The views and recommendations contained on this page are those of the participants at the OSME consultations. These opinions are not necessarily those of the Government of Canada.
| Theme |
Concern |
Suggestion |
| 1. Access |
A. Flexibility of system currently in place |
i. Raise sole source contract limits for professional services from $25,000 to $100,000
ii. Make Standing Offers more open and less restrictive
iii. Allow more discretion to managers for contracting
|
| B. RFPs are unnecessarily complex and often have inappropriate criteria |
iv. Suspend the mandatory requirement of a standing offer, as SMEs are currently being squeezed out due to complexity of system and lengthy requirements
v. Streamline and simplify the RFP process
vi. Ensure the writers of RFPs have knowledge of requirements for each commodity area
vii. Develop templates of criteria for the different areas of expertise
viii. Ensure the scorecard being used to award contracts includes a clarification process (one on one meeting with the manager requesting the service to answer any questions or concerns)
ix. Retain the option for local purchase orders and credit card purchases
x. Reduce paper burden
xi. Expand the Exception Policy for professional services in short term
|
| C. Duration of Standing Offers |
xii. Refresh Standing Offers on a more frequent basis
xiii. Create a mechanism which enables companies to join existing Standing Offers
xiv. Provide mechanism for firms that clearly demonstrate they can offer the same goods and services at a lower cost compared to a standing offer to be utilized by departments
|
| D. Government buyers consider SMEs to be riskier suppliers |
xv. Promote SMEs
xvi. Subdivide regions so that rural SMEs can compete for more region specific work
|
| E. Commodity categorization |
xvii. Create new categorizations under Professional Services commodity
|
| 2. Accountability |
F. Value for Money |
xviii. Consider quality not just price
xix. Consider full life cycle cost, not just the purchase price
xx. Restrain large firms from charging premiums for sub-contracted work of SMEs
|
| G. Government burn rate not balanced throughout fiscal year |
xxi. Make changes to the requirement that all contracts created near end of fiscal must be completed by end of fiscal, provide more time to deliver a higher quality product
|
| 3. Complexity and Cost |
H. RFP process is long and costly |
xxii. Reduce the number and scale of requirements for RFPs
|
| I. There is confusion both within and outside the government about procurement |
xxiii. Create one stop shop for SME procurement advice and training
xxiv. Humanize the process to permit interaction between bidders and government department managers requesting the service
|
| J. MERX |
xxv. Simplify the system, make it user friendly
xxvi. Reduce the cost affiliated with preparing & submitting a bid through MERX and the cost of monitoring MERX (time lost due to difficulty of searching system)
|
| K. Cost of writing and submitting proposals |
xxvii. Reduce time it takes to complete RFPs
xxviii. Reduce size of proposals required
xxix. Remove mid-sized contracts from the RFP process as the cost of bidding on a $25,000 can be unreasonable for SMEs
|
| 4. Communication |
L. Lack of dialogue between specific industry sectors and government |
xxx. Continue to hold workshops and engage SMEs
xxxi. Make consultations more industry specific
|
| M. Changes not understood by or communicated to SME community |
xxxii. Communicate frequently both internally and externally
xxxiii. Provide training to ensure a better understanding of requirements and changes
|
| N. Departmental communications |
xxxiv. Ensure that PWGSC is morenot responsive to supplier complaints
xxxv. Create a single point of entry for suppliers who have concerns with procurement
|
