SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Conduct an analysis of funds that are paid to contracts due to late payments by the govt for avoidable delays. Review reward fee structures on pay-for-performance contracts that are not adequately motivating the contractor to deliver the best product to the govt and adjust accordingly. I've seen a number of long-standing contractors start to ease-back while their performance slips, though we continue to rate and pay... more »

I have been here for about a year and I have already seen two instances where my group was told that the contract modifications we proposed will not get done because the contracting office is "too busy". These two instances would have saved the government over 500,000 over time. This is just for a small division with a handful of contracts and I can only imagine how that would add up across the government.

We should... more »

Currently defense contracts for supplies run from 7 to 35 pages. A majority of the pages are filled with boiler plate clauses that are "agency" related, not related to the specific procurement. Suggest Procurement offices create one boilerplate of clauses to keep on file for each cage code. This signed document would be a blanket agreement to cover all contracts issued by that procurement office. For example, DLA... more »

The current system of Service Disabled Veteran Owned contracting preference has caused the cost of constuction to soar unnecessarily.While well intentioned, it has created a very limited pool of vendors with little incentive to be competitive. I would recommend that a minimum scaling factor for percentage of veterans employed would do far more to improve the lives of our returning veterans, including those who are service... more »

As the military continues to trudge on with our war on terror, the burden and cost are rising. The weapons systems we have been using are patched and re-patched to keep them working. Some weapons are from the Vietnam era and continue to fail. Whether it’s training or real combat, our troops deserve a weapon/platform they can rely on. The Army is on its THIRD attempt to replace the M4 with another system. There are many... more »

Limit the salaries of executives on M&O and other cost plus contracts to that of the Deputy Sectretary That's for the TOP guy at the contractor. For each step down in the contractor organization, the top salary is the next lower level of the Executive Schedule.

 

And oh yes, no "bounuses" to these guys, unless it comes out of Fee or Profit.

The US has a lot of dollar coins in storage. Moslty at Federal Reserve Banks and Leased Space. Change the payment section of the contracts to allow payment in Coins. This would require either an address where the coins will be delivered or and andress where the coins can be picked up by the contrator.

By using these coins, which have been minted allready, the government would not have to borrow that money,

A payment... more »

As the number of GSA vehicles in our fleet grows, more and more time and fuel is spent shuttling these vehicles in town to an authorized service center for the most basic of needs.

We are not according to contract authorized to use shop supplies, equipment, of facilities to do the simplest items of maintenance and upkeep.

It seems counter productive when a vehicle needs a headlamp, windshield wiper blade, oil change,... more »

Develop electronic contracting templates for similar actions to expedite contract awards. A format like MasterFormat (used in construction) could be used, with appropriate divisions and sections.

While there are contracts that are meant to promote good business and help raise the platform (small business, disadvantaged etc) the contracts do not always allow for the best expertise or price. In addition an increased allowance in "off the shelf" products would be beneficial. The market should be truly competitive and not a hand out.

Negotiate federal-wide contracts with telephone and cell-phone carriers (possibly by region) that any qualified federal entity can "piggy-back" onto. Volume discounts could result in considerable savings. Years ago when I was a contractor, I worked on a consulting engagement with a large county-funded hospital that followed a similar approach. Essentially, the hopsital piggy-backed off of a county contract for land-line... more »

For all new contracts, leases, and grants, that typically have escalations associated with out-year performance, change the contract/lease escalation claues to reflect CPI-U or C-CPI-U, instead of CPI-W. This would apply to all federal agencies in the Executive Branch.

In today’s’ world everyone searches for data. Everyone has a laptop, not a desktop… an iphone, blackberry, or android phone, and everyone loves a simple conservative interface. Our dependency on Microsoft products offers no fiscal reward regarding cost, productivity, training, maintenance and growth.
The data our federal government warehouses in contracted networks is ridiculously hard to navigate. I spend more time... more »

Many government resources like the United States Air Force have a mandated process for purchasing new computers. The Air Force in particular must purchase computers through AFWAY in accordance with Instruction. Recently I purchased $14,000 worth of HP computers for my unit. I bought 20 microtowers from the limited selection AFWAY offered me. After a quick search on Google Products, the towers I purchased were only $50... more »

Fixed fees do not create incentives for contractors to do the best job that they can do. The braod majority of government contracts used fixed fee awards. This wastes government funds! The U.S. should switch to using performance based fees, and remove the use of fixed fees under all circumstances, except special cases as listed under a FAR update.