PHILADEPHIA –
The Defense Logistics Agency’s Electronic Catalog Program received the Office of Management and Budget Best-In-Class designation August 19.
DLA Troop Support Medical personnel worked for more than nine months with the Joint Medical Category Management Team to detail the cost benefits of the ECAT Program and justify its BIC designation, said Medical Director Army Col. Matthew Voyles.
“This designation will compel other federal agencies to evaluate using ECAT to obtain the 1.1 million items on its catalogs placing upward pressure on DLA’s sales and revenue,” Voyles said.
ECAT is an ecommerce platform where customers can browse, compare and order medical implants, laboratory, dental, optical fabrication, and commercial medical and surgical equipment items.
BIC is a contracting and acquisition designation used for contracts that meet rigorous category management performance criteria as defined by OMB, said Senior Policy Analyst Meredith Romley.
“This BIC-designated contract represents a preferred government-wide solution and provides a unique opportunity to leverage the government's buying power,” Romley said.
The BIC designation provides acquisition experts access to pre-vetted, market-proven government-wide contract solutions, spending optimization, and increases the transactional data available for agency level and government-wide analysis of buying behavior.
ECAT offers nearly 1.1 million medical items from 215 vendors across the U.S. to more than 7,000 potential federally-funded customers worldwide, delivering quality medical products at fair and reasonable prices, Voyles explained. The program specializes in providing niche medical items not normally provided by medical prime vendors or large national distributors.
In fiscal year 2019 ECAT sales exceeded $916 million by supporting customers from the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services and other federal departments and agencies.
ECAT allows customers to compare product and vendor attributes like price, delivery options, past performance and small business considerations. It also provides an average discount of 20% off traditional purchasing methods.
“Months of hard work by our Senior Acquisition Executive William Kenny and the Medical supply chain leadership brought this to fruition,” said DLA Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Gavin Lawrence.