I frst stumbled across the Procurement Management Tool (PMT) in conducting a weapon system’s supply chain analysis.
As part of my research, I contacted another retired supply corps ofcer, to ask what his program had done to improve readiness. He mentioned the Acquisition Management System (AMS), an approved Defense Busi- ness System, designed specifically to accommodate the government’s unique procurement requirements. PMT is one of three AMS applica- tions specifcally designed to improve visibility, collaboration, tracking, and decision-making for the end-to-end procurement process. In my experience, most program issues with cost, schedule, and per- formance can be attributed directly to shortfalls in the procurement and contracting system. Until now, many program managers had not found a good way to properly manage the process. PMT helps solve a lot of the pro- curement issues I’ve seen across programs. It specifically addresses the challenges of managing contract requirements through to contract award. I found myself wishing that I had something like that when I worked for the government. Because PMT impressed me as a useful tool, I asked my colleagues to help spread the word and implement it across the DoD enterprise. By using PMT, organizations can ensure they efectively manage their complete procurement portfolio, lead- ing to signifcantly better outcomes. How AMS Was Founded Fourteen years ago, Tom Spi- del was staring down a huge prob- lem. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) had acknowledged that its procurement system elements weren’t “working together” to achieve desired outcomes. Missed required procurement award dates, funding expirations, and inconsistent internal processes were among the signs that
the system needed to change. Spidel had an impressive U.S. Marine Corps career that included being one of the frst crew chiefs on the V-22 before he retired and joined its program ofce as a civil servant. Now he was tapped to root out the cause of the problems. In the following months, Spidel used his experiences in the V-22 pro- gram ofce, where he had signifcantly improved its total life-cycle product support and readiness, as well as his certifcation as a Lean Six Sigma Mas- ter Black Belt. His team ultimately de- veloped and implemented AMS. AMS is a nonproprietary, govern- ment-owned capability. The system has three separate but integrated ap- plications: the Common Spend Plan Tool (CSPT), Contract Data Require- ments List (CDRL) application, and PMT. Since I am focusing on PMT here, readers seeking additional informa- tion on CSPT and CDRL are referred to the NAVAIR AMS (email the AMS team at AMSQuestions.fct@us.navy.mil ). PMT recognizes the “procurement system,” like any other system, should integrate individual components, processes, and/or decisions so that they work together to create a de- sired outcome, product, or capability (Figure 1). The procurement system’s compo- nents include elements like require- ment identifcation, strategy, market research, DD-254 preparation, Justi- fcation and Approvals, and the State- ment of Work, to name a few.
PMT spans the end-to-end net- work of events, from frst identifying the need for a contracting action to building the requirements package and tracking it through to the desired outcome. That desired outcome is awarding the right contract, at the right price, at the right time. Quite simply, the sole purpose of a contract is to get someone something they need to do their job or do their job better. If that contract is not awarded when the requirement owner needs it, cost, schedule, and/or performance Proactive procurement manage- ment is critical to keep projects within cost, schedule, and performance thresholds. The Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge has a comprehensive section on procurement manage- ment. Additionally, section five of the recently released DAU Program Management Fundamentals Handbook also provides extensive guidance on this critical responsibility. PMT was specifcally designed to help programs more easily and pro- actively manage their procurements are directly impacted. Designing PMT
Figure 1. Acquisition Management System Current Customers
Source: Author.
20 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION | September-October 2025
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