Procurement, Essay Example

In the State of North Carolina, the Division of Purchase & Contract is the central authority of purchase for all universities, state departments, agencies, community colleges, and institutions. The same services are also availed to private universities and colleges, local governments, non-state entities, and public school systems. The same division establishes term contracts and disseminates information via the Internet, which is through searchable electronic catalogs. Agency do not need to solicit separate bids because the division helps in combining statewide demands, that is, for the items commonly used, into one contract. To the users, this is an advantage because it saves on money. Interactive Purchasing System (IPS) is where procurements are publicized. This online catalog lists solicitations from local governments, public schools, state campuses and departments who also need to register through Vendor Link NC. Thereafter, a bidding opportunities notification e-mail is provided. The online State’s purchasing system is the NC E-Procurement @ Your Service. It is used by State institutions and Agencies, universities, public schools, community colleges, and local governments. Here, vendors are provided with a single access point to government organizations of North Carolina. Therefore, they are able to respond to quotes from existing and new buyer organizations.

Model Procurement Code (KRS 45A) legislation was first adopted in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It prescribes Kentucky State’s Government method of bid, negotiation, and contract wards. The most preferred method used is the competitive sealed bidding. Technical or complex procurement requirements are bid as competitive negotiations through the use of an official Request for Proposal (RFP). In any case, a formal request bid is issued by Solicitation that is open and competitive or RFP, and awards are in accordance with the MPC. For state agencies, the standard procedure of solicitation involves requisition; public Solicitation; responses receipt; assessment; and a contract award.

The initial document with specific requirement(s) for purchase and criteria of the award is identified by the state agency Requisition. Accuracy and competitiveness of the document is done by the agency’s purchasing officer. Thereafter, an appropriate Solicitation is released on the website (http://eprocurement.ky.gov) of Commonwealth’s eProcurement. Solicitation process only occurs on confirmation by an agency’s authority above, which submits the Requisition to the Cabinet of Finance and Administration.

Solicitation Responses are then sent online, as a hard copy, via mail, when Solicitation authorizes. The method of contracting (primary) is by sealed bid or Request for Bid. Once bids are received, they are opened publicly and in the Solicitation are place Stated. They can be read publicly only when requested by an interested party. Later, bids are then tabulated; checked for responsiveness to stated terms, specification and terms; evaluated; and awarded by the Commonwealth to the bidder with Best Value. Every Solicitation states the criteria of evaluation. In other cases, the Commonwealth uses RFP, which is not read publicly, but includes a comprehensive requirements performance, technical provisions, and specific criteria of evaluation for scoring offers. As a result, this criterion bases its results of awarding Contracts. Across the country of Kentucky, numerous scandals affecting public purchasing were evident and thus, the MPC was drafted by ABA. This model is not a uniform code and is a highly flexible framework of statutes that establish a set of standard ethics. The three request types in finding vendors are RFI (Request for Information) where the contract is not implied; RFQ (Request for Quote) where price quotes are retrieved from prospective vendors; and RFP (Request for Proposal) where a specific scope of work needs to be performed that asks for an inclusive proposal and pricing from vendor. Under most circumstances, regulations for both federal and state require bids that are competitive. RFP needs to match with approved funds and strategies of strategic and operational plan. RFP’s identify the scope of work and statement; contract type; schedules, specifications, and timeline deliverable; criteria of vendor eligibility, requirements of data; terms and conditions, services description, and criteria of evaluation.

Several contract types are available depending on what the state needs from the vendor, which includes no cost contracts, fixed price contracts, and cost reimbursable contracts. All these have sub-types providing additional incentives and or prioritize on certain projects on a merit basis. Available awards are single and multiple however; vendors are selected using methods like weighted average criteria and lower estimates of costs among others. Contract awarding is through addressing protests from vendors or arising conflicts concerning interests and additional vendor negotiations that include documents like press releases, notice of Intent to award, procurement contract award. Bidder conferences are arranged that are transparent to reduce the conflicts that arise. RFI is the least applied selection method since various pieces of information are requested by the state, but vendors are not implied by this request. Hence, vendors do not put much effort into stipulated responses.

In conclusion, Kentucky state procurement process is not a tedious process and vendors have access to all updated information through their accounts. This shows how technology plays an important role in achieving government contracts. Corruption is a peril that needs to be curbed in order to facilitate transparency of government systems and offices.