As an industry leader in cost proposal tools, ProPricer serves as a multi-user platform where functional groups can collaborate within the same data set, real-time.  As an alternative to restricted mainframe applications or unstable complex spreadsheets, ProPricer offers users an easy-to-use interface, robust database design, advanced import and export features, and the ability to perform and create complex “what if” analysis and custom reports in minutes.

“ProPricer fits naturally amongst manufacturing and engineering companies”, said Joseph Shurance, EBS CEO.  “We are looking forward to helping Babcock (NZ) Limited in support of their ongoing contracting successes with a tool that can maximize proposal accuracy and output.”

About Executive Business Services
As an application solutions provider focusing on meeting the needs of the growing Information Technology marketplace, EBS continues to successfully build, easy-to-use commercial off-the-shelf applications for various industry markets. EBS’s industry proven ProPricer proposal pricing application suite has been helping contract management organizations standardize and manage the cost proposal process, thereby improving productivity and profitability time and again. With clients all over the US, Canada, and Europe, EBS attributes its success to its corporate mission of building quality, long-term relationships with its customers, while offering products and services that can meet and exceed the changing demands of its users. For more information about EBS and its product offering, please visit their website at www.propricer.com. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

About Babcock (NZ) Limited
Babcock (NZ) Limited, part of the UK based Babcock International Group, is New Zealand’s largest marine engineering support services company, delivering a comprehensive range of specialist engineering and repair services. . Certified to AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008, Babcock combines a tradition of engineering excellence with a forward thinking, innovative approach, carefully tailored to the needs of the customer.

For more information, please contact:

Denni Griffith
Vice President of Marketing
Executive Business Services
43398 Business Park Drive
Temecula, CA 92590
Toll-Free: (800) 507-9980
Fax: (951) 693-0446
www.propricer.com
email: dgriffith@propricer.com

Contact:
Babcock (NZ) Limited
Private Bag 32903
Devonport, Auckland 0744
New Zealand
Phone: 00 64 9 446 1999
Web: www.babcocknz.co.nz
Email: enquiries@babcocknz.co.nz

Due to ‘significant deficiencies’ discovered in a DCMA earned value management system audit, NAVSEA announced last month that it is penalizing shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls by withholding 5% of its progress payments on the $697 million ship building contract for the Arleigh Burke class destroyer.  Unless Ingalls is able to quickly correct the deficiencies, the penalty could amount to tens of millions of dollars.  The DCMA found ‘systemic and material internal control weaknesses” in 19 of the 32 earned value guidelines that crossed each of the five EVM areas.

The government’s action confirms DOD’s intent to use the payment withholding sanctions included in the May 2011 update to DFARS 252.242-7005.  In addition to a company’s Earned Value Management System, the clause enables payment withholding penalties for significant deficiencies found in a company’s Material Management and Accounting System, Cost Accounting, Purchasing, Property Management and Cost Estimating System.  If a company is notified of significant deficiencies in more than one business system audit, the withholding penalties could reach 10% of its progress payments, performance based payments and cost vouchers.

Companies need to know if their government contract or flow-down from a prime contractor make them subject to business system audits.  Compliance with the six business system requirements can be proactive or reactive.  When compliance consists of a corrective action plan in response to adverse audit findings and punitive payment withholding the costs are much greater.

By helping to reliably and consistently generate verifiable, supportable, documented and timely cost estimates ProPricer software is an integral part of many companies’ compliant Cost Estimating System.  ProPricer software and ProPricer Consulting have helped companies prepare for Cost Estimating System audits and implement corrective action plans when deficiencies surface.  For more information on how ProPricer can increase proposal accuracy, efficiency, and productivity, please take a closer look by clicking here

In response to a recent DoD IG review, Director of Defense Pricing Shay Assad issued a memorandum to Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition executives and the directors of defense agencies and field activities requiring personnel to obtain and review cost and price analysis for spare parts before exercising an option under firm-fixed priced contracts.

Finally, Contracting officers must perform cost or price analysis of the proposed spare parts using an appropriate sampling technique or requesting field pricing assistance.  The contracting officer must include the results of the cost or price analysis in the contract file, and consider the results before exercising any options, Assad concluded.

When reviewing the new policy, makers of ProPricer Government Edition (GE) are quick to highlight the rich feature set of the application, reminding Contracting Offices that ProPricer Government Edition (GE) offers teams a collaborative database environment where bidder cost elements, from resources to parts, can be analyzed in a variety of different ways and at different levels with ease.  The product’s “Project” feature group allows evaluators to set up and review multiple offerors side-by-side, including a sample, in a fraction of a time it takes to compile a complex network of spreadsheets, thereby saving valuable man hours, increasing accuracy, and leaving more time for critical analysis of the data.

For more information on ProPricer Government Edition, please review our product overview page online at http://www.propricer.com/products/for-federal-agencies/.

Executive Business Services is pleased to announce that the company’s ProPricer Government Edition Source Selection and Cost Analysis product has been named “Best in Class” by a Senior DOD Price Analyst.

For over 25 years, ProPricer has been making a significant process improvement impact with industry contractors in a variety of disciplines all over the globe.  Just a few short years ago, the company developed and launched ProPricer “Government Edition” that offers Contracting Officers, Pricing Analysts, Cost Analysis, and Source Selection teams the ability to import, normalize, and review bidder cost data from multiple electronic formats as a smart alternative to a complex network of spreadsheets.

When the product was demonstrated and presentated, initial feedback included, “I really like the traceability features of the ProPricer tool to ensure consistency and reliability in evaluating factors/subfactors of each proposal among competing proposals.  This transparency should be very beneficial in supporting the Government position in any contractor protest alleging impropriety of technical evaluation”.

ProPricer Government Edition (GE) offers teams a collaborative database environment, allowing users to “slice and dice” cost elements in a variety of different ways, and at different levels. In support of detailed proposal and cost analysis, setting up proposals “side by side” can be reduced into a fraction of the time, saving man hours and increasing overall accuracy of the tasks.

In conclusion, the product received a star rating with this final comment:  “Overall in my opinion, ProPricer is “Best in Class” of COTS proposal pricing analysis tools I’ve been able to find”.

For more information on ProPricer’s Government Edition, please visit their product page at http://www.propricer.com/products/for-federal-agencies/ or contact us at (800) 507-9980.

Evaluating a competitive bid or proposal whether formal or informal, to achieve the best value to the Government, includes creating a team, creating a strategy or acquisition plan, and ensuring there is consistency within the solicitation requirements. Today, ProPricer Government Edition (GE) helps Contracting Officers execute their plan by becoming a serviceable bank of cost data from multiple offerors, including the Should Cost Analysis.

During this 45 minute overview, Brian Burmeister and Carl Holland, Regional Sales Directors for EBS, introduce and review many of the key features that satisfy clients in 8 countries worldwide today.

This webinar will  cover aspects of generating, maintaining, and coordinating cost data and the cost volume. Key points of interest include the vertical integration of cost or pricing data and a demonstration of ProPricer utilities that make professional staff productivity gains a reality.  Program managers, pricing teams, estimating teams, and executives are encouraged to register and attend to learn more about the product and its growing relationship with system consultants.

TOPICS

* What Is ProPricer
* ProPricer History and Position In The Marketplace
* ProPricer For Federal Agencies – Creating an apples to apples comparison in minutes vs. months.
* Developing A Cost Data Database Of Excellence
* ProPricer creating transparency between Contractors and Contracting Offices
* Supporting Our Client Base
* Your Partner In Cost Proposals
* ProPricer – A Live Demonstration

CALENDAR
No ProPricer Standard and Estimator Edition program webinars are scheduled at this time.  Please complete the form below for more information, or to be notified when an event is scheduled

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Competing for primes, set asides, and sub-contracts can be a challenge for companies who must do more with less.  Efficiency and accuracy with primes and clients will further develop your reputation and build a trusting element with contacts and colleagues.  For years, ProPricer has been helping medium to large contractors bring estimators and pricing teams together in a shared database, to collaborate on proposals, from the BOE to BAFO, real-time.  Based on the standard edition, ProPricer Small Business Edition was developed to meet the needs of smaller contractors looking to grow and flourish.

During this 45 minute overview, Jon Shoemaker, Marketing Account Representative for EBS, introduce and review many of the key features that satisfy small business clients today.

This webinar will  cover aspects of generating, maintaining, and coordinating cost data and the cost volume. Key points of interest include the vertical integration of cost or pricing data and a demonstration of ProPricer utilities that make professional staff productivity gains a reality.  Program managers, pricing teams, estimating teams, and executives are encouraged to register and attend to learn more about the product and its growing relationship with system consultants.

TOPICS

* What Is ProPricer
* ProPricer History and Position In The Marketplace
* ProPricer For Small Business – Keeping it simple
* Developing A Pricing Database Of Excellence
* ProPricer for Business Systems Compliance, Accuracy, and Advantage
* Supporting Our Client Base
* Your Partner In Cost Proposals
* ProPricer – A Live Demonstration

CALENDAR
No ProPricer Standard and Estimator Edition program webinars are scheduled at this time.  Please complete the form below for more information, or to be notified when an event is scheduled

[contact-form-7]

Speed, agility, transparency, compliance and efficiency are critical elements to a winning proposal environment.  For years, ProPricer has been helping medium to large contractors bring estimators and pricing teams together in a shared database, to collaborate on proposals, from the BOE to BAFO, real-time.  As the application of choice for cost proposals and cost analysis,  ProPricer is the smart alternative to complex, unreliable spreadsheets.

During this 45 minute overview, Brian Burmeister and Carl Holland, Regional Sales Directors for EBS, introduce and review many of the key features that satisfy clients in 8 countries worldwide today.

This webinar will  cover aspects of generating, maintaining, and coordinating cost data and the cost volume. Key points of interest include the vertical integration of cost or pricing data and a demonstration of ProPricer utilities that make professional staff productivity gains a reality.  Program managers, pricing teams, estimating teams, and executives are encouraged to register and attend to learn more about the product and its growing relationship with system consultants.

TOPICS

* What Is ProPricer
* ProPricer History and Position In The Marketplace
* ProPricer For Contractors – Editions working together
* Developing A Pricing Database Of Excellence
* ProPricer for Business Systems Compliance, Accuracy, and Advantage
* Supporting Our Client Base
* Your Partner In Cost Proposals
* ProPricer – A Live Demonstration

CALENDAR
No ProPricer Standard and Estimator Edition program webinars are scheduled at this time.  Please complete the form below for more information, or to be notified when an event is scheduled

[contact-form-7]

As compared to the commercial world, where prices decline over time even as technology improves, DoD’s products are steadily increasing in cost, often by wide margins. DoD’s productivity, its ability to deliver more without more, is going in the wrong direction when we can least afford it.

Buying strategies must adapt to this new reality. Adjustments in our acquisition approach, tools, techniques, and attitudes are necessary if we are to continue to provide our fighting forces with the material and technical edge required for victory. It is in this spirit that Dr. Carter re­leased the Better Buying Power (BBP) initiatives and directives.

We believe ProPricer GE is the perfect fit for collaborative teams of technical, cost/pricing, procurement, management and acquisition specialists to facilitate the projection of program funding requirements and ultimately, the negotiation of realistic contracts with vendors.

CLICK HERE to read Dr. Carter’s full article.

Today’s Federal Contracting Business Systems Requirements are increasing the demand for transparency, compliance and efficiency in all phases of the contracting life cycle.  In response, companies are seeking process improvements in their estimating systems and implementing corrective action plans in response to system audit findings.  As the application of choice for cost proposal and cost analysis for over 25 years, ProPricer has been the smart alternative to complex, unreliable spreadsheets.

During this 45 minute overview, Scott Clayton, CPCM, Principal Consultant for Executive Business Services introduces the ProPricer Partnership Program. The program is designed for industry professionals and government contracting consultants.

This webinar will  cover aspects of generating, maintaining, and coordinating cost data and the cost volume. Key points of interest include the verticle integration of cost or pricing data and a demonstration of ProPricer utilities that make professional staff productivity gains a reality.  Program managers, pricing teams, estimating teams, and executives are encouraged to register and attend to learn more about the product and its growing relationship with system consultants.

TOPICS

* What Is ProPricer
* ProPricer History and Position In The Marketplace
* ProPricer Product Overview
* Developing A Pricing Database Of Excellence
* ProPricer for Business Systems Compliance
* Supporting Our Client Base
* Your Partner In Cost Proposals
* ProPricer – A Live Demonstration

CALENDAR
No Partner program webinars are scheduled at this time.  Please complete the form below for more information, or to be notified when an event is scheduled

[contact-form-7]

Recently Congress passed new legislation requiring the Secretary of Defense to develop a program that ensures contractor business systems provide reliable information in response to the oversight and management of Defense programs.   Included are Accounting, Estimating, Earned Value Management, Material, and Property Management systems.  As a result, Contractors are preparing for reviews, understanding the significant risk if deficiencies are identified.  If a contractor’s business system is disapproved, the DoD will work with the contractor to develop a corrective action plan.  However, until a system is approved, the DoD may withhold up to 10 percent of progress and other payments on cost type contracts that are covered by the Cost Accounting Standards.

In response, many Contractors have implemented ProPricer to meet requirements for their Estimating System.  Some reasons include:

Additional ProPricer features and benefits designed to enhance the accuracy and agility of any proposal team include:

• Defined User Roles and Access layers are available within the system.
• Automation of Estimating tasks , i.e. applying forward pricing rates and the calculation of a cost estimating relationship.
• ProPricer validates many types of data input, often preventing errors before they occur.
• ProPricer input grids and relational tables protect against resource estimate duplication, and can provide tools to identify potential omissions.
• ProPricer reports enable verification and validation of rate application and escalation factors, and the segregation of cost data using relational tables, thereby enhancing and accelerating analytical capabilities.
• ProPricer forward pricing rates are stored in libraries which are accessible by all proposal databases. When new rates and factors are created, updating proposals prior to price agreement can be accomplished very quickly.
• Subcontract price and cost analyses can be attached to the ProPricer database so that as of a snapshot in time, the proposal pricing can be demonstrated.
• ProPricer implementation encourages organizations to adopt a common set of reports that support the negotiation process.

For more information on why leading contractors select ProPricer in support of their Estimating System and proposal pricing, please contact us or learn more by clicking here.