Just a quick note to the DoD life cycle logistics and product support manager (PSM) community that our counterparts in the Contracting community have issued an updated version of their excellent – and very handy -- “Comparison of Major Contract Types.” Current through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-87, effective April 6, 2016, the comparison Includes content from the April 2016 “Department of Defense Guidance on Using Incentive and Other Contract Types”.

The matrix is a particularly useful reference for all acquisition professionals in comparing each of these ten contract types:

· Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP)

· Fixed-Price Economic Price Adjustment (FPEPA)

· Fixed-Price Incentive Firm Target (FPIF)

· Fixed-Price Award-Fee (FPAF)

· Fixed-Price Prospective Price Redetermination (FP3R)

· Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee (CPIF)

· Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF)

· Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF)

· Cost or Cost-Sharing (C or CS)

· Time & Materials (T&M)

·

….by categories that include:

· Principal Risk to be Mitigated

· Use When . . .

· Elements

· Contractor is Obliged to:

· Contractor Incentive (other than maximizing goodwill)

· Typical Application

· Principal Limitations in FAR/DFARS Parts 16, 32, 35, and 522

· Variants

From a product support perspective, this is helpful across a range of areas, not the least of which includes the use of incentives to motivate and encourage desired product support outcomes – a topic not coincidentally covered in-depth in an ACQuipedia article entitled “Incentives - Motivating Achievement of Desired Product Support Outcomes.”