FY13 CECOM Value Engineering Project Summary

By (CECOM) Public AffairsMarch 7, 2014

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The CECOM Value Concept Office (VCO) worked diligently throughout fiscal year (FY) 2013 to help organizations across CECOM meet their mandated Value Engineering (VE) goals. Value Engineering is an organized and systematic approach to analyzing functions of systems, equipment, facilities, services and supplies. This ensures they achieve their essential functions at the lowest life-cycle cost consistent with required performance, reliability, quality, and safety. The objective of VE is to capitalize on cost avoidance and cost savings opportunities to ensure prudent management and execution of taxpayer dollars.

Every FY, the Department of Defense policy establishes a VE goal for each organization that is 1.5 percent of their respective Total Obligation Authority. VE goals are achieved through collaboration with the Value Concepts Office (VCO) and project submitters to produce either Value Engineering Proposals (VEP) or Value Engineering Change Proposals (VECPS). The government workforce is responsible for developing VEPs, while the contractor workforce is responsible for developing VECPs.

Throughout FY13 there were six successfully implemented VEPs presented to the CECOM VCO that were later submitted to AMC. Projects that were submitted include one from Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) that saved $30.673million and five from the Logistics and Readiness Center (LRC) that saved $0.686 million. CECOM in total has successfully saved/avoided $31.359 million by applying the Value Engineering Principles to problems/issues in order to develop beneficial solutions. Five of the projects submitted were from the LRC; three were from the Logistics and Engineering Operations (LEO) Directorate and two from the Communications Security Logistics Agency (CSLA).

The first two projects submitted by LEO were from the Item Unique Identification (IUID) team. One of the projects helped avoid costs associated with Engineer Change Proposals (ECP). The process that was in place required that ECPs for the LRC be prepared at TYAD for $1,632 per ECP when the Weapons Systems Directorates (WSD) could complete the same tasks for no cost. The IUID team?'s second project discovered cost savings through streamlining the pulling and uploading process for IUID by switching from utilizing Property Book Unit Supply Enhances (PBUSE) to Maintenance Consolidated Database Systems (MCDS). The LRC?'s OPS29 team developed a web tool that allowing OPS29 completion to be streamlined and for a higher quality product. The web tool allows WSDs to submit requirements to the Budget Development and Execution Support Team who can provide the final report at a lower cost (less over time, less material use). The LRC?'s CSLA saved $116,694 for FY13 by replacing their current biometrics system that was too costly to repair due to high volumes of entry/exit traffic at facilities with existing magnetic proximity systems that work with common access cards. Using the existing system reduces maintenance costs and administrative support. The second project submitted by CSLA reduced travel expenses related to auditing accounts by moving one employee to an area closer to where a majority of the audits take place.

The VCO encourages active participation from all CECOM organizations; we need your knowledge, skills and abilities to help develop VE projects.

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