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Performance based, customer focused: CE implements new support services contract

  • Published
  • By Brion Ockenfels
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE --  Always in motion, civil engineering Tinker Support Services contract personnel are either on the frontlines or behind the scenes in almost every aspect of daily operations here at Tinker. "Beginning Feb. 1, the new eight year [support services] contract began," said Mr. Gene Gallogly, Civil Engineering Group Director.
   The most visible change is probably the fleet of over 130 new white trucks and support vehicles we'll see driving around, said Mr. Gallogly.
   Approximately 90 percent of the previous CE support services contract workforce was hired by the new contractor, a joint venture of two native Alaskan corporations, Chugach Alaska Corporation and Alutiiq, a subsidiary of Afognak Native Corporation, with extensive experience in government service contracting.
   But new vehicles aren't the only way customers will be able to identify CE support personnel who perform work in customer's places of business, Mr. Gary McCracken, quality assurance manager said, they'll have their common access cards for identification and be in uniforms that display their name, the company name and logo.
   Mr. McCraken said facility managers will still use the same service call desk number they've always used, 734-3117.
   The most important changes have to do with customer service Mr. Gallogly said, "We've modified some aspects of the contract in response to what the customers told us was important to them."
   "For example, we've increased the number of work order allocations for each non-reimbursable organization and established an easy to use task order system for our reimbursable customers who use their own funds to pay for improvements."
   The entire contract is much more performance-based and customer focused according to CE officials.
   This means award fees received during the contract period are based more on customer service from the Tinker Support Services contract, said Project Manager Mr. Richard Wadhams.
   "We're hoping the workload will grow. If we do a good job we'll get more customers."
The contract dollar value is estimated at over $267 million dollars over an eight year period.
   "Even though our contract is firm-fixed price, we feel there's a lot we can do to create efficiencies. As we gain efficiency, it allows us to increase necessary work so the customers experience less failure."
   "We don't tell them how to do their jobs, said Mr. Gallogly, but we did specify the performance standards our customers have said they need from the facilities and infrastructure.
   "That is, instead of telling them they have to inspect the electrical distribution system and equipment twice a month," he said. "We tell them they can only have so many outages and the outages can't exceed a given duration. That's what is important to the customer - that they have power when they need it. We're looking to standardize many of these types of performance standards across the Air Force."
   Tinker experts are sharing what they've learned with the Air Force transformation teams.
   According to CE officials, the selection process involved a rigorous source selection based on a contract that is very responsive to the customer.
   Mr. Gallogly said, "We have nothing but the highest expectations for the next eight years and look forward to working with our new partners."
   Much of what we do for the customer is transparent by design, like performing power outages for maintenance during the night or weekends and other times that don't interrupt operations, said Mr. Wadhams.
   "The goal of the new maintenance engineering component is to increase the transparency of the operation by finding equipment that is old and ready to fail, and preventing that failure through programmed replacement of that component or the entire system." said Mr. Wadams.
   "In the end, it's about satisfying the customer. "