Supply Chain Management | The Contracting Education Academy

December 12, 2017 By cs

Changes to supply chain management and commercial item contracting in FY 2018 NDAA

For Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions, the Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA includes provisions that simplify and others that complicate contractor responsibilities.

On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Senate and House Armed Services Committees announced that they had reached agreement to reconcile the different versions of the National Defense and Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018 passed by the Senate and House earlier in the year.

The Senate unanimously approved the compromise legislation on November 16, sending it to President Trump to sign into law. The 2018 National Defense and Authorization Act Conference Report sent to the President includes proposed changes to supply chain management, to the definition of a “subcontractor” and to commercial item contracting that may impact your business.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=238f078d-5398-4cba-ba7b-8fdb3e308575

February 24, 2017 By cs

Despite improvements, DoD is still top offender on GAO high-risk list

The government’s highest risk department is making improvements, but still has miles to go before it gets off the Government Accountability Office’s radar.

The Defense Department once again makes up a sizeable chunk of the GAO’s High-Risk List and is the most represented government department on the list.

Despite having some programs on the list for more than two decades, DoD is making headway in the realms of supply chain management and weapons system acquisition.

But DoD isn’t out of hot water yet. The Feb. 15 report still gives low marks, even for a list of bruised programs, to the department’s base management, its ability to weed out duplicative offices and the auditability of DoD’s finances.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/defense/2017/02/despite-improvements-dod-still-top-offender-gao-high-risk-list/

October 11, 2016 By cs

Contract consolidation effort saves $2 billion and counting

Two years after the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) embraced the consolidation-of-contracts strategy known as category management, the White House recently announced that the effort to “transform the federal marketplace” has delivered $2 billion in savings.

OFPP Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung, in a blog post, said the Obama administration’s effort to modernize government and incorporate private-sector best practices through bulk purchasing is “on track” to save $3.5 billion by the end of next year. “We’ve seen prices drop by as much as 50 percent of personal computers since the release of the workstation policy,” Rung said. “By the end of 2016, 45 percent of the $1.1 billion spent in annual purchases for desktops and laptops will be consolidated into three governmentwide contracts.”

Small business goals were exceeded, Rung said, and 700 duplicative contracts were eliminated.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/10/contract-consolidation-effort-saves-2-billion-and-counting/132059

category-management-savings-as-of-oct-2016

More details on Anne Rung’s blog post entitled “Transforming the Federal Marketplace, Two Years In” at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/09/30/transforming-federal-marketplace-two-years

October 6, 2016 By cs

Changing the role of contract managers

The role of today’s “contract manager” continues to change. How and why it is doing so depends on one’s perspective, but from the private to public sector it is converging.

fischetti-ncma At the federal level, contract managers develop and manage contract vehicles between both parties; interpret and implement the myriad laws and regulations required for inclusion; provide sound business advice in the execution of pre-award and post-award functions, use a wide range of common contracting methods and contract types; develop and/or review complex pricing arrangements; conduct meetings with contractors on sensitive and/or acquisition-related issues as an authoritative contractual representative when warranted; assist in the procurement of standard or specialized services, commodities and/or construction within a contracting office;execute and track deliverables until final contract closeout, etc. This traditional “cradle to grave” responsibility is (to the extent it wasn’t already) a growing role at the state and local public procurement level as well.

Some government organizations, or the contract managers themselves, view their role as compliance and process enforcement, while others see it as much more. However, in going beyond traditional roles, should contract manager involvement start much earlier and be more comprehensive, including requirements definition, acquisition strategy and planning, spend analysis, source selection, supply chain management, project management, and the external relationships from beginning to end?

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/changing-role-of-contract-managers

For Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions, the Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA includes provisions that simplify and others that complicate contractor responsibilities.

The government’s highest risk department is making improvements, but still has miles to go before it gets off the Government Accountability Office’s radar.

Two years after the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) embraced the consolidation-of-contracts strategy known as category management, the White House recently announced that the effort to “transform the federal marketplace” has delivered $2 billion in savings.

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