As a former assistant commissioner for the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, I took pride in listening to contractors and adjusting processes when it made sense. I regularly used GSA pricing tools to evaluate contractor grievances, making changes to processes, tools and engagement strategies with industry when warranted.
Now that I sit on the contractor side of the table, I see the system from a very different perspective and frankly, it isn’t pretty.
Catalog management: A persistent challenge
Catalog management, the process of adding, removing or changing prices on the GSA Schedule, remains one of the greatest hurdles for contractors.
In one case, a service contractor attempting to add a product special item number was told by the contracting officer that only invoices would be accepted to support a fair and reasonable price determination. Yet a quick review of 10 items on GSA Advantage! showed that the contractor’s proposed price was not only competitive, but below both the average and median price offered by others.
In another case, a contractor trying to add items to their catalog repeatedly received a “no market research” determination from the 4P system — even though those same items were clearly available from multiple contractors on GSA Advantage!. The challenge here is structural. There is no direct way for contractors to raise issues with the 4P team, and contracting officers lack the tools to adjust or override flawed system inputs.
Frustrated by these barriers, some vendors attempt workarounds. I have seen contractors alter part numbers to evade 4P pricing algorithms in hopes of getting a price list approved using sampling. This practice only compounds the problem. It contributes to the staggering 100 million items now listed on GSA Advantage!, undermines data integrity, creates unnecessary workload for contracting officers and erodes trust in the system itself.
The new EPA clause: Complexity ahead
The recently introduced Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) clause is likely to add more workload and complexity. Because the timing and methods for EPA adjustments will be individually negotiated, contracting officers could face a dizzying array of approaches.
Imagine a single contracting officer managing 50 contracts — each with different EPA mechanisms, such as one tied to the producer price Index, another tied to the consumer price index (CPI), yet another factoring in CPI plus transportation costs. Instead of streamlining pricing, this approach risks turning price management into a burdensome administrative exercise.
Time to rethink the model
The core issue lies in the catalog itself and how pricing is managed. It is time to transition to a curated and managed catalog where GSA, not contractors, sets the framework for what can and cannot be offered.
Such a model would:
Ensure policy compliance from the start (e.g., 889, TAA, AB1).
Standardize products and pricing, reducing inconsistencies and disputes.
Standardize EPA methods, timing and thresholds, providing predictability and reducing the need for case-by-case negotiations.
A structured process for adding new products would still be essential, but far more manageable than today’s fragmented system.
A call to action
The Schedule program is supported by a shrinking workforce. Without relief, both government contracting officers and industry will continue to struggle under the weight of inefficient catalog and pricing processes.
A curated catalog approach is not only viable but necessary. It provides the clarity, consistency and scalability required for the system to function effectively for government buyers, contracting officers and the vendor community alike.
The time to rethink catalog management is now.
Erville “Erv” Koehler is a Presidential Rank Award recipient and senior executive with more than three decades of leadership in federal contracting, logistics and operations. He recently served as assistant commissioner at the General Services Administration (GSA), where he oversaw multi-billion-dollar global logistics and customer engagement organizations. Over his career, he has led transformative initiatives in performance management, process improvement, and organizational growth, consistently delivering results in areas ranging from supply chain operations to marketing and customer service. Erv holds an MBA from Marymount University and is a certified professional contracts manager.
The post A view from the other side: GSA’s catalog management needs reform first appeared on Federal News Network.