U.S. General Services Administration
Office Supplies Acquisition Planning Package
Government buyers can use this APP to develop and release a solicitation for Office Supplies. Leverage the instructional content below, along with the linked sample, template, and reference documents, to better understand the subcategory and obtain needed products, services, or solutions.
Acquisition Lifecycle Overview
Use the following overview to gain a high-level understanding of pre-solicitation lifecycle stages and quickly navigate to relevant resources
- Discovery: Learn about the current Alarm & Signal Systems acquisition environment and review critical resources before beginning your acquisition
- Relevant documents: Buyer's Guides and other critical resources
- Requirements Definition: Document your needs and estimate associated costs to set the foundation for a successful acquisition
- Relevant documents: SOO, PWS, SOW, IGCE, Buying Tips / Tools
- Market Research and Planning: Inform your acquisition strategy by collecting information on the supply base, available contract vehicles, and key regulations
- Relevant documents: RFI, Sources Sought Notice, Market Research Report, MRAS Report, Policy and/or Guidance
- Solicitation Development: Develop solicitation documents to help clearly express your business requirements and invite private sector contractors to compete for your work
- Relevant documents: RFQ, RFP, Other Solicitation Resources and Templates
Learn about the current Alarm & Signal Systems acquisition environment and review critical resources before beginning your acquisition
Critical Resources
Gain a broad understanding of acquisitions in this subcategory using the resources below. Please note that certain resources are also listed within the other stages
Buyer's Guides
High-impact reference documents that overview the subcategory across lifecycle stages
Document your needs and estimate associated costs to set the foundation for a successful acquisition
Relevant Documents
Use these samples and templates to develop a requirements document for your acquisition. If you expect your acquisition to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, use the IGCE resources to develop a cost estimate to supplement your requirements document. Additional Buying Tips and Tools have also been provided to help inform requirements and estimate costs / pricing.
Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE)
An assessment / estimate of the contract's potential costs based on industry standards. Please use this link to access GSA's standard IGCE creation tool
Buying Tips / Tools
Other documents that inform requirements, support cost / pricing definition, or provide insight into available products / services
Inform your acquisition strategy by collecting information on the supply base, available contract vehicles, and key regulations
Relevant Documents
Use templates or the MRAS resource to conduct your own market research. Alternatively, review sample documents to understand existing capabilities to meet your business / acquisition needs. Additional Policy and/or Guidance has also been provided to help identify key regulations or processes for existing contract vehicles.
RFI, Sources Sought Notice, and Market Research Report documents are currently not available for this buying topic. If you have an immediate need for procurement support please complete this form.
Market Research as a Service Report (MRAS)
A type of market research report developed by GSA's internal Market Research as a Service (MRAS) offering. Please use this link to request a MRAS report
Develop solicitation documents to help clearly express your business requirements and invite private sector contractors to compete for your work
Relevant Documents
Use samples and templates to develop your own solicitation and request responses from contractors capable and interested in fulfilling the requirements. The formats below provide different ways to structure your solicitation depending on the complexity of your needs.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A solicitation type used to obtain pricing information for clearly defined products or services (e.g. COTS). RFQs are typically used to meet the business needs listed in a requirements document