Procurement

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Replenishment Parts Breakout Program.

GAO concluded that DOD should: (1) consider including a coding system in its revised regulations to differentiate between parts purchased from the physical producer and parts purchased from a design control activity that does not physically produce the part; (2) consider including in its revised breakout regulations uniform instructions for preparing breakout reports and reported savings and costs; and (3) consider including in its revised breakout regulations instructions for the reporting of the number of parts screened in addition to the number of parts purchased to enable users of breakout data to determine how many parts were screened in the fiscal year (FY) in addition to the number of parts purchased that may have been screened in prior years. GAO found that: (1) the Navy estimated that the cost of the program was $25.6 million in FY 1984 and $46.8 million in FY 1985; (2) the Defense Logistics Agency estimated that the cost of the program was $700,000 in FY 1984 and $1.5 million in FY 1985; and (3) DOD, the Army, and the Air Force did not have estimates for the program.