SEALED BIDS VS. COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS
Tiffany Tanner
Strayer University
BUS 315: Cost And Price Analysis
Professor Latimore
OCTOBER 24, 2012
Abstract
This paper will explore how Sealed Bidding and Competitive proposals compare against each other. In order to compare them one must understand how, when and why each topic is used. The primary source of federal procurement information and guidance is the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which consists of Parts 1-53 of Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). FAR parts 14 and 15 explains in full detail Sealed Bidding and Competitive Proposals. This paper like the federal government will rely heavily on the FAR as a source document to help explain the details of this topic.
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Interested parties can view all the bids at this time, although they don't have access to the bidders' financial data and other proprietary information. Then contract is awarded to the company with the lowest bid. The Contracting office will then make sure the lowest bidder has submitted their bids on time and in accordance with the instructions and requirements of the IFB. In addition to making sure they have fulfilled all requirements that were outlined in the IFB they also evaluate the bidder's level of responsibility based on the company's means to fulfill all the contract requirements. Due to the fact this process is very rigorous this process is monitor to ensure sure strict rules are applied and followed.
According to the FAR Contracting officers may request competitive proposals if sealed bids are not appropriate. Because of differences in areas such as law, regulations, and business practices, it is generally necessary to conduct discussions with offerors relative to proposed contracts to be made and performed outside the United States and its outlying areas. Therefore a request for proposals (RFP) is issued when the award will be based on more than price. The Contracting Office will issue an RFP containing all the information and instructions necessary for companies to prepare their proposals. Then
Once the vendor list is eliminated to a select few, an RFP is issued to those vendors. RFP is generally a request is more specific details on the system requirements and provides guidelines for vendors to following bidding. Typically, the RFP includes 1) instructions for vendor bidding, 2) organizational objectives, 3) organizational background and description of the facility including departmental applications and current infrastructure, 4) the type of system and applications being sought along with necessary requirements, 5) vendor qualifications with background information, experience, number of installs, financial reports, and
Casturn hired a consulting company that possibly didn’t have the best interest of Casturn as its core motivation. The consulting company was paid on POTENTIAL cost savings and identification instead of a results oriented contract. Due to this structure, it became about quantity of parts that can be included in the bid instead of identifying the top say twenty percent of parts that, if managed well, could have yielded both companies a lucrative cost savings in the resourcing effort. In addition, the consulting company exited the process after the initial stages giving no one accountability to carry the resourcing effort to fruition.
Pricing strategy: When bidding for the government contracts, the A&D companies have to assess and anticipate how other competitors will respond to the Request for Proposal (RFP), which contains the details of the technical and non-technical requirements. In the lowest price, technically acceptable or LPTA contract, companies bid as lowest price as possible while maintaining the acceptable profit margin threshold for their operations. In order to determine the lowest price point that qualifies a company to win the contract and produces the highest profit as possible at the same time, not only does a company has to know its own profitable price point, it has to also anticipating how low other companies will bid the contract. For example, Company A has been trying to break into cybersecurity space in the past few years. However, it hasn’t been successfully in any of the previous bids. Contract XYZ is a large cybersecurity contract that will allow Company A to start gaining recognition as a prime
A basic definition for the procurement is “the way the building is realised” and “involves assembling and organising the skills and services of a team of construction professionals”. (the Construction Round Table, 1995). More precisely, the construction industry describes procurement as “a system that establishes the roles and relationships which make up a project organisation”; hence the overall organisation and communication structure for the management, administration and control of a project is established by the procurement system. (D.C.H Coles, 2010)
Define selection criteria R/A C/I N/A N/A Obtain a list of approved vendors R/A C/I N/A N/A Call the contractor R/A I N/A N/A Rate and choose the contractor R/A
The United States government is the largest single purchaser of goods and services in the world. Even during times of economic hardship, the US continues to dump billions into the private sector. The federal procurement spending rate of growth has surpassed the rate of U.S. inflation every year, since 2000. With annual federal procurement budgets of more than $400 billion, it is no surprise that the competition for government contracts has increased tremendously. Consequently, more and more companies are trying to get a piece of the action. When these companies adhere to all of the required regulations and statutes, they expect their proposals to be evaluated and the contract awarded in
Based on the textbook and my understanding, whenever there are negotiations between a procurer and a supplier regarding a competitive bidding, the first thing that might be favored is the scope of the project, meaning both will sit down and discuss the entire project prior the work begins. Meanwhile, during the negotiations, evaluation criteria should be clear, and stated and defined. As the evaluation is based on the criteria stated and the procurer can request or ask the supplier’s opinions on certain specifications and where things can be improved.
Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) “prescribes [the] policies and procedures governing competitive and noncompetitive negotiated acquisitions.” One component of negotiated acquisitions that occurs early in the acquisition process is the solicitation of proposals. FAR 15.201, titled, “Exchanges with Industry before Receipt of Proposals,” regulates the type and manner of communications, also sometimes referred to as exchanges, which can – and cannot – take place between the Government and potential suppliers prior to the receipt of a potential supplier’s proposal and the subsequent award of a contract.
Once I have a clear Statement of work and the previous vendors are interested in bidding; I will compete this procurement to the best practices of government procurement are achieves.
This paper includes a description of the procurement planning process. The most valuable output of the plan procurement process will be identified. Furthermore, the various contract types will be explained. A source criterion that would be applicable to any project will be described and three criteria that would apply to most projects will be identified. An analysis of the ethical
There was no formal bidding process. In addition, it appeared that not all bidders were treated equally. This can be seen when the bidding process was opened back up after the contractors were narrowed down to
Due to the fact that procurement strategies are the focal point in the planning stage of all business firms and is a vital
Procurement intends to explore supply market opportunities and to implement resourcing strategies that deliver the best possible supply outcome to the organization, its stakeholders and clients (Kidd, 2005). Therefore, construction procurement exists to purchase a construction project as requirement of firms or organizational entities to achieve its goals. However, the choice to use external resources is the part of firms’ decision-making
Strict adherence to formal procedures characterizes sealed bidding which attempts to provide a “level playing field” or as a multitude of references point out equal footing to all bidders who compete for a contract. Competitive negotiation is a more flexible process that enables the agency to conduct discussions, evaluate offers, and award the contract using price and other factors. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), whose origins can be traced back to the ASPA of 1947 was codified at Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations and became effective 1 April 1984. The FAR contains the uniform policies and procedures for acquisitions by all federal agencies to date. It addresses nearly every procurement related statute or executive policy; and subsequently encompasses every stage of the acquisition process. In a nutshell, FAR appears to have modernized and thus enveloped the aforementioned three acts.
3. Request for Proposal (RFP) is a solicitation made, often through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to allow the risks and