The Finalists

lthough they were not selected winners in this year's Business Solutions in the Public Interest awards, 12 finalists also pursued innovative acquisition strategies.

Here's a brief look at the runners-up:

ACQUISITION LIFE CYCLE
Internal Revenue Service:
The Acquisition Life Cycle program helped the agency cut costs in its cell phone spending by 5.4 percent. Prior to the new approach, the IRS had 30 national, regional and local vendors. The agency set up a customer acquisition council to study how employees were using phones and who really needed them. It also looked for ways to leverage the agencies' buying power and reduce costs. The council was eventually able to reduce the number of vendors to three. The IRS plans to use the life cycle approach and similar acquisition councils in other areas.

e-BUY
General Services Administration:
The e-Buy system allows agencies intending to place orders off the Federal Supply Schedule to post a request for quotes for a specified period of time. Using the automated system, the agency selects contractors from the schedule and sends them an electronic invitation to provide a quote. The system is on track to generate more than 10,000 requests for quotes in fiscal 2003.

FASTPACK CONTAINER
REUSE/REFURBISHMENT
Army:
Fastpacks enable quick loading of rockets into launchers. Each container holds up to four rockets. The containers are reusable, but the Army could not commit to returning them to the manufacturer, General Dynamics, for future production because it couldn't guarantee they could be retrieved from the field. At the same time, the Army did not want to stockpile containers until a sufficient number were on hand to meet contract requirements. Agreeing to a new open-ended deal, the company now takes the containers as they became available. The contract is expected to yield $8 million in cost savings over five years.

DISPOSING OF ATF VEHICLES
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms:
The ATF needed a new car salesman. The previous seller, the General Services Administration, simply took too long to get rid of old ATF vehicles. In some cases, the cars would languish in ATF lots for six months to a year. It cost the bureau an average of $1,800 to store each vehicle for 12 months. Beyond that, cars were often vandalized, leading to repair expenses. By contracting out the program, ATF has been able to accelerate the sales process. Vehicles are now sold within 90 days. Ten days after each sale, ATF gets a check for its share of the proceeds. During the first two years of the contract, 2,700 vehicles were sold for $7.8 million. By contrast, the same number of vehicles sold by GSA would have brought in only $3.1 million.

MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM HELP DESK
Defense Department:
In 1998, the Defense Department sought to consolidate its five health system help desk operations. Top brass also sought a 25 percent reduction in help desk expenditures starting in fiscal 2002. Through a partnership that includes Defense, GovWorks (a fee-for-service acquisition shop at the Interior Department), GSA and private firms, an innovative performance-based contract was established to build a new help desk. The contract consists of several goals and measures. Cost savings totaled $13 million in the first year. Government staffing of the help desk was reduced from 71 people to one-the person responsible for managing the contract.

DEPLOYING EXPLOSIVE
DETECTION EQUIPMENT
Transportation Security Administration:
Congress gave the newly created TSA 12 months to deploy a system ensuring that every piece of luggage checked on commercial airliners was screened for explosives. That meant deploying explosive detection equipment to 429 airports. Utilizing flexibility to employ various technologies, including large SUV-size machines and smaller handheld devices, TSA met its goal.

PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
RETRIEVAL SYSTEM
Defense Department, NASA and the National Institutes of Health:
The Internet-based system maintains and disseminates contractor performance evaluations that other federal agencies can access. On the site, users can research a vendor's past performance before making an award decision. The system contains 22,000 assessments of more than 6,000 contractors.

PROJECT EXTRANET
State Department and Army Corps of Engineers:
Operating in a secure Web-based environment, Project ExtraNet allows State Department and Army Corps officials to communicate with building contractors and other vendors. It permits the secure transmission of embassy building designs, inspection information and evaluations. More than 4,000 design files have been managed through the site since December 2001.

ROLL-ON BEYOND-LINE-OF-SIGHT
ENHANCEMENT
Air Force:
This communication system allows warfighters to get critical information whether they are on their way to battle, in an air fight or refueling. Real-time information is passed from air tankers to fighter planes. Using an expedited procurement strategy, the Air Force cut delivery time for the system from 48 months to 18 months.

SEAPORT
Navy:
Launched in April 2001, SeaPort was the government's first electronic procurement portal. Modeled after Amazon.com, the site allows contractors and government buyers to complete quick and cost-effective transactions. In fiscal 2002, more than 300 government users and 200 industry officials visited the site. The site processed 113 orders during that time.

STREAMLINED CONSTRUCTION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Defense Commissary Agency and Air Force:
The Air Education and Training Command Specialized Contracting Squadron and the Defense Commissary Agency developed a streamlined acquisition strategy to increase commissary construction projects over the next five years. It also covers maintenance and repairs. Under the new approach, the agencies awarded the $500 million project to 15 contractors across the country. Between 20 percent and 30 percent of the awards must go to small businesses.

NATIONAL UNIFORM PROGRAM
Customs Service:
Rather than hire a clothing manufacturer, Customs found a contractor to handle uniform requirements for 12,000 employees worldwide. The contract contains eight performance measures, including delivery time, back orders and defect rates. Employees can use a Web site to place orders. If 75 percent of the goals are met, contract incentives kick in.