OBTAINING THE

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OBTAINING THE BEST VALUE
WELCOME!
A Hands-On Workshop 29 Aug 2000
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Introductions Joanie Newhart, [phone]
joanie.newhart_at_cfsc.army.mil Milly Showers, (
703) 681-5306 milly.showers_at_cfsc.army.mil Mary
Collins, [phone] collinsm_at_emh2.campbell.a
rmy.mil Lori Gray, [phone] lori.gray_at_cf
sc.army.mil Linda Baier, [phone] linda.
baier_at_cfsc.army.mil

Your Coaches for Today
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? How do we add value? ? How can we delight o
ur customers in todays contracting
environment? ? Are we providing solutions
to our customers?

Issues Facing Us Today
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?You Cant Do That ? Adversary to requiring

activities ? Barriers to communication
The Way It Was
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? Build relationships ? Business partner ? L
eadership
The Way It Is Now
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? Move to the front of the procurement

? Market research ? SOW development
How Do We Add Value?
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? And to the end of the procurement
? Performance management ? Did you provide
a solution?
How Do We Add Value?
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? Partner with them ? Understand their
business ? Help them understand contractin
g
How Do We Delight Our Customers?
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? Did we understand the customers goal? ? D
id we develop appropriate evaluation criteria?
? Did we obtain the best value? ? Did the
contractor perform? ? How can we improve the ne
xt time?
Are We Providing Solutions?
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What Is Best Value? Objectives of Workshop
?Understand and practice best value
contracting ?Develop a toolkit of resources
?Share ideas
Todays Workshop
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Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Acquisition Planning
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What does the customer need?
What is the best solution for the customer?

Acquisition Planning Must Answer 3 Questions
How will the solicitation be structured
to ensure best
value is obtained?
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? Market research a process of collecting and
analyzing data ? Purpose maximize the capabili
ties, technology and competitive forces of the
marketplace to meet an organizations need for
products and services ? Challenge find commer
cially available products and services to meet
the NAFIs needs rather than to create unique
products and services
Phase 1 Market Research
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Then What?
? Document your results ? Discuss them with y
our customer ? Develop your acquisition strateg
y
? On to phase 2 Acquisition Plan
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? Baseline for entire acquisition strategy
? Baseline for subsequent documents
Phase 2 Acquisition Plan
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? Think through procurement decisions
? Capture timeline is it realistic? ? Determ
ine and mitigate risk ? Develop encompassing ac
quisition strategy ? Get team members agre
ement on strategy
Why do an Acquisition Plan?
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? Risk management the process of planning, a
nalyzing, tracking and controlling events that
could put a project/contract in danger of not
being completed on time, within schedule or
within budget ? Risks in a procurement are b
ased upon uncertainties
One Area that is Always Confusing
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? Technical risk uncertainty of the
specifications ? Cost risk sufficiency of
the funds ? Schedule risk timely completion
of the project
Risk Categories
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Preparing the Statement of Work
SOW
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? Lists tasks to be accomplished by
contractor ? Establishes standards for accep
tance of each task ? Emphasis on deliverable
s ? Contractor is free to decide how to p
erform ? Emphasis placed upon outcomes, not
procedures
Performance- Based SOWs
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? Objective ? Background ? Definitions/Acron
yms
SOW Part I General Information
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? Divide the work into tasks ? Use functional d
escriptions what is to be accomplished, N
OT how to do the work ? Describe the tasks in
sequence ? Describe contract management re
quirements ? Identify NAFI responsibilities and
interfaces with third parties ? Provide for
a final report
SOW Part II Describe the Work Requirements
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? Make it easily readable (add white
space, minimize subparagraph levels)
? Ensure there are no conflicts among the req
uirements ? Give a complete description of each
requirement ? Be specific --- vague wording
will cause problems, dont use general language
? Keep your sentences short ? Have someone
else review the final product
Tips for Improving the SOW
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? Is the SOW a stand alone document?
? Are you consistent throughout (do you cal
l a document a report in one place
and a study in another)?
? Could you price the project based upon
the SOW? ? Is the meaning clear? Are ther
e any ambiguities in the SOW?
Put Yourself in the Shoes of the Contractor
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Best Value is a Goal, Not a Process
Evaluation Strategy
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First alternative Low cost/technically accep
table ? RFP has minimum requirements ? Ratin
g is go/no go ? If rated go, award based u
pon evaluated price
Source Selection Alternatives
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Second alternative Tradeoff process ? Varie
ty of criteria may be used ? Beneficial for rap
idly changing technology ? Provides maximum
discretion to determine best value
Source Selection Alternatives
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The means by which you measure the attributes of
offers and offerors in order to identify and
assess discriminators of value
Evaluation Factors
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? Consistent with the SOW ? Limited ? Indepe
ndent (no overlap) ? Valid (measure what theyr
e supposed to measure) ? Relevant (meas
ure something valuable)
Evaluation Factors Must Be
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Technical ? Methodology and Approach
? Understanding of the Requirement

Types of Evaluation Factors
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Business ? Management ? Past Performa
nce
? Resources (Staff and Facilities)
Types of Evaluation Factors
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Price ? Realism consistent with the scope
of effort? ? Reasonableness uses logical
and appropriate methods ? Completeness capt
ured all the content in the price estimate
? Price is not weighted
Types of Evaluation Factors
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? Value areas what is most important to your
customer? ? Problem areas what are we tryi
ng to fix? ? Discriminators will the fact
ors differentiate between offers? ? Meaningfu
l what value will you gain from the factor
s you choose?
How Do You Select Evaluation Factors?
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Instructions to offeror on how information should
be presented in its proposal
Proposal Submittal Requirements
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? Uniform contract format
Building The RFP
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? Edit, review, edit, review ? Get an objecti
ve review
? Legal review
Strategies For Quality RFPs
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Release the RFP
Soliciting Offers
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? Get nominations from customer--
include future COR, if possible
? Coordinate the dates with the evaluation team
? Send evaluation team memos to team members
? Send a copy of the RFP and any
amendments thereto
Set up your Evaluation Team
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Develop a proposal checklist to document that

youve received all required submittals
Receipt of Proposals
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? Team members sign non- disclosure statement
? Overview of Acquisition Plan ? Review of RF
P ? Explanation of the evaluation process
? Responsibilities
Evaluation Team Training
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? Evaluate proposals in accordance wit
h the evaluation plan ? Stick to evaluation cri
teria in RFP ? Evaluate each proposal indepe
ndently
Responsibilities of the Team
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Provide comments to back up rating. ?Commen
ts tell the Contracting Officer where the value
is ?Comments are key for decision and debriefi
ng ?Comments provide a trail in case of
protest
Responsibilities of the Team
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? Leads evaluation team ? Ensures evaluatio
n was done in accordance with the plan
? Ensures the evaluation was documented
properly
Responsibilities of the Chairperson
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Scoring System Color Rating Example ? Blu
e Exceptional ? Green Acceptable ? Yel
low Marginal
? Red - Unacceptable
Elements of an Evaluation Plan
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? Strength Aspect of the offerors proposal that
exceeds the minimum requirement
? Weakness An element of an offer that meets t
he minimum requirements, but displays a clear
lack of strength in that area and increases the
risk of unsuccessful contract performance ?
Deficiency Failure of the proposal to meet the F
unds minimum requirements ? Clarification
Element that cannot be understood or a
question that has arisen based on the
proposal
Elements of an Evaluation Plan
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? Evaluate one proposal at a time, adding comme
nts and referencing proposal ? Hold group discu
ssion ? Develop a team consensus evaluation fo
r the proposal ? Move to next proposal ? Wri
te memo and all members sign ? Submit memo to t
he Contracting Officer
Evaluation Process
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?Were all offers evaluated in
accordance with the plan?
?Do comments support ratings? ?Does the
evaluation make common sense?
?Were the offers evaluated fairly and consisten
tly? ?Were the offers evaluated independentl
y?
Contracting Officer Receives Memo
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Is the Price Fair and Reasonable?
Price Analysis
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Process of examining and evaluati
ng a proposed price to determine if it i
s fair and reasonable without evaluating
its separate cost elements and propos
ed profit
Price Analysis
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? Determine the price(s) which you will compare
to the offered price ? Competitive prices
? Historical prices ? Commercial prices
? Independent NAFI estimate ? The number
of comparisons you consider depends on the a
vailability of information and the pricing ris
k of the acquisition
Steps in Price Analysis
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?Identify factors that affect the comparability
to the offered price and adjust the prices
appropriately. Factors may include
?Market conditions ?Quantity or size
?Geographic location ?Compare the adjusted
price to the offered price
Steps in Price Analysis
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If the offered price is significantly higher or
lower than your estimated price
?Determine why there is a variance ? Use your
analysis to make your contracting decision
Steps in Price Analysis
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?Integrate the technical and price evaluation da
ta ?Compare the results among the offers ?N
ote differences and consider the
benefit/value
Award Determination
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Possible Outcomes ?Proposal with highest
technical rating is also lowest price. No
tradeoff analysis needed---award contract
?Proposals are technically equal---award goes t
o lowest price ?Lowest price offer did not get
the highest technical rating---tradeoff analysis
needed
Award Determination
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Tradeoff Analysis ?Is the technical superio
rity of the proposal worth the additional cost
to the NAFI? ?There is no magic formula---it
is an art, not a science ?Ratings, scores and
other information are guides to make the decision
and support the decision process
?Use sound business judgment and rationale
Award Determination
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Select the Best, Most Advantageous Offer
End Result
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Prepare Contracting Officers Determination
?Describes entire procurement process ? Desc
ribes rationale used in price analysis and
technical evaluation decisions
? Describes logic behind award decisio
n
Award Determination
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Send award decision to legal for review
Legal Review
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Award the contract
Contract Award
Then
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?You know it as contract administration
?Its as important as contract award
?This is where you find out if you provided
the best solution
Performance Management