Multiple Award Schedule Purchases: Changes Are Needed to Improve Agencies Ordering Practices
Abstract
The Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program is designed to enable federal agencies to procure a wide range of commonly used commercial goods and services, such as office supplies, personal computers, and sophisticated scientific equipment, in a simplified manner. According to General Services Administration (GSA) officials, agencies placed more than $4 billion in orders through the MAS program in fiscal year 1990. At the request of the Chairman of the House Committee on Government Operations, GAO reviewed MAS purchasing practices at six selected procurement offices-three military and three civilian - as well as related program management issues at these offices and several agencies, GAO sought to determine whether (1) for a random sample of MAS orders exceeding $25,000, the procurement offices complied with statutory and regulatory requirements aimed at ensuring that the orders resulted in the lowest cost alternative meeting the government's needs; (2) for selected procurement cases, the offices missed opportunities to select lower cost alternatives-in terms of products, suppliers, or procurement approaches-meeting the government's needs; and (3) MAS management practices of the offices, agencies, and GSA were effective and ensured that MAS orders were made at the lowest overall cost.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA254490
Entities
People
- Paul F. Math
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office