Course
Approval to Meet Regulatory Requirements.
QUESTION. As a purchasing and contracting
professional, in order to be certified or
approved for purchasing, I am required to
take price evaluation training. Will the Price
Evaluation Course from your website qualify
me in meeting these requirements?
ANSWER.
The United States Postal Service’s Price
Analysis Training Manual, used to train its
Supply Management purchasing professionals
for more than ten years, is the source of
the material that comprise the Price Evaluation
Course. The FAR version of the course used
parallel citations to the same requirements
from the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Routinely,
Federal Agencies accept training approved
by other Federal Agencies to meet certification
requirements. Additionally, managers have
broad latitude in approving specific training
to meet certification requirements. Recommend
that you present both the Audio-Visual Presentation,
and the Price Evaluation Demo for your manager’s
review, certification, and approval.
Time
Needed to Successfully Complete the Course.
QUESTION. Can one reasonably expect
to complete the training within from 16 to
20 hours as indicated?
ANSWER.
While the course can be completed in from
16 to 20 hours by students already familiar
with the basic process of price evaluation,
purchasing professionals new to price evaluation
should plan to take their time for benefit
of maximum learning and expect to take up
to forty hours for the best scoring. See FAQ
“Making a Good Score.”
Cost
Analysis vs. Price Analysis.
QUESTION.
The course is entitled the ‘Price Evaluation
Course.’ Is the balance more towards
Price Analysis or equally balanced between
Price and Cost Analysis?
ANSWER.
While more of the quiz questions and practical
exercises deal with Price Analysis, the basics
of Cost Analysis comprise a significant portion
of the training. As a result of having completed
the course, one should be able to conduct
both a price analysis and a non-complex cost
analysis using an audit report.
Price
Evaluation Course and Purchase Savings.
QUESTION.
You represent that “the more you know,
the ‘luckier’ you get,”
and “Smart Price Evaluation adds value.”
How do these concepts translate in to saving
money on purchases that I make?
ANSWER.
The appreciation for comprehensiveness of
price evaluation gained from completing the
Price Evaluation Course will drive the purchasing
professional to gather proper and sufficient
data to assess not only prior purchases and
current price proposals but the condition
of the market that may impact price significantly
in arriving at a reasonable price. The accumulated
data often generates the confidence and the
disposition to demand the most competitive
pricing, even from established and existing
sources. The result is often more competitive
and lower pricing for same purchases.
The
Target Audience for the Price Evaluation Course.
QUESTION.
I am a purchasing professional, with a government
credit card who makes hundreds of purchases of
goods and services that cumulatively amount
to less than a million dollars per year; and
I share an office with a purchasing professional
who spends more than ten million dollars per
year for purchase of other supplies and services.
Others in our organization buy new construction
and alteration and repair of existing buildings.
Is the Price Evaluation Course intended for
all of us?
ANSWER.
The course teaches both the basis
concepts of purchasing and the use of more
complex price adjustment techniques including
making and using indices, adjusting for quality
and quantity variance, assumed change, and
ratio analysis. Also covered are the basics
needed to understand and use audit reports
in cost analysis where price analysis alone
is insufficient to determine a fair and reasonable
price. The Price Evaluation Course is designed
to develop and improve the skill set and tools
needed to evaluate price in a fashion that
withstands the strictest review. All but the
most advanced price and cost analysis will
likely retrieve valuable and immediately usable
information from the course.
Making
a Good Score.
QUESTION. What is recommended to
improve my chances of passing the course and
getting a respectable score well above the
70% passing score with the first taking of
the course?
ANSWER.
Two Basic Rules: 1) As with any challenging
course, your chances of getting a good score
improve with good note taking. Note taking
is much easier than in a classroom setting
because the student sets the pace of the course.
2) Before starting exercises, make sure you
understand what is being asked of you, and
look for performed examples of what is being
requested. It is important to take time to
think your way through the training. “Jack
Rabbit” runs through the course
reduce the chances of getting a good score.
The
Complexity of the Calculations Needed to Successfully
Complete the Course.
QUESTION. I studied math in high
school but was not very good in algebra, geometry,
etc. Can I be expected to do well in taking
the course?
ANSWER.
To successfully complete the Price Evaluation
Course, one only needs to employ only math
skills. Additionally, there are “Help”
screens and examples that will demonstrate
math exercises needed to complete an assignment.
Such is the case, whether you construct or
used indices, adjust for quality difference
in products, escalate or deflate prices, or
use ratio analysis to adjust for pricing based
upon random sampling.
Credibility
of the Scoring and Course Completion.
QUESTION. With the complete solitary
independence of the taking of the course,
what gives the scoring and course completion
credibility? How do you keep people for cheating?
ANSWER.
While the course is designed to be taken independently,
the student is expected to report the results
to some official responsible for crediting
successful completion and training. The Certificate
of Completion adds credibility to the completion
of the training by requiring the signature
of the student certifying that the work delivered
was his own and without improper assistance.
Additionally, the training official signs
the student’s Certificate of Completion
after being sufficiently assured that the
student should obtain credit for the training,
using what ever standards considered reasonable.
