Defense Logistics

Army Should Assess Cost and Benefits of the Workload Performance System Expansion Gao ID: NSIAD-00-16 November 12, 1999

Accurate and consistent estimates of future workloads are essential to determine personnel requirements. Congress has required the Army to certify that its new system for estimating personnel requirements is fully operational before undertaking a reduction-in-force at any of the Army's five maintenance depots. The Army must provide Congress with a master plan for implementing the new system, including future applications and total funding for implementation. GAO assesses (1) the Army's progress in developing and implementing its workload performance system and (2) the extent to which the Army's April 1999 report addresses an overall master plan for implementing the system, including its future applications and funding needs.

GAO noted that: (1) the Army has implemented and certified a basic automated workload and performance system to evaluate personnel requirements in its five maintenance depots; (2) while the system appears to be adequate for this purpose, additional work is under way or planned to achieve improved performance; (3) these additional improvements include applications to identify the number of personnel excesses or shortages by type of skill, the ability to assign personnel based on skill qualifications to the most appropriate jobs, and the impact of material shortages on planned work; (4) additionally, development work is under way or planned to apply the workload performance system to several other functional areas, even though some questions exist about how cost-effective the system may be in some instances; (5) the Army's report on its congressionally required master plan provided limited and incomplete information on future development plans and did not provide requested funding information; and (6) thus far, the Army has used working capital funds for system development, even though the Committee's report language directed that Army working capital funds not be used for this purpose.

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.

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