Program Management

Acquisition Plan

The Acquisition Plan has now been replaced by the Acquisition Strategy.

An Acquisition Plan is a plan that documents all cost, schedule, technical, business, management, and other considerations that will govern an acquisition program and is derived from the Acquisition Strategy. It summarizes the acquisition planning discussions and identifies milestones in the acquisition process. An acquisition plan is required by DoD Instruction 5000.02 “Operation of Defense Acquisition System” prior to Milestone B and any Request For Proposal (RFP) release for the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Development (EMD) Phase. The plan is governed by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 7.105 and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 207.1.

An Acquisition Plan was required when:

  1. Acquisitions for development when the total cost of all contracts for the acquisition program is estimated at $10 million or more;
  2. Acquisitions for production or services when the total cost of all contracts for the acquisition program is estimated at $50 million or more for all years or $25 million or more for any fiscal year; and
  3. Any other acquisition considered appropriate by the department or agency.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires agencies to perform acquisition planning and conduct market research for all acquisitions in order to promote:

  • The acquisition of commercial items or, to the extent that commercial items suitable to meet the agency’s needs are not available, non-developmental items
  • Full and open competition per FAR Part 6 or, when full and open competition is not required in accordance with Part 6, to obtain competition to the maximum extent practicable.

According to FAR Part 7.105 “Contents of Written Acquisition Plans”, the content of an Acquisition Plan should include:

  • Statement of Need
  • Applicable Conditions
  • Cost
  • Capability or Performance
  • Delivery of Performance-Period Requirements
  • Trade-offs
  • Risks
  • Acquisition Streamlining
  • Source Selection Procedures
  • Contract Considerations
  • Budget and Funding
  • Product or Service Description
  • Priorities, Allocations and Allotments
  • Contractor vs. Government Performance
  • Inherently Information Requirements
  • Make or Buy
  • Test and Evaluation
  • Logistics
  • Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)
  • Environmental and Energy Conservation Objectives
  • Security Considerations
  • Contract Administration
  • Milestone Steps
  • Identification of Participants in Acquisition Plan Preparation
  • Other Considerations

AcqTips:

  • Make sure you address each of the components of FAR Part 7.105 and DFAR Subpart 207.1.
  • Keep a copy of the Acquisition Plan in your files at all time.  It’s a good point of reference during meetings to keep everyone focused on what the key deliverables are.
  • Make sure a program understand the key tasked identified in the Acquisition Plan. These are the tasks that a program is going to be judged against when fighting for funding, resources and proceeding in the next acquisition phase.

AcqLinks and References:

Updated: 7/10/2017

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