SPECIAL NOTICE Commerce Business Daily Special Notice Subject: DISC Expansion of Paperless Contracting Environment Attention contractors doing business with the Defense Industrial Supply Center (DISC), Philadelphia, PA. In the near future, DISC will be expanding its use of a paperless contracting environment to include the majority of its requirements under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT). In 1995, DISC began to utilize an Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB) system for a portion of its acquisitions under $25,000. Among other functions, the EBB gives contractors an electronic means to gain access to and submit quotations on buys posted to the system. In fact, paper quotations are not permitted on these buys. A key difference with the current expansion plans is that an Internet-based system known as the DLA Procurement Gateway will be utilized, rather than the EBB. The Procurement Gateway is an enhancement in that it allows easier access and greater functionality than the EBB, e.g. both RFQs and awards stored in a digital format, easy access to unrestricted specifications/drawings, flexible search options, on-line profile building, a collection download feature, etc. The Procurement Gateway is currently being used on a non-mandatory basis for the posting of solicitation and award information. Set your browser to "http://progate.daps.mil/" or to "http://12.3.216.20" to view the site. In an upcoming announcement, contractors will be informed of the specific implementation date and provided further information. POCs are Ms. Rosanne Sarkissian, DISC-BBC, (215) 697-9085, e-mail: rsarkissian@disc.dla.mil for any technical issues and Mr. Len Gregory, DSCP-PPC, (215) 697-6949, e-mail: lgregory@disc.dla.mil for anything else. Posted 01/29/99 (W-SN292656).

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0382 19990202\SP-0003.MSC)