The Department of the Navy released its second annual list of industry partners July 14 who have exemplified Department of Defense efforts to increase value to the Department of the Navy as part of the Department's Superior Supplier Incentive Program (SSIP). The 2015 superior suppliers are recognized as corporations and business units who provide the greatest overall value to the department in terms of cost, schedule, performance, quality, and business relations. "This program gives us the opportunity to acknowledge suppliers who made the extra effort and over a period of years consistently performed well," said Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. Evaluated business units were ranked using three years' worth of Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) data. The evaluated business units were divided into three tiers, with the top tier designated as superior suppliers. By evaluating business units, the Department of the Navy and the supplier gain insight into the supplier's overall performance of Navy work. "The feedback the department provides to industry through the Superior Supplier program is intended to allow our suppliers to benchmark their major business units against other firms," said Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. "It lets the leadership and employees of the best performing firms know that their work is high quality and appreciated, and it helps the firms that have more room to improve know where they need to focus their efforts," he said. The Department of the Navy will initiate discussions with this year's Tier 1 business units to reduce non-production related requirements in existing contracts with the department. These discussions may lead to the removal of non-value added procedures or requirements, which may ultimately lead to cost savings for the company and the taxpayer. Designation as a Tier 1 operating division does not factor into future source selection decisions or contract awards. "This program provides another forum for dialogue with our suppliers, from which we hope to gain greater understanding of the things that work well and areas that can be improved upon from industry's perspective when doing business with the Department of the Navy," said Stackley. "And industry is learning more about our efforts to drive down acquisition costs," he added. The Department of the Navy's evaluated suppliers for 2015 in alphabetical order by tier are: Superior Suppliers- Tier 1 BAE Systems Intelligence & Security BAE Systems Platforms & Services Erapsco (Sparton Corp- Ultra Electronics JV) General Electric GE Aviation Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Training Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems Oshkosh Defense Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services Rolls Royce Aerospace Tier 2 BAE Systems Electronic Systems Bell Boeing Joint Project Office Boeing Military Aircraft Boeing Global Services & Support General Dynamics Combat Systems General Dynamics Information Systems and Technology General Dynamics Marine Systems Harris Corporation, Formerly Exelis C4ISR Electronics and Systems - ES Harris Corporation, Formerly Exelis Information & Technical Services - IST Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding L-3 Aerospace Systems L-3 Communications Systems L-3 Electronic Systems Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions Maritime Helicopter Support Company LLC (Sikorsky-Lockheed JV) Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems Northrop Grumman Information Systems Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Raytheon Missile Systems Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Rockwell Collins Government Systems Textron Systems ViaSat United Technologies Corporation UTC Aerospace Systems Tier 3 Austal USA, LLC General Atomics Technology Corp Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Lockheed Martin Space Systems Orbital ATK, Inc. Defense Systems Textron Bell Helicopter United Technologies Corporation Pratt Whitney United Technologies Corporation Sikorsky The SSIP is an extension of the Department of Defense's Better Buying Power initiative.