Could the era of “Solicitation by Xerox” be coming to an end?  GSA wants to modernize its contract writing system to streamline the process and, presumably, help ensure that the right contract clauses end up with the right contractors.  The agency is holding an initial industry day on April 18^th to share its current systems and processes on contract writing with industry.  It’s probably not for the faint of heart.  Stories proliferate today on companies that have one part of their offer mixed in with half of another company’s offer.  Similarly, obsolete contract clauses have been known to be inadvertently included in new contracts as CO’s go by the “we’ve always done it that way” adage.  It’s amusing, except when it leads to serious compliance problems for companies – an all too real reality for several current Schedule contract holders who thought they had agreed to one set of terms, only to find out that that’s not what the copy machine spit out.  Here’s hoping that the new contract writing tool will both speed things up and put an end to mistakes that cost everyone time and money.  GSA has promised a second industry day as early as May.  Stay tuned for how a new contract system may benefit you.