Use of Value Engineering in Defense Acquisitions
Abstract
In summary, we found that the VE program has made a minimal contribution to cost reduction in DOD. Value engineering is only one of a number of approaches used by the services to control costs, and its use varied significantly from project to project. In part, its limited use is attributable to new cost-reduction initiatives introduced by the department since the 1990s and in part due to the cumbersome processes required to implement the program. Perhaps, more importantly VE projects are typically undertaken during production or after a system has been fielded. At this point, opportunities for substantially reducing costs are more limited. Our work on commercial best practices suggests that the opportunities to significantly influence costs occur earlier in the life cycle of a system. Generally we found significant variance in both the use and support of value engineering throughout the services. For example, neither the Air Force or the Navy have full-time staff resources dedicated to the VE program and consider VE just one of many tools available to reduce costs. At one Navy buying activity, we could not identify any VE projects, while at other Air Force and Navy buying activities we identified isolated instances where VE projects were being undertaken. In contrast, the Army has a more structured program with staff resources committed to managing the program and developing VE projects. However, even within the Army, there were variances in management emphasis from command to command.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2003
- Accession Number
- AD1154562
Entities
People
- Katherine V. Schinasi
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office