U.S. Army/Julie Research Laboratories, Inc.

Testimony was presented concerning a GAO report on Army actions to resolve issues affecting procurements of automated calibration equipment. In 1981, GAO concluded that the Army needed to assess its actual calibration workload and determine what portion of that work would benefit from automation. Since 1981, the Army has initiated: (1) a "buy one and test one" program; (2) an investigation of Army calibration equipment procurement; (3) an Army assessment of its test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment program; and (4) awarded Julie Research Laboratories, Incorporated (JRL) a contract for six of its automated calibration systems. Because the National Research Council found that the "buy one and test one" program suffered from too many constraints on the project's scope, conduct of the test, and evaluation methodology, it concluded that the test could not serve as a good prototype for more general procurement evaluations of automated calibration systems. An Army investigation found that the JRL proposals had not been properly evaluated in one procurement and that the firm's ability to compete for Government contracts may have been unduly restricted. The Army has undertaken actions to correct this problem. Subsequently, the Army initiated a sole-source procurement of six JRL systems because of the quality and cost of the systems and because no other source for the equipment was readily available. This procurement provided JRL with enough business to ensure its continued existence. GAO believes that decisions to constrain the test and evaluation of the systems and to conduct the tests before fully completing an assessment of its needs were serious flaws in the Army's plan, and it does not believe that the Army should purchase more automated calibrators until it determines the extent to which the JRL system satisfies field needs. Finally, GAO recommended that the Army cancel a second step of its "buy one and test one" program until the effectiveness and economy of using automated calibration equipment has been determined.