The General Services Administration received commitments from 11 agencies to use the new Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative contract for janitorial and sanitation (JanSan) supplies and equipment, and eight agencies committed to using the new contract for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) equipment and supplies.

GSA released the request for quotes earlier this week for both areas that it’s bringing under FSSI and out of the schedules program.

JanSan includes products and services for everything from cleaning compounds and dispensers to paper products and motorized floor cleaning equipment. MRO includes everything from tool boxes and tool cabinets, commercial coatings, adhesives and sealants to hardware stores and home improvement centers.

GSA said agencies spend approximately $1.7 billion annually on JanSan and MRO products. In the first year alone, GSA estimates agencies could save 10-to-20 percent or $24 million.

The agencies committing to the JanSan program are:

• Air Force — $1 million to $2 million annual spend
• Army — $1 million to $3 million
• Navy — $4 million
• Energy — $800,000
• HHS — $1.02 million
• DHS — $22 million
• VA — No specific commitment of spend
• GSA — $20.5 million
• DLA — $200,000
• FAA — at least $7 million
• Treasury — $200,000

In all, these 11 agencies spend about $524.5 million a year on JanSan.

The agencies committing to the MRO program are:

• Navy — $25 million in annual spend
• Army — $3 million to $5 million
• Energy — $8.2 million
• HHS — $1.02 million
• DHS — $40 million
• GSA — $12.2 million
• FAA — at least $7 million
• Treasury — $4.8 million

“We performed extensive market research and made changes in the acquisition strategy to include reserving the overwhelming majority of awards for small business or service disabled veteran owned small business,” said Tom Sharpe, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service’s commissioner in a release. “We also obtained a waiver to the Non-Manufacturing rule from the Small Business Administration, which allows for both increased participation of small businesses in the JanSan and MRO programs and for greater utilization by federal agencies.”

Questions on the RFQs are due to GSA by Oct. 22, and bids are due by Nov. 12.

These two RFQs are the first of what is expected to be 10 FSSI contracts coming in the next two years.

GSA committed to setting up five FSSI blanket purchase agreements in 2014 and five more in 2015. It also is already planning a follow on to the office supplies BPA awarded in 2010.

Additionally, Congress is paying close attention to how agencies are buying commodity goods and services. The No Labels Caucus — made up of Republicans and Democrats — recently introduced a bill to mandate the use of strategic sourcing and place specific goals for the government to meet each year.

At the same time, there is growing concern over how the Obama administration is applying strategic sourcing and its impact on small businesses. Some in industry and on Capitol Hill believe the current approach will negatively impact small firms in the short and long terms, and therefore reduce the industrial base for the government.

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