Tag Archives: supply chain

Navy Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, supply chain task force lead at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will serve as a keynote speaker at Potomac Officers Club’s Supply Chain Resilience and COVID-19 Virtual Event on Thursday, June 11th. 

James Geurts, the U.S. Navy’s acquisition chief and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said he is “seeing many more” suppliers continue operations following closures resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has asked the Department of Defense (DoD) to answer some questions about the increased progress payment rates for contractors. DoD released a memo in March that increases the progress payment rates to 90 percent for large businesses and to 95 percent for small businesses in an effort to ensure cash flow into the industrial base during the coronavirus pandemic.

Vice Adm. David Lewis, director of the Defense Contract Management Agency and former 2018 Wash100 Award winner, said his office is working to support affected contractors amid the current health crisis, DoD News reported Tuesday.

NASA engineers have developed a new high-pressure ventilator to treat COVID-19 patients and it has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for under the ventilator Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), the administration announced on Friday.

Will Roper, the U.S. Air Force’s acquisition chief and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said he is working with the Department of Defense to identify space firms impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

IBM has  announced IBM Rapid Supplier Connect, a blockchain-based network designed to help government agencies and healthcare organizations identify new, non-traditional suppliers who have pivoted to address the shortage of equipment, devices and supplies needed for COVID-19 relief efforts, the company reported on Monday. 

Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said he has been in talks with his international counterparts to discuss ways on how to maintain the supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet program during the coronavirus pandemic, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

James “Hondo” Geurts, assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition at the U.S. Navy and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the service branch has used its supply chain management platforms to track where factory shutdown or delays could occur as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, FedScoop reported Monday.

Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense and a 2020 Wash100 Awardee, said aircraft manufacturers and other U.S. defense contractors depend on parts suppliers in Mexico and DoD will call for the country to reopen such facilities that have shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Defense One reported Monday.