PANAMA CITY, Fla. –
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) Purchasing Branch began a training effort to teach NSWC PCD’s technical departments about a pilot program available to help them better serve the warfighter, March 28.
This new purchasing program, called the Grainger 4PL (Fourth Party Logistics) Program, and the Purchasing Branch collaborated with the Navy Lab’s Science and Technology Department leadership to rollout the introductory meeting.
“The Grainger 4PL Program is a newly awarded U.S. General Services Agency (GSA) contract for use within the Department of Defense,” said Dr. Chris Musto, NSWC PCD Science and Technology Department Naval Innovative Science and Engineering coordinator and Procurement/Operating Material and Supplies lead. “This program presents a new option for purchasing materials. It is a Mandatory Source, along with Military Standard Requisitioning and Issue Procedures and GSA Global that must be considered when requesting materials.”
This event’s aim was to inform personnel about the program, including what it is, how it works, how to place an order using the Purchasing Branch’s Customer Acquisition Group Tool and how it can benefit all who are involved in the procurement of materials at NSWC PCD.
DeAnna Pedersen, Purchasing Branch head, is one of the driving forces behind this effort and explained some of the benefits available through Grainger 4PL.
“With this program, there are no shipping charges or dollar thresholds,” said Pedersen. “There are agreed upon and negotiated prices between the government and GSA, free returns on items that are incorrect or damaged, warranty on all products, visibility of estimated ship dates on the website and the ability for NSWC PCD to request materials be added to the program.”
The Grainger 4PL Program has been a pilot program for two years at select Naval Sea System Command Warfare Centers. NSWC PCD was among the first to aid in developing the program and have been slowly rolling it out over the last year and a half. This program has been used by many general fund commands, but this is the first time it has been rolled out at a working capital command.
“The voice of the customers for NSWC PCD has been resounding that we need tools that allow for quicker procurement and the Grainger 4PL program is a very strong step in the right direction,” said Pedersen. “We are enthusiastic about the future and excited about continuing to roll out this program to all of our customers. This new program will further the ability of the Purchasing Branch to provide rapid solutions to the warfighter through expeditious procurement screening and processing utilizing the One Team approach.”