Excellence in Vendor Performance Forum

Establish an interagency Excellence in Vendor Performance Forum.

By January 1994, the Director, Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
should establish an interagency Excellence in Vendor Performance Forum
to develop policies and techniques to measure contractor performance and
use this information in source selection decisions. A change should be
made in the procurement system throughout the government so that past
performance becomes a genuine and serious part of the source selection
process. The Director, OMB, should work with agencies to experiment with
different methods for getting past performance to play a significant
role in the procurement process and to publicize best practices
throughout the government. Changes should include:

-- developing procedures for systematically gathering and using ongoing
performance information on an agency's vendors, obtained from those
interacting with vendors (users and contract administration personnel);

-- giving past performance a weight in evaluation scoring systems
significant enough to have a real impact on award decisions and to be
noticed by the vendor community;

-- making satisfaction of customers (users and contract administration
personnel) with vendor performance one measure used to evaluate
contracting officers involved in the contract award process;

-- establishing a collaborative costeffective governmentwide contract
administration program emphasizing crossservicing agreements among
agencies to manage contracts to avoid unnecessary duplication;

-- engaging government contractors in establishing partnering programs
and measurable goals for reducing administrative burdens on both
government and industry while ensuring contractor performance and value
to the government; and

-- obtaining contractor input in policy deliberations through surveys,
town meetings, or other means to help develop effective and accountable
contract management programs.

By April 1995, the Director, OMB, should issue a "best practices" manual
that outlines the techniques to measure and use vendor information in
source selection decisions.