science

Performance-based logistics

Performance-based logistics is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Performance-based logistics rather than just read about it. In short: Performance-based logistics (PBL), also known as performance-based life-cycle product support, is a defense acquisition strategy for cost-effective weapon system support which has been adopted in particular by the United States Department of Defense. Rather than contracting for the acquisition of parts or services, DoD contracts to secure outcomes or results.

Key takeaways

Performance-based logistics belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Performance-based logistics to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Performance-based logistics from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Performance-based logistics (PBL), also known as performance-based life-cycle product support, is a defense acquisition strategy for cost-effective weapon system support which has been adopted in particular by the United States Department of Defense. Rather than contracting for the acquisition of parts or services, DoD contracts to secure outcomes or results. Under PBL, the product support manager identifies product support integrator(s) (PSI) to deliver performance outcomes as defined by performance metric(s) for a system or product. The integrator often commits to this performance level at a lower cost, or increased performance at costs similar to those previously achieved under a non-PBL or transactional portfolio of product support arrangements for goods and services. As the preferred approach to supporting weapon system logistics, it seeks to deliver product support as an integrated, affordable performance package designed to optimize system readiness. PBL meets performance goals for a weapon system through a support structure based on long-term performance agreements with clear lines of authority and responsibility. DoD program managers are required to develop and implement performance-based life-cycle support strategies for weapon systems. These strategies should optimize total system availability while minimizing cost and logistics footprint. Trade-off decisions involve cost, useful service, and effectiveness. The selection of the specific performance metrics should be carefully considered and supported by an operationally oriented analysis, taking into account technology maturity, fiscal constraints, and schedule. In implementing performance-based life-cycle product support strategies, the metrics should be appropriate to the scope of product support integrators and providers responsibilities and should be revisited as necessary to ensure they are motivating the desired behaviors across the enterprise. PBL strategies do not mandate that work be contracted to commercial contractors; integrating the best features of the public and private sectors is a key component of the support strategy. Instead of a pre-ordained course of action, Product Managers are directed to implement "sustainment strategies that include the best use of public and private sector capabilities through government/industry partnering initiatives, in accordance with statutory requirements". Many times, employing a PBL strategy has resulted in either increased system performance issues or increased costs.. Examples include the C-17 PBL, FIRST, and PBtH. Ideally, the provider profits by controlling constituent elements (PSIs) that are used to generate the performance results. In PBL, typically a part or the whole payment is tied to the performance of the provider and the purchaser does not get involved in the details of the process, it becomes crucial to define a clear set of requirements to the provider. Occasionally governments, more particularly Defence, fail to define the requirements clearly. This leaves room for providers to, either intentionally or unintentionally, misinterpret the requirements, which creates a game like situation and excuses to deliver imperfect services.

History

Beginning in the early 1990s, emerging trends towards increases in the costs to support fielded systems and decreases in the general reliability and operational readiness of weapon systems were recognized as issues that could continue if unabated. As a result, a performance-based approach, PBL, was advanced by the U.S. DoD in its annual Quadrennial Defense Review in 2001. Since then, not only has the U.S. DoD adopted the PBL approach, but other countries have adopted this strategy as well. Many programs that have employed it have yielded increased system availability, shorter maintenance cycles, and/or reduced costs.

Awards Since the inception of the PBL concept, there have been numerous examples of DoD systems that have yielded the anticipated results, and many that have exceeded – some extremely so – the performance expectations. Annual PBL awards highlight achievement in three areas:

component-level performance sub-system performance system-level performance

Criticism In 2009, partially in response to some who believed that PBL concepts were inadequate, and to assess the current state of DoD systems sustainment, DoD's Office of the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness (OADUSD(MR)) initiated a Weapon System Acquisition Reform Product Support Assessment. Its final report, signed by Ashton B. Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, affirms the essence of the PBL concept by stating, "there remains a strong consensus that an outcome-based, performance-oriented product support strategy is a worthy objective". It further identified eight areas that would make product support even more effective, if developed and improved:

Product Support Business Model Industrial Integration Strategy Supply Chain Operational Strategy Governance Metrics Operating and Support (O&S) Costs Analytical Tools Human Capital. In 2003 the United States Air Force found that logistics support contracts were more expensive than undertaking support operations in-house through their organic depot system.

See also Cost-plus contract Fixed-price contract Military surplus Performance-based contracting

References

External links Performance Based Logistics Performance Based Logistics What it Takes Defense Acquisition Guidebook, Section 5.1.1.2 Defense Acquisition Guidebook, Section 5.1.1.3 DoD Directive 5000.01, The Defense Acquisition System, Enclosure 1, Section E1.1.17 - Performance Based Logistics

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Performance-based logistics

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Performance-based logistics claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Performance-based logistics before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Performance-based logistics ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Performance-based logistics

In research: Performance-based logistics appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Performance-based logistics in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Performance-based logistics is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Maintenance, Military logistics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Performance-based logistics outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Performance-based logistics in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Performance-based logistics means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Performance-based logistics out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Performance-based logistics in simple terms?

Why does Performance-based logistics matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Performance-based logistics?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Performance-based logistics.