Brooms and brushes. Building materials. Cordage, hemp, oakum, twine, etc. Drygoods clothing, textiles, etc. Drygoods-gloves, insignia, shoes, etc. Electrical accessories, wiring, and illuminating devices. Fire surfacing and heat insulating materials; foundry apparatus. Forest products. Fuel. Furniture. Hand tools. Hardware general. Instruments of precision, including accessories, outfits, and spare parts. Iron and steel. Lighting apparatus (nonelectric). Machine tools, accessories, outfits, and parts. Oil, grease, and lubricants. Ordnance equipment. Paints, varnishes, etc., and ingredients. Plumbing and steam fittings, bathroom accessories, valves, etc. Provisions. Pumps. Radio equipment, accessories, parts, and supplies. Recreational apparatus. Sheet metal products. Stationery, office equipment and supplies. Wire and wire rope; electric cable and wire. There are about 60,000 items of supplies and equipment in common use by the Navy. These are practically all listed in the N-Navy Department Supplement to the Federal Standard Stock Catalog. All Items appearing in this catalog have a standard nomenclature and a standard stock number for use within the service. The standard nomenclature is based on the plan of arranging the descriptive words in order of importance. Thus, white cotton canvas is known as "Canvas, cotton, white," followed by number and grade, and a standard-thread steel machine screw with flat head is known as "Screws, machine, steel, flathead, standard," followed by diameter, threads per inch, and length. The standard stock number is made up of the standard class number, first initial of the nomenclature, and serial number. Thus, canvas, cotton, white, No. 4, medium, is standard stock number 24-C-6. This standard naming and numbering is an insurance against misunderstanding and error. These standard designations are not generally used in schedules and other papers furnished to the public because of the possibility of confusion with commercial terms. Much of the N-Navy Department Supplement to the Federal Standard Stock Catalog can be procured from the Superintendent of Docu ments under the names of individual parts and classes. For a complete list see Price List 75, Federal Specifications, Federal Standard Stock Catalog, issued by the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., to whom application for the price list and orders for items covered thereby should be addressed. Acceptable List of Approved Materials.-The Navy Department maintains a list of products which require test prior to purchase. This list of products with the names of the manufacturers and trade or other identifying data concerning the products which have been tested and approved comprises the Acceptable List of Approved Materials. When materials requiring test and approval prior to purchase are included in a schedule inviting bids, the specifications and the general conditions on the schedule specify that the Government reserves the right to reject bids on brands or products which have not been subjected to the required tests and found satisfactory. The specifications and schedule invite the attention of manufacturers and bidders to this requirement, and urge them to forward samples of such products which they may propose to furnish to the Government in the future, in order that the tests may be made. Such tests are made at the expense of the manufacturers; this includes the furnishing of samples and costs of transportation to and from point where tests are made. If samples submitted prove unsatisfactory, consideration is given to the request of manufacturers for additional tests only after it is clearly shown that changes have been made in the product with reference to the method of manufacture, etc., which the Navy considers sufficient to warrant conducting additional tests. The commodities purchased under the prior-test or acceptable list method are limited as far as possible to products which come within one or more of the following classifications: 1. Products requiring elaborate testing apparatus which is not available to test the individual deliveries. 2. Products which require a long time for testing. 3. Products of such character that testing upon delivery does not indicate the lasting qualities or performance value. 4. Products which cannot be tested completely without destruction. 5. Products which are purchased on performance, or work value, where it is necessary to set up factors which show the relationship between performance and price. 6. Products requiring costly tests which cannot be applied to individual deliveries. The listing of a product on the Acceptable List of Approved Materials does not preclude inspection of actual deliveries. The Acceptable List of Approved Materials is a restricted publication; it is not distributed outside the naval service. Principal Steps of Procurement Procedure. Purchase requisitions.-The form on which one bureau or office of the Navy makes a request on the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts for the furnishing by purchase or from stock certain material and supplies is designated by the term "requisitions." These requisitions require official approval depending upon the circumstances; those for purchases are finally approved by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, either for bureau purchase or purchase by a local purchasing officer near the point originating the requirement. Advertising. The required supplies covered by an approved purchase requisition are purchased after advertisement, and competition is required by Federal statute. Schedules, proposals, or invitations to bid.-When the approved requisition is on hand the "schedule" is prepared for distribution to prospective bidders. The "schedule" forms the basis of subsequent transactions of a formal nature. Schedules are prepared in mimeograph or printed form and include the essential data with appropriate blank spaces for entry of bids. A guaranty is required by Federal statute and is to the effect that the bidder will execute the required contract and give bond for faithful performance of same if his offer is accepted. Guaranty is required when the total amount of all classes on which bid is submitted exceeds $500. Specifications and plans.-Most Navy supplies are purchased on the basis of standard specifications: Federal Specifications and United States Navy Specifications which describe in detail the quality, grade, size, etc., of the article desired. Use of such a specification tends to standardize the Navy's material, puts all bidders on equal footing, assists inspection, eliminates questions and dispute. When there is no standard specification the required particulars are set forth in the schedule. Openings of bids; awards.-Bids having been submitted, they are opened publicly and currently by the officials of the Navy purchasing agency. Bidders or their representatives may be present at these openings, which are public in character. Awards are made to the lowest responsible bidder except in a few cases of statutory exemptions. Contract, Bureau order, or order.-After award is made a formal contract is prepared when the amount involved is over $500. This contract is required to be reduced to writing and signed by the contracting parties with their names at the end thereof. A bond for faithful performance is required to accompany the contract. Purchases amounting to less than $500 may be made without formal contract or bond. The informal order placed by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts in such cases is called "a bureau order;" if placed by a field purchasing activity it is called an "order." Inspections. Before material may be accepted and paid for by the Navy it is required that it may be inspected, and passed as to the quality and quantity, by a responsible official. Proper and adequate inspection and test are essential to efficient purchasing. Inspection and test are particularly important when purchases are made under the competitive system of bidding. Few commodities are invariably uniform in quality; it is inevitable that some vendors will deliver a better quality than others. The best specifications and procurement procedures are of little value without intelligent and thorough inspection. It cannot be assumed that the record of reliability of a bidder is a guaranty that the material he proposes to furnish will comply in all respects with the specification requirements. Conceding the good intention in the great majority of cases, there always exists the possibility of errors in manufacture or of shipment, variations in count of quantity, etc., which are discoverable only by adequate test and inspection. Proper specifications and the contract indicate what the Navy wants; adequate inspection and test insure that it obtains what it has purchased. The inspection activities of the Navy are in charge of commissioned officers of the Navy who are well qualified by training and experience for the service of inspection. These officials are designated as Inspectors of Naval Material. In the Navy inspecting system the United States is divided into 12 inspection districts. These inspection districts are based on (1) the concentration of basic industries, and (2) transportation facilities. Assigned to these inspection districts are experienced civil personnel competent to inspect apparatus and material not only for naval and marine use, but for general commercial use. The responsibility for the inspection of the Navy material lies exclusively with the respective bureaus for which the material is purchased. The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts at the purchasing agency has no cognizance over the inspection of material, except as to those items of which it also has technical cognizance. Bureau cognizance is a very broad term to cover the allocation of inspection duties among the various bureaus. It may be helpful, however, to outline in most general terms, cognizance over some items. Bureau of Aeronautics: Airplanes, engines, aeronautical equipment, etc. Bureau of Ordnance: Arms, armor, ammunition, etc. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery: Medicines, hospital supplies, instruments, etc. Bureau of Supplies and Accounts: Provisions, clothing, fuel, etc. Bureau of Yards and Docks: Public works and other utilities on shore. Bureau of Ships: Hull materials, anchors and cable, rigging, canvas, winches, propelling machinery, electrical appliances, radio, navigational instruments, etc. Bureau of Navigation: Libraries, recreational items, etc. All these Bureaus maintain inspection forces both in the field and in the navy yards. Shipments.-Contractors must give particular attention to instructions pertaining to shipment in order to avoid misunderstanding and delay. Payments.-Delivery having been completed and inspection concluded, the contractor is naturally interested in obtaining prompt payment. He is advised in the contract where to submit his invoices or dealers bills, which must contain all necessary data for identification. PROCUREMENT METHODS AND PROCEDURES OF THE UNITED STATES WAR DEPARTMENT 5 So far as practicable, the War Department decentralizes its procurement activities. Each War Department procuring agency is interested in specialized products which are assigned to the depots or field purchasing offices. Procurement Planning. 1. The procurement planning agencies are engaged in planning for the procurement of supplies and equipment which will be needed by the Army during a war or other major national emergency. Military requirements are computed in advance. They are apportioned by the supply arms and services to procurement districts. The procurement planning officers in these districts search the areas to which they are assigned for the productive capacity necessary to meet requirements. Individual plants are surveyed, production studies are made, and in agreement with the management, plants are allocated for particular production during an emergency. 2. The management of plants having facilities which are considered suitable for the production of military equipment are asked to communicate with the officer in charge of the procurement district which is nearest the plant for detailed information regarding this activity. Procurement planning agencies of the War Department: " Air Corps: Purchases all flying equipment and the necessary Chemical Warfare Service: Purchases items having to do with Material obtained from the U. S. War Department, Washington, D. C. "National Defense. Procurement Planning, Purchasing, and Contracting," 14 pp., by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, United States Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. (Revised), August 1940. |