FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Inspector General (IG) Robert P. Storch announced today that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) released the “Audit of the Reliability of Army Spare Parts Forecasts Submitted to the Defense Logistics Agency,” which identified inaccuracies within the Army’s spare parts forecasts for its depot maintenance programs.
"Our audit highlights critical gaps in the Army’s spare parts forecasting and similar problems across the other military services that can result in the unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer money,” said IG Storch.
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is a DoD material manager that orders and maintains spare parts inventories and supplies them to military services. DLA relies on the accuracy of spare parts forecasts from the Army and other military services to guide its supply plans and to make informed purchasing decisions.
However, the DoD IG’s audit found that the Army’s accuracy rate for spare parts forecasting averaged just 20 percent in fiscal year 2021. It also found that the Army overstated its forecasts in that same fiscal year by more than $200 million and then ordered another $148 million worth of spare parts it did not forecast.
“These discrepancies not only hamper DLA's procurement decisions, they also negatively affect military readiness by leaving other critical needs unfulfilled,” added IG Storch. “The Army’s lack of robust metrics, clear guidance, and common procedures for its forecasting exacerbates the problem."
To address the deficiencies identified in this report, the DoD OIG recommended that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment require the military services, in coordination with the DLA, to conduct an in-depth review of their respective spare parts forecasting process for DLA-managed items. The review should determine how the military services can improve the process and establish a plan of action with milestones and specific areas for improvement.