There is an art to searching for government solicitations. The government uses multiple classification systems, misspells or abbreviates names, uses the wrong commodity classes, and lots of other mistakes. Having a broad collection of searches is necessary to make sure you are not missing anything.
The first mistake people make is only searching by one type of search term. NSN lists are great for following an exact list of items, but can miss other similar opportunities. Item names are fraught with misspellings and variants. FSCs are broad searches, but yield many results to dig through.
Use Multiple Searches
The best strategy is to set up multiple searches that automatically track the things that describe what you sell.
FSC / NAICS – Everything the government buys gets categorized in one or both of these. These searches will produce a lot of results, so filtering by the things you don’t supply can help pare down the list. You will see everything in the commodity class that the government is buying, providing a broad picture of where the opportunities lie. Not every buyer uses both FSC and NAICS, so make sure you’re following the commodity / industry classes that fit what you sell.
NSN / PART LIST – National Stock Numbers (NSN) are preferred over part numbers because of the ambiguity of the part numbering system. There are 94 different items in the FLIS with a part number of 123. NSN lists allow you to track a specific list of items. Create one for items you sell and one for your competitor’s items.
ITEM NAMES – Look at FSC searches to see what item names the Government uses. Note the abbreviations, truncation, colloquial names, and misspellings. Make a list of these. If you want to be exact with your item names, use Item Name Codes (INC).
CAGE CODES – If your company has items in the FLIS, track your CAGE code. Make a list of your competitor’s CAGE codes and follow them as well. Look through their lists and add items to your Item Name and NSN lists.
Further Refinement
If you don’t have any source approvals, filter anything that needs source approval from your searches. If its something that requires drawings, filter out items that don’t have Technical Data Packages (TDP). Use AMC codes to filter by data availability. Add a list of NSNs and item names that you don’t produce to further pare the results. If you filter on Small Business designation, keep in mind that different data sources use different classifications. Using refinements are key to reducing the number of solicitations you need to dig through every day.
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