MEDICAL LESSONS LEARNED

File: aaata_19.txt
Page: 19
Total Pages: 36
                                      MEDICAL LESSONS LEARNED
                                        DESERT SHIELD/STORM


         CATEGORY:  Logistics

         ISSUE/ITEM:

         SUBJECT:  Resupply (Use of Blanket Purchase Agreements)

         BACKGROUND: Decentralized Blanket Purchase Agreements (DBPA)  are  heavily  relied
         upon at the  local  level  to  provide  fast,  reasonably  priced  procurement  of
         negotiated  items.      BPAs  are  the  normal acquisition  method   for   numerous
         specialized supply items, such as laboratory reagents.

         DISCUSSION:   Use of the standard DBPA with Abbott Diagnostics  was  not  possible
         during the-month of January because the updated price listing  was  not  available
         from DLA.    Our blood donor centers and  laboratories  are  heavily  dependent  on
         availability of the required Abbott products.  This required  that  radical  supply
         prepare sole-source justifications, on priority 03  requisitions  for  submissions
         through Base Contracting for each purchase.     The man-hours and  expense  of  this
         process could have been avoided.

         ACTION RECOMMENDED: Ensure that BPA price listings are available for use by  1  Jan
         as required, particularly for mission-critical line items.

         SUGGESTED OPRs/OCRs:  DLA

         SUBMITTER:   [(b)(2)]              HQ ATC/SGAX