The Department of Defense announced today the winners of the fiscal 2011 Department of Defense Value Engineering Achievement Awards. A ceremony was held to recognize the recipients’ outstanding achievements through the application of value engineering. The list of awardees is listed at http://www.acq.osd.mil/se/whatsnew/DoD-2011-Value-Engineering-Awardees.pdf .
“Value engineering is an important contributor to the ‘Better Buying Power’ program of continuous improvement in defense acquisition. By reducing cost throughout the life cycle of U.S. defense systems, value engineering delivers more capability at reduced cost to the taxpayer,” said Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. “Defense acquisition professionals across the department, including the ones that we honor today, use value engineering techniques to identify and implement innovative ideas that provide better solutions at lower costs. DoD's Value Engineering Program has achieved more than $51 billion dollars in savings and cost avoidance since 1980 and it’s increased use can pay even greater dividends in the future.”
Value engineering is a systematic process to identify functions that can reduce cost, increase quality, and improve mission capabilities across the entire spectrum of systems, processes, and organizations. Innovative value engineering proposals seek best value solutions as part of a successful business relationship. During fiscal 2011, DoD executed in-house value engineering proposals and accepted contractor-initiated value engineering change proposals that produced a combined actual savings and cost avoidance of $4.7 billion.
The Value Engineering Awards Program is an acknowledgment of exemplary achievements. Award winners from each military component are selected from one of the following five categories: program/project, individual, team, organization, and contractor. Additionally, joint service and special awards are given to recognize innovative applications or approaches that expand the traditional scope of value engineering use.
For more information about the Value Engineering Awards Program, visit: http://ve.ida.org/ve/ve.html .
