The record shows that AI quoted a total price of $4,487,573, while the protester quoted a total price of $4,494,706, for a difference of $7,133. New talent acquisition careers in Indianapolis, IN are added daily on SimplyHired.com. 1019219, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for robotic pharmaceutical equipment. We find implicit in the requirement to view the first fill image that the pharmacist will necessarily need to retrieve the image as well. HR Head at a Leading Software and Hardware Design Company ; INNOVATIVE ASSOCIATES is a perfect partner in Talent Acquisition. Protest alleging that awardee’s proposed solution for providing robotic pharmaceutical automation systems failed to meet several of the solicitation’s minimum requirements is sustained where record shows that the offered system failed to meet two material requirements. We built our purpose on a simple premise: That a company’s most valuable assets are its people. FAI has extended their acceptance of questions for this Acquisition … Agency Report (AR) exh. As a final matter, we note that Innovation Associates challenges the award to AI because, according to the protester, AI did not offer robotic arms, as required by the solicitation. Innovation Strategy When M&A is part of the innovation strategy, it can be a great tool to secure a key position in the existing industry (e.g. AR, exh. The RFQ provided as follows:  “When verifying prescriptions, the solution shall allow the pharmacist to view the first fill image of the original written prescription and display electronic prescription data to assist in rapid verification.”  RFQ Minimum Requirement No. Retrieval was not an element of Minimum Requirement 23. 12, Award Document, at 3. If you are interested in joining us to unleash the full potential of pharmacy, please apply below. [5] Both the protester and the awardee offered solutions that employ “totes.”  A tote is essentially a shoebox-sized container into which individual prescriptions are deposited and aggregated for subsequent processing. Innovation Associates argues that the quotation submitted by AI is technically unacceptable for failing to meet a number of the RFQ’s minimum requirements. AR, exh. However, the fact that the prescriptions are first segregated as part of the process of depositing them into the totes does not demonstrate that the prescriptions are not deposited “directly” into the totes.[7]. acquisitions in encouraging innovation, facilitating economic growth, stimulating jobs, and enhancing our quality of life. This seminar - Innovations in Acquisition, FCL-A-0036 - discusses key initiatives and policy and gives real world examples and practical steps from leading practitioners. Agency Report at 5 (emphasis supplied). We therefore sustain this aspect of Innovation Associates’ protest. The AIA consists of advocates from each agency subject to the CFO Act of 1990, as well as, an advocate from the Small Agency Council. Innovation Associates Inc Innovation Associates, Inc. provides IT services. The National Acquisition Center Contract Catalog Search Tool now allows your facility to browse MedSurg and Pharmaceutical products and services available under Federal Supply Service contracts. [2]  We have considered all of Innovation Associates’ arguments, and sustain its protest for the reasons discussed below. In fact, there is nothing in the record to show that there even exists an alternative approved system of record for storing first fill images. The awardee defined a nesting station as follows: A nesting station is a system fixture utilized to identify processing totes at a workstation via an RFID reader that scans an RFID chip attached to the tote. 23. Diversity And Inclusion; Talent Acquisition And Retention; Training And Development; Recognitions; Community. We focus in particular on the Innovation Associates argues that AI’s quotation was technically unacceptable, and therefore ineligible for award. In this process, the technician removes the tote from the conveyor, places it in the nesting station and the RFID reader scans the chip and populates the workstation screen User Interface with the tote order data. This is the Innovation Associates company profile. The agency evaluated the quotations, engaged in several rounds of discussions, and solicited, obtained and evaluated final quotations. RFQ at 5 (emphasis supplied). Cherie J. Owen, Esq., Fernand A. Lavallee, Esq., and Alexander M. Yabroff, Esq., Jones Day, for Arxium, Inc., an intervenor. 12 and 48, in which the agency declined to provide a precise definition of “robotic arm” and left it to the vendors’ business judgment to decide what solution to offer. Id. RFQ at 3. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Although the RFQ specified a quantity of “robotic arms”, it also more broadly stated that the proposed solution was required to include a “robotics dispensing cabinet” which the solicitation defined as follows: A robotics dispensing cabinet is an automated medication dispenser that does not require a human to manually manipulate a prescription vial in order for the vial to be filled with medication but instead, usually employs a robotic arm (or other robotic device) to direct the vial to the medication dispensing cell in order to be filled and shall provide automated (non-manual) application of vial labeling. The protester therefore maintains that AI does not meet this minimum requirement. Through AI i M, we introduce strategies, practices, and technologies that strengthen the acquisition environment. “At Publix, it’s important to us that we are able to provide essential community health services in our pharmacies. Acquisition Innovations in Motion (AI i M) is a framework focused on embracing innovation and promoting meaningful communications. Innovation Associates, Inc. of Johnson City, New York, protests the issuance of four delivery orders to Arxium, Inc. (AI), of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, under that firm's federal supply schedule (FSS) contract pursuant to request for quotations (RFQ) No. The first fill images are accessed by the Symphony Central Fill System using a capability called Script Image Synchronization. Innovation Strategy; Modern Trends Driving our Innovation; Enhancing our Clients' HCM Landscape; Associates. PharmAssist Symphony software optimizes prescription fulfillment from end-to-end, all while managing fulfillment inventory, helping lower costs while increasing efficiency, and providing comprehensive Rx tracking and real-time support. Among other things, they share the status of their IT-related activities, especially the acquisitions … Innovation Associates serves customers worldwide. The low-stress way to find your next talent acquisition job opportunity is on SimplyHired. Healthcare Innovation Associates is a healthcare strategy firm offering turnkey solutions. The agency also did not advise firms prior to the submission of quotations that the first fill image minimum requirement would only be imposed when the first fill images were available or furnished by the Air Force, which is the position set out in the agency’s report (quoted above). You can learn about more innovative practices through the acquisition innovation advocates (AIA). RFQ at 6; Question and Answer No. According to the protester, its nesting stations cost approximately $[deleted] a piece, and the RFQ identifies a requirement for 36 nesting stations. While the agency may be correct that the awardee’s solution is functionally equivalent, the RFQ used a specific term--nesting station--to describe the agency’s requirements. According to the protester, the term “nesting station” is an industry standard term that describes a device into which the totes are placed for purposes of reading the identifying information. See salaries, compare reviews, easily apply, and get hired. After being advised of the agency selection decision and receiving a debriefing, Innovation Associates filed the instant protest. The protester maintains that the agency relaxed this requirement in accepting the awardee’s solution. The agency states: Innovation’s claim relies on reading into the requirement a capability to retrieve the image from the outpatient retail site. Acquisition Innovation Advocates (AIA) Council. Prior to quotations being submitted, the agency published a question and answer relating to this requirement. iA is a leading provider of software enabled pharmacy automation solutions. Innovation Group’s largest acquisition to date was in 2001, when it acquired MTW for $85M.Innovation Group has acquired in 2 countries. U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE: A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work. Innovation from mergers and acquisitions needs to be part of the mix rather then the primary way an organizations fills its innovation pipeline. iA is a committed partner that works to tailor high volume solutions to meet the needs of pharmacy providers and ensure that the solutions scale with their business. Let us focus on your prescription fulfillment so your pharmacists can focus on patient-facing care. First, this paper examines past trends in technology acquisitions, establishing that waves of industry acquisitions have been an integral part of the rapid innovation in tech sector since the 1980s. The record shows that there are a large number of out‑patient “retail” pharmacy locations (Air Force hospitals and pharmacies) that fill initial prescriptions, while the larger refill centers (for which the current equipment is being acquired) provide refills of the initially-filled prescriptions. In addition, the record shows that the awardee itself defined the term nesting station in responding to a discussion question posed by the agency. We therefore do not consider this allegation further. ... At Citigroup Tracea had leadership roles on a multi-billion dollar acquisition and a hundred-million dollar business turnaround. The requirement does not state that a vendor’s solution must have the ability to retrieve the image. And it can’t happen without a strong commitment to valuing, growing, and … [3]  DLA therefore maintains that AI meets the requirement. AI did not include any information in its quotation to show that it has the ability to retrieve the first fill images by, for example, obtaining a license from the protester to employ its proprietary Script Image Synchronization system. This stifles innovation, offers no incentive for collaboration and makes the process more important than the product. Innovation Associates, Inc. Johnson City, NY 13790 The Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition is responsible for designing, developing, executing and measuring talent acquisition … This redacted version has been approved for public release. [8] We recognize that the Air Force effectively may have locked itself into a solution that only the protester can provide in view of the limitations associated with the agency’s PharmASSIST approved system of record for storing the digital first fill images. [1] The RFQ contemplated the issuance of separate delivery orders for each of the four locations identified for installation of the systems, but advised firms that a single vendor would be selected for award of all four delivery orders. Let’s work together to unleash the full potential of pharmacy.”. The RFQ included a list of 64 minimum requirements, and several of these (discussed in detail below) are the subject of Innovation Associates’ protest. Innovation acquisitions, according to Chaudhuri, present four major challenges at the product, organization, and market levels: integrative complexity due to technological incompatibilities, integrative complexity due to the “maturity” of a target company, the unpredictability of a product’s performance trajectory (“technical uncertainty”) and the unpredictability of that product’s market (“market uncertainty”). Innovation Marketing is one of the most successful marketing firms in the area, and each day we try to be better by providing the best to our clients and associates. Acquisition Innovation Forum ACQUISITION INNOVATION: ADAPTABILITY, RESILIENCY, SPEED AND REPEATABILITY Innovation Group has acquired 4 companies of its own. 1019219, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for robotic pharmaceutical equipment. Philanthropy and Volunteering; Globally Progressing the SDGs; Environment. [9] During the course of the protest, the agency advised our Office that it had partially overridden the Competition in Contracting Act stay of performance in order to have one of the delivery orders performed. [2] In its initial protest, Innovation Associates also maintained that the awardee did not have a valid FSS contract. However, even if Arxium’s solution were unable to retrieve scanned images from Innovation’s proprietary system, it is of no import. AI’s system includes a [deleted] “license plate” affixed to the tote; the tote is placed on the workstation desktop and the [deleted] is read by the [deleted] reader. Accordingly, the agency either can enforce the minimum requirements included in the solicitation or revisit them. We sustain this aspect of Innovation Associates’ protest. In light of the discussion above, we sustain IA’s protest. The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. Nonetheless, the statement quoted above is reproduced in the agency’s technical report evaluating the AI-offered solution. DoD Contracts: Siemens Government Technologies, Innovation Associates, GSL Solutions, ASNA, Northrop Grumman, Week of 7-22-19 to 7-26-19. We deny the remainder of Innovation Associates’ arguments to the extent we do not specifically discuss them below. Tech Innovation Analyst in Brea, CA. The council is tasked with meeting regularly to broaden awareness and foster cross-agency collaboration and innovation. We find no merit to these contentions. Innovation Associates maintains that it could have offered an alternate, less expensive, solution had it known that it did not have to meet these requirements. Letter of Protest, exh. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Represented Innovation Associates, a majority family-owned business spanning multiple generations that is a leading provider of software-enabled pharmacy automation solutions, in its acquisition by a consortium of private equity investors. Simply stated, we do not understand--and the agency has not explained--how the pharmacist will be able to view the image without retrieving it, and there is nothing in the record to show that AI has the ability to retrieve the first fill images currently stored in the Air Force’s approved system of record for digital first fill images. That question and answer provided as follows: Question: Minimum Requirement #23:  Since these are refill center systems supporting multiple outpatient pharmacies, please clarify if the solution must be capable of retrieving the “first fill image” from the system used at the outpatient pharmacy. Clients include El Camino Hospital, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and Sutter Health. E-mail from the Agency to Our Office and Counsel, May 23, 2017. Id. Innovation Associates, Inc. in Indianapolis, IN What email should the … Id. Innovation Associates, Inc. Indianapolis, IN 46240 Establish and lead a global talent acquisition governance structure that guides talent acquisition decisions, processes and … J, Declaration of Innovation Associates’ Director of the Program Office. All content is posted anonymously by employees working at Innovation Associates. The protester explains that, as part of its quotation, it included approximately $[deleted] in costs associated with outfitting two locations with script image synchronization capabilities. /Talent Acquisition Specialist to proactively address staffing and talent needs at the Indianapolis North, Muncie, IN and Toledo, OH locations…We are seeking an experienced Recruiter/ Talent Acquisition Specialist to screen and source resumes, conduct phone interviews and make recommendations for hire for both hourly and salaried… The agency advised that this override was in the best interests of the government. Global Partner Acquisition Corp. (PRNewsfoto/Purple Innovation, LLC) Pursuant to the Merger Agreement and the related transactions, GPAC's common stock has been renamed "Class A" … Protest, exh. In Addition to the Acquisition, Companies Extend and Expand U.S. Commercial Agreements through 2029 to Drive Incremental Growth ... leader and AmerisourceBergen’s global platform of higher-margin manufacturer services to support pharmaceutical innovation. In light of these considerations, we sustain this aspect of Innovation Associates’ protest. K, Air Force Announcement of Approval of PharmASSIST System as Approved System of Record. That is not part of the requirement. The protester should submit its certified claims for costs, detailing the time expended and costs incurred, directly to the contracting agency within 60 days after receipt of this decision. This system scans the paper prescriptions using a Symphony scanner and stores them in a Symphony server that must be accessed in order to display the first fill images. The RFQ was issued by DLA to acquire robotic pharmaceutical automation systems at four large-volume refill centers on behalf of the Air Force to be installed at various Air Force military treatment facilities. While the agency may be correct that the solution offered by the awardee is functionally equivalent, it is clear that the protester read the requirement of the RFQ as being limited to providing a nesting station solution as understood in the industry. And our pharmacists are happier, too.”, Dain Rusk | VP of Pharmacy | Publix. [4]  Inasmuch as the protester’s quotation was only approximately $7,000 higher than the awardee’s quotation, the agency’s relaxation of this minimum requirement for the awardee was prejudicial to the protester. We sustain this aspect of Innovation Associates’ protest. To meet Minimum Requirement 23, Arxium must provide a solution that allows a pharmacist at the refill center to view the image and prescription data, when available or when provided by the Air Force. Stuart B. Nibley, Esq., Amy M. Conant, Esq., and Erica L. Bakies, Esq., K&L Gates LLP, for the protester. Find your agency designated AIA through the TechFAR Hub or the Acquisition Gateway Innovation Hub. Innovation. Whether your agency is just beginning its innovation journey, or it’s ready to move up to the next level, this seminar will present concrete tools, techniques, and real world examples of what to do, how to do it, and what to think about as you look to increase innovation, … The nesting station is defined by the RFQ as an area on the conveyer system that has a nesting reader attached to it. The Subcontract Administrator will assist in developing, negotiating, and administering subcontract agreements and acquisition aspects in new business proposals of moderate dollar value, risk, creativity, and complexity. The agency received quotations from the protester and awardee in response to the RFQ. L, PharmASSIST Maintenance Contract. The record shows that the agency determined that the awardee satisfied the requirement for a nesting station by offering a [deleted] scanner placed on a workstation desktop. AI also did not include information in its quotation showing that it was offering an alternative means either of retrieving the currently extant first fill images or creating new first fill images, or that such an alternative means has been approved as an alternative system of record. In its comments responding to the agency report, Innovation Associates concedes that AI, in fact, had a valid FSS contract. ManTech Advanced Systems International, Inc., B-413717, Dec. 16, 2016, 2016 CPD ¶ 370 at 3. To the extent that the protester believed that robotic arms (as opposed to “other robotic devices”) were required under the terms of the RFQ, the solicitation contemplated other solutions. The protester maintains that it could have reduced its quotation by this amount had it known that it would only have to meet the first fill image requirement when the first fill images were available or provided by the Air Force. Answer: As stated in Minimum Requirement #23: “When verifying prescriptions, the solution shall allow the pharmacist to view the first fill image of the original written prescription and display electronic prescription data to assist in rapid verification.”. [6] The agency provided our Office with a copy of the e-mail transmitting the awardee’s response to the agency’s inquiry regarding AI’s solution to the nesting station requirement but did not provide our Office with the letter embodying the awardee’s statement. In order to create the first fill images, the Air Force uses an approved “system of record” known as PharmASSIST Symphony Workflow Software. Innovation Associates also maintains that the agency relaxed a requirement that the filled prescriptions be deposited “directly” into the totes after being filled because the AI solution segregates the filled prescriptions into “collation lanes” before depositing the prescriptions into the totes. [1]  RFQ at 3. We sustain the protest in part and deny it in part. I am helping drive technology innovation in the Emerging Company / Venture Capital group at Perkins Coie LLP. Where, as here, an agency overrides the stay of performance in the best interests of the government, our Office is required to recommend corrective action without regard toany cost or disruption from terminating, recompeting, or reawarding the contract. All parties agree that this is an essential safety feature of the systems being acquired; allowing the pharmacist to view the first fill image ensures that the refill actually is for the drug and dosage that originally was prescribed. Here, as discussed, the RFQ clearly called for nesting stations, which is a term understood in the industry as describing a particular hardware configuration. The Company offers pharmacy automation and software solutions. [4] We point out that there is no information in the record showing whether the Air Force has intellectual property rights in the data set comprising the first fill images currently stored in Innovation Associates’ PharmASSIST system, or that the Air Force has a different repository of this data set independent of the data set in Innovation Associates’ system, such that the Air Force could provide the information to a third-party contractor. See also RFQ Question and Answer Nos. Our goal is to be more reliable, creative and smarter, and we have the right set of people driving this vision forward. Designing a better way to work is both our purpose and passion. The protest is sustained in part and denied in part. iA is a leading provider of high volume pharmacy automation solutions, partnering with pharmacy providers to create high volume centralized solutions that help optimize prescription fulfillment providing patient choice for how they get their prescription while pharmacists deliver impactful patient care. Identification and evaluation of acquisition targets Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation, Stanford Health Care Citigroup, Smith Barney, Hewlett Packard, Sutter Health Excelligence is the fifth acquisition by Brentwood Associates’ latest fund, Brentwood Associates Private Equity V, L.P., which held a final close in December of 2014. Customer Acquisition | Direct Sales | Credit Counseling. [3] For the record, the words “when available or when provided by the Air Force” are not found in the RFQ’s statement of minimum requirements, as set forth below. Innovation Associates, Inc. of Johnson City, New York, protests the issuance of four delivery orders to Arxium, Inc. (AI), of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, under that firm's federal supply schedule (FSS) contract pursuant to request for quotations (RFQ) No. The protester maintains that it offered nesting stations into which its totes are placed, and the nesting station reads an embedded RFID chip and populates the workstation with information relating to the contents of the tote. The first fill image essentially is a digital reproduction of the original hand-written prescription that was submitted for fulfillment. Another minimum requirement relates to providing what are termed “nesting stations.”  The RFQ provided that if the offered solution used “totes” or “pucks” it also required the firm to provide “nesting stations.”[5]  The totes are labeled with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips or, in the case of the awardee’s system, a [deleted]. Thanks to iA, we’ve given more flu vaccines this year and our overall patient-facing experience is greatly improved. The PharmASSIST/Symphony system is proprietary to the protester and is used at retail pharmacy operations located at approximately 75 Air Force installations worldwide. The record shows that this is an industry standard term, and that the protester was led to believe that it was required to offer a nesting station solution in order to satisfy the RFQ’s requirements. iA works with you to unleash the full potential of pharmacy. Jared P. Weissberger, Esq., and Lillian S. Weiss, Esq., Defense Logistics Agency, for the agency. The protester maintains that, had it known that another solution (such as the one offered by the awardee) was acceptable, it could have significantly reduced its price. The acquisition Innovation advocates ( AIA ). [ 6 ] option year periods the discussion above, sustain. Are happier, too. ”, Dain Rusk | VP of pharmacy, apply! 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