Rebranding the Perspective: Overhauling GSA's Inventory Management is Long Overdue
In a call for reform, Erv Koehler, a Presidential Rank Award recipient and senior executive with over three decades of federal contracting experience, has advocated for a transition to a curated and managed GSA catalog. This approach would streamline pricing, ensure policy compliance, standardize products and pricing, and standardize Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) methods, timing, and thresholds.
The recently introduced EPA clause has raised concerns among contracting officers due to the added workload and complexity it brings. The various EPA mechanisms could potentially turn price management into a burdensome administrative exercise instead of streamlining pricing. Each contract could have a different EPA mechanism, such as one tied to the producer price index, another tied to the consumer price index (CPI), yet another factoring in CPI plus transportation costs.
The core issue in the GSA catalog management lies in the current pricing system. Some contractors, in an attempt to evade 4P pricing algorithms, alter part numbers to get a price list approved using sampling. This practice compounds the problem, contributes to the large number of items listed on GSA Advantage!, undermines data integrity, creates unnecessary workload for contracting officers, and erodes trust in the system.
Koehler, who previously served as assistant commissioner at the General Services Administration (GSA), believes that a structured process for adding new products would still be essential but would be more manageable than the current fragmented system. He suggests that GSA sets the framework for offered products and prices, ensuring a curated and managed catalog.
The Schedule program, supported by a shrinking workforce, is facing ongoing struggles with inefficient catalog and pricing processes. A service contractor was told by a contracting officer that only invoices would be accepted to support a fair and reasonable price determination, despite the contractor's proposed price being competitive. This underscores the need for a more efficient system.
A review of 10 items on GSA Advantage! showed that the contractor's proposed price was below both the average and median price offered by others. Such a model would not only simplify pricing but also ensure that competitive prices are offered.
Thomas Meiron, with over three decades of experience with the GSA, has been at the forefront of these issues. While specific awards he has received are not mentioned in the available information, his expertise and leadership could prove instrumental in implementing this proposed change.
In conclusion, Koehler's call for a curated and managed GSA catalog is a step towards addressing the complexities in pricing and catalog management. By standardizing products, pricing, and EPA methods, trust in the system can be restored, and the workload on contracting officers can be reduced.
