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ACQUISITION ALERT


 
Upcoming Events

WPI's calendar is filling up with events in the coming months. Don't miss our newly schedule Acquisition Hour Webinars or Successful Growth Strategies in the Government Marketplace held around the state in preparation for Marketplace 2015. Visit www.wispro.org/events for additional information and other classes of interest.




UPCOMING EVENTS
9/9/15
SBIR/STTR Workshop
Madison

9/10/15
Acquisition Hour - eSRS Individual Subcontractor Reporting Basics
Webinar
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9/9/15
 Acquisition Hour - Registration in SAM and DSBS
Webinar
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  9/15/15
Breakfast with NCMA - Better Buying Power 3
Brookfield
 
 
MARKETPLACE is the premier business capacity building conference of the year for minority, women and veteran owned companies to learn how they can do business with state, federal and local agencies as well as corporations. These markets represent billions of dollars of annual purchasing with special programs to include minority, women, veteran and disadvantaged businesses. For more than 30 years, this conference has provided opportunities for businesses to meet with potential buyers, identify funding sources, connect with business assistance resources and build their capacity. Learn how to prepare for the greatest impact at Marketplace by attending one of WPI's "Successful Growth Strategies in the Government Marketplace" sessions held around the state.

 

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Political delegation tours Air, Army Guard facilities

Leaders from state government and a delegation from Wisconsin's federal representatives in Washington D.C. got a first-hand look at the training, capabilities and professionalism of the Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard during recent visits to National Guard facilities.

Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch joined senior National Guard leaders during an Aug. 6 visit to Guard facilities at Volk Field, Wisconsin, and to Hardwood Range in Juneau County, where military aircraft engage simulated adversary threats and practice dropping their ordnance on targets. A separate delegation representing the offices of Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ron Johnson and Reps. Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, Jim Sensenbrenner, Glenn Grothman and Sean Duffy, visited Hardwood Range and Wisconsin National Guard facilities at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, Aug. 10.

 
FAR changes effective August 3, 2015


FAR 13.5 is no longer a Test Program it is now permanent authority for use of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) for purchases of commercial items greater than the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) ($150,000), but not exceeding $6.5 million ($12 million for certain acquisitions).
 
While that is great news, the interesting change occurred in FAR Part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Items, specifically FAR 12.203. 
 
The old language specified, "For acquisitions of commercial items exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold but not exceeding $6.5 million ($12 million for acquisitions as described in 13.500(e)), including options, contracting activities shall employ the simplified procedures authorized by Subpart 13.5 to the maximum extent possible."
 
The new language specifies, "For acquisitions of commercial items exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold but not exceeding $6.5 million ($12 million for acquisitions as described in 13.500(c)), including options, contracting activities may use any of the simplified procedures authorized by Subpart 13.5."
 
Effective August 3, 2015, contracting activities may choose to use the authority provided in FAR 13.5.
 
GAO Report - reasonableness of prices

Defense Contracts:
DOD's Requests for Information from Contractors to Assess Prices
GAO-15-680: Published: Aug 12, 2015. Publicly Released: Aug 12, 2015.
 
 
The Department of Defense (DOD) is taking several steps to develop guidance and training related to determining the reasonableness of prices. First, DOD issued a policy memo to provide guidance to contracting officers on the determination of price reasonableness for commercial items. Second, DOD plans to revise the Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and provide guidance to contracting officers on requesting cost or pricing information from contractors. DOD published the proposed rule for public comment in early August 2015. Third, DOD is developing training to complement the guidance and is establishing a cadre of cost and pricing experts to assist contracting officers. Since the guidance, regulation, and training plans have not been implemented, it is too early to determine the effectiveness of these initiatives on determining the reasonableness of proposed prices.
 
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DOD usually relies on competition to ensure it pays a reasonable price for supplies or services. For noncompetitive contracts, DOD relies on other methods for determining price reasonableness, such as information from previous contracts or from the contractor. For commercial items, there are limits on the types of data that may be requested from contractors.
Section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 required DOD to issue guidance and provide training related to the information contracting officers may request to determine the reasonableness of contract prices. The act also included a provision for GAO to review contracts awarded between January 2013 and January 2015 and report on the extent DOD needed cost data from the contractors to assess the reasonableness of prices.

For the full report visit http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-680

 

Supply Chain Innovation Workshop -Innovating Your Products and Markets for New Business Opportunities

 

Join New North at the Supply Chain Innovation Workshop on August 25th from 8am - Noon at the UW-Oshkosh Alumni and Welcome Conference Center. The workshop, presented by Dr. Anthony Ross, Founder of the Supply Chain Management Institute at the Sheldon Lubar School of Business-UWM, explores how thinking innovatively about your products and capabilities will help point your business into new markets and growth opportunities.

 

 

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Federal Contracting Acronyms  and Phrases 

Better Buying Power 3 - Better Buying Power (BBP) 3.0 reflects the Department of Defense's (DoD) commitment to continuous improvements in the defense acquisition system. Under the overarching theme, Achieving Dominant Capabilities through Technical Excellence and Innovation, we are strengthening our efforts in innovation and technical excellence while also continuing the Department's efforts to improve efficiency and productivity that began under BBP 1.0 and 2.0. Learn more at http://bbp.dau.mil/index.html and at the September 15
NCMA Breakfast.
 
Category Management - Category management essentially looks at product or services categories the way a business might look at its own strategic business units, and then works on customizing purchase channels to better meet customer needs and market demands. Category management also provides deep-dive market analysis and addresses supply chain management; it can even help with changing behaviors, and reducing demand.  The Federal acquisition community through, the Category Management Leadership Council (CMLC) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), have developed a government-wide category structure to support Category Management across the Federal Government. There are 19 spend categories and they organize federal spend using Product Service Codes (PSCs).  On OPM's behalf, the General Services Administration has just released two requests for proposals for the Human Capital and Training Solutions (HCaTS) contract program. HCaTS is part of the new federal category management strategy http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/hr/2015/08/18/hcats-rfps-hit-street/31904791/ , More at
 
Government Accountability Office  - The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the "congressional watchdog," GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.  Recent reports are available at http://gao.gov/browse/date/week.  Recent topics include Conflict Minerals, Unmanned Aerial Systems and Electronic Health Records.