The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville Furnishings Program procures administrative, barracks, lodging and educational furnishings for various federal agencies worldwide. The program is a full service organization capable of providing project management, interior design, procurement, installation and quality assurance for all federal agencies’ furniture requirements.
Huntsville Center is also designated as the central manager of furnishings procurement for the Installation Management Command to oversee a cradle-to-grave concept and ensure that standardized furnishings are provided for all requirements. The Furnishings Program’s primary mission is to buy furnishings in accordance with customer requirements and to manage the delivery of those items to the new or renovated facility by the beneficial occupancy date.
As of August 2022, the Furnishings Program manages on average 230 active projects, and of those projects 96 percent were completed on time and within budget. Feedback received from centrally funded customers continues to be positive and include: consistency of furnishings purchased, higher quality of product which equals a long life cycle duration and cost avoidance. With the reduction in government spend plans, longer life cycle duration and cost avoidance are key factors to ensure facilities can continue to be occupied. Historically, the program receives upwards of 15% in annual cost savings due to the volume of orders executed through the Furnishings Program. These savings are redirected to unfunded requirements provided by customers.
The Furnishings Program provides a full-service project-delivery process that includes technical support and acquisition support while adhering to scope, schedule and budget. Our in-house interior designers allow HNC to provide design services and technical support for our customers to ensure a furniture solution that maximizes space utilization and efficiencies, standardization solutions and quality assurance programs. The design services and solutions provided through the Furnishings Program can be packaged to provide procurement and install services as a turn-key solution.
The Furnishings Program strives to improve and streamline our execution timelines through updated processes and various project management tools. Our new automated Online Ordering System simplifies the requirement approval process and automates the requirement technical documentation. The new system is deployed for both the Army and Navy Unaccompanied Housing Programs. The Furnishings Program continues to explore the possibility of automating the ordering system to include the requirements for administrative facilities and various other facility types. Project timelines are driven by bonafide need and overall project scope. This allows HNC to customize schedules to meet user mission and align with industry partners’ just-in-time manufacturing standards, which increases efficiency throughout the acquisition process and post-award efforts.
Our program supports multiple Department of Defense agencies including U.S. Army Material Command and Installation Management Command, U.S. Navy Installation Command, Future Command, Space Command, U.S. Army National Guard and the U.S. Air Force. Notable projects this fiscal year include:
- Fort Gordon, Georgia - U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence
- Fort Benning, Georgia - Smart Barracks Initiative
- Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania - U.S. Army War College
- U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York - Academic Building Upgrade Program
The Furnishings Program continues to be a success due to its strategic acquisition planning approach, ability to reduce procurement costs, and commitment to providing outstanding quality products to our customers.
Download the Furnishings Program fact sheet (PDF) HERE. (updated September 2022)