$1.1 billion tire contract operational at DLA Land and Maritime

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 97 change the tires on the nose landing gear of an F/A-18C Hornet aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz underway in the Indian Ocean, Jan. 28, 2010. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is conducting operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility in support of maritime security. (DoD photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class James Mitchell)  

COLUMBUS, OH, UNITED STATES

03.13.2012

Story by John Foreman 

Defense Logistics Agency   

COLUMBUS, Ga. — The U.S. military will have a steady supply of tires for aircraft and land vehicles for at least the next five years as a result of a $1.1 billion contract signed by DLA Land and Maritime.

The agreement provides supply chain management of tires used by U.S. armed forces and Foreign Military Sales customers. Full supply chain support began, Jan. 23, for aircraft tires and, Feb. 14, for ground tires. The contract is for a base period of five years with one two-year option period.

DLA Land and Maritime, in Columbus, Ohio, is the Defense Logistics Agency’s designated supply chain manager for tires. Officials signed the $1.1 billion contract with Science Applications International Corporation, of McLean, Va., in September. It is the largest contract in monetary value ever signed by DLA Land and Maritime.

The contract is now fully operational and being managed by DLA Land and Maritime’s Land Supplier Operations Directorate with support from the Strategic Acquisition Programs Directorate. Though supply chain management will be provided by SAIC, the Tires Team will use the DLA Enterprise Business System to record requisitions, write delivery orders, track tire purchases, monitor the technical aspects of the tires and interface with military customers.

The contract, called the Tire Successor Initiative, includes both aircraft and land-based vehicle tires. It is an ongoing initiative, resulting from the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005, which mandated commodity management privatization of tires.

With the signing of this contract, SAIC is the supply chain provider of tires to all branches of the U.S. military, with oversight by DLA.

“SAIC will now be accomplishing all of the tasks related to supply, storage and distribution of aviation and ground tires,” DLA Land and Maritime’s Steve Rodocker said.

As deputy director of the Strategic Acquisition Programs Directorate, Rodocker oversaw the agreement from start to finish.

DLA Land and Maritime will write contracts with tire manufacturers and distributors; in turn, DLA assigns ordering authority to SAIC for DLA’s tires supply, Rodocker added.

“DLA Land and Maritime will provide the tire supply sources, but SAIC will be doing everything else,” he said.

The military and tire industry worked together in reaching an agreement of such economic significance.

“I can’t emphasize enough the level of cooperation provided from the services in developing this contract,” Rodocker said. “It was phenomenal.”

With help from the military, DLA put together the requirements and built a contract that met everyone’s expectations, he added.

Rodocker also pointed out that the team received considerable input from the tire industry.

“It was a huge, underlying goal to work with the tire industry, because we wanted to develop requirements that were consistent with the reality of the industry,” he said.

• Date Taken: 03.13.2012
• Date Posted: 03.15.2012 15:17
• Story ID: 85300
• Location: COLUMBUS, OH, US