Management of DOD's Shelf-Life Program--Better, but Still in Need of Improvement

GAO reviewed the management of the Department of Defense (DOD) Shelf-Life Program which covers supply items with inventories valued at about $1 billion.

Since the last review, DOD has appointed an Administrator with overall responsibility for the Shelf-Life Program, and DOD has taken other initiatives to improve program management. GAO found that the ability of the Administrator and other interested parties to evaluate the program's effectiveness is hampered because a critically needed management reporting system has not been implemented. Such a critically needed management reporting system intended to overcome this problem has been allowed to slip far beyond its originally anticipated completion date. This reporting system would significantly enhance the Shelf-Life Program Administrator's capability to fulfill his responsibilities. One of the primary goals of the DOD Shelf-Life Program is to minimize the risk of shelf-life expiration before issuance, that is to keep disposal of shelf-life material to a minimum. Inconsistent and ineffective management practices continue to impair the shelf-life program. Other continuing problems exist because: (1) inventory control points (ICP) make many errors when designating items for inclusion in the program; (2) the Air Force storage activities do not apply shelf-life management controls to many items designated for shelf-life management by non-Air-Force ICP's; (3) military storage activities have not corrected longstanding deficient shelf-life management practices, although these deficiencies have been reported many times.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Martin M. Ferber Team: General Accounting Office: Procurement, Logistics, and Readiness Division Phone: (202) 275-4032