Signal Corps: Purchases general equipment for communications, photographic purposes, meteorological studies, etc. Coast Artillery Corps: Purchases scientific laboratory equipment and submarine mine equipment and supplies. Purchasing Methods. 1. After advertising.—All normal purchases of the War Department are made after advertising for bids. Purchasing officers prepare circular proposals and invitations to bid. These papers list the items to be purchased, list the applicable specifications, state delivery points and dates, and furnish all the information necessary for a prospective bidder to calculate his costs and submit a bid. Bids are required to be submitted by a stated time in sealed and properly addressed envelopes. Bid bonds are frequently required with the bids. At the stated time, the purchasing officer, in the presence of those bidders who desire to be present, opens the bids. As a result of this procedure, the purchase contract is awarded to the best advantage of the Government. Circular proposals are given wide distribution in order to secure the maximum competition. Newspaper advertising is frequently used. Several commercial concerns publish daily information regarding invitations issued by the various purchasing agencies of the Government. 2. Without advertising.-A great portion of the requirements of a military force are articles which are not in ordinary commercial production. These are such items as weapons, ammunition, and numerous special articles of transportation and communication equipment. For some of these, the entire applicable productive capacity of the country is insufficient to meet the requirements as to quantity and delivery dates. Several procurement projects are so large that no one commercial concern is equipped to meet the requirements of any of them. In order to secure the productive capacity required and in order to prevent disastrous delays to the present national-defense program, the Congress has authorized the award of contracts under special circumstances without advertising. Since this procedure is resorted to only in order to accelerate and to prevent delays to the present procurement program, contracts of this sort are awarded to those facilities known by the purchasing agency to be capable of the required production. The awards are made with a view of distributing the production load over available productive capacity. The negotiation of such contracts will be resorted to in those cases only where time and other considerations will not permit the award of a contract as the result of advertising. 3. Open market.-Purchasing officers of the War Department may purchase to the amount of $500 or less in the open market. Such purchases are made, with minor variations covered in the regulations, in a manner common among businessmen. Purchases in excess of this amount may be made without formal advertising when authorized by the chiefs of the respective arms or services. Informal quotations are requested from several convenient sources of supply. The purchase order is issued to secure those terms which are most advantageous to the Government. Price and discounts, quality, and delivery are considered. Purchases of this sort are made, in general, at posts and stations to meet maintenance requirements when local procurement by purchase offers advantages over procurement by requisition on military supply depots. Purchasing Agencies. Actual purchasing activity of the War Department is specialized and decentralized. The greater volume of purchases is made by the depots and arsenals of the Army. These specialize to a great extent in the articles purchased. Local Purchases. The Quartermaster, the Ordnance officer, the Medical Supply officer, the Signal officer, the Engineer Supply officer, the Chemical Warfare officer, and the Air Corps Supply officer at Army posts where the activities of each are located purchases materials, supplies, and equipment. These local purchases are to cover requirements of the post when supplies required are readily procurable and no advantage would exist from consolidation and procurement by a depot. Civilian Conservation Corps. Purchases for the operation and maintenance of Civilian Conservation Corps establishments are made under the supervision of the War Department. Items Purchased by the War Department Against Procurement Division, Treasury Department, Contracts. 1. Such items are: Tires and tubes; office furniture, filing cases, and similar equipment; gasoline; and several less important items. Other items contracted for by the Procurement Division, Treasury Department, may be purchased against such contracts by the Army when it is advantageous to do so. 2. Stock piles of strategic and critical raw materials authorized under recent acts of Congress are being purchased under the supervision of Procurement Division, Treasury Department. Items Purchased by the War Department Against Navy Department Contracts. Such items are lubricating oils and certain fuel oils. STATE PURCHASING METHODS AND PROCEDURES In order to get some idea of the extent to which the States make use of written purchase specifications and scientific testing of commodities in their buying, à questionnaire was prepared for the purpose of this monograph and sent by the Council of State Governments to the 48 States. This questionnaire consisted of the following items: 1. Name of the purchasing agency. 2. Independent agency or part of what State department. 4. For what bureaus, commissions, departments, and institutions 5. Are purchases made and contracts based on written specifications, or by trade-name or brand? 6. How are standards and specifications formulated (that is, 7. What use is made of the specifications of national trade or 9. What arrangements are made for testing samples submitted 10. Are commodities tested after delivery to ascertain that they conform to the purchase specifications? 11. Is a testing laboratory maintained? If so, what kind of tests are conducted? 12. Is use made of (a) college or university or (b) private or commercial testing laboratories? Extent of Centralized Purchasing in States. Among the 42 States replying to the questionnaire, 38 States reported centralized purchasing. Table 2 shows the coverage of the questionnaire, replies received, number of States not replying, number and percent of States reporting centralized purchasing, and number and percent of States reporting no centralized purchasing. TABLE 2.-Extent of centralized purchasing in States 2 purchasing agencies were reported for the State of Iowa: Purchasing department of board of control, and executive council. Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, and South Carolina. Status of State Purchasing Agencies. Among the 38 States reporting centralized purchasing, 11 States have an independent State purchasing agency, while in 26 States the purchasing agency is part of a State department. Table 3 gives the names of the States and the status of the State purchasing agency. TABLE 3.-Status of State purchasing agencies Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utab, Vermont, and West Virginia. Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (purchasing department, 1 of the 2 purchasing agencies in the State, is a part of the board of control), Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. *New Jersey. Departments of Which State Purchasing Agencies are a Part. Among the 26 States where the State purchasing agency is part of a State department, 8 States have the purchasing agency as part of the department of finance, 3 States as part of the executive department, and 3 States as part of the board of control. Table 4 shows how purchasing agencies are distributed through different departments and gives the names of the various departments and the names of the respective States. TABLE 4.-Departments of which State purchasing agencies are a part Bureaus, Departments, Commissions, and Institutions for Which Purchases Are Made by the State Purchasing Agency. Among the 38 States with centralized purchasing, purchases in 22 States are made by the State purchasing agency for the State departments, bureaus, institutions, etc.; purchases in 13 States are made for these same agencies with few exceptions; and purchases in 2 States are made for State penal and charitable institutions. Table 5 shows the types of bureaus, departments, and institutions for which purchases are made and gives the names of the different States. TABLE 5.-Bureaus, departments, commissions, and institutions for which purchases are made by the State purchasing agency 1 Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa (executive council makes purchases for State penal and charitable institutions; purchasing department of board of control makes purchases for all other State institutions, departments, and bureaus, etc.), Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Arizona (capitol building and grounds in addition to State penal and charitable institutions) and Florida. • Illinois. Extent to Which States Use Written Specifications. Among the 38 States with centralized purchasing only 7 States use written specifications exclusively, 6 States use written specifications in most cases, while 24 States use trade-names and specifications. Table 6 shows the extent of the use of written specifications, and gives the names of the States. TABLE 6.—Extent to which State use written specifications Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, South Dakota, and Virginia. Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. North Dakota (trade-name and brand). |