Suppliers and foreign military head to the 2014 PROS Customer and Industry Forum
Each month, hundreds of supply and repair requests totalling $20 million in procurement costs are processed by the Parts and Repair Ordering System (PROS) contract team in Stockbridge, Georgia. That’s just a snapshot of U.S. Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation (AFSAC) Directorate’s total Foreign Military Sales program, which exceeds $145 billion.
The PROS contract is in its third year with the S&K team, which includes S&K Aerospace and subcontractors P.A.R.T.S. Inc., and General Dynamics Information Technology. The team serves the AFSAC Directorate by managing the logistics needs of over 100 foreign military services around the world that use equipment and machinery from the U.S. These countries come to the PROS team for parts, spares and repairs for existing and new equipment, and the PROS team reaches out to a network of private vendors to meet the demands.
“We work hand in hand with our foreign customers and the vendors who supply the parts and equipment they need to keep their military moving,” says PROS IV Division Director, Tim Horne. “It’s a vast and complicated machine that we try to keep well oiled.”
Each year the PROS team hosts a collaboration conference called the PROS Customer and Industry Forum. It’s a chance for industry and foreign customers to gain and share valuable information about the program, meet PROS team members, foreign military service country customers, and key AFSAC members. This year the Forum is being held in Dayton, Ohio, from March 2-5.
Forum attendees include private industry members who are looking to learn more about the program and how they can market their product, and foreign military personnel sent to represent their country, learn about the program, and find new products.
“We host a general session and workshops targeted at answering questions about product supply, maintenance requisitions, quality, and general finance topics,” said Alicia Zahn, S&K Aerospace’s Forum planner.
This year’s keynote speaker is Cynthia (Hertenstein) Abbott, the Deputy Director of AFSAC. Mrs. Abbott is responsible for supporting and advising the AFSAC Director in the overall operation and administration of the Directorate by providing guidance, coordination, and direction. The S&K PROS team is looking forward to hosting another successful Forum!
Click here to read about the inaugural PROS Customer and Industry Forum in 2014.