The U.S. Military’s Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) has awarded Michelin North America two additional Best Value Awards for exemplary logistics performance in supplying aircraft and ground tires to all four branches of the U.S. military. Out of more than 7,000 military parts suppliers, Michelin was among only 83 companies recognized for meeting performance requirements in the Automated Best Value System (ABVS). These are the third and fourth Best Value Awards the company has received for performance on its tire logistics contracts.
Michelin Aircraft Tire Co. won a silver award for its supply of aircraft tires with a score of 99.5 out of 100, and Michelin Americas Truck Tires won a bronze award for supplying ground tires with a score of 98.0. The ABVS is a computerized system that collects a vendor’s past performance and quality data and translates it into a numeric score ranging from zero to a perfect 100. To qualify for a gold medal, a vendor must have a perfect score of 100. To help carry out the terms of the logistics contracts, Michelin has partnered with leading defense contractors and logistics providers Lockheed Martin for aircraft tires and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) for ground tires.
“The success of military operations around the world depends on getting the right equipment to the right places at the right time,” says Brett Carnes, director of North American military sales for Michelin Aircraft Tire Co. “Throughout Michelin’s longstanding relationship with the military, we have been – and will continue to be – committed to supporting our military men and women around the globe. We appreciate this recognition of that commitment from DSCC, and we share this honor with our partners at Lockheed Martin.”
As a result of the Tire Privatization Initiative of 2005, Michelin was awarded two competitively bid contracts to procure, store and distribute tires to the U.S. military. Under the terms of these contracts, Michelin supplies tires for various types of ground vehicles as well as specific aircraft tires used in military service. In order to maintain the military’s tire industrial base, Michelin sources the majority of these tires from other tire manufacturers.
“In the case of the ground tires contract, we could not have maintained this level of performance without the commitment and help of our partners at SAIC,” says Jim Griese, director of military products for Michelin Americas Truck Tires. “Their committed service has been a key part of our success of the past two years. Like us, they understand the serious nature of our business – connecting suppliers to warfighters.”
