Lessons Learned by the Army Material Command

Author:  F.J. Michel, U.S. Army Materiel Command
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 01/No 1, July 1987
Doc ID:  1987220
Year of Publication:  1987
Abstract:  
During the last five years, the U.S. Army and its contractors have experienced cost and schedule problems of significant proportions. In a number of instances, these problems surfaced only during production start-up or well into production. About two years ago, Gen. Richard H. Thompson, the commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), assigned me the task of ferreting out root causes by spending time with contractors and their subcontractors. As one might expect, the underlying causes turned out to be rather complex. They were found at all levels of an enterprise. The material presented in this article is a collection of issues, the sum total of which, fortunately, does not exist in any one company. The findings are divided into four parts: Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Subcontractors and Parts Suppliers.