MAS | The Contracting Education Academy

October 17, 2019 By cs

GSA takes first major step in schedules consolidation journey

The General Services Administration has taken the first major step in consolidating its 24 different schedules into one consolidated offering, checking off phase one of its overhaul of the Multiple Award Schedules program, and outlining deliverables for the second and final stages next year.

In phase one of the consolidation, GSA completed a review of the schedule contracts and reduced about two-thirds of the number of Special Item Numbers (SINs) as part of a move to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Phase one of the consolidation will only impact vendors who are applying for a schedule for the first time. But for phases two and three, which will take place next year, GSA is working with industry partners to ease the transition for current schedule holders.

Stephanie Shutt, director of GSA’s Multiple Awards Schedules (MAS) Program Office, said the rise of duplicative schedules led to industry partners getting onto multiple contracts in the same program and offering the same products in multiple places.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition/2019/10/gsa-takes-first-major-step-in-schedules-consolidation-journey/

October 10, 2019 By cs

It’s finally here: GSA’s new consolidated schedule

On Oct. 1, the General Services Administration published a much-anticipated solicitation that will begin to merge 24 multiple-award schedules into a single contracting vehicle to streamline acquisition operations and make it easier for companies to do business with the federal government.

The consolidation will occur in phases through fiscal year 2020. Initially, only new contracts will be put on the consolidated schedule. GSA said agencies, which purchase about $31 billion in goods and services every year through the schedules, should not experience disruptions in their purchasing during the transition.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure our new terms and conditions will meet the needs of our customers, and also streamline and eliminate duplicate contracts,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Alan Thomas in a press release. “[Multiple award schedule] consolidation is a triple win—good for federal agencies, industry partners and our acquisition workforce.”

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, said the new schedule will “change the market dynamics a little bit for the companies” because they will have to separate themselves from other competition. However, his members are overall “very pleased” with consolidating the schedules, he said.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2019/10/gsa-released-consolidated-schedule-solicitation/160290/

October 4, 2019 By cs

GSA finishes schedule consolidation on deadline

The General Services Administration hit its deadline to consolidate 24 acquisition schedules into one set of terms and conditions for products and services.

The Multiple Award Schedules Consolidation is the part of the agency’s Federal Marketplace Strategy intended to modernize acquisition for federal, state and local governments. GSA released the newly consolidated schedule solicitation Monday evening, Sept. 30, on FedBizOpps.

“This is an important first step toward our goal of simplifying the experience for customers, suppliers, and GSA’s acquisition workforce,” said Emily Murphy, GSA administrator, in the announcement.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/gsa-schedules-consolidation-complete/

October 3, 2019 By cs

Schedules consolidation: Congratulations — phase I and the end of the beginning!

Oct. 1st marked the beginning of a new era for the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule program.

On that date, Phase I of MAS Consolidation will end with the issuance of a new, consolidated solicitation for the single schedule.

Phase I included a host of interrelated tasks necessary to develop a single solicitation covering the entire scope of the MAS program. Among the tasks to be accomplished were:

Reviewing every term and condition in each of the 24 solicitations;
Mapping duplicate Special Item Numbers (SINs) across current solicitations; and,
Using North American Industry Classification System codes to reduce the current 900 SINs on 24 schedules down to approximately 300 SINs on a single solicitation.

In addition, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service was tasked to use Category Management to reorganize offerings across the single solicitation.

The completion of these activities represents a significant step forward in shaping the 21st-century MAS program. They also represent just a part of the effort. For example, FAS has evolved systems updates to accommodate the issuance of the single solicitation. Likewise, GSA has recognized the importance of training and outreach to GSA acquisition staff, customer agencies, and industry partners in terms of promoting a successful consolidation.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2019/09/schedules-consolidation-congratulations-phase-i-and-the-end-of-the-beginning/

September 26, 2019 By cs

Watchdog warns on GSA’s contracting data trial

The General Services Administration’s watchdog again raised concerns over plans to move ahead with a three-year Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot program, at the expense of two other contract provisions it says helps federal buyers save money.

This is the case that GSA made for Transactional Data Reporting when it issued a proposed rule in 2015 to capture transactional data on procurements across all of its government-wide acquisition vehicles.

In comments on the GSA’s strategy to extend its TDR pilot for another year after its planned conclusion this December, the GSA Office of Inspector General said it remains concerned TDR could cripple the agency’s buying schedules, which include IT Schedule 70, because it has yet to produce useable pricing data. The comments were dated July 26 but publicly released this week.

GSA’s TDR pilot collects pricing data from vendor volunteers, including prices paid by government customers, for products and services sold under agency contracts. It hopes the data gathered could level out pricing for federal buyers. When it was launched, the GSA OIG characterized the pilot as “the most significant change to GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules Program in over 20 years.” However, it warned at the beginning of the pilot and again in recent comments that the effort had produced no significant measurable pricing data federal agencies could use.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2019/08/28/watchdog-warns-pricing-trial-rockwell.aspx

The General Services Administration has taken the first major step in consolidating its 24 different schedules into one consolidated offering, checking off phase one of its overhaul of the Multiple Award Schedules program, and outlining deliverables for the second and final stages next year.

On Oct. 1, the General Services Administration published a much-anticipated solicitation that will begin to merge 24 multiple-award schedules into a single contracting vehicle to streamline acquisition operations and make it easier for companies to do business with the federal government.

The General Services Administration hit its deadline to consolidate 24 acquisition schedules into one set of terms and conditions for products and services.

Oct. 1st marked the beginning of a new era for the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule program.

The General Services Administration’s watchdog again raised concerns over plans to move ahead with a three-year Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot program, at the expense of two other contract provisions it says helps federal buyers save money.

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