Germany Hosts Thirteenth Annual International Acquisition/Procurement Seminar — Atlantic: Restructuring, Consolidation, Cooperation Spark Lively Exchanges at 2001 IAPS-A - International Defense Educational Arrangement

Program Manager, Sept-Oct, 2001 by Don Hood

The week of June 25 through 29 marked the successful presentation and conclusion of the 13th Annual International Acquisition/Procurement Seminar -- Atlantic (IAPS-A).

Sponsored by the International Defense Educational Arrangement (IDEA), this year's lAPS-A was hosted by the Bundesakamie fur Wehrverwaltung and Wehrtechnik (BAkWVT), translated as the Federal Academy of Defence Administration and Military Technology in Mannheim, Germany. Gathering together over 100 acquisition professionals, participants learned about and discussed current issues and impending changes in national acquisition and procurement policies as well as the latest trends in acquisition education.

Peter George, President of the BAkWVT, provided the official welcome and opening remarks. Participating nations were the four IDEA member nations -- Germany, France, United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Australia, Canada, Italy and Singapore. The representatives of the other IDEA member nations -- Dr. Gertrud Humily, Executive Director, International Education, French Procurement Agenc; Frank Anderson, President, Defense Acquisition University, United States (DAU); and Brig. Will Cook, Director of Studies, Royal Military College of Science, United Kingdom (UK) - welcomed all the participants of this year's event.

This year's Seminar focused on the acquisition and procurement relationship between the United States and OCCAR, or Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation en matiere d'Armement, which is the European Nation Central Procurement Agency; Industrial Mergers and Cooperation; Defense Capability Initiatives (DCI); and Barriers to International Cooperation.

The National presentations were well received, with the United States focusing on the views and expected priorities of the new Bush Administration.

The German, French, and UK speakers discussed the fundamental restructuring of their respective procurement systems, their continuing industrial consolidation, and corporate cooperation.

Speakers, Presentations, Discussions

Dr. Jorg Kaempf, National Armaments Director, Germany, delivered the Keynote address. He began his remarks with an outline of five major efforts underway that will focus on Bundeswehr operations reform, within the framework of the DCI.

Dr. Klaus Von Sperber, OCCAR, Germany, presented "The Role and Progress of OCCAR. His presentation, as well as the ensuing panel discussions, sparked lively interchange between OCCAR, European Union, and U.S. spokespersons on Workshare, Competition, and "Fortress Europe-Fortress America" impressions or realities.

IDEA member representatives' discussion on Industry Cooperation Patterns also generated considerable interest. Jean-Paul Bernard, Vice President, Europe Military Engineer, Snecma Moteurs, France, addressed five potential arrangements between companies and corporations:

* Mergers -- Single (All Programs) Entity (Use of Programs)

* Joint Company

* Joint Program Management (Single Program)

* Leader-Follower (Management and Technology Shared Contribution)

* Leader-Preferred Subcontractor Relationship (Revenue Sharing)

Karl D. Horn, Vice President and Country Manager, Raytheon International, Inc., Europe, emphasized that alliances between companies are a fact of life, dictated by economic realities that override political considerations. He also highlighted the different views on technology transfer between the United States and its European allies.

Trevor Taylor, Head of Department of Defense Management and Security Analysis, UK, compared collaboration by project, usually the U.S.-preferred arrangement, to the more lasting multinational business arrangements and joint ventures preferred by European industry. He further stressed the need for Import/Export Processes' harmonization between the industrial nations.

Overall, and in light of European mergers and acquisitions, a number of companies are emerging that will rival and challenge the big three U.S. defense industry leaders. The Ministries and Departments of Defense will need to develop policies and processes for contracting with, and procuring from, trans-national industries.

Other sessions, obviously enjoyed by presenters as well as delegates, touched on subjects ranging from Centralized Software development/procurement and DCI, to Lessons Learned and Cost Benefit Effectiveness Methods (which were discussed in depth).

Lt. Col. Mike Phelps, Royal Military College of Science, UK, concluding his National Presentation, discussed the results of a major review and some fundamental changes being made to the Australian Acquisition process.

The Asian-Pacific update, given by Dr. Stefan Markowski, Australian Defence Force Academy, provided a detailed analysis of the regional/country defense expenditures as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the amounts are small when compared to the GDP of the United States, they are stable, and in some cases are increasing with the regional recovery from this year's "meltdown" in technological stocks being stronger than anticipated.