June 22, 2016
IMPORTANT UPDATE: GSA to Begin Rollout of the Formatted Product Tool (FPT) Starting with Solicitation Refreshes and Mass Mods for Schedules 72 and 58 I
Source: GSA Interact, MAS Blogger, June 20, 2016
The General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) is planning to implement the Formatted Product Tool (FPT) across the GSA Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) program, beginning with select Schedules in July 2016.
Why is FAS implementing this change? Thousands of suppliers offer millions of items through the Multiple Award Schedules (MAS). These items have part numbers, descriptions, and price points that are then made available to the customer on GSA Advantage! However, decades of growth in the MAS Program and dramatic increases in the number and variety of items available through MAS is driving changes to how these items are represented and priced.
This tool will provide Schedule contractors with valuable information in terms of where their products are positioned in the marketplace, as well as contracting officers with data intelligence to use in their price evaluations and negotiations. This increase in data analytics and transparency will also help contracting officers (COs) do their jobs more efficiently, saving all parties time and money. COs will still exercise their discretion in determining fair and reasonable pricing; FPT helps them do that faster.
FPT is not a separate application – it is a systems upgrade that will be activated within the existing eOffer and eMod platforms for certain Schedules. FPT is a pivotal enhancement for the MAS supplier base removing the cumbersome and redundant SIP and CORS processes, and through an automatic upload of products and prices, improves speed to market on GSA Advantage! so items are seen immediately and can be purchased by our federal customers. Federal customers will have a more seamless shopping experience by being able to easily compare items on GSA Advantage! using standard part numbers, have increased insights into products and their pricing, and better data quality. READ MORE….
Need more information how this will affect your business? Contact your nearest PTAC to learn more about the roll-out.
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