Documentation and evaluation of Depot Maintenance Cost System coding and reporting by Department of Defense depots

Abstract

The purpose of this research project is to document and examine the coding processes used by depots in accumulating cost data reported to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Installations, and Logistics (OASD,MI&L). The analysis in this study is based on information obtained from on-site visits to the Sacramento Air Logistics Center, Sacramento, California, and the Naval Air Rework Facility, North Island, San Diego, California. The results of this study indicated that the coding processes used by both depots generate data variations and biases in the OASD (MI&L) Depot Maintenance Cost System. In addition, the study revealed that variations do not occur on a consistent basis and, therefore, methods need to be developed to identify and segregate the effects of different coding processes used by depots.