>>>>> "Bruce" == Bruce T Clough <cloughbt@batman.flight.wpafb.af.mil> writes:
Bruce> Some of is really DO care that the taxpayer gets
Bruce> their money's worth!
Bruce> (Remember, the $600 hammer only costs $10. The
Bruce> rest is $590 overhead that is LEGISLATED on the
Bruce> buyer by Congress (paperwork is NEVER cheap). If
Bruce> you want to reduce the cost, and increase the
Bruce> efficency of government, write your rep and maybe
Bruce> some of that red tape will disappear...)
There are strong needs for traceability in government
procurement. Particularly in the spare parts business. That
said, I doubt that the failure of a toilet seat or a hammer is
likely to cost lives (and thus instatiate a huge probe and a
recall of relevant similarly-produced items). It's one of
these cases where instead of the hard work being done
(evaluate on a case-by-case basis the necessity for full
reporting, traceability, and records-keeping) they choose to
enforce strict rules on all procured items. To be honest, I
don't know which is cheaper in the long run, because the hard
job _is_ hard, and would take many people. To bring this
back to LBC's a bit, this is why BMHIT-certified suppliers
sometimes supply junque. You don't want to pay to have every
part from every supplier checked against the original specs.
If you're lucky, your supplier has the integrity to do some
or all of that for you. Mostly, they do, and we're lucky.
-MM
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