Interviewing Andrew Kirchmaier

This research paper looks Andrew Kirchmaier`s line of business, its mission and the goals of the organization he works for. It also entails a description of his job functions, responsibilities and his educational background as well as his professional experiences, challenges faced and his achievements not forgetting his job fulfillment. This paper also focuses on the operational and strategic objectives of the department of purchases and supply and how these objectives align with the organization`s mission and goals. This is done through a detailed email interview with Andrew Kirchmaier. In conclusion one gets to understands more about the Aerospace and defense industry and the General Dynamics Information Technology department and the objectives of the purchasing and supply department.

Andrew Kirchmaier works for the Aerospace and Defense industry in the General Dynamics department of defense contractor. The goals and mission of the general dynamics (GD) is mainly to provide a wide range of support services to other branches of the US military and various government intelligence agencies. Listed below are examples of their goals and mission statements: to provide training logistical support for the servicemen and women overseas in the areas of weapon and tank maintenance. Another one is ;Information Technology support for military/government installations and thirdly is; support intelligence agencies by analyzing and summarizing foreign intelligence, network security , satellite imagery and more. And lastly, is procure, outfit, and install medical, non-medical, IT and furniture equipment in government and military facilities across the US, Europe and Middle east.

Kirchmaier is a senior analyst on the Water Reed, national capital region IO&T program and works in the GD Initial Outfitting (IO) sector of the company. He works as deputy to the senior logistics planner of all procurement, warehousing, delivery and installation of over 140,000 medical, non medical, IT, and furniture items across three functional areas of operation. These three areas include: the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, MD, the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital at Ft Belvoir, VA, as well as GD’s warehouse in Springfield, VA. This department receives inventory all items prior to deploying to their respective hospitals. His responsibilities involve managing a team of eight program Analysts, Logistics Engineers, and supply Technicians across the three operational areas. His other tasks entail reporting departmental outfitting status to the customer and Senior Management, resolving equipment issues through proper procurement and clinical channels, and work with vendors to obtain quotes, delivery schedules, and installation timelines.

Kirchmaier has worked in the General Dynamics (GD) department for 8years approximately and he begun working as intern with the same department in the United Kingdom Division. He lived and worked in Rome, Italy for roughly 2years after his internship as an International Financial Analyst. He transferred to Fairfax, VA at the GDIT headquarters as a Senior Finance Analyst and was responsible for reporting, billing, purchasing and auditing of a $55M business unit.

He received two bachelor degrees, one in Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Cornell University and another one in Bsc. International Business from Ithaca College, and a minor in Italian. He is currently pursuing an MBA in his part time.

His greatest challenge in pursuing his MBA, is mainly trying to balance his education and his personal life, so as to have time for his work and his family.

The primary objectives of GD’s supply and purchasing departments are to procure and maintain quality products and services at a fair and reasonable price and at the same time maintain compliance with the numerous regulations and rules any government contract is held to. It is important that all purchasing and supplies personnel are familiar with the current policies that GD is held to under the agencies and regulations such as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), as well as internal GD corporate policy on approval hierarchy. It also has a responsibility to the share holders of the company which is to make solid returns on their investments. For this reason, GD is very focused on achieving the best possible pricing so as to reduce the overall contract costs, increase profits and win additional work.

These objectives enable the company to provide quality products and services to the federal government at fair and reasonable prices. Their procurement of highly complex, high dollar valued items is crucial to keeping in line with overall organizational goals by ensuring that this department support s US Military and Intelligence Agencies in the best possible way.

Conclusion

Andrew Kirchmaier`s life is quite inspiring and its evident that he has attained a lot through his hard work and dedication in the organization. His desire to learn and better himself and his willingness to take on additional responsibilities have proven to work out well for him and has made him a dependable asset to the General Dynamics company(GD).

The procurement department is one of the most vital sector as of this very important company to the US and the world at large.