MRO and JanSan FSSI to go live – OS3 looking to follow
GSA has recently completed the award process for two new Federal Strategic Sources Initiative (FSSI) BPA’s and is getting ready to go live in GSAAdvantage. Once live, eligible ordering activities will be able to purchase from a short list of awarded vendors through the program. The Maintenance, Repair & Operations Supplies (MRO) and Janitorial and Sanitation Supplies (JanSan) FSSI’s have already completed their award process and the MRO FSSI is looking to go live on August 1st, 2014, JanSan has not stated a live date as of this morning.
These FSSI’s are very similar to GSA Schedules in that they are pre-negotiated Government-wide multiple award contracts or Blanket Purchase Agreements. In fact, FSSI was once a pilot program designed to further drive the price down for popular products based on historical purchases. The pricing is still continuously being driven to the ground as task orders are bid through the GSA reverse auction platform. It is this cost savings methodology that has GSA overcoming multiple protests and backlash from industry.
With the two new FSSI’s going live, you can be certain that this program is here to stay and fits is the future in streamlined government purchasing.
As GSA kicks off new FSSI BPAs, they are temporarily suspending the corresponding GSA schedule SINS from new offers. The latest moratorium is on the GSA Schedule 51 V, which has (including the Hardware Superstore SINs) to new offerors. When the Office Supply FSSI was awarded, GSA Schedule 75 closed its doors to new offers, initially just for two years, but they have continued to extend the moratorium indefinitely.
The next FSSI looking to be finalized is GSA’s third iteration of the highly successful Office Supplies FSSI, currently in price negotiations. OS3 will join MRO and JanSan on GSAAdvantage very soon!
Please be sure to visit more often as we aim to keep you updated with the latest updates involving the FSSI program.
You can also find updates on GSA Interact.
For over 20 years, Coley GCS has helped companies worldwide successfully win and manage more than $26 Billion in Government Contracts. We specialize in GSA Schedules but support any contracting vehicle. We build long term relationships with clients –many who have put their trust in our advice for over two decades.