Landscape of DLA, DIBBS, and Micro-Contracting
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) quietly buys a staggering amount of hardware every single day. Most of it is not sexy: washers, brackets, cable assemblies, gaskets, filters, and packaging. But boring is where the money hides.
DIBBS is simply the web front-end where a big slice of that demand shows up as RFQs. To most people it looks ancient and confusing, so they bounce. Your edge is the willingness to learn how the machine works and then build repeatable processes around it.
Think of DLA/DIBBS as a giant vending machine of micro-opportunities. You are not trying to win the whole machine—you are trying to own a few specific coils where you understand the part, the supply chain, and the customer better than anyone else.
Mermaid Block — Business Workflow
graph TD
Scan[Scan DIBBS RFQs] --> Filter[Apply Niche Filters]
Filter --> Analyze[Analyze History & Competition]
Analyze --> Decide[Bid / No Bid]
Decide --> Exec[Execute Award]
Exec --> Learn[Capture Lessons & Metrics]
Mermaid Block — Interaction Sequence
sequenceDiagram
participant You as You / LLC
participant DLA as DLA / DIBBS
participant Supp as Supplier / Shop
You->>DLA: Submit Quote (Ch 1)
DLA-->>You: Award / No Award
You->>Supp: Place PO
Supp-->>You: Deliver Parts
You->>DLA: Ship + Invoice
Action List
- Write down one concrete experiment you will run related to this chapter.
- Identify which RFQs, suppliers, or tools you need to test the idea.
- Define a small success metric: a quote submitted, a new supplier found, a script written.
- Schedule a review to capture lessons learned and update your playbook.