Tips on Becoming a Government Supplier

As the government is large in size, it is constantly in need of new suppliers for any number of different goods. This is especially so with the Defense Department. According to the Congressional Budget Office, for the fiscal year 2014, the DoD’s budget is an impressive $607 billion. In this blog, we will point out some of the better ways on how to become a supplier for the U.S. government and what you need to know about military contracting.

• The first step is to sign up for the System for Award Management (SAM). According to their website, SAM is a free program that “consolidates the capabilities” of the Central Contractor Registration/Federal Agency Registration (CCR/FedReg), Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). SAM allows government agencies to review a vendor or subcontractor’s qualifications when they are in the process of awarding contracts.

• Once you sign up for SAM, you can head over to the Federal Business Opportunities website. The site, which has helpful videos to guide you through the process, claims that there are more than 23,300 active federal opportunities available.

Now that you have a general idea of how to get started, there are few specific tips for working with the military.

• As you might expect, confidentiality is major part of any military contract. At Johnson Bros., many of our military projects require us to keep secret a wide range of information including materials, sizes, and even packaging.
• Versatility is a must. Military projects often require low quantities and very specific turn-around times. Production delays or faulting products will hurt your chances for future jobs.

If you want to learn more about how to become a supplier for the federal government, you can visit the SAM website or you can also drop us a line today.