The Navy has identified nine business units of large defense firms that have provided superior performance and best value in carrying out acquisition contracts, the service said Friday.
The Navy evaluated over a three-year period the performance of the business units to determine the winners under a new Superior Supplier Incentive Program, which is designed to be an annual exercise to incentivize companies to improve while striving to make the list, Sean Stackley, the Navy’s acquisition chief, told reporters.
Stackley said the Navy started off with 30 of the largest defense firms, which account for about 80 percent of its suppliers, and broke them down into their business units to create a field of 80. Each entity was evaluated by acquisition commands to determine the best performers.
The top nine–listed in no specific order–were General Dynamics [GD] Combat Systems; General Dynamics Marine Systems; General Electric [GE] Aviation; Lockheed Martin [LMT] Mission Systems and Training; Northrop Grumman [NOC] Aerospace Systems; Raytheon [RTN] Integrated Defense Systems; Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services; Rolls-Royce Defense Aerospace, and the Maritime Helicopter Support Company, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky.
Notably absent from the list was Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII], one of the largest recipients of the Navy’s dollars. Its two major yards in Mississippi and Virginia build aircraft carriers, submarines and amphibious warships.
The Navy developed objective criteria and a set of metrics to evaluate performance, Stackley said. He said the service will take feedback from the industry into the process as it looks to producing the next list in 2015. Stackley said the purpose of the list is to motivate companies to get on it.
“I expect that inside of each corporation business unit A and business unit B are having discussions about why one is and one is not on the list, in addition to the other companies that are going to be striving to get across the line,” Stackley said.
Stackley said, however, that being on the list will not be a determinant in how or who the Navy selects in awarding contracts.