Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Department of Defense's (DOD) in-plant quality assurance program to determine its effectiveness.
The Army, Navy, and Air Force plant representative offices (PRO) and the Defense Contract Administration Service carry out the quality assurance program for each plant. GAO found that: (1) individual service and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) reviews have identified widespread contractor quality deficiencies; (2) the program did not meet Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements because PRO delegated some of their inspection responsibilities to contractors and did not perform all the mandatory quality assurance inspections; (3) the Army PRO (APRO) Quality Management Information System understated the actual number of times contractors performed government inspections; (4) APRO and the Navy PRO did not always perform mandatory government inspections; and (5) PRO could not readily identify recurring quality defects using existing plant data. GAO also found that: (1) the services have identified problems such as ineffective surveillance methods and a lack of qualified personnel that weaken PRO operations; (2) a former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Logistics suggested a new approach to quality assurance, but the services and DLA have not reached a consensus; (3) the DOD Quality Assurance Council has not developed DOD-wide solutions to quality problems; and (4) the Council has not followed through on a previous effort to improve the program. GAO concluded that, although the services and DLA have developed and implemented their own in-plant programs, these efforts are not a substitute for a DOD-wide program.
