flexibility | The Contracting Education Academy

December 17, 2020 By cs

Air Force’s next hack of the federal procurement system: One-year funding

Air Force Maj. Gen. Cameron Holt knows a little something about the complexity of federal contracting.

The deputy assistant secretary for contracting, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, started his career as a contracts manager. He served as the procuring contracting officer for the F-22 fighter and held an assortment of executive positions during his 19-year career in the service.

So when he gave the House and Senate armed services committees a list of regulations that need to be revoked, removed or replaced a few years ago, he knows what he’s talking about.

“I told them that you’ve written so many laws that we need to implement that our contracting officers in the trenches can’t even follow them all because they actually start to conflict with each other,” Holt said at the annual Government Contract Management Symposium sponsored by the National Contract Management Association. “That environment is not really paying attention to the opportunities that, for instance, the 809 panel gave to them to update the system. I think they are really focused on a different agenda right now. I hope they will join us in really streamlining, especially the defense contracting environment, but really the federal contracting environment.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/category/reporters-notebook/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/

August 11, 2020 By cs

DHS seeks permanent flexible acquisition authorities

Temporary acquisition authorities that aid the Department of Homeland Security in getting innovative commercial technologies and goods in response to the COVID-19 crisis should be lasting tools in the department’s acquisition toolbox, the agency’s top acquisition official told a Senate panel.

The DHS other transaction authority (OTA) that allows the agency to conduct pilot projects outside of the traditional competitive bidding regulations expires at the end of each fiscal year.

Soraya Correa, the agency’s chief procurement officer, told lawmakers at a recent hearing of the Senate Finance Committee that she’d like permanent authorization for OTAs.

Similarly, the Commercial Solutions Opening Pilot Program (CSOP) expires at the end of 2022. Correa would like to see that become a permanent fixture of agency acquisition.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2020/07/29/rockwell-covid-acquisition-dhs.aspx

June 18, 2020 By cs

Small business contractors experience diverse results under Coronavirus

Some firms suffer amid COVID-19, while others benefit from prescient agencies.

The COVID-19 coronavirus has been a mixed bag for small business contractors working with the federal government. Some are facing unique challenges as they try to fulfill their contractual obligations amid site shutdowns, while others are able to meet their obligations relatively seamlessly under contracts designed for telework.

Small business problems range from workers’ compensation details to meeting contractual specifications when not allowed to work on government sites. These problems may be the tip of the iceberg as the government moves forward in the post-COVID-19 era, experts say.

Yet some contracting bodies lessened the impact by awarding contracts that allowed, or even encouraged, telework and other alternate workplace requirements. Ultimately, structuring future contracts along these lines, where applicable, may hold the key to prevent challenges if similar situations unfold.

Uncertainty is the overriding concern of federal small business contractors, says Forrest Burke, CEO of Connected Logistics. He relates that the federal government has shown flexibility in the move toward telework, and that flexibility has helped the transition become more seamless. But the top priority for many small businesses is to maintain their staff, and that often requires out-of-pocket outlays to keep people on payroll.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.afcea.org/content/small-business-contractors-experience-diverse-results-under-coronavirus

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/

May 15, 2020 By cs

OTAs: Best practices to enable success

Imagine this. The Defense Department had an urgent need for armored vehicles to protect warfighters from new threats during a time of war.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) family of vehicles — procured through “other transaction authority” — provides protection from improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, explosively formed penetrators, underbody mines and small arms fire threats. Photo credit: U.S. Army

By applying a unique and tailored acquisition approach with specific attention to time and similar solutions already available in the commercial marketplace, it successfully started fielding new vehicles only 18 months after identifying the warfighter need.

The program referenced here was the mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle program, which began in 2006. Was the program a success? Absolutely. Was it a risk-free or perfect solution? No. Although the MRAP program was timely in helping mitigate the threat and associated warfighter casualties, there were challenges related to operating field conditions, training, sustainment, transportation and costs. The program, however, ultimately enabled the creation of other military vehicles that are still widely used today and supports how tailored acquisition approaches can produce successful outcomes.

A popular and continuously growing phenomenon within the department is the other transaction authority, or OTA. It permits Defense Department entities to award OTA agreements for research, prototyping and production efforts critical to national security. They are not an acquisition approach or strategy; however, they are flexible options that can support an acquisition approach or strategy.

Given leadership’s priorities for the increased application of adaptive acquisition methods, it is highly likely OTAs will be a key ingredient for success.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/4/15/other-transactions-best-practices-to-enable-success

May 6, 2020 By cs

Job order contracting: The Army’s own IDIQ procurement solution

Indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts have been used by the United States Armed Forces as a standard form of construction procurement for nearly a half century.

IDIQ contracts deliver both flexibility and cost by allowing owners to complete an unlimited number of construction projects under a single, longstanding contract rather than needing to take each individual project to bid. There are several types of IDIQ contracts, but one particularly effective method is Job Order Contracting (JOC), also referred to as a SATOC (Single Award Task Order Contract).

Originally created by the Army Corps of Engineers, JOC is now utilized by all levels of government. JOC’s popularity and success is due to its process design, which emphasizes collaboration, continuous improvement and LEAN principles. Every JOC program is based on a Unit Price Book, which provides preset prices to any tasks needed to complete projects detailed in the Scope of Work. Owners can order any job or task listed in the Unit Price Book from the awarded contractor without having to take an individual project through a bid process, since tasks are priced in advance.

Ken Davis helped implement the JOC program at Fort Stewart during his 38 years of service to the U.S. Army. Davis emphasized time saving as one of the advantages of Job Order Contracting

“We were bidding on everything one at a time with individual, standalone contracts. We had to come up with specifications for every single contract or task order. JOC allowed us to begin projects in about half the time it took to do a standalone contract.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-insights/2020/04/job-order-contracting-the-armys-own-idiq-procurement-solution/

Air Force Maj. Gen. Cameron Holt knows a little something about the complexity of federal contracting.

Temporary acquisition authorities that aid the Department of Homeland Security in getting innovative commercial technologies and goods in response to the COVID-19 crisis should be lasting tools in the department’s acquisition toolbox, the agency’s top acquisition official told a Senate panel.

Some firms suffer amid COVID-19, while others benefit from prescient agencies.

Imagine this. The Defense Department had an urgent need for armored vehicles to protect warfighters from new threats during a time of war.

Indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts have been used by the United States Armed Forces as a standard form of construction procurement for nearly a half century.

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