Since October 2010, GSA’s Schedule 75 for Office Products and Supplies has been closed to new offers. But sales on the Schedule remain comparatively high: GSA reports that in FY 2016, Schedule 75 sales were $367.3M—significantly higher than the $213.8M sold under GSA’s Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative for Office Supplies Third Generation (FSSI OS3). GSA is reopening Schedule 75 to new offers and, in the process, making a number of changes.
The Current Schedule 75. As it exists today, Schedule 75 covers a variety of items. The GSA eLibrary page for Schedule 75 provides a more comprehensive list for each SIN.
- SIN 75 200 Office Products (e.g., pens, paper, shredders, CDs, office appliances, ergonomic products, etc.).
- SIN 75 210: Office Services (e.g., on-site stores, customizing and imprinting services, etc.).
- SIN 75 85 Restroom Products (e.g., paper products, dispensers, soap, etc.).
The New Schedule 75. GSA will reopen Schedule 75 to new offers. The legacy SINs will remain available; in addition, the schedule will include new “enhanced Special Item Numbers,” which will be known as Office Supplies Fourth Generation (OS4). GSA’s planned changes are as follows:
[Schedule] 75 is being reopened:
- SIN 75-200 for Office Products with updated Requirements
- SIN 75-85 for Restroom Products with an updated Letter of Supply
- SIN 75-210 for Office Services with an updated Letter of Supply
New technical requirements for the Refreshed SIN 75-200:
- Demonstrated ability to meet all environmental reporting and green product requirements;
- Demonstrated system to remain compliant with Trade Agreements Act;
- Updated Letter of Supply (LOS)
Optional Requirements for SINs 75-85, 75-200, 75-210:
- AbilityOne-Certification
- Transactional Data Reporting
MAS 75 newly established Enhanced SINS mirroring the attributes of the FSSI OS3 solution:
- SIN 75-220 Enhanced SIN for Office Products & Services / Office Supplies 4th Generation (OS4)
- SIN 75-280 Enhanced SIN for Overseas Office Products & Services / Office Supplies 4th Generation (OS4)
Significant changes are planned for the new Enhanced SINs 75-220 and 75-280. Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) rule will be mandatory for the Enhanced SINs.
The GSA presentation available here outlines the unique requirements for the Enhanced SINs (that is, OS4) as follows:
- Demonstrated system to remain compliant with the Trade Agreements Act
- Demonstrated ability to meet all environmental reporting and green product requirements
- Currently be able to provide point of sale discount for all contract orders
- Transactional Data Reporting required
- Agency-defined reports at no additional cost
- Demonstrated ability to provide “Fill or Kill” status
- Standard delivery anywhere CONUS within 4 business days
- Satisfactory Past Performance
- Stronger Letter Of Supply (LOS)
- IFF of 0.75% and Contract Access Fee of 1.25%
- Must be AbilityOne-Certified
The complete Draft Solicitation is available here.
Should You Make an Offer under Legacy or Enhanced SINs? GSA notes the following reasons in favor of proposing under the Enhanced SINs:
Your target federal customer and the contract vehicles they use will help you decide which SIN to submit an offer under.
The FSSI OS solutions has had much success. While the sales decreased under OS3, this was expected since there are more savings and the sales would naturally be less.
Under OS3, roughly 80% of spend went to small businesses. GSA continues to support and create opportunities for SBs while driving down price thru competition.
Conversely, GSA notes the following reasons a contractor might choose to propose under the Legacy SINs:
Contractors under the Enhanced OS4 SIN are subject to additional contractual requirements. Therefore, not all contractors will be able to comply and may consider submitting an offer for their products and services under the MAS 75 legacy SINs.
Contractors may consider the MAS 75 legacy SINs if:
- They are not certified to carry AbilityOne products
- Unable to provide fill or kill status within 24-hours
- Unable to offer standard 4 days delivery after receipt of order (ARO)
- Unable to perform Transactional Data Reporting (TDR)
- Unable to provide point of sale discount for all contract orders
Again, your target federal customer and the contract vehicles they use will help you decide which SIN to submit an offer under.
Next Steps. GSA intends to issue a bilateral modification to apply these changes to existing contracts. Contractors will have 90 days to accept the mass modification, and contractors under the Legacy SINs will have six months from the date of Solicitation refresh to provide an updated Letter of Supply.
GSA will host two webinars, one on December 20th and the other on January 9th. Information and links to the webinars are available here.
If you’re an existing or prospective Schedule 75 contractor, contact Global Services today to learn more about how best to approach these updated requirements!