422 Week 5: Formal source selection

CMBOK defines source selection as "determining what company wins a contract".  This selection process has many different variables, but is driven by the best value continuum. "An agency can obtain the best value in negotiated acquisitions by using any one or a combination of source selection approaches. In different types of acquisitions, the relative importance of cost or price may vary. For example, in acquisitions where the requirement is clearly definable and the risk of unsuccessful contract performance is minimal, cost or price may play a dominant role in source selection. The less definitive the requirement, the more development work required, or the greater the performance risk, the more technical or past performance considerations may play a dominant role in source selection"(acquisition.gov).  There have been times from my experience, where the variables of what was needed changed the best value continuum.  The one thing that is considered and often changes the best value is the usage of small businesses.  From my experience, there has always been a delay in shipping a large quantity of products from a small company due to the amount of space that the company has.  The inability to hold all products until the order is complete makes for a multiple shipment order, which in the world of logistics may become a problem.  This becomes a problem when the reconciliation of purchases has to be completed due to different receipts and or invoices.  Usually when a company can not hold products and must send multiple shipments the award goes to a larger company who can fit the bill.  

Response 2

This week’s forum work is going to be a little interesting since I don’t have any personal experience when it comes to the source selection process. In source selection, you have two different methods that the Contracting Officer can choose from when needing services or product. The first one is lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) this is when a service/product meets all the requirements with minimal risk and is offered at the lowest price available. The second method is the Tradeoff method that allows the contracting officer to instead of using lowest price they can use high costs and lower technical rating. Each one of these methods have pros and cons when it comes to procurement of goods.

The LPTA is considered one of those methods that you get what you paid for; meaning that if you go to the store and you decide that you want a new dishwasher but don’t want to spend a whole lot of money, you will look for what meets your requirements and is well below your budget. The sad part about that is you end up buying a product that is not as well made and breaks in a couple of years. Whereas the Tradeoff method you can go to the store and find a dishwasher that may not have all the options that you want and cost a 100 dollars more. But, that product is known to be a quality made product and lasts longer than just a couple of years. So when it comes to source selection you can run into problems of having to continually replace items which intern will cost you in the long run, or you can spend a little more, and the product lasts longer.