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Original Date: 09/15/1997
Revision Date: 01/18/2007
Information : Partnership with Private Industry
Tooele Army Depot (TEAD) conducted ongoing discussions with private industry concerning a number of partnership concepts. The enormity of this task has been a learning experience for both management and the working sector who feel threatened by the loss of workload through the Army Materiel Command’s (AMC’s) goal to provide 50% of the demilitarization work to the private sector. This fear factor has only heightened the difficulty of learning the elements of developing a partnership with private industry. TEAD’s goals were to increase workload, give visibility to the program, and create a template for obtaining future work. Few guidelines existed in the past for seeking new avenues to gain additional workload, complicated by the lack of confidence with the capabilities of the private sector to be able to meet specific requirements sent down by command.
TEAD identified a need for improvement by analyzing the causes of the reduction of workload and recognized the lack of the R3 capability. To partner with private industry, all areas were reviewed to determine what tasks TEAD was capable of doing that could not feasibly be done by the private sector. By doing so, TEAD would be able to protect the workforce and gain visibility with AMC. This process also created a competitive environment with private industry which stimulated lower costs to the military.
The establishment of this new process opened discussions with private industry and generated a new philosophy on how TEAD can be a partner, not a competitor, by building a relationship based on trust. This allows a more focused outlook on the development of the R3 program. As an example of this partnership, TEAD recently consolidated a partnership with Thiokol Corporation to recycle propellant generated from five inch rocket motors. TEAD disassembles the rocket motors, and Thiokol Corporation recycles the propellant for industrial use. This partnership has resulted in an IOC-funded $3.5 million contract for TEAD. TEAD is also working on a similar propellant recycling effort with EASE Corporation.
For more information see the
Point of Contact for this survey.
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