SD-2 Dod Acquisitions Buying Commercial Items And Nondevelopmental ItemsThis document offers guidance on acquisitions involving all types of commercial and nondevelopmental items: systems, subsystems, assemblies, parts, and items of supply. Commercial services are also addressed.This document does not present a “cookbook” approach to the acquisition of commercial and nondevelopmental items; such an approach could not accommodate the vast array of potential applications. It does offer lessons learned and things to consider when participating on an integrated product team.

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environment, types of facilities, the location of the facilities, and improvements needed to existing facilities.

Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation

Another key element of support planning is determining the requirements for packaging, han- dling, storage, and transportation consistent with commercial practices.When necessary, trans- portability experts should participate on the IPT as subject matter experts.The IPT may not want to acquire an item that is difficult to transport.

Computer Resources Support and Design Interfaces

Open system and modular design approaches ease design interface problems, allowing for cost- effective innovation, upgrades, and flexibility.These approaches allow DoD to capitalize on rap- idly evolving technologies, rather than being constrained to using specific products.

Product Enhancements and Upgrades

To maintain their competitive advantage, commercial firms may frequently enhance or upgrade their products using new technology. For a simple item that requires no support, enhancements and upgrades do not pose a support problem; when the item fails, it is simply replaced with the enhanced or upgraded version. Support can become a costly problem, however, for a complex system comprising multiple commercial products, each with its own enhancement/upgrade cy- cle. In that case, technology enhancements and upgrades may occur nearly continuously, which has several implications for logistics support:

•  The supplier may reduce or eliminate support of older products.

•  The user's ability to support the item may be affected.

•  Configuration management and control can be difficult.

When deciding on the long-term supportability of a commercial item or NDI, the IPT should determine where the product is in its life cycle and why a commercial item is being considered, as well as how complex the item is. If, for example, one of the goals of using a commercial item is to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology, the IPT's support plan should allow for frequent product changes.To the extent possible, the team should take advan- tage of commercial service, repair, and spare parts distribution systems and practices for support- ing items and for incorporating item upgrades. Another approach is to establish a flexible

support system-one that can readily accommodate enhancements and upgrades.

On the other hand, if the number of modifications to the item can be minimized, it may be possible to preserve the existing support system-which may be contractor support, in-house