3 Things I Learned about Government Supply Chains from my First Week as an Intern

As an intern working in government subcontracts for the first time in my career, I knew there would be many new procedures and processes I would have to learn relating to this field. The difference between the commercial supply chain and government supply chains cannot be overstated, as there are many key differences that separate the two. This is due to the nature of the aerospace industry, as well as the unique opportunity of serving the United States government as the end consumer. During my first week at Northrop Grumman, I had the pleasure of learning about a variety of these differences, from which I gathered 3 to be the most prominent ones.

• Increased Regulation: The greatest singular change I saw with the government subcontracts field when compared to the private sector was the greatly increased regulation and guidelines that must be followed. Because we use taxpayer dollars to fund projects, every penny in the business must be accounted for. Also, supplier quality assurance is held to a much higher standard, as the room for error in the field of aerospace is non-existent. For example, suppliers must use only materials approved by the PM&P (Parts, Materials and Processes) standards. More information about these standards can be found here: https://www.scientic.com/images/documents/PMPWhitePaper_r2.pdf. Many common liberties that private-sector companies take for granted are illegal in this field, one of which is foreign procurement. In the modern global economy, there are few companies that exclusively source materials domestically. However, in the effort of protecting national security, this is a sacrifice Northrop Grumman must make for many of its largest projects. Lastly, in regards to the field of government subcontracts, there is almost no experimentation or process improvement when it comes to supply chain management. Every transaction is expected to have accompanying documentation and follow strict process codes, as government audits are frequent and thorough.?
• CONSTANT Changes: As a subcontracts team that helps to develop state of the art defense systems, we supply projects that are the cusp of modern technology. Due to this, the needs of suppliers are ever-changing, which requires contracts to be modified often. Cost overruns and deadline rescheduling are some of the main issues that arise as a result of the unprecedented engineering challenges that can plague new projects. In the vast majority of commercial supply chains, the products in the market are generally proven and unchanged. Due to this, more resources are allocated towards improving cost and efficiency of manufacturing and transporting products. Nearly every purchase order on record is accompanied by dozens of change orders, meaning no two days are the same for the supply team.

• Acronyms galore: As a new intern, arguably the most difficult adaptation I had to make was to learn what seemed like hundreds of acronyms which are used on a daily basis in the defense subcontracting field. From day one in the office, I was hit with acronyms such as SQARD, PBACM, PCAR, and CLT. These acronyms are so intertwined with the work that oftentimes, people who use them everyday don’t remember what they actually stand for. Slides in Powerpoint presentations can sometimes look like a randomized password with random letters tossed together in every sentence. Luckily, due to this widespread issue of new hires being confused by acronyms, the company keeps a record of all acronyms used in the business, a record which I have used every day of the internship.

Though there are a wide variety of changes and challenges that I have had to become accustomed to at this company, I have enjoyed learning so much within just the first week of this internship. It is intriguing to witness the obstacles that would be unthinkable in private sector logistics. This field of work has shown to be fulfilling and exciting. There is so much more to learn about the United States defense supply chain, and I am eager to continue the journey!