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OFPP issues memo addressing procurement administrative lead time (PALT)

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) recently issued guidance on the subject of measuring the timeliness of federal procurements.
This graphic illustrates a typical agency’s PALT goals.

In government acquisition circles, this measurement is typically referred to as PALT or procurement administrative lead time.

Simply put, PALT is the time between the date on which an initial solicitation for a contract or order is issued by a federal department or agency and the date of the award of the contract or order.

Now, OFPP has issued a guidance memorandum that provides:

  • a common definition of PALT, and
  • the steps agencies can take to incorporate modern business practices that shorten the time between identification and delivery and reduce PALT in acquisition activities.

Acquisition officials can view the OFPP memo on the Acquisition Gateway at: https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov.   The memo is also viewable at in the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/21/2020-00783/procurement-administrative-lead-time-palt.

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OFPP Administrator gives ‘frictionless acquisition’ a boost on his way out the door

When it came to federal acquisition policy, the four years of the Trump administration could be considered a time of Laissez-faire.

There were only four acquisition memos signed off by the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that didn’t deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in the past 48 months.  Sure acquisition was part of many, if not all, of the technology memos and the data strategy memos, but those that addressed federal procurement and only federal procurement, were few and far between.

Along with those four OMB memos, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) issued five other memos, including three in the last month, which directed agencies to take specific steps to improve federal procurement.

In all, that’s nine memos in four years or 2.33 memos a year, which equals not a lot of oversight or changes to the federal acquisition process from a governmentwide and OMB level.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2021/01/ofpp-administrator-wooten-gives-frictionless-acquisition-a-boost-on-his-way-out-the-door/

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IRS, Army using automation to cut hours out of the acquisition process

Just about a year ago, Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Dr. Michael Wooten unveiled what likely will be his signature priority — removing friction from the acquisition process.

While many in industry privately mock and question what that concept or phrase really means, it’s clear that frictionless acquisition will lean heavily on robotics process automation (RPA) and other initiatives to lessen the burden on contracting officers.

That became abundantly clear during the ACT-IAC Acquisition Excellence conference a couple weeks ago.

Not only did Wooten continue to message this now governmentwide goal, he also offered some real life examples of what the future could look like.

One of those efforts focuses on reducing procurement administrative lead time (PALT).

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/10/irs-army-using-automation-to-cut-hours-out-of-the-acquisition-process/

 

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Call to change how agencies rate contractor performance rises to new level

Let’s start out with this basic truism: No one likes the current approach to rating contractor performance.

Neither the agency contracting officers nor program managers, and not the vendors who sometimes wait three to six months after the contract is complete to get a mostly meaningless “satisfactory” rating.

The data itself lacks value and transparency.

And, to be honest, it seems to have become another checklist activity for many agencies.

A new survey by GovConRx and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy shows, once again, just how little value there is in the current approach to contractor performance assessment ratings (CPARs).

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/10/call-to-change-how-agencies-rate-contractor-performance-rises-to-new-level/

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Frictionless acquisition means changing hearts and minds, not necessarily processes

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s new cross-agency priority goal isn’t about changing the acquisition rules or processes.

Instead, the goal of frictionless acquisition is about how contracting officers, program managers, industry and so many others view what it takes to buy a product or service.

Michael Wooten, the administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said frictionless acquisition is part of his plan to reduce complexity through leadership.

“We are really focused on reducing the time between when a person conjures up a need and when they get what they want,” Wooten said in an exclusive interview with Federal News Network. “We think the opportunities for friction are significant because of the scale and scope of the federal acquisition system, the complexity of our requirements can be mind boggling when you look at some of the systems under development, whether it’s the Defense or Energy departments or whomever, and then the myriad systems and processes that support this.”

As a result of this friction, Wooten said agencies, contractors and taxpayers are feeling the brunt through increased costs, increased time to market and decreased value.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2020/07/frictionless-acquisition-means-changing-hearts-and-minds-not-necessarily-processes/

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