Procurement Links

Several dozen World Wide Web sites related to government procurement issues are now on-line. They tend to share an overabundant feature: a list of links to all the other procurement sites on the Net. It's easy to find yourself caught up in a tangled web of links bringing you to the same information again and again.

Our succinct reviews of select procurement sites, organized by functionality, can help you maximize on-line time by minimizing the number of clicks it takes to reach the information you need.

BUYING RESPONSIBLY

JWOD.com
Under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act, federal agencies are required to purchase certain products and services from nonprofit agencies that employ the blind and disabled. JWOD.com makes it easy. The site accepts orders online, by phone or by mail, and also accepts bulk orders. Next-day delivery for nearly 600 of the most popular JWOD items is available.

BUYING RECYCLED

Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines
The Environmental Protection Agency's Web site pulls together everything a PO and CO needs to know about buying recycled, including product fact sheets, buy-recycled news, and frequently asked questions.

FAR 15 REWRITE

FAR Part 15 Rewrite Final Rule
The long-awaited rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15 has been released. The rewrite covers contracting by negotiation and competitive range determination.

PROCUREMENT SEARCH ENGINE

Government Solutions' Procurement Search Engine
Good luck ever finding the procurement information you need via one of the big search engines like Yahoo! or AltaVista. They're just too big. Now Government Solutions has created a limited search engine, which only searches government procurement sites. While not guaranteed to find what you're looking for, the Procurement Search Engine does increase your chances for success.

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT SITES

Defense Acquisition Deskbook
The Defense Acquisition Deskbook Reference Set can be downloaded from this well-laid out web site. The Bulletin Board section includes newsletters, upcoming events, and an "Ask a Professor" discussion area that allows you to pose questions to a team of defense procurement experts.

Acquisition Reform Net
This NPR-led effort includes the Federal Acquisition Training Institute, a searchable database of best procurement practices, and a reference area of useful acquisition documents. Go to the Water Cooler in the Electronic Forum to enter a lively discussion of procurement-related issues.

The Navy Acquisition Reform Office
The Navy's comprehensive acquisition reform site includes a market research tutorial, a guide to simulation-based acquisition, a discussion area for acquisition professionals, additional training materials, policy announcements and a compilation of AR success stories.

Federal Acquisition Regulations at GSA
The federal government's guidelines for procurement practices are available here in both HTML (World Wide Web) and PDF (Adobe Acrobat) formats.

Federal Acquisition Jumpstation
This comprehensive list of acquisition links, sponsored by NASA, is considered the front door to federal procurement on the web. Plan to surf for awhile from here because the jumpstation does not describe what you're going to find once you link away.

MARKET RESEARCH

The Navy Acquisition Reform Office
The Navy's AR office has put together a handy market research tutorial. The tutorial explains what market research is, how to get started and how to document market research to support acquisition decisions.

CONTRACTOR NEWS AND INFORMATION

Today's Commerce Business Daily
GPO and the Department of Commerce have teamed up to bring you the Commerce Business Daily on-line. Procurement folks can also post synopses directly to the CBD from the GPO Web site.

Loren Data's CBD
The original free Commerce Business Daily on-line, with archives back to January 1995. For a fee, you can access smaller government contracts through Loren's World-Wide EDI.

Government Solutions
Government Solutions is a free service for procurement professionals. Its lively discussion area on proposals is a must-visit. Other features include searchable reference materials and networking opportunities.

The Federal Marketplace
This subscription-based service for government contractors includes a searchable active contracts database.

GovCon
GovCon offers FACNET listings, Commerce Business Daily, and a teaming opportunities database. GovCon is free, but requires registration.

BidCast
BidCast is a subscription-based service that searches the Commerce Business Daily and e-mails subscribers information on contracts for which they might want to bid.

FEDERAL ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Joint Electronic Commerce Program Office
The Defense Department office charged with coordinating electronic commerce initiatives throughout DoD and the military services.

Federal Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange Index
This well-organized, comprehensive site maintained by GSA includes a tutorial on how to get started in electronic commerce and substantial reference materials for EDI users.

GSA Advantage!
If you've never visited GSA's on-line shopping system, read the Frequently Asked Questions page to get started.

UNICOR Federal Prison Industries
150+ products, online catalogs, electronic ordering, 1-800 number customer and technical help, and more.