14 replies to this topic

[Don Acquisition]

FAR 8.002(a)(1)(v) states the following as a mandatory source of supply:

"Wholesale supply sources, such as stock programs of the General Services Administration (GSA) (see 41 CFR 101-26.3), the Defense Logistics Agency (see 41 CFR 101-26.6), the Department of Veterans Affairs (see 41 CFR 101-26.704), and military inventory control points;"

Is there an easy way to find out if an item of supply is available from wholesale supply sources?  If not, how do you ensure that an item is not available from wholesale supply sources before purchasing from a Federal Supply Schedule or a commercial source?

[Vern Edwards]

Don:

Isn't that covered in the FEDSTRIP and MILSTRIP manuals?

[Don Acquisition]

Vern,

I don't see anything in the MILSTRIP manual that says something like "Check the following database to see if the required item is available from a wholesale supply source..."

Let's say a contracting office receives a requisition for a supply and the requiring activity claims that the item is not available from a required source.  There are easy ways to verify that an item item is not in agency inventory, is not available as excess property from other agencies, is not available from FPI, and not on the AbilityOne Procurement List.  How can the contracting officer verify that an item is not available from a wholesale supply source?

[Vern Edwards]

I don't know. Sorry.

[Don Acquisition]

No problem.

[civ_1102]

Don, the GSA Global Supply Program is the GSA wholesale supply source.  They have a decent FAQ about it on http://www.gsa.gov/p...103940#12.  You can search online at https://www.gsagloba...ain/home.do  As far as I know, there is no single database for the three wholesale programs (GSA, DLA, VA). However, the three sources are mutually exclusive in that broad commodity areas have been divied up amongst the three.

I cannot speak for DLA or VA, but I can tell you that for GSA, if the national stock number (NSN) is on the procurement list, you can still safely buy it from Global Supply because they will be sourcing it from AbilityOne.

[Don Acquisition]

Thanks, civ_1102.  I knew about GSA Global Supply.  I'm looking for a system that sees everything (GSA, DLA, VA, and military inventory control points).  A colleague of mine said that the Navy has such a system, but access is strictly controlled.  A CO wanting to verify the nonavailability of supplies from wholesale supply sources would not typically have access.  The CO could call someone with access and would have to take their word for it.

[Velhammer]

Don: WebFLIS claims "capability to view material assets in storage, in-process, in-transit, and in-theater for all services, DLA and GSA" www.dlis.dla.mil/webflis/pub/pub_search.aspx

[ji20874]

Don,

Is is reasonable to say that contracting officers need not concern themselves with wholesale supply sources?  I ask because it seems to me a requisitioner or purchase request writer should have already checked those sources before sending a purchase request to the contracting shop, and a contracting officer should be able to rely on that person's effort.

[Retreadfed]

Don, check out this site and see if it helps.  http://www.dlis.dla....dures/vol01.pdf

[Don Acquisition]

Velhammer & Retreadfed,

That's what I was looking for.  Thank you.

ji20874,

I wouldn't expect a CO to check wholesale supply sources if the agency's standard procedure was to have the requisitioner check.  However, as a CO, I would want to know how to check if I had any doubts.

[Vern Edwards]

Learned something. Cool.

[Don Acquisition]

Velhammer, on 30 April 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Don: WebFLIS claims "capability to view material assets in storage, in-process, in-transit, and in-theater for all services, DLA and GSA" www.dlis.dla.mil/webflis/pub/pub_search.aspx

Velhammer,

Where is that claim made in relation to WebFLIS?  I see where DLA makes that claim regarding a program of theirs called Asset Visibility (AV), but not WebFLIS.

[Velhammer]

Don:
   Sorry for the delay is responding.  I guess it was a nomenclature problem: I've always refered to the website as webflis.  I believe that if you are actually registered for restricted access, you have access to all the data that DLA tracks.  It has been years since I've done supplies, but the webflis search was pretty effective at pulling up items and letting you know if they were assigned items, what the advice code was, and which issue control point you needed to contact. Having the DLA handbook was also useful.

[Don Acquisition]

Velhammer,

Thanks.  WebFLIS is still very handy.  I just registered for AV and I can now see inventory levels for DLA and military inventory control points.  The program doesn't track inventory at GSA, however.  No big deal--GSA Global Supply is easy enough to check.

Thanks for the education.

-Don