2-1.3 Components of a Purchase Plan

2-1.3.1 Competitive Purchases

As discussed in Section 2-1.1, General, a purchase plan should be concise and informative, providing a clear understanding of the best value sought and the business processes that will be used to attain that value. The following list shows the components the plan should address:

  1. General Information.
  2. Purpose of the Purchase.
  3. Purchase History.
  4. Statement of Objectives (SOO) | Statement of Work (SOW) | Specifications.
  5. Conflicts of Interest.
  6. Organizational.
  7. Use of Consultants or Professional Services.
  8. Other.
  9. Sustainability.
  10. Mandatory Sources.
  11. Union Notification | Article 32.
  12. Price Estimate and Funding Availability.
  13. Delivery Schedule | Period of Performance (Including Options and/or Renewals).
  14. Market Research.
  15. Request for Information Use.
  16. Supplier Diversity.
  17. Competitive Designation.
  18. Publicized Competition.
  19. Limited Competition.
  20. Formal Prequalification.
  21. Supplier Participation List.
  22. Sourcing Strategy.
  23. Single or Multiple Awards.
  24. Sourcing Tools.
  25. Contract Type.
  26. Contract Type Selection.
  27. Incentive Components.
  28. Ordering.
  29. Ordering Process.
  30. Multiple Awards – Further Competition Plans.
  31. Proposal Evaluation Members and Approach.
  32. Components of the Proposal Evaluation Strategy.
  33. Best Value.
  34. Proposal Evaluation Factors.
  35. Proposal Evaluation Scoring.
  36. Price/Cost Analysis.
  37. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
  38. Special Considerations.
  39. Interdependencies with other Projects, Contracts and/or Purchases.
  40. Technology Compatibility or Integration Requirements.
  41. Bonds, Insurance, Taxes, and/or Performance Guarantees Requirements.
  42. Other Considerations.
  43. Subcontracting Plan.
  44. Supplier Reporting.
  45. Contract Administration.
  46. Contracting Officer‘s Representative (COR) Appointment.
  47. Quality Assurance | Warranty | First Article Testing.
  48. Payment Discounts or Unique Terms.
  49. Privacy Protection and Security Considerations (including Information Technology).
  50. Security Clearances.
  51. Access to Postal Service Systems or Information.
  52. Access to Postal Service Facilities.
  53. Data Rights and Intellectual Property.
  54. Required Property or Facilities.
  55. End of Contract and Knowledge Transition Services.
  56. Supply Chain Management Impact.
  57. Risk Assessment and Risk Management.
  58. Key Milestones | Schedule.
  59. Required Reviews and Approvals.
  60. Signatures (Preparer, Review, and Approvals).

2-1.3.2 Noncompetitive Purchases

A purchase plan for a noncompetitive purchase should be concise and informative, providing a clear understanding of the best value sought and business processes that will be used to obtain that value. The Noncompetitive Purchase Request (NPR, see Section 2-10, Determine Extent of Competition) should be approved prior to the completion and submission of the purchase plan for review and approval. In addition to the information required by the NPR, the following elements should be addressed in a noncompetitive purchase plan. Purchase/SCM teams should focus on these elements and any others that will help to obtain the best value for the Postal Service:

  1. General Information.
  2. Purpose of the Purchase.
  3. Purchase History.
  4. Statement of Objective (SOO) | Statement of Work (SOW) | Specifications.
  5. Conflicts of Interest.
  6. Organizational.
  7. Use of Consultants or Professional Services.
  8. Other.
  9. Sustainability.
  10. Mandatory Sources.
  11. Union Notification | Article 32.
  12. Price Estimate and Funding Availability.
  13. Delivery Schedule | Period of Performance (Including Options and/or Renewals).
  14. Market Research.
  15. Request for Information Use.
  16. Supplier Diversity.
  17. Competitive Designation.
  18. Publicized Competition.
  19. Limited Competition.
  20. Formal Prequalification.
  21. Sourcing Strategy and Future Purchases.
  22. Single or Multiple Awards.
  23. Contract Type.
  24. Contract Type Selection.
  25. Incentive Components.
  26. Ordering.
  27. Ordering Process.
  28. Multiple Awards – Further Competition Plans.
  29. Proposal Evaluation Members and Approach.
  30. Components of the Proposal Evaluation Strategy.
  31. Negotiation Plan.
  32. Proposal Evaluation Factors.
  33. Proposal Evaluation Process.
  34. Price/Cost Analysis.
  35. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
  36. Special Considerations.
  37. Interdependencies with other Projects, Contracts and/or Purchases.
  38. Technology Compatibility or Integration Requirements.
  39. Bonds, Insurance, Taxes, and/or Performance Guarantees Requirements.
  40. Other Considerations.
  41. Subcontracting Plan.
  42. Supplier Reporting.
  43. Contract Administration.
  44. Contracting Officer‘s Representative (COR) Appointment.
  45. Quality Assurance | Warranty | First Article Testing.
  46. Payment Discounts or Unique Terms.
  47. Privacy Protection and Security Considerations (Including Information Technology).
  48. Security Clearances.
  49. Access to Postal Service Systems or Information.
  50. Access to Postal Service Facilities.
  51. Data Rights and Intellectual Property.
  52. Required Property or Facilities.
  53. End of Contract and Knowledge Transition Services.
  54. Supply Chain Management Impact.
  55. Risk Assessment and Risk Management.
  56. Key Milestones | Schedule.
  57. Requirement Reviews and Approvals.
  58. Signatures (Preparer, Review, and Approvals).