|
You don't have to be a procurement expert to read this book, but it is important to understand a few terms. Procurement - Procurement refers to the overall process of acquiring a product or service. Depending on the circumstances, it may include some or all of the following: identifying a need, specifying the requirements to fulfill the need, identifying potential suppliers, soliciting bids and proposals, evaluating bids and proposals, awarding contracts or purchase orders, tracking progress and ensuring compliance, taking delivery, inspecting and inventorying the deliverable, and paying the supplier. The term "procurement" is most often used within governmental organizations. The government and corporations may also refer to the more specific terms of "purchasing" or "acquisition." Small Business - While the definition of "small business" varies, the federal government, most state government agencies, and many corporations use the Size Standards published by the U.S. Small Business Administration to determine whether a business is "small." Size usually is determined by the number of employees, but may alternatively depend on gross sales or other factors. Most companies with fewer than 500 employees are considered small for procurement purposes, but the standard may be different for your industry. See the SBA website at www.sba.gov/size for specific size standards. Determining whether your business is considered small is important because federal law establishes a government-wide small business contracting goal of 23 percent of all contracting dollars. There are also separate prime and subcontracting goals for women-owned businesses (5%), small disadvantaged businesses (5%), firms located in HUBZones (3%) and service-disabled veteran owned businesses (3%). The Department of Veterans Affairs also has a self-imposed goal for veteran-owned small businesses of (7%). While these government-wide goals are not always met, they are important because they provide a management tool to focus on maximizing prime and subcontracting opportunities for small businesses. Large Corporation - For the purposes of this publication, a large corporation is any private-sector organization that is big enough to have divided procurement responsibilities - in other words, more than one department is involved in the procurement process. Note that some businesses that are considered small (up to 500 employees), may also fall into this category. FAR - The federal government's procurement activities are governed by a standardized body of rules known as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In general, all federal agencies must follow the procedures in the FAR during the procurement process. Keep in mind that individual agencies may have additional procurement regulations and guidelines that apply only to that agency. While FAR compliance is a responsibility of the government agencies, you as a contractor may find it helpful to understand relevant sections if you are concerned why a federal agency has acted in a particular way. The FAR is available online at http://www.arnet.gov/far/ The glossary provides definitions of many other terms. |
|