WASHINGTON — The Air Force, Army and Navy simultaneously released their respective 2016 Superior Supplier Incentive Program ratings July 25.

This is the third year the Air Force has provided these ratings alongside those of its sister services. The SSIP’s publication is intended to incentivize suppliers to improve performance. This year, the Air Force rated 43 business segments representing more than 20 suppliers. 

Historically, supplier assessments have been accomplished on a contract-by-contract basis through the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System. Contractor Performance Assessment Reports are created by Airmen at the base level who acquire the materiel and services provided by rated companies; their reports represent the voice of the customer on the contracts they oversee. SSIP creates a “roll-up” assessment based upon CPAR data. 

Companies are evaluated using three years of CPARs and then are categorized as a Tier I, Tier II or Tier III supplier. Tier I-rated business segments are awarded the Air Force Superior Supplier status for one year. 

Suppliers indicate that SSIP creates a view of the raters’ feedback at a higher level than an individual contract. 

“This is a way for the Air Force to consolidate the contract performance assessments provided by our Airmen and make it visible at the CEO level within our rated suppliers,” said Dave Weber, the former chief of the Air Force Industrial Liaison Office. “It’s taking the accumulation of their voices and presenting it as a metric to senior leadership within the suppliers, the Air Force and the (Defense Department) and making it available as a higher-level performance measurement baseline.” 

SSIP also provides suppliers a different lens to look at their performance relative to their peers. 

“CEOs are essentially competing with other CEOs – senior vice presidents competing with other senior vice presidents – to be the ‘best of the best’ of the major suppliers providing goods and services to the Air Force and the DOD,” Weber said.