If you’re a contractor, you know you can increase sales by getting on the General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule - the largest and most widely-used method in the federal government for the purchase of $40 billion of commercial products and services each year.
Yet getting on board is only the first step. Companies also need to positively confirm that their sources of supply comply with the Buy Americas Act or the Trade Agreement Acts, both of which have heightened regulatory requirements.
Without programs in place to acquire and maintain this information, and respond appropriately to an audit, they risk losing government contracts, expulsion from the GSA program, large penalties, and fines as well as being publicly identified as a non-compliant company in violation of federal regulations.
Traditionally, companies have outsourced the data collection from their supply base or elected to forego the business opportunity altogether. But the data is often un-normalized, lacks valid coding, and requires significant process/version control to manage it properly.
The Solution - ePlus brings together the components of its Product Information Management technology, which combines:
A hosted or enterprise software license for Content+ Advanced that allows the customer to manage the items they sell
A self authoring supplier portal for the supplier to provide electronic positive confirmation of the country of origin for each item
A supplier certification program that trains the supplier to use the tool and to provide and maintain country of origin certification for all items provided
Consultative services for customers to develop appropriate purchase order information and sales documentation to meet country of origin requirements
