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Bid protests are worth their costs, former OFPP chief says

March 20, 2013 by cs

Contractors on the losing side of a competitive bidding who protest to the Government Accountability Office do not hurt or game the procurement system as some critics allege, says a forthcoming study.

The percentage of contracts that spark protests is also comparatively small, while the overall impact of the protest procedure is healthy, according to Dan Gordon, the former Obama administration head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and now associate dean for government procurement law studies at George Washington University Law School.

In an article set for publication this spring in the Public Contract Law Journal, a copy of which was provided to Government Executive, Gordon wrote that “there exist a number of misperceptions concerning bid protest statistics that deserve attention, because these misperceptions can taint judgments about the benefits and costs of protests. In particular, even people quite familiar with the federal acquisition system often believe that protests are more common than they really are, and they believe, inaccurately, that protesters use the protest process as a business tactic to obtain contracts from the government.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2013/03/bid-protests-are-worth-their-costs-ex-procurement-chief-says/61827/?oref=govexec_today_nl

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: accountability, acquisition strategy, bid protest, Daniel Gordon, GAO, OFPP, procurement integrity, procurement reform, transparency

Outsourcing at the local level: Examining the role of the Chief Procurement Officer in the decision-making process

March 14, 2013 by cs

Outsourcing in the public sector means “contracting out” functions that historically have been provided by public employees. The belief that there are functions best performed by the private sector is not new, and moving these functions from the public to the private sector requires a fair and open process in the public’s best interest.

The Institute for Public Procurement recognizes that the outsourcing of particular governmental functions can be a fiscally sound tool of responsible public administration. However, identifying and assessing the elements of public performance most appropriate for outsourcing — and ensuring a successfully executed outsourcing decision – is a substantial challenge for everyone.

Public procurement offers a uniquely qualified and professional resource for government decision-makers considering outsourcing alternatives. The Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), Procurement Director or Purchasing Manager serves a strategic role in a public entity’s decision to outsource. The CPO is central to a fair, transparent and effective outsourcing process. While the decision is ultimately reserved for an elected body or senior executive, the CPO is prepared to provide informed insight on market structure, cost, risk, competitive methods and contract form as these factors impact the quality and cost of services. The CPO is uniquely positioned to help design and manage a process to achieve a successful public outsourcing effort. It is therefore important to engage the CPO early as a strategic partner to assess and to administer any ensuing selection and contract formation process.

Keep reading this article at: http://govpro.com/resource_center/procurement_prof/public-sector-outsourcing-201212-201301/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: A-76, acquisition strategy, acquisition workforce, CPO, inherently governmental functions, IPP, NIGP, outsourcing, risk assessment, sole source, state & local government

U.S. acquisition mistakes put Afghan air force’s new fleet at risk

March 13, 2013 by cs

It took an extra year and left the Air Force’s acquisition team with egg on its face, but Sierra Nevada Corp. still ended up with the $427 million contract to provide 20 light support planes to the Afghan air force.

The Air Force had to cancel the initial contract in 2011 awarded to Sierra Nevada Corp. after Beechcraft Corp. protested the award. Following the protest, the Air Force discovered mistakes made in the paper work throughout the acquisition process forcing the Pentagon to re-open the competition.

Air Force officials still chose the Super Tucano offered by Sierra Nevada Corp. and Brazil’s Embraer for a contract that could be worth up to $900 million over the life of the contract.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/02/28/u-s-acquisition-mistakes-put-afghan-air-forces-new-fleet-at-risk/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, Air Force, bid protest, competition, DoD

Former chiefs: Fix procurement to save the Navy

March 12, 2013 by cs

In a remarkably non-partisan moment amidst the current strife over budget cuts and Chuck Hagel, Ronald Reagan’s Navy Secretary and George W. Bush’s Chief of Naval Operations told a Republican-helmed committee that the Navy’s real problem was not the Obama administration’s budget but decades of creeping bureaucracy that have eaten every budget’s buying power.

“I hate to say anything particularly in praise of this administration’s defense policy,” said John Lehman, Navy Secretary from 1981 to 1987 and national security advisor to Mitt Romney in 2012, at a hearing of the seapower panel of the House Armed Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Randy Forbes. But, Lehman went on, a recent report by the Defense Business Board really shows “how to get at the bureaucracy and the overhead.”
The chairman of that study, retired Marine general Arnold Punaro, told AOL Defense at the time that its recommendation for the Pentagon procurement system was, in a phrase, “put a match to it.”

Keep reading this article at: http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/26/john-lehman-gary-roughead-fix-procurement-to-save-the-navy

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: accountability, acquisition strategy, acquisition workforce, DoD, efficiency, industrial base, Navy, procurement reform

Defense agencies look to replace $3.7 billion procurement dinosaur

March 8, 2013 by cs

The Navy and the Defense Contract Management Agency have both started the process of replacing the 1996-vintage Defense Department Standard Procurement System, which managed 800,000 contracts worth $190 billion in 2011.

The Navy, in a request for information to potential vendors posted on FedBizOpps Saturday, said it wants to acquire an electronic procurement system to replace the contract writing capabilities of the Standard Procurement System. DCMA posted a Feb. 21 notice seeking similar, new contract writing software.

Navy officials said they are aiming to deploy the new system for training in fiscal 2014, with full operation by 2015. The service is seeking a commercial system that is ready to go “out of the box.” DCMA said it too wants to acquire a commercial contract writing system, which will “improve efficiency, reduce procurement process times, and increase data accuracy.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/02/defense-agencies-look-replace-37-billion-procurement-dinosaur/61503/?oref=nextgov_today_nl.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, contract writing system, DCMA, DDSPS, DoD, efficiency, RFI

Army acquisition must streamline requirements process

March 6, 2013 by cs

Army acquisition officials want to speed up the process to issue requests for proposals to defense companies and thus issue contract awards quicker.

Army Lt. Gen. William Phillips, military deputy to the Army’s acquisition executive, said on Feb. 20, 2013 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Winter Symposium that the Army too often drags its feet trying to perfect the draft RFP rather than issue it to companies and receive feedback faster.

“I think in the past, looking over the last three years that I’ve been in this job, we’ve been somewhat hesitant to get the draft RFP out,” Phillips said. “We want to get it better and get it better.”

Instead, the Army needs to “take some risk in that area,” Phillips said. He explained that the Army will have to finish their requirement lists for weapons programs faster to drive down costs.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/02/21/phillips-army-must-streamline-requirements-process/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, Army, DoD, industry feedback, requirements

Furloughs set up acquisition ‘perfect storm’

February 27, 2013 by cs

A senior Army official said the civilian furloughs that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Wednesday would create a “perfect storm” of problems for the Army acquisition community.

Panetta informed Congress on Wednesday that the military will furlough about 800,000 Defense Department civilians should sequestration be enacted on March 1. The sequestration cuts will force the Army to subtract $17-$18 billion from its operations and maintenance budget before October 2013.

The long term sequestration cuts will subtract $500 billion from planned defense spending over the next ten years. Losing that funding will force the Army and the other services to cancel or alter contracts already signed with defense companies.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/02/20/army-furloughs-set-up-acquisition-perfect-storm/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, acquisition workforce, Budget Control Act, budget cuts, DoD, sequestration, spending

OFPP chief not satisfied with small business contracting achievements

February 19, 2013 by cs

Joe Jordan is working to build the right supplier base for the federal government, which includes paying a lot of attention to small businesses, he said. But agencies will have a hard time meeting the contracting goals for those companies because they have been living in budgetary limbo for so long, he added.

“I will not declare victory until we’re at or above the 23 percent” annual small-business contracting goal and meeting the goals for specific socioeconomic categories of small businesses, said Jordan, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), during a speech at the Coalition for Government Procurement’s Strategic Sourcing Forum on Jan. 31.

Keep reading this article at: http://fcw.com/articles/2013/02/06/small-business-goals.aspx.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, OFPP, simplified acquisition, small business, small business goals

DoD AT&L chief: sequestration “unconscionable”; endorses performance based logistics

February 12, 2013 by cs

“It is utterly unconscionable — utterly unconscionable — that Congress will allow sequestration to go on.”

Those are the words of Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s head of acquisition, speaking to an audience of several hundred New York financial types. Kendall is just back from a trip to Afghanistan and he had heard from soldiers there who worried they would be furloughed if sequestration goes through. They won’t be — military personnel salaries are exempted from sequestration, so only federal civilians will be affected — but worry and uncertainty can weaken any organization, and Kendall was visibly angry as he spoke.

But sequestration wasn’t the only issue on Kendall’s agenda at yesterday’s conference on the aerospace and defense sector put on by the Cowen Group.

Kendall told the audience of several hundred Wall Street financiers that he planned to push for more competitive prototyping, more Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contracts, and more of the wide array of acquisition reforms the Pentagon groups under the rubric Better Buying Power 2.

Keep reading this article at: http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/07/atl-frank-kendall-sequestration-unconscionable-endorses-pbls/?icid=related1

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, AT&L, Better Buying Power, budget, budget cuts, contractor performance, DoD, PBL, performance based logistics, sequestration, small business

Army slides show cuts to readiness, contracting and training

February 11, 2013 by cs

A set of Army briefing slides outlining the devastating effects of Sequestration has mysteriously surfaced and is circulating the Web just two days before senior leaders are scheduled to present them to the White House.

“Effects of FY13 Fiscal Uncertainty on Army OMA Accounts” lays out the potential funding cuts to the service operations and maintenance efforts.

The Pentagon is facing $5.3 billion in sequestration cuts in March if Congress cannot find a way to prevent the mandatory spending reductions. All of the services will likely have to furlough hundreds of thousands of workers, cut back on contractor logistics support, freeze sustainment of thousands of vehicles and other equipment and gut training.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/02/06/army-slides-show-cuts-to-readiness-support-reset/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, Army, budget, budget cuts, DoD, furlough, sequestration, spending, support services

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