SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Defense Contract Management Agency Lockheed Martin Sunnyvale is the recipient of the DCMA Director’s Cup – an annual award given to a DCMA organization which improved performance methods to advance the agency’s strategic mission and vision through the practice of “good to great” principles.
Charlie E. Williams, Jr., DCMA director, presented the award to Air Force Col. Henry Pandes, DCMA LM Sunnyvale commander, during an August ceremony. “It was an honor to receive the award on behalf of Sunnyvale,” said Pandes. “The recognition is truly a testament to the hard work and dedication the members of this contract management office exhibit every single day.”
“When I found out the great news, I was ecstatic because I could not wait to tell my people their hard work was recognized by the director and the agency,” continued Pandes.
The primary focus of DCMA LM Sunnyvale is to monitor program execution and manufacturing of Department of Defense and NASA critical space satellite and missile weapon systems. The contract office oversees different DoD Acquisition Category I and II programs with a contract value of more than $47 billion.
The award citation reads:
DCMA LM Sunnyvale professionals distinguished themselves by tirelessly meeting customer’s demanding expectations while improving their processes in a back-to-basics approach. This organization demonstrated repeatable processes as they predicted the top Air Force program first space vehicle flight software would be delivered after launch, addressed Fleet Ballistic Missile surveillance gaps, and identified contractor satellite proposal deficiencies worth $3 million in variances. External reviews by the Management Review Team, NASA audit team and Resource Review Team validated all management controls were working. Congratulations to DCMA Lockheed Martin Sunnyvale for supporting the warfighter and protecting taxpayer dollars.”
In order to win the award, David Simms, DCMA LM Sunnyvale deputy, said they submitted a five-page justification which, “demonstrated customer relationship management from receiving contracts, developing memorandums of agreement, determining and providing services and predictive analysis, and ensuring customer satisfaction.”
The justification also included comments and findings from assessments conducted over the course of the year. These external assessments validated the CMO process controls.
Notes from a Management Review Team visit read, “CMO had an effective closed-loop system – validating internal management controls,” and “CMO had implemented a system approach that ensured functional specialists were meeting program requirements and complying with statutory and regulatory requirements.”
Pandes said during the DCMA headquarters NASA audit team visit comments included, “the results compared to others are some of the best seen in 2010.” He also said the Headquarters Resource Review Team gave the CMO praise for “exceptional documentation methods for recording activity on NASA programs … surveillance activity and customer reporting is outstanding.”
The final summary of the justification read, “The DCMA LM Sunnyvale portfolio consists of high–demand and low-density programs that operate within an exceptionally challenging environment, requiring innovative techniques for producing unparalleled capabilities on-time and on-schedule. The men and women of DCMA LMS work tirelessly on behalf of the warfighter and taxpayer and are deserving of this prestigious DCMA award.”
Pandes said he couldn’t have asked for a better group of men and women in his CMO. “All I ask them to do is give their best every single day, take care of each other, don’t worry about the things they can’t control and take care of the customer. We are proud to be the recipients of the 2010 Director’s Cup.”