JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Contracting professionals from the Mission and Installation Contracting Command-Field Directorate Office at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, have awarded a contract for a special non-traditional supplier research project that supports the Army’s response for a robust pipeline of equipment and supplies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
The research project uses machine learning-driven investigations to identify untapped markets for acquisition personnel to match requirements from Army units to purchase supplies that support the response to COVID-19.
“We are fully engaged in supporting the whole-of-nation effort to counter the COVID-19 threat,” said Dr. Dean Angell, a procurement analyst with MICC-FDO Fort Sam Houston. “This contract and the information and reports it generates are particularly significant because it meets the extremely time-sensitive intent of the Army's task to locate suppliers that will be able to produce medical supplies and equipment to fight COVID-19.”
In March, the office was contacted with the COVID-19 support requirement. After reviewing the requirement, proposal and determining the best course of action, it issued a notice-to-proceed letter and began to quickly put the acquisition together.
The contract calls for non-traditional medical equipment and supply reports and uses machine learning algorithms to analyze millions of data points related to the medical supply industry and specifically the COVID-19 virus, including up-to-the-minute information, medical studies and reports provided by the scientific community to fight the COVID-19 virus.
The contractor will use market data and automated methods such as machine learning to rapidly identify a set of potential suppliers, with emphasis on non-traditional and emerging suppliers that can create new or add additional manufacturing capacity.
The contractor is responsible for reviewing each supplier to validate capabilities to refine vendor-specific information and create a final list of potential suppliers for acquisition personnel to match with incoming requirements.