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The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) has established a new platform to better engage with industry for approach to market, expressions of interest and subject matter expertise.
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The new Defence Organisation Support Services (DOSS) panel will replace the current CAS-SS panel in late 2017.
“CASG is replacing its current support services panel – the CAS-SS panel – when it expires in November next year with an updated panel arrangement – the Defence Organisation Support Services panel,” Rear Admiral Tony Dalton, Head of Joint Systems Division at CASG told Defence Connect.
Rear Admiral Dalton said that the system must upgrade to suit the changing nature of Defence’s acquisition process.
“The CAS-SS panel has been an effective mechanism for engaging support services since it was established as the DMOSS panel in 2005. However, the panel arrangements are not well suited to longer term, multi-function work packages that are now needed to support CASG’s changing business requirements,” said RADM Dalton.
“In the last couple of years, most of these larger work packages have been sought outside of the panel arrangements through integrated support contracts.
“These have tended to be awarded to the larger engineering houses, and in some cases have resulted in small to medium enterprises on our panel being squeezed out of work opportunities.
“Therefore, a particular focus of the work we have been doing and our industry engagement has been to make sure that the new panel arrangements are effective in allowing CASG to still have access to the necessary subject matter expertise that resides in small to medium enterprises, while also being able to engage the major service providers though more strategic, longer term arrangements.
“As a result, the approach to market being used to establish the DOSS Panel will also ask for expressions of interest from tenderers to be appointed as a major service provider. The major service providers (MSPs) will be expected to have a broad range of skill sets and skill levels across most or all of the CASG functions and domains.
“As MSPs will be expected to operate as long-term, strategic partners to CASG, they will be subject to additional obligations not imposed on other DOSS panel members, including obligations to use (and engage appropriately with) small to medium enterprises on the DOSS Panel, as well as small to medium enterprises from the MSP’s own supply chain.
“CASG will release an information pack about the proposed arrangements for industry comment through AusTender before the end of 2016. The approach to market should be ready for release in the first quarter next year.
“As with the current panel, the new panel will be available for use by all of Defence as well as other Commonwealth agencies.”
