GSA begins Phase 3 of Multiple Award Schedule consolidation
The General Services Administration completed the second phase of its effort to consolidate 24 schedules for products, services and solutions into one Multiple Award Schedule (MAS).
Now, moving into Phase 3, GSA will require MAS holders to consolidate their multiple contracts into one per unique entity identifier (UEI) to simplify acquisitions for agencies, contracting officers and the suppliers themselves.
Between mid-July and the July 31 deadline, GSA went from 85% of contractors accepting its Mass Modification — Phase 2 of the process in which pre-existing contracts were updated to meet MAS terms and conditions — to 99%. The 1% of contractors that didn’t accept the Mass Mod will have their offering removed from GSA’s eTools platform.
“Now we’re entering the ‘home stretch’ of MAS consolidation and focusing on schedule holders with multiple contracts,” Julie Dunne, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service within GSA, said Monday in an announcement. “During this final phase we’ll consolidate their multiple contracts down to one, making it easier for customers to find and purchase the solutions they need to meet their missions.”
Choosing a main contract forces suppliers to streamline their schedule business strategy and identify a single point of contact for MAS work — reducing their overhead costs, said Stephanie Shutt, director of the MAS Program Management Office at GSA, in a statement.
About $33 billion is spent through MAS annually. Consolidation is one of the four pillars of GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy for streamlining acquisition.
“For customers, phase three just makes things simpler — a contractors’ full suite of offerings can now be found in just one place — no more searching among multiple schedules to find a solution,” Shutt said. “The workforce will then have fewer contracts to manage, so they can focus on excellence in service delivery.”
