The purpose of DPAS is to assure the timely availability of industrial resources to meet current national defense and emergency preparedness program requirements and to provide an operating system to support rapid industrial response in a national emergency. The Defense Production Act of 1950 authorized the President to require preferential treatment of national defense programs. Executive Order 12919 put Department of Commerce in charge of program. 15 CFR 700 provides rules for DPAS program. DoD 4400.1-M provides guidance for DoD activities.
All prime contracts, subcontracts or purchase orders in support of an authorized program are given a priority rating. A DX rating is assigned to those programs of the highest national priority. Per DoD 4400.1-M, the Under Secretary of Defense for AT&L approves DO rated orders and nominates to the Secretary of Defense for approval of DX rated orders. An unrated order is a commercial order or a DoD order that is not ratable.
A DX rating takes priority over a DO rating which takes priority over an unrated order. Rated programs are also given a program identifier symbol. Examples are A1 for Aircraft and A3 for ships. The program identifier symbol does not, by itself, indicate any priority.
DPAS issues are to be resolved at the lowest level possible.
The DCMA CMO DPAS Manager is the primary point of contact for DPAS related issues and is required to provide DPAS training to contractor and CMO personnel on an as needed basis. The FS can utilize results from preaward survey efforts and Post Award Conferences to provide DPAS training to new contractors.
DPAS is meant to be largely self-executing with a minimum of oversight. However, production or delivery problems may arise that require additional assistance. Program/Logistics managers can utilize Special Priority Assistance to: expedite deliveries of rated orders, resolve delivery conflicts between rated orders, assist in placing rated orders with suppliers, locate suppliers to fill a rated order, verify urgency of rated orders, rate items not automatically ratable, and ensure compliance with DPAS regulations. To request Special Priority Assistance, a Special Priorities Assistance Request Form BIS-999 is submitted to the CMO. The CMO DPAS officer shall determine if the information is complete and accurate, and ensure reasonable expediting efforts have been exhausted, documenting all communications and actions taken. The case shall then be forwarded to the DPAS officer at the Government activity that awarded the end item contract. Concurrently, the CMO DPAS officer shall notify the applicable Regional DPAS Officer. Policy related questions and concerns are to be presented to HQ/Agency DPAS Action Officer or alternate through the Regional DPAS Officer. All requests for support from OSD, OUSD and DoC are to be presented to DCMA DPAS Action Officer or alternate for submission to OSD, OUSD and or DoC.
When a contractor consistently fails to meet the DPAS contractual requirements on its rated orders, and interactive discussion with the contractor has failed to drive the required performance to DPAS requirements corrective action shall be requested. Where available, Management Councils should be utilized to address difficult problems. DPAS contractual requirements include timely notification of acceptance/rejection of rated order, extension of rating to sub-contractors, and priority scheduling. If a contractor fails to meet the delivery schedule on rated orders due to giving a higher priority to a lower rated or unrated order, they are in violation of DPAS regulations. In those cases where the CMO is unable to get the contractor to correct DPAS violations, the case may be forwarded through the DPAS Officer at the Government activity that awarded the end item contract to the Department of Commerce for assistance.
Updated 16-May-2022
Contractor Training:
DPAS Training for the Contractor [PPT, 4.13MB] Government Training:
DAU DPAS CLC043 Continuous Learning Module
Department of Commerce DPAS Homepage Department of Defense Priorities and Allocations Manual DoD 4400.1-M Department of Commerce DPAS Regulation - 15 CFR 700 DX Rated Program Listing DX_LIST_NOV_2018