“I hear stories from second- third- and fourth-class suppliers who were worried about leaving business, worried about how they would continue to pay their salaries, and our ability to transfer and expedite work at the defence base, and then report it to suppliers, is absolutely essential, because if they`re not there, it won`t matter when we`re ready to rest.” Geurts said. We need to make sure they are healthy and ready to roll while accelerating the recovery. Contract, agreement or memorandum of understanding with non-profit partnership mediators to engage science and industry on behalf of the government to expedite technology transfer and licensing. Many federal laboratories have interim partnership agreements with organizations that facilitate joint projects and accelerate technology transfer between the lab and private companies. These intermediaries help companies identify federal technologies that can be licensed and marketed. They also strive to increase the likelihood of successful cooperation between the laboratory and small businesses. A shipyard foundry worker cuts scrap metal at Newport News Shipbuilding with a flashlight. HiI Photo In recent weeks, major shipyards have pushed hundreds of millions of dollars to the supply base. Geurts said it was important during the pandemic because not all cities will be affected by the virus at the same time. Since the disease could paralyze different workers this year at different times, “because suppliers and industrial companies can cope with their local situation, they can do so because they know they are ready to work, and as soon as they are ready to reach their abilities, that work will be with them.” Where it can avoid possible program delays and interruptions, it now wants to take steps to do so. A turnkey measure that the navy procurement community has focused on is the early allocation of work, whenever possible, to create a healthy work backlog, even for smaller suppliers, so that no one can be managed with healthy staff but without work. Geurts stated that it had already placed orders for the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air rocket at Raytheon, the Near Coast Patrol Vessel to Metal Shark, the Navajo-class T-ATS tug at Gulf Island and a VT Halter barge.
In the near future, contracts for the LPD-31 amphibious dock will be awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding and for craft landing utility at Swiftships – many of these contracts were awarded several months earlier than expected to keep money and work in operation. Megan Eckstein is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of USNI News. Previously, she worked as an associate editor for Inside the Navy in Congress for the Defense Daily and the U.S. Surface Navy and AMPhibien operations in the United States. The navy`s procurement community is working to get the work moving ahead of schedule and find as many efficiencies as possible, in front of what could be a mountain of work to adapt contracts and try to keep programs on track once the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been better understood, the navy`s top procurement official said today. The Navy`s assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition said it was too early to say exactly how many contract actions this summer might be needed to correct any delays, violations and other problems that may arise during the pandemic, but he said that “the service side of the business, I don`t think it will have as drastic an effect as perhaps some of the major industrial operations. But we`re going to have to work on that. That`s why I wanted to… to start the programs, and then we can determine more quickly where we need to make adjustments as we move forward.
SINCE 2014, ETC has entered into an interim partnership agreement with the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) (formerly Army Research Laboratory).