Blog · DLA supply

Screen a DLA Part Before You Quote It: A Four-Step Sequence

Chris A. Grable · October 4, 2026

A machine shop finds a Defense Logistics Agency part it is confident it can make. Before anyone orders material or prices the job, four checks decide whether that confidence matters. Run them in order and the shop knows whether to quote now, chase the data or start a source approval request.

Step 1: Read the two-character code

Every part DLA manages carries an Acquisition Method Code (AMC), a single digit, and an Acquisition Method Suffix Code (AMSC), a single letter, written together as in 1G or 3C. They come from DFARS PGI 217.7506 and record the result of a technical review for breakout from sole-source to competitive buying.

AMC 1 or 2 means the part is suitable for competitive acquisition, for the second or subsequent time or for the first time.
AMC 3 or 4 means DLA buys directly from the actual manufacturer.
AMC 5 means DLA buys from a sole-source contractor that is not the actual manufacturer, typically a prime.
AMC 0 means initial breakout screening is not complete.

The suffix gives the reason. G is the only suffix that implies full and open competition: the Government holds the data rights, the package is complete and no data, engineering, tooling or manufacturing restriction applies. A competitive code with any other suffix can still be limited to approved sources. B, C and D require source approval. P and R mean the Government lacks usable data rights, so the part is closed unless the firm licenses or develops its own data. T sends the buy through Qualified Products List procedures.

The first cut is simple. A 1G or 2G part is open. Every other combination carries a condition, and the suffix names it.

Step 2: Read the data package, not just the code

Coding and data can disagree. A drawing package can reference a source control drawing, a process specification or a master tooling requirement that the code does not flag, and DLA notes that it may be unable to release source control drawings even when it holds them. A clean code is necessary but not sufficient. The legend on the drawing, any source control note, and the solicitation's quality and first article requirements each deserve their own read before a quote.

Data access is a separate question from eligibility. Export-controlled drawings require Joint Certification Program (JCP) certification, and DLA advises starting a JCP application at least 120 days before certification is needed. A distribution statement is itself a release restriction, and no certification places a firm inside an audience the statement excludes.

Step 3: Test for safety criticality

A critical safety item goes to the design control activity for source approval regardless of how the first two checks come out. For aviation and ship critical safety items, DFARS 209.270-3 permits the contracting activity to contract only with a source approved by the head of the design control activity, the Military Department systems command responsible for airworthiness or seaworthiness. For Navy and Marine Corps aircraft parts that is NAVAIR. A shop pursuing these parts should engage that office from the outset, because it, not the contracting officer, makes the decision.

Step 4: For a restricted part, pick the honest category

A new manufacturer reaches a restricted part through a Source Approval Request (SAR), submitted at any time, or an Alternate Offer (AO), the same package submitted against an active solicitation. DLA will not evaluate a package for an AMSC G item, because that item is already open. The submitter chooses one of four categories:

Actual item. The firm has made the exact item for the OEM, one of its subcontractors or the Government within the last three to five years, depending on criticality. This is the strongest case.
Similar item. The firm has made comparable items and legally holds the OEM data. The package stands or falls on a detailed comparative analysis of materials, configuration, tolerances, processes and dimensions.
New manufacturer. The firm has not made the item or a similar one but legally holds the OEM data.
Reverse engineered. The firm develops the data at its own expense.

Two cautions apply to every category. The data certification, signed by an officer who can bind the company, carries exposure under 18 U.S.C. 1001, so rights in the data should be settled before the package is written. Reverse engineering answers the data question but not the rights question: data received under a restrictive legend cannot support a package.

Plan in months, and count the return correctly

DLA's guide estimates review at a minimum of 90 days and possibly 180 days or longer, and it will not delay an award for a pending package except in limited cases. Each NSN needs its own package, and approval of an assembly does not approve its components unless the package shows the ability and intent to make them. An approved package makes the firm eligible for future buys of that NSN; it does not award anything. UDC recommends treating each approval as a lasting asset rather than a single bid.

Public sources

The paper behind this post cites these public documents, among others.

The full guide includes all six reference tables, the twenty-element SAR checklist by category, submission points by DLA site, the purchase-or-borrow program for reverse engineering, and a recommended order of work for a firm entering this market.

Qualifying as a DLA Source of Supply

See what is in the paper