Shay Assad, director of pricing, procurement and acquisition policy at the Defense Department, recently said that the agency will soon release a new policy that would help reduce the lead time for major procurements, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.
Under the new policy, which would apply specifically to sole-source acquisitions, vendors and contractors would negotiate a contract’s first year using one cost and pricing data set, then forecast the contract’s second and third year options using the same data set.
The policy reduces the amount of pricing data required from vendors, thereby speeding up the procurement process.
Assad said, however, that the new policy is dependent upon a key provision in the Senate’s version of the fiscal 2019 defense budget allowing the defense secretary to pilot alternative contracting and pricing programs.
The full enactment of the policy would only be possible if the provision makes it to the final version of the appropriation bill.