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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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Combat leaders go through hell to learn about risk … the acquisition corps should do the same

One reason the ‘culture of innovation’ hasn’t taken proper hold at the Pentagon is that its buyers aren’t trained over and over to weigh uncertainties.

Why does the Pentagon remain unable to properly exploit the opportunities afforded by advances in technology and other fields?

It’s not for lack of exhortation: a long list of Defense leaders, up to and including the current secretary, has urged the Department’s people to innovate, to take risks.

They don’t know how.

This is no slur on today’s acquisition corps, which is full of bright, hard-working people. But making good judgments in the face of risk is hard. It involves a complex web of decisions, actions and counteractions that often spiral well beyond the scope of the original task. The higher the stakes, the tougher risk management becomes. The same is true of combat — which is exactly why the military insists that its combat leaders train and study and review and practice, over and over again, in ever-more complex scenarios, so that they are as ready as possible to handle real risk.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/09/combat-leaders-go-through-hell-learn-about-risk-acquisition-corps-should-do-same/168543/

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10 tantalizing topics testing procurement in the new fiscal year

Change is in the air.

The leaves are beginning to fall to the ground, the morning air is turning crisp, the days are getting shorter — all signaling that we are approaching the end of the government fiscal year.

The beginning of a new fiscal year provides an opportunity for reflection, during which, we can look ahead at the issues and questions that likely will shape procurement over the coming year.

With that in mind, here are 10 topics that surely will be of interest across the procurement stakeholder community.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/09/10-tantalizing-topics-testing-procurement-in-the-new-fiscal-year/

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DoD takes next step in acquisition reform, renews calls for contractor stimulus

The Defense Department just took another step toward its goal of modernizing its acquisition system.

Deputy Secretary for Defense David Norquist signed DoD Directive 5000.01 on Sept. 8, which governs the roles and responsibilities for DoD’s adaptive acquisition framework.

“That, along with 5000.02, which was already signed out, really gives us the framework for how to move forward. We have a much more flexible way of doing business now codified in policy,” Ellen Lord, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, said during the Sept. 9 Defense News Conference. “We’ve put in place middle tier acquisition where we got statute a couple years ago, we now have a way to put working prototypes very, very quickly downrange so that we can practice how to use these new technologies so that we can learn quickly so we can iterate quickly. That along with everything we’re doing in terms of digital engineering and software modernization is really changing how we do business.”

Lord said the coronavirus pandemic shone a spotlight on some of the vulnerabilities of the defense acquisition system, which created an impetus for DoD to work with the administration to fix fragility in the supply chain, like unmanned aerial systems, rare earth metals and aircraft propulsion. While other more typical areas of recent defense spending, like nuclear modernization or hypersonics, haven’t gotten as much attention, Lord said DoD has put out almost $1 billion using Title III of the Defense Production.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-industry/2020/09/dod-takes-next-step-in-acquisition-reform-renews-calls-for-contractor-stimulus/

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