Transfer of Air Force technical procurement bid set data to small businesses, using CALS and EDI: Test report

Technical Report · Mon Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/46712· OSTI ID:46712

This report documents a test transfer of three Air Force technical procurement bid sets to one large and twelve small businesses, using the Department of Defense (DoD) Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support (CALS) and ANSI ASC X12 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards. The main goal of the test was to evaluate the effectiveness of using CALS technical data within the context of the DoD`s EDI-based standard approach to electronic commerce in procurement, with particular emphasis on receipt and use of the data by small contractors. Air Force procurement data was provided by the Sacramento Air Logistics Center at McClellan Air Force Base; the manufacturing participants were selected from among McClellan`s ``Blue Ribbon`` contractors, located throughout the US. The test was sponsored by the Air Force CALS Test Network, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The test successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of including CALS MIL-R-28002 (Raster) engineering data in an EDI Specification/Technical Information transaction set (ANSI ASC X12 841) when issuing electronic requests for quotation to small businesses. In many cases, the data was complete enough for the contractor participant to feel comfortable generating a quote. Lessons learned from the test are being fed back to the CALS and EDI standards organizations, and to future implementors of CALS-EDI based acquisition or contracting systems, which require the transfer of technical information, such as engineering data, manufacturing process data, quality test data, and other product or process data, in the form of a CALS or other digital datafile.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 46712
• Report Number(s): UCRL-ID--118619; AITI--93-ED-01; ON: DE95009610
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
COMPUTER GRAPHICS
COMPUTER NETWORKS
CONTRACTORS
DATA TRANSMISSION
DATA TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
INFORMATION NEEDS
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
MILITARY EQUIPMENT
MILITARY FACILITIES
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PROCUREMENT