Protests hit OASIS+

By Brian Kolbay Newsletter Archives August 20, 2024

TAKE NOTE (Insights and Emerging Technology)

A total of 10 companies so far are challenging their exclusion from an award on the government-wide professional services vehicle.

In July, GSA unveiled its list of 1,383 apparent winners for the general small business set-aside track of OASIS+.

GSA planned to have formal award notifications out by Tuesday (Aug. 12), following the window for protests over whether the selected companies are in fact small businesses.

But ahead of that date, a total of 10 companies so far have filed protests to challenge their exclusion from an award. The general theme of the complaints centers on how they were eliminated from the competition during GSA’s acceptability review of the bids.

Decisions from the Government Accountability Office are scheduled for Nov. 13 through Nov. 20.

In light of those protests, GSA said in a Sam.gov notice that it will delay the issuance of the formal award notifications and notices to proceed until the protests are resolved.

The companies currently protesting are:

Athena Technology Group
AtVentures
Compel joint venture
Explore Digits
Jefferson Consulting Group
Johnson Technology Systems
Mission Solaiya joint venture
Q2 Impact
SOFtact Solutions
Venergy Group

Awards remain pending for OASIS+’ unrestricted pool and the four small business tracks in 8(a), HUBZone, women-owned, and service-disabled veteran-owned.

The current OASIS Small Business vehicle is slated to expire on Dec. 19 and roughly $30.9 billion in obligations have gone through it since being opened for business in 2014, according to Deltek data.

UNDER DEVELOPMENT (Insights for Developers)

Production Planning with S/4 HANA

Intro

Production planning is a critical component in manufacturing and operations management, ensuring that materials, resources, and schedules align to meet production targets efficiently. With the evolution of technology, SAP has introduced advanced solutions like SAP S/4HANA, which offers significant enhancements over its predecessor, SAP ERP. This blog explores the differences in production planning between SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA, highlighting key functionalities and improvements.

Let’s just set the table and explore the differences…

Key Differences in Production Planning Features

SAP ERP: In SAP ERP, PP-DS is a component of SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) and interfaces with SAP ERP through middleware. This setup can result in complex integration scenarios and additional costs for middleware solutions.

SAP S/4HANA: In SAP S/4HANA, PP-DS is embedded directly into the system with additional license costs. This integration simplifies the architecture and provides seamless planning and scheduling capabilities, enabling more responsive and efficient production processes.

Production Engineering & Operations

SAP ERP: The production engineering and operations functionality is not available in SAP ERP, limiting the ability to integrate engineering and production processes seamlessly.

SAP S/4HANA: This functionality is embedded in SAP S/4HANA with an additional license cost. It allows for better coordination between engineering and production, enhancing the overall efficiency and quality of manufacturing operations.

Predictive MRP (pMRP)

SAP ERP: Predictive MRP is not available in SAP ERP. Instead, businesses rely on traditional MRP processes, which can be less responsive to changes in demand and supply.

SAP S/4HANA: SAP S/4HANA includes pMRP, which offers advanced simulation tools to predict material requirements more accurately. This functionality, along with the predecessor Long-Term Planning (LTP) from SAP ERP, helps planners make informed decisions and respond quickly to market changes.

Q&A (Post your questions and get the answers you need)

Q. What are heuristics as it relates to S/4 HANA and embedded PP/DS?

A. In SAP’s Advanced Planning in SAPS/4HANA (e/PDS), heuristics are planning functions that can be used to plan selected objects, such as products, operations, resources, or line networks. Heuristics can be used in background or interactive planning, and they are selected based on the context. SAP provides standard heuristics for different planning tasks, and users can also create their own heuristics using SAP algorithms or user-programmed heuristics.

Here are some examples of heuristics in SAP’s S/4HANA PP/DS:

Minimize runtime: Sequences operations on resources and takes resource capacity into account
Remove backlog: Sequences operations on resources and takes resource capacity into account
Optimize configurable products: Optimizes the sequence of configurable products while considering any restrictions
Plan non-configurable products: Plans resources or lines simultaneously for products that are produced on structured lines, such as filling lines
Convert Supply Network Planning (SNP) orders: Converts SNP orders into Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) orders during a production planning run
Supersession chains: Calls the relevant product heuristic for products in a supersession chain in the order defined by the chain

Hope this helps!

Cheers!