Author Description

"In recent years, procurement of weapon systems and other goods and services, rather than personnel costs, have accounted for most U.S. Army expenditures. This means that the Army's ability to get the most out of its budget will depend strongly on how well it manages its suppliers. Because supplier relationship management (SRM) is so important, U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) asked the RAND Corporation to identify leading SRM practices, examine SRM practices in the AMC, and suggest ways to improve the Army's approach to SRM. In particular, this study focused on how the Army can gain better performance and reduce total costs by improving its management of and partnering with large defense suppliers that span a range of products and major commodity groups." --preface