The Acquisition Team

The Acquisition Team is an information-based organization that is composed of more specialists than in the traditional command-and-control organization. Members of an acquisition team consist of multi-organizational as well as cross-functional, i. e. contractors, suppliers, acquisition professionals (Engelbeck, 2002). The focus of this paper is to present the students selection of a business opportunity offered by the Department of Energy and found at http://www. fbo. org/. This student will analyse the posting and then â€Å"reverse engineer† the notice to create the ideal agency’s acquisition team that could have prepared this solicitation. This student will also cite and summarize the FAR provisions for the formation of the acquisition team, describe the nature and specifications of the project, identify every area of expertise needed on the acquisition team, using the â€Å"Bodies of Knowledge† diagram in Engelbeck, Chapter 2, as a basis, and justify the involvement of each team member by describing his or her specific contribution to the solicitation/ request for proposal and later steps of the procurement process. Finally, the student will describe the steps to follow and ensure that the solicitation notice is complete, clear, and accurate before submitting it for posting on the FedBizOpps. gov Website. FAR Provisions for the formation of the acquisition team. The dissemination of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in 1984 replicated the Congress' intention to create a structure that was uniform for Executive Branch federal contracting. Prior to the introduction of the FAR, civilian agencies and the defence services had different and self owned set of regulations. The FAR is codified at Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations. It consists of regulations and rules as articulated by the United States federal government that governs the procurement processes for the government. The FAR contains the standardized procedures and policies for acquisitions by any and all federal government agencies. After the circulation of the FAR, the standardization goal was destabilized by the diverse agency-specific supplements (Vacketta, 1999). The FAR enforces the implementation of nearly every decision-making plan related to procurement. It is also within the FAR mandate to accomplish every stage of the process of acquisition. FAR 1. 102 (d) stipulates that: The function of every member of the Acquisition Team is to ensure the exercise of individual initiative and effective business decision while providing the best value product and service that meet the needs of the customers (Acquipedia, 2012). It further explains the scope and procedure of the acquisition team. This consists of the federal government team members responsible for integration tasks constraint and contracting negotiations including the requiring activity, the paying agent team, the contracting officer, financial management and others. Summary of the FAR Provisions for Acquisition Team Opportunity: Supply of Silicon Drift Detector Summary of Opportunity Opportunity is typically defined as the occasion and time that present favourable circumstance to attain precise goals. The details of opportunity identified on http://www. fbo. org/ are as presented below: a. Opportunity title / project location: Supply of Silicon Drift Detector b. Solicitation Number: RC238923 c. Agency: Department of Energy d. Office: Brookhaven National Laboratory (DOE Contractor) e. [Office] Location: Brookhaven f. URL: https://www. fbo. gov/? s=opportunity&mode=form&id=a95ff19f0cbf7a7448fbd5503527130b&tab=core&_cview=0 Nature and Specifications of the Project This is a short-term project in which a federal government body requires the supply of Silicon Drift Detectors. The Contractor is required to deliver 1 Silicon Drift Detector to the US Department of Energy. The project requires fixed pricing terms. The Silicon Drift Detector should be delivered within 180 days upon the signing of the contract at the Department of Energy office, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Brookhaven. The timings are required to be identified by the COR Feb 01, 2013 11:59 pm Eastern: Provision 333 — Machinery Manufacturing/333999 — All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing, many others as stipulated in AMS – Form – 010, rev. 5, should be considered for the entire process involved in the solicitation and acquisition. Technical specifications of the Hitachi Vortex Silicon Drift Detectors are that it must have a cylindrical Snout. The length of the snout should be 638 millimetres. The detector must be Ultra High Vacuum compatible with active detection area of not less than 500mm2. The unit must be usable indoor/outdoor with 12. 5 ?m window. The detector must operate with power supplies operating at 220-240 volts. Area of Expertise Required The â€Å"bodies of knowledge†, for this project consists of contracting, finance, engineering, logistics, legal, test and evaluation and cost estimates as identified by Engelbeck (2002). The areas of expertise are as outlined below: Contracting expertise will be required since it will facilitate the selection process of a contractor or vendor of Silicon Drift Detectors. The expertise includes communication skills that will enhance the process of dealing with the customer and the supplier. This will help develop trust among the acquisition team. The drafting of the contract will become easy relative to the project priorities. Risk allocation will be easily identified in managing beforehand to make the deal successful. Financial expertise will be required for the project in establishing the financing terms and budgets related to the project. This expertise will facilitate the valuation of the project for the valuable price to be considered for solicitation. Engineering expertise will be required since it will facilitate the classification of technical stipulations required for the project at hand. References for at least three successfully-manufactured, assembled, tested and delivered single-element detectors with similar complexities as the quoted product must be provided. Logistics is a central part of the project since it specifies the items and timings for the project delivery. It will also facilitate the control of the inventory and related costs to be effective in controlling extra costs. Any project under FAR should be incorporated to the law governing the situation hence Legal considerations will be critical as the terms and conditions must be aligned to FAR. Test and evaluation are as important as any other consideration because failure to create standards for the project will make it impossible to create effectiveness in the project. Evaluation is important to be considered as it will facilitate the future course of actions. Cost estimates are critical as they present the bottom-line of project. All the financials related to this project are based on cost estimates. The cost estimates are an underlying factor to the evaluation of the quality standards. Involvement of Team Members Contemporary, the integration of team members is fundamental to acquire the quoted product with the required specifications to effectively complete the processes and projects on time. The contribution of each member in the team will create synergy. Their presence during the project will act as a positive energy for team success. The involvement of each team member is based on their area of expertise: The end user is the definitive team member. In this case, the end user is the staff at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The staffs represent the Department of Energy which offers valuable resource for the Silicon Drift Detectors being procured. The Program Manager will make sure that the ensuing agreement meets the long- and short-range requirements of the project’s mission and that the design produce the intended results. The contracting officers will make sure that all contract activities comply with relevant laws, regulations, executive orders, and other applicable measures including approvals and clearances. Financial managers will ensure the provision of information needed by the team to make decisions on the amount of money available. The legal counsel will ensure continuous provision of guidance related to legal compliance and interpretation of regulations and laws. All team members will provide necessary and continuous support throughout the project lifecycle. Steps for Solicitation Completion There are a number of steps that will be applied to make sure that the solicitation notice is clear, complete, and accurate prior to submission for posting on the FedBizOpps. gov Website. Prior to finalization of the draft solicitation, the officer in charge of contracting may issue a draft solicitation to obtain questions and comments from a group of potential (but not eligible) candidates before releasing the final solicitation. This will help to better refine the solicitation and clarify any vagueness. Posting the draft solicitation will allow exchange with industry in the form of questions, suggestions, corrections and comments that can improve the final solicitation. The contracting officer will also make a request for a review of the draft solicitation by the counsel and project officer in harmony with procedures prior to release. Upon review, the contracting officers should then seek and obtain the concluding approval from the agency leadership (Gouder, 2007).