Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:


Pages 7-22

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 7...
... It concluded that while a stockpile is a valid option when shortfalls for critical applications cannot be resolved using other tools, it was not clear that a reconfiguration of the stockpile would be of "net benefit to the nation" or what the appropriate format should be. The report noted that information was lacking on topics such as materials forecasted to be required for future weapons systems and other defense production; domestic production capacity for critical materials; and alternative suggestions for addressing particular shortages.
From page 8...
... Another GAO report, Stockpile Objectives of Strategic and Critical Materials Should be Reconsidered Because of Shortages (GAO, 1975) noted that stockpile policy at that time assumed that the United States could import from all countries except communist countries and those involved in a conflict.
From page 9...
... Stockpile management, discussed in detail in Chapter 6, and defense industrial policy, discussed in Chapter 5, continue to reflect thinking from past eras and appear to remain tied to old constructs. While the demand models and availability estimates used to estimate materials requirements for the stockpile may have been modified, the changes have occurred at the margins.
From page 10...
... The committee is concerned that while there have been some attempts over the years to make the assumptions underlying the conflict scenarios used to set materials requirements more relevant, the models themselves are based on economic factors and do not account for changes in either the types of materials used or the ways they are used. In short, the committee believes that the current modeling methodology, while technically sophisticated, lacks the specificity to identify actual military materials needs and is a carryover from a previous era.
From page 11...
... Geological Survey's minerals information team are essential, but the committee believes that further investment may be needed to expand data collection capabilities. Conclusion 3: A lack of good data and information -- both domestic and offshore -- on the availability of materials impedes the effective management of defense-critical supply chains.
From page 12...
... • Identifying and quantifying the potential risk of a supply chain disruption is complex and requires a much more sophisticated analysis capability than the present approach to modeling NDS materials requirements. • While DoD has begun to use a logistics system that embraces modern supply chain concepts for warfighting items, the committee found no evidence that such an approach extends beyond the component level to the level of the strategic and critical materials identified by analyzing the needs of specific military systems.
From page 13...
... Conclusion 4: Owing to changes in the global threat environment and changes in the U.S. industrial base, the emergence of new demands on materials supplies, the ineffectiveness of the National Defense Stockpile, and the resultant potential for new disruptions to the supply chains for defense-critical materials, the committee believes there is a need for a new approach in the form of a national defense-materials management system.
From page 14...
... More active management could uncover supply chain risks by analyzing supply chain disruptions to gain insight into causal factors or systemic issues. Supply choke points or surge demand response issues may point to the need for holding greater inventory at various stages of the process.
From page 15...
... contractors. • Use all available tools to support and stabilize robust supply chains in the increasingly changeable and global environment for materials supply, including the holding of a materials inventory that would serve as a flexible, continuously changing buffer stock with constant and timely management for restocking and balance.
From page 16...
... 1975. Stockpile Objectives of Strategic and Critical Materials Should be Reconsidered Because of Shortages.
From page 17...
... , and the appropriate policy and management methods. The resulting legislation, the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act of 1946, amended the 1939 act and provided for the Secretaries of War, Navy, and Interior, "acting jointly through the agency of the Army and Navy Munitions Board, be authorized and directed to determine…which materials are strategic and critical …and to determine…the quality and quantity of such materials which shall be stock piled" (Snyder, 1966)
From page 18...
... . An Executive Stockpile Committee under the White House Office of Emergency Planning was created to examine the issue of disposing of strategic and critical materials.
From page 19...
... From August 1979 through September 1988, total net receipts of nearly $1.2 billion were credited to the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund. The new law also required that stockpile requirements be based on a total mobilization of the economy of the United States for sustained conventional global war for a period of not less than three years.
From page 20...
... of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act, to provide information on the civilian and industrial tiers that affects the materials requirements generation process and to assist in the computation of requirements for materials that cannot be quantitatively modeled.
From page 21...
... . Included in the same 1993 legislation was an amendment to the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act, which stated that "the purpose of the National Defense Stockpile is to serve the interest of national defense only.
From page 22...
... $200 $180 $160 $140 $120 $100 $80 $60 $40 $20 $0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Source: Annual Materials Reports FIGURE 2-1 Annual Funding for Acquisitions and Upgrades $ in millions by Fiscal Year. Data taken from the DNSC Annual Materials Reports.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.