	DOD Has Made Limited Progress in Reducing Acquisition Leadtimes

The value of DOD inventory requirements needed to support acquisition leadtime grew from about $8 billion in 1979 to about $21 billion in 1989. None of the DOD components have fully implemented DOD’s 1990 leadtime reduction initiatives or its 1993 policy guidance for reducing leadtime, but some have made greater efforts than others. As shown in table 1, the Navy had the greatest success and the Air Force had the least success in reducing acquisition leadtime. Renewed Emphasis and Improved Oversight Needed to Reduce Leadtime

With the exception of the Navy, the military services and DLA placed no timely emphasis on the effective implementation of DOD’s 1990 leadtime reduction initiatives or its 1993 leadtime reduction policy. These inaccuracies resulted from the failure to periodically validate and update leadtime data in the requirement computation database. GAO Comments

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Why GAO Did This Study

GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to reduce acquisition leadtimes.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) DOD has made only limited progress in reducing its acquisition leadtimes because the military services and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) have unevenly implemented the leadtime reduction initiatives; (2) no DOD agency has fully implemented the 1990 initiatives or the 1993 policy guidance for reducing leadtimes; (3) the Navy has been the most successful and the Air Force the least successful in reducing acquisition leadtimes; (4) additional leadtime reductions can be achieved by prompt implementation of DOD initiatives, periodic validation and updating of leadtime data, and purchasing spare parts directly from the original manufacturer; and (5) DOD could reduce costs by $1 billion over a 4-year period by reducing acquisition leadtimes.