Douglas Aircraft’s Purchasing System OKd

The Pentagon has approved a McDonnell Douglas plan to correct problems that led to a Defense Department disapproval last year of the purchasing system at the firm’s Douglas Aircraft unit, according to Douglas President Robert Hood.

When the Pentagon lifted its approval last year, it forced the Long Beach-based aircraft producer to obtain government permission for every purchase of more than $100,000 on military programs.

Hood said in an interview this week that Defense Department representatives approved the firm’s system 10 days ago and that the requirement for prior government approval for purchases is now being phased out.

Changes that led to the OK included the creation of a new executive post aimed at improving supplier management, a move that the Pentagon had suggested to the firm. Douglas named Tom Ryan Jr., a former Air Force general who has long been a Douglas vice president, to the new position.

It was the Air Force that originally withdrew approval of the purchasing system, but the authority for such actions has since been passed on to the Defense Contract Management Command.

When the Air Force announced the disapproval last June, it said: “The government is putting Douglas on notice that immediate corrective action is needed.”