The General Services Administration (GSA) was established in July 1949 by President Harry Truman to streamline the administrative work of the federal government. Today GSA provides centralized procurement for the federal government by managing the Federal Supply Schedules program, known more commonly as GSA Schedules. GSA Schedules is a purchasing vehicle that offers more than 12 million commercial supplies and services and is open for use to any federal agency within the Executive Branch. Currently there are 24 Schedules offering commercial goods and services which are managed directly by GSA. There are also another eight federal supply schedules managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 2015, GSA executed an initiative to consolidate professional services across seven schedules into a single schedule, now known as 00Corp. The introduction of 00Corp simplified federal acquisitions of professional services by reducing the number of purchases required to obtain a total solution and eliminating the need for contractors to maintain multiple schedule contracts in order to offer a total solution.
In November 2018 GSA announced that it will once again renovate the schedules program by consolidating the agency’s 24 schedules into one single schedule. On October 1, 2019 GSA will release a solicitation that will replace all 24 previous solicitations in an effort to further facilitate a more efficient and effective acquisitions solution across the federal government.
Alan Thomas, GSA Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner said “Reorganizing our categories and consolidating our SINs is a big step toward our final goal of a single Schedule, this will be a win - win for our buyers and industry partners. Suppliers will be able to come to the marketplace with their offerings using a solutions-based approach -- mirroring the way agencies buy. It will also allow our customers to more easily find and buy the right solutions to fulfill their missions using a single schedule, instead of buying products from one schedule and services from another. It’s all about making it easier for everyone to work with government.”
GSA has been working diligently with their staff and stakeholders to develop the new schedule. In June 2019, GSA released a Request for Information to obtain feedback from vendors regarding the new solicitation, which we know will be organized by category to eliminate the duplication of SINs across current solicitations. Stephanie Shutt, MAS Program Management Office Director, has assured us that, with the new solicitation, no new terms and conditions would be introduced, only duplications eliminated. However, any SIN specific clauses will continue to apply to their respective new SIN; such as small business set-asides, the State/Local government Cooperative Purchasing Agreement, or SIN specific industrial funding fees.
Any new GSA schedule offers or modifications are to be submitted under the current solicitation up until September 30, 2019. Once the new solicitation is released on October 1, 2019 all new offers and modifications will need to reference the new solicitation. Vendors will now have the opportunity to add SINs that were previously on separate schedules and even consolidate multiple contracts to a single contract, if desired. Consolidating your contracts can considerably reduce your administrative burden as a GSA schedule holder.
Current contractors will receive a mass modification in January 2020 to accept the new solicitation. This mass mod will need to be accepted for each contract that your company holds. It is notable to mention that your contract number, period of performance, and contracting officer will not change. The SINs will convert to a new format, using NAICS codes as the basis for their naming convention.
Consolidating the schedules program is just one of many initiatives that GSA has undertaken to help simplify the federal acquisitions process for both federal consumers and vendors. Most recently GSA created the FAS Sales Reporting Portal that replaced 72A, TDR, and CAF. GSA is also currently assisting with the SAM consolidation.
These changes are huge and will require the attention of your GSA contract administrator. Winvale is here to help, we’ve supported more than 3,000 commercial and government organizations since 2003. As an industry leader, our single focus is our client’s success by providing expert guidance and managing your GSA Schedule acquisition and/or maintenance.
Looking for more information about the Schedules Consolidation? Download our GSA MAS Consolidation Quicksheet.