Veteran-Owned Small Businesses to Help Solve Parts Shortages for DoD Programs

Sept. 10, 2007
The Defense Logistics Agency’s Diminishing Manufacturing Sources, Material Shortages (DMSMS) Program Office, and the military’s Joint Council on Aging Aircraft have joined with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) to help connect thousands of veteran-owned small manufacturing companies with the military’s databases of needed parts.

Annapolis, Maryland, USA, September 5, 2007 — The B-52 Bomber needs parts. So does the M-1 Tank. In fact, all the nation’s older weapons systems have a critical need for tens of thousands of parts nobody manufactures any more. But several agencies concerned with these critical part shortages have just announced a creative solution.

The Defense Logistics Agency’s Diminishing Manufacturing Sources, Material Shortages (DMSMS) Program Office, and the military’s Joint Council on Aging Aircraft have joined with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) to help connect thousands of veteran-owned small manufacturing companies with the military’s databases of needed parts. The Defense Sustainment Consortium (DSC) is spearheading the effort through its National Data and Integration Test Center, and ARINC Engineering Services, LLC will act as the Program Manager.

On August 15, all the stakeholders launched their program — the VetBiz Initiative for National Sustainment (VINS) — by opening the first local VINS office at Pueblo, CO. The Pueblo Economic Development Corporation made in-kind contributions to open the first VINS office, and Congressman. John T. Salazar, a member of the Veterans’ Affairs committee of Congress, has actively supported the program. Staff from Rep. Salazar’s office were present at the VINS opening, along with staff from the offices of Colorado Senators Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar. Also present was businessman Walt Weber, a veteran whose Weber & Sons Manufacturing Company makes parts for military missiles.

“We hope many Veterans with qualified manufacturing businesses will be an additional resource to alleviate the backorders for these much-needed parts,” Mr. Weber said.

“We believe the nation’s Veterans and Disabled Veterans represent a capable and under-utilized resource,” stated Dale A. Karraker, the DSC’s Executive Director and lead developer of the VINS concept and program. “Taken as a whole, parts needs are spiraling out of control, but individually they are too small to attract attention from Tier-1 prime contractors and manufacturers. The VINS program is not about entitlement — it is about tapping a tremendous pool of talent to resolve our major military sustainment issues.”

The VINS program is designed as a win-win solution—benefiting the nation’s Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, the DoD agencies who maintain aging weapons systems, and the defense prime contractors who must keep up with extreme back-orders.

The backbone of the VINS program is the CVE’s Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database. VINS will connect the VIP database to the DoD Shared Data Warehouse, EMALL, and other databases, matching up small businesses looking for requirements with program managers looking for manufacturers. Most types of machining and metal working, as well as heat-treating, welding, and casting are needed. Manufacturers should register with their most current capabilities in the VIP database at www.vetbiz.gov.ARINC Incorporated is a world leader in transportation communications and systems engineering. The company develops and operates communications and information processing systems and provides systems engineering and integration solutions to eight key industries: airports, aviation, aerospace and defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and transportation. Founded to provide reliable and efficient radio communications for the airlines, ARINC is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and maintains regional offices in London and Singapore, with over 3,200 employees worldwide. ARINC is ISO 9001:2000 certified. For more information, visit the ARINC web site at www.arinc.com.