AEDC team working to achieve FIAR compliance

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  • By AEDC Logistics Office
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Over the past eight months, AEDC team members have been preparing inventory records for audit by certified public accountants as a part of the Department of Defense Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Program.

Program priorities were established in August 2009 and require DOD Components to focus on improving the processes, controls, and systems supporting information most often used to manage the Department. For the past eight months, AEDC has been doing just that.

Clark Brandon, Deputy, Test Support Division (TSD) and FIAR program manager, recognized that this goal required more than Team AEDC’s effort alone. Rather, it required a carefully orchestrated approach across six external organizations to get this right. So, in March of 2017, Brandon invited stakeholders from across the Air Force, including Air Staff, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Test Center and process owners to participate in a working group focused on achieving AEDC FIAR compliance. A week later, the group emerged with over 300 tasks required to create auditable processes, controls, and systems supporting information for eighty thousand items worth over 300 million dollars.

When asked about this daunting task, Erik Wineland, AEDC’s Chief of Logistics, recalled his greatest concern.

“The real challenge here is reporting,” he said. “In order to transmit AEDC inventory valuation to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), it first must be recorded in Air Force legacy systems. These legacy systems perform requirements computation using algorithms designed primarily for centrally managed assets in support of weapon systems across the Air Force. This requirements computation process is not designed to support an infrastructure as unique as the one here at AEDC.”

The team recognized that the solution to legacy system reporting for the most unique ground testing operation in the world is to leverage processes. Since AEDC furnishes a limited range of unique spares to contractors for test and infrastructure support, the team decided to maximize Federal Acquisition Regulation procedures for Government Furnished Property and then use legacy system procedures only to the extent needed to transmit inventory data to DFAS for inclusion on the Statement of Budgetary Resources. This solution does bring some change, but the team made every effort to ensure most of the change was transparent to the end user.

Changes include demonstrating Government ownership of Facility Reconfiguration items on Special Purpose Recoverables Authorized Maintenance (SPRAM) details and using Air Force supply points to demonstrate Government ownership of Repairables. At the same time, AEDC will reduce asset reporting requirements by leveraging strategic sourcing tools such as Blanket Purchasing Agreements and Basic Ordering Agreements. These strategic sourcing tools provide the same availability as ownership but avoid the cost and reporting requirements associated with inventory investment.

National Aerospace Solutions (NAS), Akima Support Operations (ASO) and OBXtek are now in the process of implementing this new inventory strategy. NAS has increased the number of items available on Blanket Purchasing Agreements and is placing material managers at strategic points within project management processes to improve responsiveness to requirements and disposition activities.

ASO is re-warehousing areas within the warehouse system and has created processing areas to efficiently move assets to the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services. OBXtek is capturing process changes in AEDC’s work order system to ensure minimal disruption to the end user, and QuantiTech is providing advisory assistance needed to bridge the gap between logistics and test operations to ensure legacy systems are accurately populated with the required data.

Col. Scott Cain, AEDC Commander, said, “I am proud of what Team AEDC has accomplished so far. This is a very challenging task, and we’ve identified a solution to the challenge while continuing to support ongoing test operations. Now we need to execute the plan before the end of FY18.”

The plan referenced by Col. Cain is a floor-to-book inventory of the test areas. This inventory will be conducted in approximately 300 buildings and the goal is to locate, identify, and incorporate equipment into AEDC property records by the end of FY18. TSD will be reaching out to representatives of all AEDC organizations to invite them to participate in a floor-to-book planning workgroup to ensure AEDC is ready for audit in early 2019.