A Federal Supply Schedule or Management Organization and Business Improvement Services (MOBIS) buy is a simplified process designed by the General Services Administration (GSA) for ordering various items or services that they have negotiated with vendors and that are listed on multiple award schedules.

Each schedule has groupings of items and services that are offered as listed on the GSA web site:

http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov/ElibMain/ElibHome

In order to begin the process of obtaining services for your DOE organization, the procurement office will need the following:

· A purchase request (PR) and a performance based Statement of Work. Also attached to the package will need to be the criteria that will be used to evaluate the contractors. We ask that all customers send an advance copy of the statement of work so we can ensure that it is performance based.

· Program offices will need to select off the GSA schedule three contractors that can support the initiative. It is best to find companies that are local or have some affiliation in the local area. In using local vendors you can save on travel cost. The three vendors names and information pulled from the federal supply schedule will need to be submitted with the PR package.

Your request for purchase will then be put out in solicitation form on the Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS). If the program office thinks there is a need for a pre-proposal conference the contracting office will send a notice to the three vendors selected to participate in the procurement process. The reason for a pre-proposal is so the program office can expound on the SOW, if necessary. It is not necessary to hold a pre-proposal conference. The SOW should be able to spell out what is needed by the program office. The process on IIPS should take approximately 7-10 days for the contractor's to respond.

The program office will need to select and ensure that the evaluators are registered on IIPS. To register in IIPS evaluators will need to go to the www.e-center.doe.gov site. If you need assistance on registering please contact the Contract Specialist. Notice will be sent to the evaluators and they can download and read the proposals. Of course, price will be a consideration but also technical factors will of course play a factor in the selection of a contractor.

After the evaluations are done and sent to the contracting office, the contracting office will evaluate the submittal and will award a contract based on "Best Value." The contractor will be notified and work will commence.

The GSA schedule has provided federal agencies the services needed to accomplish Agency missions in a simple and efficient manner.