrics of the process, have them contact their operational squadrons to determine if metrics are available.

o  Hold review sessions with major users and suppliers to validate the commodity council/sourcing team's assumptions

o  Benchmark existing strategies (How do various internal strategies compare?)

•  Contact AFPEO/CM if applicable (see AFPEO/CM role)

o  Ensure early contact with AFPEO/CM if the commodity spiral will be within their purview (this includes AFPEO/CM programs that have been delegated)

o  Involve representatives at various status meetings to ensure continuing knowledge and participation

•  Define Spiral 1 Current Strategy

o  Based on the data and discussions document the current strategy of acquiring, maintaining and disposing of the spiral 1 commodity.