Capitalizing on Commercial-Item Designation Provisions of FAR 13.5: Getting the Most from Limited Resources
Abstract
The past decade has seen a significant change in business practices within the Federal contracting arena. Acquisition reform initiatives have fundamentally transformed the protocols and processes the Federal Government utilizes to procure billions of dollars worth of goods and services every year. Reforms provided under the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA), the Federal Acquisition Reform Act (FARA), and the Services Acquisition Reform Act (SARA), along with ensuing regulatory provisions in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), have created a more business-to-business-like contracting methodology. One such methodology is the FAR 13.5 Test Program for Commercial Items. FAR 13.5 allows the utilization of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) for all commercial-item designated goods and services up to and including $5.5 million. The FAR 13.5 provisions are aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal contracting processes. The FAR 13.5 regulatory provision has tremendous potential to alleviate field contracting activities' work-in-process backlogs, improve cycle-time, reduce transaction costs, and increase customer satisfaction in the business processes designed to provide essential goods and services. However, based on the author's review of the business decision protocol at the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC), San Diego, this report asserts that Navy contracting activities may not be effectively utilizing the legislative and regulatory authority under FAR 13.5 to garner desired efficiencies and effectiveness. Therefore, the objective of this MBA research project is to determine the extent to which the Navy's FISC activities are capitalizing on the legislative provisions and regulatory provisions of FAR 13.5, and to make specific recommendations for improving the full utilization of the FAR 13.5 commercial-item designation provisions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA460398
Entities
People
- Brian K. Simonson
- Jason M. Johnson
- Mark A. Ziegler
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School