Incentive contracts : taking the guess work out of setting Fleet Aviation Consolidated Allowance (AVCALS)

Abstract

Over the years in an attempt to create cost savings, the Navy has changed its ways of determining parts allowances. Originally, the Navy used Demand Based Allowancing, in which parts allowances were assigned based upon Original Equipment Manufacturer recommendations, and fleet demand. In the late 1980's, the Navy changed its parts allowancing to Readiness Based Sparing. During this same time, the parts managers at the Navy Inventory Control Points (ICPs) have received reduced funding for parts support. As a result, parts have been transferred from one deploying unit to the next deploying unit. This thesis studied the possibility of using incentive contract types in an attempt to ensure the allowances provided to the fleet are accurate and meaningful. Additionally, the use of an incentive-type contract can be used to ensure the parts required to fill the assigned allowances are available to the fleet at Material Support Date (MSD). This study conducted a comparative analysis of past (post MSD) and present (at MSD) weapon systems to identify costs and benefits associated with the use of incentive-type contracts. Lastly, this study identified a system that has not reached MSD (future) which could possibly benefit from an incentive-type contract