# Presentation: 273047

## Overview Of Procurement Process

**Bill Hatchl**
- Procurement Manager
- January 2005
- http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/210/con210m.htm

**Procurement 101**

## Evaluation

- Is the information in this presentation useful to you?
- What topics were not covered that you need to know about, or were not covered enough?
- What additional information on those topics would you like to learn about?
- What topics were covered that you didn’t need to know about, or were covered too much?
- Other comments?

## Who Does Code 210.M Procurement Support?

- AETD (Code 500), IV&V (Code 180), ATO (Code 408), Space Communications (Code 450) and OSSMA (Code 300)
- Simplified acquisitions (<$100k)
- Larger dollar contracts, including competitive and sole-source:
- Commercial acquisitions
- R&D
- Supplies
- Services
- SBIR/STTR’s
- NRA’s
- Interagency agreements (with other Federal government agencies only)
- Requests for information/partnership opportunity documents

## Federal Government Procurement

- Where the seller gets to sue the buyer (that’s us) because the seller disagrees with the buyer’s purchase decision
- Where everything is supposed to be competed, even when you already know of a very, very good source
- Where it’s deliberately made difficult to buy from only one company

## The Procurement Process(Dictated by statute and regulation)

- Synopsize requirement (16 to 30 calendar days*)
- Issue solicitation (Request for Proposal, Request for Offer, Request for Quote) (30 to 60 days*)
- Proposal receipt (30 to 60 days*)
- Evaluation (cost, business, technical) (45 to 90 days*)
- Contract award, including negotiations (30 to 60 days*)
- Contract administration
- Contract closeout

## Typical Contract Award Lead Times

- Commercial acquisitions
- Competitive (90—205 days)
- Noncompetitive (98—237 days)
- Noncommercial acquisitions
- Competitive (150—325 days)
- Noncompetitive (160—340 days)
- Simplified acquisitions (27 days)

## Contracting Methods

- Simplified acquisitions (not more than $100K)
- Usually takes 30 days to award
- “Small” contract acquisitions (not more than $10M)
- Usually takes 4 to 6 months to award
- “Large” contract acquisitions (more than $10M)
- Usually takes 4 to 12 months to award
- Request for Information/Partnership Opportunity Document
- _Usually takes 60 days to complete
- * Above timelines are approximate due to large, though shrinking, backlog of procurements

##  Contracting Types(Selected to reflect the burden of the “risk of cost performance.”)

- Fixed-price contracts
- Commercial and noncommercial clear requirements
- Cost-reimbursement contracts
- Noncommercial and vague requirements
- Incentive contracts
- Noncommercial and improved performance
- Indefinite-delivery contracts
- Commercial, noncommercial and indefinite requirements
- Time-and-materials and labor-hour contracts
- Commercial and noncommercial and vague requirements
- Least favored contract type
- Letter contracts
- Immediate performance required

## Fixed Price Contracts

- Firm fixed price, fixed price with economic price adjustment, fixed price incentive fee, fixed price award fee
- Firm fixed price
- Fixes price we pay if our specifications are very, very clear
- Ambiguous specifications are interpreted against us
- We may have to pay that fixed price for something that is less than you need and less than what we thought we were ordering

## Cost Reimbursement Contracts

- Cost Plus No Fee, Cost Plus Fixed Fee, Cost Plus Incentive Fee, Cost Plus Award Fee
- Contractor promises its “best efforts” and we promise to pay whatever the Contractor spends
- Initial cost is only an estimate that establishes a cost ceiling that the contractor cannot exceed without our agreement

## Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC-sole source)

- Required for sole source and limited competitions
- Must demonstrate that the source (or limited sources) is the only entity in the world that can meet your minimum requirement
- Must explain your requirement and why it is the minimum required
- Competition cannot be avoided because we failed to begin the procurement process early enough
- Such justifications must be posted on the worldwide web for 15 days

## Waiver of Sole Source Web Postings

- Based on unusual and compelling urgency
- Intended to be used rarely for true emergencies
- Agency will be seriously harmed (financial, technical, or other substantial injury) if competitive process is used
- Justification must include details, not just conclusions
- Show how we didn’t dawdle in determining our requirements and starting the procurement process
- Show the precise and serious harm that will be suffered
- Provide the dates and timelines that prevent taking the time needed for the competitive process

## Competition Types

- Lowest price/cost responsive bid
- Winner is the lowest price bid that meets our minimum requirements
- Best value responsive bid
- Winner is the bid with the best value, considering technical merit, cost/price, and past performance
- Do not underestimate past performance as this factor can eliminate companies that have not successfully completed similar work
- Requires fair evaluation criteria to be developed in advance, included in our solicitation, and strictly used to evaluate the bids received

## Small Business Set-asides

- Each competition must be considered for limitation to small businesses only
- Two qualified small businesses are sufficient to set aside a competition for small businesses only
- Requires us both to conduct market research to determine if there are two small businesses
- Default is to post your requirement on the web and ask small businesses to tell us their qualifications

## Performance Work Statement

- Should define required outcomes instead of design specifications
- “What result we need” versus “how to do it”
- More is better than less
- Insure that terminology is clear and has a commonly accepted meaning (“term of art”) in the wider technical community
- Ambiguities are construed against the drafter (i. e., us)

## Technical Evaluation

- Required at some level of detail for every contract award (more as the dollar value of the award increases)
- Essential requirements for a complete technical evaluation
- Recommends, explains, and justifies adjustments when required to insure product/service will satisfy your requirement
- Analyzes labor hours, categories, and mix of categories
- Analyzes other direct costs (materials, subcontracts, travel, etc.)
- All the above applies equally to subcontractor costs
- Approved by your branch manager

## Negotiation(A fair and reasonable price)

- Remember that you have a role to help negotiate a fair price for what you need
- Fact-finding
- Technical, resources, and contract personnel
- Used to get our questions answered during our evaluation
- Avoid transfusion and leveling
- Negotiations
- Same team members working towards a fair price

## Task Orders

- Performance work statement
- Solicitation, evaluation, and negotiation of contractor proposal
- Award of negotiated task order
- Process can be completed in 15 days
- Can issue a task order before solicitation is issued
- Task Order Management System (TOMS) automates entire process

## When Do You Need Procurement?

- When you need some thing or some person that you don’t already have.
- If you do not have it, my office is probably going to have to buy it for you.
- Come early because we will need a lot of time to get it
- Always remember that government procurement is neither easy or quick

## What Does Code 210.M Procurement Do?

***Purpose***
- Provide full service procurement
- 	support
- Plan acquisitions
- Award contracts, purchase orders, and interagency agreements
- Administer contracts, etc.
- Resolve contract problems (performance, cost, other)
- Close out physically complete contracts, etc.

## Contacts in Code 210.M

- Diane Scheuerman, x4208
- Eric Newman, x4240
- Cathy Pierson, x5257
- Darlene Dorsey, x4242
- Jennifer Awkard, x6843
- Carol Barton, x4239

- Dave Vance, x2802
- Mayra Nieves-Torres, x0422
- Chuck Greene, x3721 (6/W125)
- Brett Gillard, x2142
- Nipa Shah, x1892
- Gerry Humphrey, x9083
- Delma Moore, 304-367-8491 (IV&V/WVa)

- Contracting Officers/Contract Specialists

- Procurement Manager

- Bill Hatchl, x6843

**We are located in Building 11, Room S215**

## Contacts in Code 210.M

- Contract Administrator

- Vacant

- Simplified Acquisition Specialists

- Cynthia White, x3596 (Team Leader)
- Sandra Harrell, x3723  (Codes 540-544 and cell phones)
- Marolyn Cross, x4782  (Code 560 and pagers)
- Talaya Brooks, x6937  (Codes 552-556)
- Agnes Smith, x9129  (Codes 180, 300, 408, 450-454, and 500-504) (6/W125)
- Raymond Jones, x3722  (Codes 550-551, and 590)
- Yolanda Williams, x0689 (Codes 545-549 and 580)
- Rhonda Roebuck, x8688

## How Can We Make the Process More Efficient?

**How Can We Make the Process More Efficient?**

***Try as we may, we cannot work miracles!***

***Planning***
- As early as possible--
- discuss requirements with procurement
- mutually develop procurement strategy and schedule
***Prepare Complete Documentation***
- Include all necessary documents with PR
- If sole source, ensure well-written JOFOC

## Do’s and Don’t’s

- 				**Do--**
*Meet* with procurement _**early-on**_ to discuss your requirements
*Communicate* often and regularly
*Seek advice* and *assistance*
*Ask questions* if you don’t understand how to put together a required document (i.e., JOFOC, SOW, evaluation criteria, etc.)
*Prepare and submit ****all**** required documentation *_*promptly*_

## Do’s and Don’t’s

**	****	****	****	****Don’t--**
***tell the contractor to start work*** _before_ contract award
***agree to any special terms and conditions*** of contracting without consulting with procurement first
***admit fault or liability*** on the part of the Gov’t. without first discussing the situation with procurement

## Simplified Acquisitions

- Purchases $100,000 or less must be set-aside totally for small businesses
- There are exceptions:
- GSA supply schedules
- Lack of 1 or more small business sources
- Requires comprehensive market research to support this conclusion
- Sources sought web posting if market research inadequate, delaying the purchase
- Sole source

## Simplified Acquisitions

- Simplified acquisitions systemic problems
- AMS reporting increased
- Beginnings of PR backlog
- Increases effort and time to award POs
- IFM was new and had to be learned
- IFM is not as good as SPS
- No linked DGS, requiring us to generate POs from scratch
- No email notifications to requisitioners
- No workable interim status system
- Close down periods require hand-entering of PRs and POs
- Harder to use, not as complete as SPS (not a purchasing system, IFM purchasing module expected in 2006 or 2007)
- Few, if any, checks to insure that PR initiators provide us with complete and accurate info, requiring us to track it down and enter it into the IFM system

## Simplified Acquisitions

- _Purchase Requisition Improvements_
- Need to insure PRs entered into IFM include all necessary information
- Choosing correct P Group for non-simplified acquisition PRs
- Choosing the correct release strategy
- Header text tab has all essential info
- Requisitioner, Initiator, and Resources Analyst and their organization code(s)
- Suggested sources, including points of contact and phone numbers
- Item text
- PLIs include all relevant part numbers, etc.
- Item details
- Including line item description details in Item text tab or in an attachment
- Including all the info in the delivery address tab
- Remember to track PR progress through IFM release strategy, especially when PR rejected or hung up in release cycle
- Reviewing initiator or branch head in-box for rejected PRs

## Simplified Acquisitions

- _Purchase Requisition Improvements_ (cont’d.)
- Use electronic attachments feature in IFM to include statements of work, sole source justifications, etc.
- De-commit funds after PO issued for lesser dollar amounts
- Sole source requires 3 elements:
- Why what you want is NASA’s minimum requirement
- Why your company is the only one that can satisfy that minimum requirement
- Demonstrate that you adequately planned this procurement
**Remember that you can initiate a purchase requisition with $0; you don’t have to wait for the cash to get to Goddard and AETD**

- Back Up Charts

## What Does Procurement Do?

***Pre-award Activity***
- Acquisition planning
- contract vehicle (simplified acquisition; mid-range; commercial, etc.)
- contract type (cost-reimbursement, fixed price, IDIQ)
- documentation--review and help prepare--
- sole-source justification
- statement of work
- specification
- Procurement Request (PR)
- in-house cost estimate
- evaluation criteria

## What Does Procurement Do?

**What Does Procurement Do?**

***Solicitation Process***
- Sole-source and competitive
- prepare solicitation document (RFO, RFP, RFQ)
- oversee proposal evaluations
***Award Contracts***
- negotiate
- prepare contract file documentation
- review and approval process
- issue signed contract document

## What Does Procurement Do

***Contract Administration***
- Administer contracts/purchase orders after award (funding, contract changes, etc.)
- Ensure that contractor adheres to terms and conditions
- Resolve cost and performance problems
- Invoice payment process

## Standard Leadtimes
based on type of type of procurement action
Competitive vs. noncompetitive
Commercial vs. noncommercial
Dollar amount of requirement (simplified acquisition vs. mid-range vs. SEB)
Interagency agreement
SBIR/STTR’s

- based on type of type of procurement action
- Competitive vs. noncompetitive
- Commercial vs. noncommercial
- Dollar amount of requirement (simplified acquisition vs. mid-range vs. SEB)
- Interagency agreement
- SBIR/STTR’s

**Why Does It Take  So Long??**

## Why Does It Take So Long

***Review of PR package for completeness***
***PR completed properly*** (all required signatures, routed through Accounting and AMS)?
***Sole-source*** (JOFOC), if necessary?
- If competitive, ***evaluation criteria***?
***Statement of Work*** complete and in *PBC* format?
***Specification***?
***Name, address, and telephone number*** of contractor if sole-source?

## Why Does It Take So Long??

***Synopsizing ***
- All procurements over $25k
- FAR states that they you must allow 15 days
- Only extreme situations permit waiver from this requirement
***Solicitation Process***
- Gov’t requests a proposal
- Contractor(s) submits proposal(s)

## Why Does It Take So Long

***Review of Proposal***
- technical
- cost
- business
***Contract Award***
- Gov’t prepares contract for contractor signature
- After signature by contractor, Gov’t countersigns and the contract is formally awarded

## REMEMBER--

***Poor ***
***planning doesn’t constitute ***
***a justification for a ***
***sole source!***
_***Cannot overemphasize the importance of early planning***_***!***

## Reminders

- Despite some perceptions and beliefs to the contrary, we *are* here to help!!
- Call anyone in the office at any time if you have *any* questions whatsoever.  There is no such thing as a dumb question!
- You are not expected to know all the “ins and outs” of the procurement process; that’s what we’re here for.

## Success Starts With... 	 A Team Effort  

- Technical and procurement personnel must work together as a ***team***
- Each has a specific area of expertise
- _Both_ are necessary to successfully procure the supplies and services needed to support the mission of AETD and Goddard

## We Can Make the Process More Efficient and Effective! 

*********	******Working together as a technical and ******	******business team***
********* ******Understanding the process***
********* ******Initiating requirements sufficiently ******	******	******in advance***
********* ******Ensuring complete procurement ******	******	******packages***

## A Final Note...

- Involve procurement early on in the planning process
- Always remember procurement in your planning process
- Early procurement planning is of *paramount *importance
**...In other words, don’t forget to include procurement when planning your programs and projects!!**