Suppliers are essential and valued business partners of the Postal Service, and the Postal Service is committed to treating its suppliers in a fair, objective, and business-like manner. Relations between the Postal Service and its suppliers will be strong, mutually beneficial, and based upon sound business practices, respect and trust, with both parties working toward a common goal.
Within the relationship, both parties — Postal Service supplying professionals and suppliers — are expected to act ethically, keep commitments, ensure the delivery of high-quality goods and services, and focus on continuous improvement of products, processes, and costs and prices. The Postal Service will manage supplier relationships based on the potential impact the supplier’s performance will have on the Postal Service’s operational and financial position.
The Postal Service is committed to having a world-class supply base. Therefore, the Postal Service will continuously measure, analyze, and enhance supplier performance relative to contractual requirements and the best practices of world-class supply organizations.
Postal Service supplying professionals will seek out methods to optimize its supplier base in line with the specific characteristics of the market, the good or service being supplied, and the goals of the Postal Service. In many cases, optimizing the supply base will include efforts to consolidate purchases among a smaller group of more capable and strategic suppliers to reduce costs (including transaction costs) and to improve quality and performance.
The Postal Service also understands that a diverse supplier base is important from both a performance and business standpoint. Therefore, through promotion, outreach efforts, and other means, the Postal Service will strive, as a strategic business initiative, to establish and maintain a strong, competitive supplier base that reflects the diversity of the supplier community. Additionally, Postal Service suppliers are expected to use small–, minority-, and woman-owned businesses (SMWOBs) as subcontractors to the maximum extent consistent with effective contract performance.
The Postal Service is an establishment of the United States (U.S.) government whose customer base is comprised mainly of American citizens and businesses. The Postal Service understands its interest in promoting American industry and a free market economy in countries with which the U.S. has entered into trade agreements. Therefore, as a matter of both business relations and effectiveness, and subject to the limitations set-out in the implementing practice, proposals considered for selection and (1) offering domestic end products or (2) proposals offering end products produced in designated World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries are given preference by the Postal Service when they compete with proposals of relatively equal value containing end products from non-designated WTO GPA and FTA countries.
Members of the Postal Service’s unified supply chain, from the supplier’s supplier to the end customer, will work in an integrated and collaborative manner to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the flow of goods, services, and information. This collaboration will include communication and feedback, knowledge-sharing, supply and demand planning and management, product and service design, make vs. buy decisions, production and scheduling, order fulfillment, warehousing, inventory control and distribution, and disposal.
The Postal Service will explore innovative teaming, supplier-managed inventory, strategic alliance, value-engineering, shared-savings, and other non-traditional contracting arrangements with suppliers.
The Postal Service will provide offerors notification of and rationale for contract awards; debriefings will be available if requested. In order to attract and retain quality suppliers, develop true strategic relationships, and spur communication of innovative solutions without the fear of suppliers’ capabilities and ideas becoming known to competitors, the Postal Service will protect proprietary business information to the extent required by law and good business practice. In turn, when requested by the Postal Service, suppliers are expected to provide current, complete, and accurate cost or pricing data or any other information to ensure reasonable pricing.
Lastly, in order to maintain effective performance and Postal Service-supplier communication, contractual disagreements will be addressed by both parties at the contracting officer or appropriate management level; if disagreements are not resolved at this level, they may be pursued with the Postal Service’s Supplier SDR Official.
