TABLE 15: PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTING

DEPARTMENT: NATIONAL DEFENCE

Points to address:

Department’s Input:

1. Role played by procurement and contracting in delivering programs.

Procurement and contracting play a key role in the program delivery of this department. Particularly, procurement allows the department to obtain highly specialized research and analytical advice in support of its policy and program delivery. Contracting allows the department to not only achieve operational requirements, but also to spur economic growth within the Canadian economy.

2. Overview of the contracting management processes and strategy within the department.

The Department has a decentralized system across Canada and in deployed units.  Policy and overall management oversight resides with Headquarters.  Delegated contracting authority is managed within headquarters and delegations are controlled through departmental directives and instructions.  While limited contract authority has been delegated to the field, a central agency has been established to manage the contracting authority within the Department and is available to all authorized individuals.  Delegation of contracting authority for services is closely monitored and all contracting between $25,000 and $2,000,000 is managed by the central agency, which also provides advice, guidance and policy interpretation and procedures.

3. Progress and new initiatives enabling effective and efficient procurement practices.

The goal of initiatives to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement is to achieve a steady state that satisfies the efficiency initiatives of DND and ADM(Mat), while retaining the technical agility and procurement flexibility to respond to critical operational needs. 

The Department has developed and documented the procurement process in the Procurement Administrative Manual (PAM) which describes in detail the roles and responsibilities of the procurement officers, the step by step activities to be completed in the procurement process and how they should be done, and provides the tools, guidance, policy and templates necessary. The PAM was completed in fiscal year 2006-2007 and posted to the Materiel Knowledge Network (MatKNet), an ePortal for national level policy, guidance and support of Materiel Acquisition and Support processes. New content includes information about the Equipment Program Manager (EPM) Optimization Study, modeling and simulation and intellectual property.

The Department is also now in the process of ramping up for implementation of the final phase of the Materiel Acquisition and Support Information System (MASIS) project. MASIS is designed to support CF operational activities by optimizing equipment availability and the associated support costs throughout the life cycle of equipment. To that effect, the Department is in the process of standardizing the Procurement Business Process and procedures as part of the EPM Optimization Initiative. Once this is complete, MASIS Complex Contracting will be mandated as the Enterprise Resource Program (ERP) tool for procurement except for Canadian Forces Supply System (CFSS) users. This will enable DND to automate reporting requirements and quickly capture data for TBS report. 

As part of the Department’s efforts to improve supply chain operations, portable data entry terminals (PDETs) are being rolled out this year. PDETs are wireless bar code readers that communicate via radio frequencies. Their use will result in greater data accuracy, faster processing time and improved warehouse management. Warehouse personnel will use the PDETs to enter inventory stock codes when they are stocking shelves. This will replace recording the stock codes on paper and then entering them later into the system at a computer terminal.

The Professional Development Certification Program (PDCP) is a key human resource renewal initiative, launched in 2006, that helps life-cycle managers acquire the skills, knowledge and expertise they need to comply with renewed management policies and associated delegated authorities. The PDCP is being integrated into a DND training program for the Procurement Community. 

As part of the procurement renewal initiative, a 3 day project approval course for personnel who are involved in DND projects was developed and implemented. The course is also open to personnel from other government departments (e.g. PWGSC and Treasury Board) who need to be familiar with the Defence Management System (DMS). The program has been incorporated as part of the ADM (Mat) MA&S training program run every year at the Materiel Management Training centre at Asticou.