FASA - On 25 January 1994, the 103rd Congress passed Senate Bill 1587, The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994, which President Clinton signed into law. Two significant portions of the FASA are:
1. It replaced the existing "small purchase threshold" of $25,000 with the
"simplified acquisition threshold" of $100,000.
2. It mandated that the Federal Government create a network for utilizing electronic
commerce throughout the Federal Government.
FACNET - The Federal Acquisition Computer Network (FACNET) is a computer-based source of information readily accessible to government and private-sector users. Among its potential uses, the Government will use FACNET to:
1. Inform the public of contracting opportunities.
2. Publish details for government solicitations.
3. Accept electronic submission of quotations, bids and proposals.
4. Gather responses to questions about solicitations.
The Directorate of Contracting at the U.S. Military Academy has been certified and using FACNET since August 95.
WHAT IS ELECTRONIC COMMERCE (THE EC PART OF EC/EDI)?
Electronic Commerce (EC) is the paperless exchange of business information using
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Electronic Mail (E-Mail), computer bulletin boards,
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), and other related technologies. All EC systems replace
all or key parts of paper-based workflows with faster, cheaper, more efficient, and more
reliable communications between machines.
In today's Defense Department procurement arena, however the most important EC technology to know about is Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI. Within two years, the DOD and other Federal agencies are expected to do 80 percent of the purchasing via computer networks using EC/EDI.
WHAT IS ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI)?
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business
information by means of standardized transaction sets that have been developed and used
over the years in the private sector.
Through the use of EDI, transactions can be completed more cheaply and accurately than is possible through the exchange of paper documents.
Contracting Offices create Requests for Quotations (RFQs) for simplified acquisitions. The RFQ information is electronically transmitted thru a Gateway to a Network Entry Point where it is then provided to Value Added Networks (VANs). VANs provide services where suppliers can retrieve the document. If a supplier decides to submit a quote, then the information flow is reversed from the supplier back to the contracting office. The key change is that the buyer no longer searches for the vendors; the vendors must search for the contracting opportunities! With DOD's goal of getting all procurement offices on EC by 1997, the basic fact of the matter is that you participate in EC or you don't participate at all.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN EC
- http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/index.htm
- http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/about/business.htm
Get help from a Small Business Specialist. For DOC, USMA contact
SADBUS at
(845) 938-2907.
FASA AND THE COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY (CBD)
FASA removes the requirement to publish announcements of upcoming solicitations between
$25,000 and $100,000 in the CBD, provided that the purchasing organization can issue the
solicitation via EDI. Organizations must still post solicitation notifications to the CBD
15 days in advance of the solicitation for:
1. All purchases over $100,000;
2. Purchases under $100,000 for which the solicitation is not made available
electronically; and
3. Purchases by agencies lacking EDI capabilities.