Recently the United States Office of Management and Budget published a revision to the A-131 Value Engineering requirements for Agencies of the US Government. The link to this action is:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/03/06/2018-04445/value-engineering-ve
Specifically, the change being made in the federal register is that OMB is removing the requirement for upward reporting on any value engineering activities done by the agencies. They are accepting public comment on this change, but only for 30 days – comments must be in by April 5, 2018.
SAVE International does not support this change as no reporting means no accountability or requirement. This could very well mean the end of US Federal Government Value Engineering Programs.
To help us fight this change, we as that you make a comment on the OMB feedback line and that you send letters to your local US Congress Representatives and Senators. We have included below a draft letter for you to use if you desire for these letters.
Thank you for your support.
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DRAFT LETTER BELOW
RE: Proposed revision to Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-131, “Value Engineering”. Document No. 2018-04445; Citation No. 83 FR 9549
Dear Congressman <Insert Last Name>:
This letter is being sent in an effort to express our deepest concern for the current request related to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This change is being proposed as a revision to Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-131, “Value Engineering” and these actions are called for by OMB Memorandum M-17-26, “Reducing Burden for Federal Agencies by Rescinding and Modifying OMB Memoranda.” Memorandum M-17-26 was designed to eliminate inefficiencies created by past OMB direction and improve the efficiency of government operations. This proposal should not be accepted.
I am a strong supporter of Value Engineering (VE). VE is a management technique that is used to analyze activities and identify alternative processes for completing the activities at a lower cost. Industry first developed VE during World War II as a means of continuing production despite shortages of critical materials. The Federal Government subsequently adopted VE as a mechanism to improve efficiency. Policies adding the use of VE are set forth in OMB Circular A-131.
In order for staff to continue to consider the importance of Value Engineering and continue the use of VE, which supports the Administration’s efforts to emphasize critical thinking and analysis instead of compliance activity and documentation. This proposal suggests that agency workforce awareness and consideration of VE can be improved by redirecting agency resources away from compliance reporting and towards information sharing with other agencies on use of the tool through the Acquisition Gateway.
Reporting is critical to any successful process. If staff is going to view this activity as a very important tool to aid government in fiscal responsibility, management must continue to require upward reporting. Staff must believe that management is committed to ensuring that VE is used within all of our government agencies to continue to manage our federal monies effectively, and the only way this is possible is if they require staff to keep them informed, and more importantly, they must help staff to stay committed to these efforts.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
<Insert Name>
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