New purchase request processing system to deliver faster results Published Oct. 11, 2007 By Kandis West Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Air Force Materiel Command has developed a system capable of streamlining the arduous purchase request process across the enterprise. The 559th Combat Sustainment Squadron is spear-heading the local implementation of this new system, the Purchase Request Process System, also known as D203. PRPS introduces a Web-based, workflow system that will automate the front-end of the acquisition process. Any personnel or functional discipline having a role in preparing, coordinating, reviewing and/or signing a Central Procurement Purchase Request Instrument, Screening Analysis Worksheet, Contract Repair Screening Analysis Worksheet, National Stock Number Item Description, or any other PR package attachment will have a role within PRPS. The ultimate goal of PRPS is to provide a paperless link to the contracting office, bridging the gap between the requirements side of the house and contracting. Logisticians agree that PRPS will assist in alleviating, if not completely eliminating, some of the most common errors associated with working PR packages. Therefore, cutting down on the total time it takes to process a PR package and meeting the needs of the warfighter more efficiently. "We have needed this capability for so long, and we're finally getting it. Two of our biggest challenges have been lack of a data repository and visibility of the PR in the system. PRPS will provide us with both, offering instant document retrieval and real time PR status. I think the users will be pleasantly surprised," said Joan Meldrum, 559th CBSS deputy director. "PRPS is a tool which will enable users to produce a higher quality PR package faster and easier," said David Thomas, PRPS program manager for Tinker. He said the many inefficiencies and shortcomings associated with the current manual PR processes will be diminished with the use of PRPS. The lack of a tracking system, he said, greatly reduced the visibility and accountability of the purchase request activities (or attachments) that were sent out for work or coordination. Mr. Thomas said while electronic systems have been previously developed to assist with some of these processing issues, they still required extensive and continuous manual input from users and did not store information in the form of a data repository. PRPS is set up to interface with several other systems, minimizing the data entry required and eliminating the need to manually enter data in other systems, such as the Acquisition and Due-In transactions. Derrell Dover, equipment specialist subject matter expert, says the greatest benefit of PRPS is that it will have the capability to save and store attachments that were previously maintained as manual forms in multiple storage systems. In other words, PRPS can be considered a "one-stop shop," he said. Functionality also exists to view and print activities from across sites, such as a Commodity Council's need to have a SAW for items managed at another center. This eliminates a currently manual process. "Once we have the information established within the database, we won't have to reinvent the wheel every time," said Mr. Dover. "It will be a significant time-savings." Logistics officials estimate the new system will reduce administrative lead time for purchase requests by approximately 22 days, resulting in much faster delivery to the warfighter. The official implementation process of PRPS will occur in three spirals that will each roll out individually resulting in full system deployment. Spiral One, currently in implementation status, will provide the capability to upload text attachments into PRPS and complete workloaded activities within PRPS, which will all be saved and stored in the data repository. "Fifty-three activities performed by 20 different job series will be streamlined and guided electronically in Spiral One," Mr. Dover said. Spirals Two and Three will introduce additional activities and job series. Spiral Two, slated for implementation in April 2008, will actually allow for the creation of purchase instruments, which include both the AFMC Form 36 and the DD Form 448, plus additional attachments such as the Item Unique Identification worksheet. Spiral Two will also integrate the Commodity Council Compliance Database within PRPS. Spiral Three, which is scheduled for implementation in December 2008, will allow for the electronic passing of the purchase instrument, along with all required documentation, through the funding certification process and over to contracting for negotiation and award.