Are there cost effective alternatives to Navy Ready Supply Stores?

Abstract

This study presents two alternatives to the Navy's Ready Supply Store (RSS) to determine if there is a more cost effective means of performing their function while still providing the same level of customer support. The RSS is a means of providing supply support to remote site DOD customers for high demand, low cost consumable items needed for day to day operations. This study focuses on the RSS at the Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA. and examines two alternatives: a government-wide commercial credit card program and partnering with the nearest Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC). We compare the cost of operations, sales price between government and local vendors, and customer preference. The results suggest that items are slightly less expensive when purchased at the School's RSS than at local vendors. However, the savings to the School in operations costs and to the Navy in Budget Project 28 funds, by eliminating the RSS, far outweigh the higher cost of purchasing items from local vendors. We also found that the same level of customer support could be provided if the NPS RSS were eliminated. As a result, we recommend eliminating the RSS at NPS and implementing the government-wide commercial credit card program.