Case and Correspondence Manager

    CCM is a custom developed application designed to meet the information management needs of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers of the U.S. Military. CCM sets itself apart from off-the-shelf and rival custom applications because it integrates contract and correspondence information and helps FMS program offices fully manage their operations.

   FMS Case related contracts undergo a formal and extensive approval process as needs are identified, pricing and availability are ascertained, and delivery and payment schedules are negotiated and ultimately executed. Throughout a Case’s lifecycle, changes in technology need to be accommodated and often necessitate modifications to the contracts. Moreover, a substantial correspondence trail ensues among the managing activity, home country headquarters and user community, and the cognizant U.S. Military agency, e.g., USN.

   All of this Case and correspondence documentation represent a flow of information that must be managed efficiently and promptly. CCM provides FMS program offices with the capability to fully manage this information efficiently. CCM is the right tool because it helps the FMS Acquisition Manager track all of this information as it is generated and also provides comprehensive and flexible reporting to help ensure proper oversight at the platform level.

   CCM is a user friendly, MS Windows based, database driven application that can accommodate virtually any number of users in a networked environment. Its user friendliness is attributed to its use of familiar off-the-shelf commercial software like MS Access and MS Word. However the core database design and user interface to these commercial applications have been custom developed so that CCM can be easily tailored to the unique data tracking and word processing requirements of various program offices. Data files can be hosted on a PC using any version of Windows. The client interface can be operated on worksations using Windows 98, 2000, XP or in a mixed environment.

Case Contract Management

    Although it can be a useful tool for any contract management application, CCM is particularly suitable for FMS Logistics and Maintenance Managers who typically need to manage concurrent Case contracts for the procurement of the myriad of products and services in support of a military weapon system platform.

Contract summary & totals. A full complement of Case financial data can be entered and saved so it is easily accessible for future reference. Estimated costs and associated charges for the overall Case are available on a summary screen. Other details such as Signature and Acceptance dates, Cognizant Agency, Freight Codes, etc. are also available at a glance.

Contract versions. Any of the information related to each contract can be edited/modified at any time. Previous amendments and modifications are retained by the system and easily retrieved for comparison with the current contract status.

Line Item tracking. Costs by contract line item can then be itemized in a detail view to build up the exact costs of the contract. Line item information detail screens also allow user to track information for each individual item being procured under the overall contract.

Payment tracking. Payment schedules can be determined in advance and tracked as each payment is actually confirmed. The application calculates the cumulative totals of the initial deposit, if any and payments to date and provides a running total of the remaining balance to be paid on the contract.

Searching. Lists of cases can be retrieved according to criteria set by the user, e.g., Agency, Status, keywords used in the subject, etc. The user can then select from the list to drill down to each Case’s details by version (Mod or Amendment number).

Case Reporting. Summaries or details of Case data can be converted to a printable format or exported to Word or Excel files. Financial aggregate totals can be reported textually or using graphs. Payment schedules and “Remaining Payments” status reports are also available.

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