Evaluating the Availability, Role, and Performance of Subcontractors in the Aerospace Industry

This study examines the feasibility of developing a subcontractor database for use in industrial base identification and planning, and of the prime contractor decision to make or buy components from firms in the subcontractvendor private portion of the defense industrial base. The project has three tasks to identify aerospace subcontractors, to investigate databases on privately held firms and to examine prime contractor decisions to make or buy components from subcontractors or vendors. Beyond these three specific defined tasks, production base analysis is discussed as it relates to the consideration of databases, establishments and enterprises and make-or-buy decisions. Two points should be emphasized. First, there are strong parallels in the conceptual framework of production base analysis and acquisition planning. For both production base analysis and acquisition planning, it is most useful to take a broad, economy-wide perspective to industrial base considerations. Second, the demands for data are similar as well production base analysis and acquisition planning both require product and production information. Both can be made more effective if supplemented with financial information. At the present time the same kinds of data limitations that constrain acquisition planning also constrain production base analysis. To this end, efforts to obtain more and better product, production and financial information for both public and private firms will provide dividends in a variety of areas.