contractor performance | The Contracting Education Academy

April 7, 2020 By cs

How will COVID-19 impact long term trends in contracting?

COVID-19 presents unique and enduring challenges to business operations and mission fulfillment.

While many “lessons learned” regarding best practices to confront natural disasters can be gleaned from such situations as Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, the unprecedented scope and impact of this pandemic raise troubling issues for legacy business models. In terms of “big A” acquisition policy, we believe that the current crisis will fundamentally alter existing programmatic assumptions. Identifying these trends is an important beginning in terms of what lies ahead.

Reading these “tea leaves” allow us to make impacts of recent events upon the broader framework of government IT acquisition. What can we foresee and predict?

From a macro perspective, we believe that the current unprecedented situation has the potential to fundamentally re-align the basic consensus regarding the much-touted benefits of globalization. In terms of government contractors, and IT specifically, we have been discussing the following trends and consequences.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/04/how-will-covid-19-impact-long-term-trends-in-contracting/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

March 30, 2020 By cs

Pentagon bracing for weapon-delivery delays due to coronavirus

Pentagon officials are bracing for companies being unable to deliver weapons on time as the coronavirus makes its way through company assembly lines and supply chains.

**COVID-19 is identified as the cause of a worldwide outbreak of respiratory illness.**

In separate briefings with reporters last Wednesday, the top weapons buyers for the Department of Defense and the Navy said that they are working with industry to assess the impact of the virus on their workforces, but that already some aircraft production has been halted.

“I do expect there will be some delay and disruption,” said James “Hondo” Geurts, the Navy’s top weapons buyer, on a Wednesday conference call. Navy officials have “real-time systems” to track disruptions when they arise, and already they have spotted changes.

“We’re seeing a tightening on the supply base as smaller shops deal with their local situations,” Guerts said.

As for larger sites run by major defense contractors, it depends on where they’re located.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/03/pentagon-bracing-coronavirus-delay-weapons-deliveries/164118/

March 27, 2020 By cs

Defense industry to DoD: If we send workers home, will you penalize us?

Defense industry executives are being forced to choose between risking employees’ health by sending them into factories amid the coronavirus outbreak, or missing the delivery deadlines in their Pentagon contracts.

Initially, many contractors welcomed the federal government’s March 20 declaration that the defense industrial base is a critical part of America’s infrastructure, and that a good portion of its employees would be “expected to maintain their normal work schedule.” But just four days later, as the COVID-19 death toll rises and state after state announces stay-at-home orders, it has become clear that normal work schedules aren’t generally advisable — or even possible.

On Wednesday, Boeing will shut down its massive assembly factories in the Seattle region that build commercial airliners and military tankers and submarine-hunting aircraft. While some work can be done remotely, such as the re-engineering of the KC-46 refueling system, assembling the planes and their unique components cannot.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/03/defense-companies-want-more-direction-relief-pentagon-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/164077/

March 26, 2020 By cs

White House updates contracting and technology guidance for federal agencies

During the coronavirus outbreak, the Veterans Affairs Department got a greenlight to rehire experts and the Justice Department clarified its stance on working in states with shelter-in-place orders.

This past weekend, the Trump administration published several memo of additional guidance for federal employees, contractors and agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Days after directing agencies and departments to offer “maximum telework flexibilities” for federal employees, the Office of Management and Budget updated its agency guidance regarding millions of federal contractors.

The guidance, from OMB’s Deputy Director for Management Margaret Weichert, instructs agencies to do three main things.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/03/white-house-updates-contracting-and-technology-guidance-federal-agencies/163992/

March 24, 2020 By cs

Agencies initiate emergency acquisition authorities

The Defense Department raised its threshold for 8(a) sole source contracts to $100 million as required by the 2020 Defense authorization bill. While not related to coronavirus outbreak, the timing is important.

At least four agencies have implemented emergency acquisition authorities to make it easier to award contracts to support coronavirus relief efforts.

The General Services Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the IRS raised the micro-purchase threshold (MPT) and the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) in the last week.

The Defense Department on March 17 raised the threshold for sole source 8(a) contracts to $100 million as required under the 2020 Defense authorization bill.

This is a huge increase, given typically the threshold for 8(a) contracts at DoD has been $22 million. Congress increased the threshold for the first time since 2015.

For the rest of the government, the 8(a) sole source threshold is $7 million for manufacturing requirements or $4 million for all other requirements.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2020/03/agencies-initiate-emergency-acquisition-authorities/

COVID-19 presents unique and enduring challenges to business operations and mission fulfillment.

Pentagon officials are bracing for companies being unable to deliver weapons on time as the coronavirus makes its way through company assembly lines and supply chains.

Defense industry executives are being forced to choose between risking employees’ health by sending them into factories amid the coronavirus outbreak, or missing the delivery deadlines in their Pentagon contracts.

During the coronavirus outbreak, the Veterans Affairs Department got a greenlight to rehire experts and the Justice Department clarified its stance on working in states with shelter-in-place orders.

The Defense Department raised its threshold for 8(a) sole source contracts to $100 million as required by the 2020 Defense authorization bill. While not related to coronavirus outbreak, the timing is important.

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