Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 1

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

STRATEGIC PLAN

2015 - 2022
Our nation has a powerful military force, capable of swiftly responding to today’s and 

tomorrow’s challenges at a moment’s notice across the globe. To be ready, our Soldiers, 

Marines, Sailors and Airmen rely on the men and women of the Defense Logistics Agency 

to accomplish their mission. We have a proud history of getting the right support to the right 

place at the right time for more than five decades. Through continued collaboration, innovation 

and smart investments, we’ll continue to be the standard-bearer for joint logistics and 

acquisition – delivering world-class support to the Warfighter. Through this strategic plan, DLA 

builds upon these strengths, honors its commitments, and sets a course for future success.

Our mission is straightforward: 

Provide effective and efficient global solutions to Warfighters and our other 

valued customers.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Director’s Intent

 

Our vision is clear: 

Deliver the right solution on time, every time.

We will realize this vision through five goals: 

• Warfighter First - Make promises and keep them

• People and Culture - Valued team members; resilient and ready for the challenge 

• Strategic Engagement - Better outcomes through teamwork 

• Financial Stewardship - Affordable solutions and continued accountability 

• Process Excellence - Always improving; finding smarter ways to do things

Our values define who we are, how we act, and how we treat one another: 

Integrity, Resiliency, Diversity, Innovation, Accountability, Excellence

Execution of this strategic plan is supported by my annual director’s guidance – helping leaders translate words into action and 

measure our progress. With this solid foundation, an agile, professional workforce, and a constant desire to improve our support 

to the Warfighter around the world, we will continue to be the best – America’s Combat Logistics Support Agency. 

Lt Gen Andy Busch

Director 

Defense Logistics Agency
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 1

Table of Contents

STRATEGIC PLANNING INFLUENCES AND PROCESS............... 2

STRATEGY .............................................................................. 4

Mission.......................................................................... 4

Vision............................................................................. 5

Values............................................................................ 5

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES........................................................ 6

GOAL AREA 1: WARFIGHTER FIRST ................................ 6

GOAL AREA 2: PEOPLE AND CULTURE............................ 8

GOAL AREA 3: STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT .................... 10

GOAL AREA 4: FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP .................... 12

GOAL AREA 5: PROCESS EXCELLENCE ........................ 14

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND MEASUREMENT .......... 16

DIRECTOR’S CALL TO ACTION .............................................. 17
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STRATEGIC PLANNING INFLUENCES AND PROCESS

We will focus on strengthening and optimizing our supply chains. 

Even though our support to the Nuclear Enterprise crosses 

multiple supply chains and functions, here too we will excel. It 

is a good example of where we must be vigilant in our endto-end process planning, precise in execution, and committed 

to partnering with the Military Services and U.S. Strategic 

Command (USSTRATCOM) to ensure we maintain and improve 

our performance while leveraging technology and processes to 

advance efficiencies. We will address areas where the Nuclear 

Enterprise is underserved.

Strategic planning is about change. It is an iterative process that 

identifies where an organization must focus (mission), where 

it must be in the future (vision), and how it intends to get there 

(goals and objectives). To develop an actionable strategic plan, we 

followed industry best practices that included:

• Completing an analysis of the environmental factors 

(e.g., policy, budgetary, regulatory, workforce, etc.) that 

impact DLA, our customers, and our stakeholders

• Analyzing relevant policy, plans, directives, and 

guidance that establish critical priorities for the Agency 

to ensure we are aligned with the Department, its 

leadership, and our partners 

• Interviewing our customers, stakeholders, and 

leadership to identify strengths, weaknesses, current 

challenges, and future expectations 

• Developing an overview of our strengths, weaknesses, 

opportunities, and threats from which to frame our 

strategic agenda for action

• Working as a cohesive team to identify where we can lean 

forward to obtain significant improvements in operations.

As America’s Combat Logistics Support Agency, the Defense 

Logistics Agency (DLA) provides the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air 

Force, federal and state agencies, and international partners with 

the full spectrum of innovative logistics, acquisition, and technical 

solutions. DLA’s most daunting challenges are often encountered in 

support of our warfighting customers. As the Warfighter’s combat 

logistics support provider, we must sustain Warfighters in an era of 

complex, dynamic, competing, and often urgent needs. 

The current budget climate presents a challenge in balancing 

national priorities and fiscal realities, and leaves little margin to 

absorb unnecessary risks. We empower our workforce with the 

tools, funding, training, and other resources to enable their success. 

We foster an organizational culture that supports high levels of 

performance and quality at the individual and enterprise levels. We 

partner with industry to proactively leverage best practices, new 

technology, and other innovations to forecast and meet emergent 

demands. Our determined focus on process excellence delivers 

quantitative and qualitative results that are repeatable and, most 

importantly, measureable. Our financial processes and costs are 

transparent and well-documented, enabling our customers to 

participate with us to produce and benefit from cost savings. 

DLA provides premier customer service and continues to enhance 

and strengthen our enduring relationships with the Military 

Services and Combatant Commands. We work tirelessly to further 

reinforce our close collaboration with U.S. Transportation Command 

(USTRANSCOM) and industry partners. Our strength is working as a 

team on end-to-end processes to ensure that integrated solutions 

are safe, secure, and efficient. We will capture opportunities to work 

with our partners earlier and more closely to integrate life-cycle 

efficiencies into the design, acquisition, and long-term sustainment 

of major programs. 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 3
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five decades, from Vietnam to Iraq, Afghanistan, and 

Liberia. Our forward-deployed organizations in Europe, 

Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Pacific as well as 

our in-theater, on-the-ground support teams ensure 

Warfighters know we are with them. We are highly 

deployable and always ready to meet Warfighters’ 

requirements.

Our support extends beyond the Department of Defense 

(DoD) to other federal civil agencies including, but not 

limited to, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 

the Department of State (DoS), the Department of 

Energy (DoE), and the General Services Administration 

(GSA), as well as designated state and local customers. 

We are recognized for our responsiveness in providing 

assistance in diverse crises such as the Hurricane 

Sandy relief effort in 2012 and the Ebola outbreak in 

Western Africa during 2014.

MISSION

Provide effective and efficient global solutions to Warfighters 

and our other valued customers

Just as the American Warfighter’s mission is to protect 

our Nation’s security interests, DLA’s mission is to serve 

the Warfighter in that effort. Our Soldiers, Marines, 

Sailors, Airmen, and teammates serve around the 

world, and DLA is right beside them providing global, 

full-spectrum logistics support in the most austere 

environments. We provide food, clothing, medical 

supplies, fuel, consumable items, and repair parts to our 

Military Services. When our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, 

and Airmen are supplied, fueled, nourished, moved, or 

healed, DLA plays a vital role. 

We supported deployed Warfighters in every major 

conflict and contingency operation over the past 

STRATEGY
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 5

VISION

Delivering the right solution on time, every time

Our vision describes our desired end state; to achieve it, we 

pledge to increase agility, responsiveness, innovation, and 

program integration. DLA’s ability to anticipate and overcome 

logistical obstacles translates into our customers’ increasing 

ability to realize mission success. 

We support our Warfighters with a broad range of logistics 

and supply chain capabilities, ensuring that our customers 

receive what they need, when they need it. We incorporate 

and implement industry best practices. We support our 

Warfighters through our forward presence with the customer, 

our broad range of responsibilities across DoD supply chains, 

our capabilities in closing logistics seams and gaps, our 

strength in aggregating data to aid in decision making, and 

our deep expertise in achieving transformation.

To realize our vision, we understand that as a logistics 

leader and steward of the Department’s resources, we 

must manage costs, maintain supply chains, sustain the 

industrial base, and integrate with industry. We will examine 

our end-to-end processes with our partners to identify 

process excellence opportunities to remove barriers and 

achieve precise execution, fiscal responsibility, and servicelevel accountability.

Through early and meaningful engagement with our partners, 

we will balance the requirements and trade-offs that might 

be necessary to develop the right solutions. These solutions 

will incorporate customer materiel needs, timelines, and 

performance assurance as well as DoD’s interests in cost, 

infrastructure, and the defense industrial base. 

VALUES

Integrity, Resiliency, Diversity, Innovation, Accountability, 

Excellence

Our values provide the foundation for all of the actions we 

take and the decisions we make in support of our customers, 

stakeholders, workforce, and partners:

• Integrity: Honest and trustworthy, we follow 

through on what we promise.

• Resiliency and Diversity: Flexible, responsive, 

recoverable, and able to quickly adapt to 

changing business environments while 

achieving outstanding results. Composed of 

people from varied backgrounds. We celebrate 

and leverage our differences to deliver 

innovative and effective outcomes. 

• Innovation: We pioneer new ideas, devices, and 

methods. Working with each other, customers, 

and stakeholders to provide solutions that are 

unique and creative. 

• Accountability: Obligated and willing to accept 

responsibility. We are accountable to DoD 

and our customers, just as our workforce is 

accountable to the DLA mission to provide 

effective and efficient global solutions to 

Warfighters and our other valued customers.

• Excellence: Extremely high quality. We take 

pride in providing first-class solutions on time, 

every time.
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The five goal areas represent the foundational catalysts we believe are necessary and relevant to realize our vision. These goals 

complement our mission as well as represent our commitment to ensuring our agility and responsiveness to the current and 

emerging needs and expectations of Warfighters and our other valued customers and stakeholders. Achieving these goals requires 

us to explore innovative opportunities and seize these opportunities to constantly improve our operations and service delivery. Our 

five goal areas are:

• Warfighter First • People and Culture • Strategic Engagement 

• Financial Stewardship • Process Excellence

GOAL AREA 1: WARFIGHTER FIRST

Deliver innovative and responsive solutions to Warfighters 

first, DoD components, and our other valued customers

DLA’s top priority is Warfighter support. The current threat 

environment is complex, and we must be a trusted and 

responsive partner to the Warfighter as well as one that is able 

to anticipate changing and future needs. We will ensure our 

organization’s goals, processes, and performance are innovative, 

responsive, and synchronized with the current and future needs 

of the Warfighters, DoD components, other mission partners, and 

stakeholders.

Objective 1: Anticipate, assess, and meet current and future 

Warfighter requirements 

Warfighter requirements change at a moment’s notice. It is 

imperative that DLA rapidly senses and responds to these 

changes with innovative solutions and optimum support for all 

classes of supply. This includes linking DLA capabilities, such 

as materiel availability to support Warfighter readiness, with 

contingency planning and with Combatant Commanders’ Theater 

Posture Plans. We will work with our customers to understand 

their current requirements and anticipate future needs to ensure 

the right materiel is available to support their varied mission sets. 

Success for this objective: More accurate demand forecasts, stock 

levels and positioning, paired with a rapid response to emergent 

requirements, which ultimately contribute to improved mission 

readiness for the Military Services and Combatant Commanders. 

Objective 2: Partner with program managers for major 

acquisition systems to lower lifecycle costs

To provide more efficient and effective Warfighter support, we 

will strengthen our partnerships with program managers early in 

the acquisition process for Major Defense Acquisition Programs 

(MDAPs). Collaboratively, we will identify critical program support 

requirements and potential decreased lifecycle costs, and align our 

resources accordingly. This early involvement will foster improved 

transparency and lead to reduced lifecycle support costs.

Success for this objective: A valued partner integrated into 

the planning and execution of programmatic logistics solutions. 

Establish a comprehensive engagement process, with the top five 

Military Services designated MDAPs, that enables DLA to create 

options for program managers to reduce lifecycle logistics costs.
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 7

Objective 3: Identify and manage supply system risks 

(execute and sustain our mission) 

There are significant risks in our current environment – 

operational, cybersecurity, terrorism, and counterfeiting – that 

pose severe challenges to our supply chains at any given time. 

It is imperative that we analyze, assess, and address these key 

risk areas across our supply chains. We will foster an internal 

environment where reporting and addressing operational 

risks such as cyber threats and counterfeit/irregular parts is 

encouraged and valued. That same attention must extend to our 

supplier base, where we must be astute in vendor relationship 

management to ensure our private sector partners protect our 

materiel and data integrity to effectively support the Warfighter. 

Success for this objective: Implement a more comprehensive 

program to identify risks, detect counterfeit and nonconforming 

materiel, and establish secure systems to avoid or mitigate 

potential disruptions to logistics support and ensure the continuity 

of essential functions and operations.

Objective 4: Leverage DLA’s Research and Development 

(R&D) program to infuse innovation into our solutions

We will identify and prioritize innovative R&D solutions based on 

our customers’ priorities. Understanding disruptive technologies 

and exploring potential game-changing innovations and other 

logistics R&D opportunities to support the Warfighter is a critical 

aspect of the solution. Early exploration and investment in 

emerging technologies will produce enhanced capabilities for our 

customers. For example, implementation of robotic technologies, 

automation in Distribution operations, and 3D printing of hard-tosource and long-lead-time parts will enhance logistics support 

capabilities and produce more reliable, cost-effective solutions. 

These innovations will remove barriers to the use of commercial 

technology, reduce response times, and ensure investments link 

directly to enhanced Warfighter support. Since industry R&D labs 

often generate viable prototypes, we will explore their innovations 

and invite them to demonstrate their capability-development 

efforts. Our R&D program will produce innovative logistics 

solutions that are more reliable, agile, and cost-effective. 

Success for this objective: Rapid and seamless migration of 

logistics R&D investments into operational solutions. 

Objective 5: Develop and implement a Whole of Government 

strategy aligned to DoD

While the Military Services and Combatant Commands 

remain our primary support focus, DLA possesses the core 

competencies to positively influence the outcome of Whole 

of Government response efforts and operations. This can 

be accomplished with no degradation of support to our DoD 

customers. We will achieve this through proactive, strategic 

engagement with federal agencies and organizations to 

optimize DLA’s ability to respond to domestic and international 

emergencies, natural disasters, and humanitarian relief 

efforts. Enhanced engagements with existing Defense Support 

of Civil Authorities (DSCA) partners and departments and 

agencies linked to diplomatic initiatives (DoS, U.S. Agency for 

International Development (USAID), foreign military sales) are a 
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

priority. Opportunities also exist to support federal, state, and 

local government agencies and organizations associated with 

homeland defense and emergency response missions. 

Potential partners have vital readiness or contingency 

requirements that could benefit from DLA’s competencies 

and services. To achieve this objective, a structured approach 

to identify and evaluate potential partnerships is essential. 

This approach considers mission alignment, costs, and risks, 

as well as the suitability of our expertise, capabilities, and 

limitations.

Success for this objective: A comprehensive, transparent, 

business case-like analysis that facilitates a thorough 

assessment of Whole of Government requirements or requests. 

Key to this analysis is ensuring DLA’s ability to effectively support 

Whole of Government entities without any degradation of support 

to the Military Services and Combatant Commanders.

GOAL AREA 2: PEOPLE AND CULTURE 

Hire, develop, and retain a high-performing, valued, resilient, and 

accountable workforce that delivers sustained mission excellence

DLA has always been a high-performing organization, and our 

workforce is our greatest asset. To further increase performance, 

we will use innovative approaches to attract and retain missionfocused people. We will foster an environment that unlocks the 

full potential of our workforce, enabling them to achieve peak 

performance and meet future challenges. To accomplish this, we 

will continue to attract and hire highly-talented individuals, further 

develop their competencies and resilience, and cultivate and retain 

the next generation of diverse leaders and workforce to advance 

DLA into the future.

The key to mission success is to continue our focus on people and 

culture. Our success depends on the readiness of our workforce to 

meet changing mission requirements in an evolving technological 

environment. Partnering with our labor unions to communicate and 

implement positive change and maintain our standing as an employer 

of choice is vital to an invigorated, sustained, and resilient workforce. 

Objective 1: Foster an environment and organizational culture 

where DLA employees are valued and high-performing

We will continue to conduct and leverage our enterprisewide 

culture and climate surveys to determine workforce satisfaction, 

applying our findings and measuring progress. We will 

continuously pursue a performance-based culture that fosters an 

environment in which DLA employees understand how they fit into 

the enterprise mission and vision, feel valued, and have rewarding 

career path options. DoD’s new performance management 

system, which links individual performance appraisals with 

organizational mission and goals, can further strengthen our 

knowledge of the current employee environment and perspective. 

This more comprehensive understanding will lead to new solutions 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 9

and improvements to be implemented through our robust 

culture action plans.

Success for this objective: Stronger culture and climate survey 

scores that reflect effective culture action plans and increased 

employee satisfaction.

Objective 2: Fortify workforce resiliency

To move DLA forward, we will provide a workplace where all 

levels of the workforce are empowered, valued, and treated 

with dignity. Fortifying resiliency represents the things we do 

within DLA to assist members of our workforce to become more 

effective in their professional and personal lives. In addition 

to continually improving workplace safety and the security of 

our work environment, we will assess, identify, and implement 

improvements to ensure employees see themselves as valued 

team members and are resilient in the face of professional 

and personal challenges. We will institutionalize the capability 

to actively engage, support, and solicit the feedback of our 

workforce. Moreover, we will provide a resiliency toolkit to ensure 

the workforce receives and benefits from the resources and 

training offered.

Success for this objective: Improved workforce resiliency and 

employee engagement. 

Objective 3: Strengthen workforce competencies

To prepare for the emerging mission environment, it is critical 

to identify and implement new strategies to expand workforce 

competencies that build a strong bench. We will continue to 

develop and maintain a high-performing workforce with the 

technical capabilities necessary to lead DLA into the future. We 

will define the critical competencies needed to meet emerging 

demands and institute a training development program with 

associated resources to further professionalize our workforce.

Success for this objective: A workforce that demonstrates the 

competencies needed to meet current mission requirements and is 

engaged in professional development to meet future challenges.

Objective 4: Refresh the hiring process with improved 

candidate assessments

To adapt to a changing strategic environment and take advantage 

of future opportunities, it is important to continue to attract and 

hire top talent. To continue to strengthen and grow our highperforming talent pool, we will refresh our hiring process and 

improve our competitive selection process with more robust 

candidate assessment strategies.

Success for this objective: A more transparent and balanced 

hiring process with greater employee satisfaction.

Objective 5: Bolster leader competencies to effectively lead 

in a rapidly changing work environment

It is essential that DLA’s leadership effectively leads an 

increasingly diverse, modern workforce. Our leaders must unlock 

the full potential of a workforce with diverse backgrounds, 

experiences, and perspectives, in a modern and technologically 

advanced workplace. We will assess and improve our current 

leadership model and leadership competencies to cultivate 

leaders who are prepared to effectively manage in this future 

environment.

Success for this objective: Leaders demonstrating success 

through mission performance and inspiring greater confidence 

and productivity in the workforce. 
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Objective 6: Develop and implement a framework for 

effective succession management for key positions

We will implement a succession planning process to adapt 

to the changing strategic environment and generational 

shifts within the workforce and leadership ranks. It is critical 

to prepare our workforce and emerging leaders for new 

roles and responsibilities. We will identify and assess key 

leadership positions and skillsets most critical to short- and 

long-term success. To ensure smooth transitions and reduce 

the risk of leadership gaps, we will identify and rationalize 

our professional and leadership development activities into a 

coherent succession management framework for leaders to 

apply to key positions. 

Success for this objective: Effective succession management 

processes to ensure a sufficient and robust talent pipeline for 

key leadership positions.

GOAL AREA 3: STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT

Engage industry and other partners in the delivery of effective 

and affordable solutions

Strong relationships with external partners are vital to 

achieve DLA’s mission. We are, and will continue to be, 

focused on developing innovative business relationships 

with our industry and DoD partners. We need to engage 

more closely with industry providers of support and materiel 

and the DoD components that receive them to anticipate 

and meet the demands of the diverse and constantly 

changing circumstances our Warfighters face. As the 

relationships with our partners deepen, we will become 

more knowledgeable about their strengths, challenges, 

and priorities. Through this knowledge, we will make 

more informed decisions in the development and delivery 

of the right solutions for our Warfighters. Increased 

communication and collaboration will benefit DLA, our 

industry partners, DoD, and, above all, Warfighters. 

Objective 1: Collaborate with providers to incentivize productivity and innovation, eliminate unproductive business processes, and address industrial 

base vulnerabilities

DLA and our partners share many common goals and, 

even when we do not, there are opportunities for mutually 

beneficial collaboration. Our providers can best serve us if 

they have more information about our needs and demands, 

just as we can better target and tailor providers and 

contracts when we have information about production costs, 

schedules, processes, specializations, and limitations. We 

will work with industry providers to understand cost drivers, 

make contract execution easier, and find more efficient and 

effective production and acquisition methods. To do this, we 

will establish a routine communication strategy, understand 

legal constraints, improve the acceptance and inspection 

process, better structure contracts, reduce time to award, 

engage with industry and Government partners to address 

their concerns and leverage their knowledge, engage in 

information sharing, and improve support both before and 

after contract award. 

Success for this objective: Streamlined contract processes, 

increased dialogue, and improved relationships and 

performance with DLA partners and providers. 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 11

Objective 2: Align DLA processes and initiatives with 

evolving DoD business objectives

DLA, together with our partners in DoD, will accomplish more 

and better serve Warfighters by working together, rather 

than separately. Through increased collaboration with our 

partners in DoD and within the defense industrial base, we 

will proactively execute our mission. We will support our 

leadership by identifying opportunities for DLA to enhance 

its support to the Department and ensure representation of 

DLA’s interests within DoD and DoD’s interests in the Whole 

of Government. This will result in increased efficiencies, 

reduced costs, greater sourcing opportunities, and reduction 

of sole-source items.

Success for this objective: A prominent role in federal 

strategic sourcing initiatives; an expanded role in, and 

repeatable process for, lifecycle planning; increased access 

to data rights; and legislative recommendations to ease 

legal, regulatory, and financial restrictions on DLA.

Objective 3: Incentivize productivity and innovation 

through performance-based acquisition (PBA) methods 

and arrangements

Warfighter operations have changed in the new millennium. 

DLA is with Warfighters in more places than ever before and 

needs new tools and processes to adapt. We will explore 

what we and our partners can produce today as well as 

what we will be capable of producing in the future. We 

will leverage industry agility, competition, and innovation 

to take advantage of commercial integrated logistics 

support arrangements. DLA’s use of PBA methods through 

competition increases access to innovative and high-quality 

products at reduced costs. 

Success for this objective: A standard procedure to identify and 

pursue opportunities to implement strategic Performance-Based 

Logistics (PBL) contracts and the review of existing contracts and 

relationships to leverage PBA features that are aligned with our 

business objectives. 
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Objective 4: Enable innovative acquisition through an 

aligned and secure end-to-end information technology (IT) 

architecture and analytical tools

An aligned, end-to-end IT architecture improves visibility and 

transparency, making it easier to see opportunities for expanded 

collaboration and partnership. Greater data sharing allows 

industry partners to anticipate our future demands and allows 

us to better anticipate our customers’ future needs. Greater 

transparency into the supply chain allows for improved decision 

making, avoidance of unacceptable risk, and predictable results. 

We will identify emerging technologies and determine which 

bring the greatest benefit to DLA and our customers. We will 

leverage state-of-the-market technologies to continually grow 

our acquisition analytics. Expected benefits of these initiatives 

are: improved and targeted capital expenditures, more efficient 

production control planning, established sub-tier arrangements 

to support DLA contracts, and a more stable workforce for 

our suppliers; higher fill rates, reduced capital expenditures, 

less waste, and more predictable warfighter support for our 

customers; and improved demand planning, more accurate 

forecasting of total lifecycle costs, increased competition, more 

precise requirements and customized contracts, better contract 

performance, and improved initial fielding sustainment for DLA.

Success for this objective: A process to identify and leverage 

emerging technologies, application of state-of-the-market 

tools for supply chain management, and a supply chain that is 

more responsive, transparent, and accessible to industry and 

our customers.

GOAL AREA 4: FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP

Deliver effective and affordable solutions

Support to the Warfighter is our top priority. We will acquire new 

capabilities and eliminate non-value-added processes to optimize 

Warfighter readiness, meet future threats, and reduce their total 

equipment and system ownership costs. We will aggressively 

drive costs out of operations and materiel acquisitions to ensure 

an agile capability that can surge as needed to provide global 

military and humanitarian support. 

Accountability is the foundation of good stewardship. We are 

steadfast in maintaining our financial commitments to our 

customers while ensuring value, efficiency, and effectiveness in 

every program. We will partner with our customers to improve 

pricing transparency and to collaboratively develop solutions to 

minimize costs. We will offer more discrete and flexible pricing 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 13

options to allow customers to select the type of service and 

performance that best meets their mission and affordability 

needs. After reaching audit readiness, we will sustain auditability. 

Objective 1: Develop and implement a flexible strategy that 

positions DLA to provide logistics excellence in the future

As DoD resources diminish, DLA must adapt by developing 

innovative solutions that will enhance our existing exemplary 

service to our customers while using less money. We will 

collaborate with the Military Services to better understand 

their evolving requirements and chart a path to advance our 

capabilities. By working with private industry, we will explore 

best-of-breed logistics solutions and technology innovations 

to continually improve all facets of DLA business lines and 

processes. Concurrently, we will identify prudent cost-reduction 

strategies to optimize efficiency and effectiveness without 

compromising Warfighter support. 

Success for this objective: Disciplined approaches to define and 

fund future readiness requirements and capabilities. 

Objective 2: Collaborate with our customers on enhanced 

capability to reduce costs and increase transparency

We are committed to process excellence, improved financial 

predictability, and delivery of acquisition best practices. Our 

mission partners and stakeholders rely on DLA to bring together 

the programmatic, acquisition, and logistics communities to 

ensure we deliver affordable, end-to-end solutions. Through our 

Service cost summits, we will build customer trust by providing 

more discrete, DLA cost-driver visibility. We will provide 

industry comparisons and cost visibility to all factors that 

affect our annual price changes. We will also highlight targets 

of opportunity for collaborative process improvement, which 

should result in significant cost reductions to the Warfighter 

without mission degradation. 

Success for this objective: Ongoing, open dialogue with 

customers about cost and opportunities for cost reduction. 

Objective 3: Develop flexible pricing options and 

automated processes 

DLA must provide pricing strategies that allow the customer to 

obtain the support they need while remaining within their fiscal 

constraints. We will develop flexible pricing models for core supply, 

distribution, and disposition functions to give customers the 

performance they need at the right price. For example, instead of a 

fixed priced rate for transportation regardless of speed or method, 

pricing options would allow for rates directly commensurate to the 

level of service, performance, or speed requested.

Success for this objective: Flexible pricing models that 

accommodate varying levels of service, performance, and speed. 

Objective 4: Reduce overall DLA operation and 

materiel costs

We will continue to seek ways to reduce the cost of doing business. 

This includes better leveraging acquisition tools, such as increased 

competition, to obtain the lowest possible materiel prices, as well 

as adopting a culture of continuous process excellence in all facets 

of the business. DLA is improving its acquisition processes by 

focusing on what things “should cost” and by developing smarter 

solutions that provide more affordable, value-added logistics 

support to Warfighters. DLA will continue to look for opportunities 

to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of day-to-day 

operations, such as re-engineering processes related to improving 

demand planning, reducing acquisition lead times to minimize 
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

inventory investments and holding costs, reducing infrastructure 

requirements by streamlining DLA Distribution and Disposition 

Services processes, and optimizing the DoD distribution network.

Success for this objective: Reduced operation and materiel costs 

through ongoing and future CPI initiatives while ensuring the 

continued effectiveness of ongoing operations.

Objective 5: Sustain auditability

DLA will assert full financial statement audit readiness in FY 15. 

We will implement audit deficiency corrective actions to allow 

audit sustainability and enhance our customers’ confidence 

in the accuracy of the numbers we produce on their behalf. 

We will streamline and standardize processes, to the greatest 

extent possible, to reduce Agency and audit-related costs. We 

will establish and resource an audit response and sustainment 

organization to enable annual achievement of a positive audit 

opinion from an Independent Public Accountant.

Success for this objective: Ongoing positive audit opinions.

GOAL AREA 5: PROCESS EXCELLENCE

Achieve Enterprise process excellence

DLA will optimize processes to obtain the most effective and 

efficient outcome. We will obtain this goal through rigorous 

examination of end-to-end, core, and enabling processes coupled 

with the use of continuous process improvement tools. The 

teams will be composed of individuals from diverse functional 

backgrounds to ensure we optimize, standardize, and implement 

process improvements as well as sustain auditability. We will 

achieve process excellence by requiring every level of leadership 

to evaluate, manage, and seek to improve the processes within 

their scope of responsibility. We will systematically reassess and 

implement process innovation to reduce costs, increase speed, 

improve quality, and become a more agile organization. This will 

be accomplished, as appropriate, within each organization and at 

the enterprise level. Through our governance structure, DLA will 

enable, prioritize, and integrate process innovation. Tools such as 

templates, training, and communication and change management 

activities will be employed to make it easier for the workforce to do 

its job, assist leaders with data for decision-making, communicate 

the reason for change, encourage acceptance of new processes, 

and foster an environment of continuous process improvement.

Process excellence encourages simplification, improves performance, and helps DLA better achieve the outcomes Warfighters 

expect. At its essence, process excellence moves beyond the 

success of achieving and sustaining a positive financial statement 

audit and optimizes process change to bring forth the most 

effective and efficient outcomes in support of Warfighters, the 

Whole of Government, and our Nation.

Objective 1: Leverage enterprise process governance construct

Process excellence uses the Supply Chain Integration (SCI) Council 

as a supporting governance forum for the Alignment Group and 

the Executive Board. This council will standardize and integrate 

the organization’s process improvement activities to ensure 

systemic issues are addressed. The governance process supports 

institutional examination and innovation of systemic issues that can 

lead to significant process improvement to achieve Agency goals in 

support of the customer. 

DoD provided an end-to-end business process integration 

framework to drive alignment and improve business operations. 

The SCI Council representatives will identify and inventory the 

ongoing process activities in which staff are currently engaged, 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 15

encourage process initiatives and the use of continuous process 

improvement tools, and reward innovation. 

Success for this objective: Development and institutionalization 

of the authorities, roles and responsibilities, policies, sponsorship, 

leadership, and ownership of process activities and visibility of 

ongoing initiatives.

Objective 2: Implement and integrate end-to-end process 

management to optimize enterprise initiatives

We will analyze and develop process management solutions by 

consolidation, standardization, and integration throughout the 

total DoD supply chain. The DLA end-to-end business streams 

are: Procure to Pay (P2P), Plan to Stock (P2S), Order to Cash 

(O2C), Hire to Retire (H2R), Acquire to Retire (A2R), and Budget 

to Execute (B2E). These processes form the connection between 

the customer-facing and supplier-facing sides of the organization. 

Each process initiative will have a specific timeline to conduct data 

baselining, improvement, documentation, and communication 

activities. In addition, we will employ process tools, templates, and 

guides for use by all DLA staff. We will identify training and change 

management activities to enhance understanding and motivate 

the workforce to bring new and exciting ideas into practice. We will 

engage customers and stakeholders to gain insight and feedback. 

We will integrate R&D initiatives seamlessly into our processes and 

encourage the sharing of ideas and best practices. 

Success for this objective: Savings, cost avoidance, and 

improved Warfighter support through a portfolio of process 

improvements and innovations.

Objective 3: Implement Enterprise Process Management to 

maximize efficient, effective, and auditable processes

We will implement proven, repeatable processes and strategies 

to provide effective, efficient support as well as sustain 

auditability. As a team, we will develop a best practice method 

to measure the effectiveness of our core and enabling process 

areas, ensuring standard measurement by process owners and 

enterprise business cycle owners. The measures will include 

end-to-end metrics, and we will ensure that risk assessment and 

Managers’ Internal Controls Programs are integrated with the 

process and business cycle measures.

Success for this objective: Full and current process 

documentation and measures for operational processes, 

determination of key operational controls, and continuous process 

improvement to ensure process excellence.

Objective 4: Develop, monitor, and sustain activities to 

enable culture change

To improve adoption of new and updated processes, we will 

use the industry best practices of communication, change 

management, and training materials to accompany each process 

initiative. We will also obtain feedback from the workforce to 

refresh our end-to-end processes and the techniques and 

materials used to implement them.

Success for this objective: A culture that embraces continuous 

improvement and individuals who understand their role in 

enterprisewide operations and DoD logistics objectives.
16 www.dla.mil

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND MEASUREMENT

This plan is the first step to implement our strategy. Annually, we will direct actions through the Director’s 

Guidance and Annual Operating Plans. An integrated strategic planning and performance management 

program will provide DLA leadership with vital information to measure the progress and effectiveness of 

our efforts as we implement this plan and strive to realize our vision. The underlying metrics will ensure we 

produce the necessary outputs to achieve the outcomes critical to effectively achieving our goals, while also 

providing the data we need to make course corrections along the way. These metrics will be tracked and 

evaluated by DLA’s Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J5) and presented to the senior leadership team on 

a recurring basis to monitor performance and drive process improvement. Additionally, we will revisit this plan 

on an annual basis to ensure we remain on course or to re-vector as necessary. 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Plan 17

DIRECTOR’S CALL TO ACTION

As we look to the future, we recognize the uncertainty, risks, and challenges that we face as we go forward 

together to meet our mission as America’s Combat Logistics Support Agency. We all know the enduring threats 

our country faces. We recognize the ever-evolving challenges placed upon our Department of Defense and Military 

Services. We understand the critical role that our Agency plays in helping our customers meet those challenges and 

keeping America safe and secure.

I firmly believe we are up to this challenge. We will continue to seek excellence and provide the exceptional global 

logistics solutions that our customers demand ... on time, every time.

I ask for your full commitment to this strategic plan. It provides our roadmap to ensure that we, the DLA team, 

continuously evolve and improve together to meet our mission requirements with a single resolve. It is our plan to 

meet the future with the commitment and capabilities that we need to provide the responsive, agile, and innovative 

support that our customers and stakeholders need and deserve.
AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY 

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