Department of the Navy Names Superior Suppliers for 2015

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The Department of the Navy released its second annual list of industry partners July 14 who have exemplified Department of Defense efforts to increase value to the Department of the Navy as part of the Department's Superior Supplier Incentive Program (SSIP). The 2015 superior suppliers are recognized as corporations and business units who provide the greatest overall value to the department in terms of cost, schedule, performance, quality, and business relations.

"This program gives us the opportunity to acknowledge suppliers who made the extra effort and over a period of years consistently performed well," said Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.

Evaluated business units were ranked using three years' worth of Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) data. The evaluated business units were divided into three tiers, with the top tier designated as superior suppliers. By evaluating business units, the Department of the Navy and the supplier gain insight into the supplier's overall performance of Navy work.

"The feedback the department provides to industry through the Superior Supplier program is intended to allow our suppliers to benchmark their major business units against other firms," said Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

"It lets the leadership and employees of the best performing firms know that their work is high quality and appreciated, and it helps the firms that have more room to improve know where they need to focus their efforts," he said.

The Department of the Navy will initiate discussions with this year's Tier 1 business units to reduce non-production related requirements in existing contracts with the department. These discussions may lead to the removal of non-value added procedures or requirements, which may ultimately lead to cost savings for the company and the taxpayer. Designation as a Tier 1 operating division does not factor into future source selection decisions or contract awards.

"This program provides another forum for dialogue with our suppliers, from which we hope to gain greater understanding of the things that work well and areas that can be improved upon from industry's perspective when doing business with the Department of the Navy," said Stackley.

"And industry is learning more about our efforts to drive down acquisition costs," he added.

The Department of the Navy's evaluated suppliers for 2015 in alphabetical order by tier are:

Superior Suppliers- Tier 1
BAE Systems Intelligence & Security
BAE Systems Platforms & Services
Erapsco (Sparton Corp- Ultra Electronics JV)
General Electric GE Aviation
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Training
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
Oshkosh Defense
Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services
Rolls Royce Aerospace

Tier 2
BAE Systems Electronic Systems
Bell Boeing Joint Project Office
Boeing Military Aircraft
Boeing Global Services & Support
General Dynamics Combat Systems
General Dynamics Information Systems and Technology
General Dynamics Marine Systems
Harris Corporation, Formerly Exelis C4ISR Electronics and Systems - ES
Harris Corporation, Formerly Exelis Information & Technical Services - IST
Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding
L-3 Aerospace Systems
L-3 Communications Systems
L-3 Electronic Systems
Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions
Maritime Helicopter Support Company LLC (Sikorsky-Lockheed JV)
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
Northrop Grumman Information Systems
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
Raytheon Missile Systems
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems
Rockwell Collins Government Systems
Textron Systems
ViaSat
United Technologies Corporation UTC Aerospace Systems

Tier 3
Austal USA, LLC
General Atomics Technology Corp
Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Orbital ATK, Inc. Defense Systems
Textron Bell Helicopter
United Technologies Corporation Pratt Whitney
United Technologies Corporation Sikorsky

The SSIP is an extension of the Department of Defense's Better Buying Power initiative.