The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) is an agency under the U.S. Department of Defense that works directly with defense contractors to ensure government supplies and services are delivered on time, come in at projected costs, and meet all performance requirements. The role of DCMA is to protect the government and ensure that the expected level of quality is met for services, supplies, support and equipment that are provided to the military. The Agency also ensures that the services and supplies meet all of the standards and regulations and that the contractor fulfills all of the obligations that are in their contracts.

In addition to their auditing role, DCMA representatives routinely visit contractors both before a contract is awarded and throughout the life of the contract. They look to identify possible risks, ensure contracts are written to meet government needs and standards, and confirm that all terms and conditions of a contract are being met.

Role of DCMA

Specifically, when DCMA representatives evaluate government contracts, they are looking to ensure that every asset is uniquely identified, labeled, and tracked in accordance with the military and government standards. To that end, DCMA has developed a series of policies and procedures that allow DCMA auditors to systematically assess compliance under two important policies, MIL-STD 129 (Shipment Identification) and MIL-STD 130 (Asset Identification). DCMA also has developed very specific auditing standards to evaluate a contractor’s systems and processing for managing their IUID and RFID obligations.

It is vital that all government contractors are diligent about putting the barcodes or RFID tags on the correct items and labeling them accurately to meet the level of quality and expectation of the DCMA. It is also essential that contractors associate or submit that IUID data to the appropriate government systems. These workflow processes need to be an integral part of your organization — and not just as an afterthought. Having an audit readiness plan for your organization means that there are systems and processes in place with a clear audit trail to prove that all obligations are being met.

Property Management System Analysis

DCMA has also developed very specific auditing standards to evaluate a contractor’s government property management systems along with a consistent evaluation of a Property Management System Analysis (PMSA) and the supporting 22 Elements. These auditing standards are detailed in the DCMA Guidebook for Government Contract Property Administration.

In order to prepare for a DCMA audit, it is important to understand policies, standards and consequences. Download our updated DCMA Survival Guide to learn what you need to do to pass the inevitable DCMA audit. This guide will review what DCMA auditors will look for, why they focus on the areas that they do and what happens when organizations are deemed non-compliant.

 

Editors Note: This article was originally published on June 1, 2017 and has been updated for accuracy in April 2021.