Overview
This section outlines the Contracting Officer's (CO) duty to facilitate the exchange of economic purchase quantity data between offerors and agency inventory managers to optimize procurement sizing.
Key Rules
- Data Transmission: Contracting officers must send offeror responses from the provision at FAR 52.207-4 to the relevant inventory management or requirements development activities.
- Purpose of Data: The information is intended to help inventory managers establish and evaluate Economic Order Quantities (EOQ) for future supply needs.
- General Restraint: COs should generally avoid revising the quantities of the current procurement based solely on this data, as it is only one of many factors used to determine optimal order sizes.
- Mandatory Consultation: If offeror responses reveal significant price variations and potential for substantial savings, the CO shall consult with the requirements activity before proceeding with an award or negotiations.
- Corrective Action: If consultation confirms that a different quantity is preferable, the CO must amend or cancel the solicitation and obtain a new requisition.
Practical Implications
- Inter-agency Coordination: The rule prevents COs from working in a vacuum, requiring them to act as a bridge between market pricing reality and internal government requirements planning.
- Efficiency vs. Speed: While the CO is discouraged from disrupting the "instant procurement," they are legally obligated to pause the process if the market signals that the government is buying in inefficient volumes.