When a friend is unlucky in love, what do we say to make them feel better? “There are plenty of fish in the sea.” That may be so, but that’s not the root of the problem—there are plenty of fish, but which one is the right fish?

In the same way, it can be challenging for businesses to find the right defense contracts on which to bid. There are plenty of opportunities, but how do you find the best fit for your firm? DIBBS is part of the solution.

What is DIBBS?

DIBBS is the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Internet Bid Board System. The online portal gives users automated access to approximately 85% of the DLA’s solicitations, which support a wide variety of defense needs, including combat logistics, consumables like food and fuel, uniforms, equipment, and spare parts.

According to the DLA, vendors can use DIBBS to search for contract opportunities, submit quotes on RFQs (Requests for Quotations), view RFPs and Invitations for Bid (IFBs), see awarded contracts, and find other information about government procurements.

Why using DIBBS can be challenging

The DLA provides over $34 billion in goods and services each year, and processes an average of 100,000 requisitions and 10,000 contract actions each day. Understandably, trying to find the best contract opportunities for your business amid such sheer volume can feel like a daunting task—too many fish in the sea! Businesses often waste significant amounts of time sorting through hundreds of RFQs just to find the handful that fit their criteria.

5 steps for using DIBBS more effectively

With that in mind, let’s dive into five steps for using the DLA’s online bid system.

  1. Register in SAM and DIBBS. Creating an account in both the SAM and DIBBS systems is a required first step. You’ll be provided with credentials to conduct transactions and given the opportunity to register for emails about solicitations and award notifications.
  1. Decide on user roles. DIBBS gives you the ability to designate someone in your organization as a “super user,” which is essentially your account administrator. This role can add, delete, or modify user accounts, change passwords, and edit vendor profile information. Decide whether you’re the best person for this role, or choose a colleague to act as your super user.
  1. Identify RFQ opportunities. To find the best RFQs for your firm, DIBBS offers a database search function that leverages multiple criteria to sift through opportunities, including Federal Supply Class (FSC), National Stock Number (NSN), Solicitation Number, and other factors. This is where the process can become tedious and time-consuming.

DLA bidding software can simplify this process by allowing you to build profiles that contain the specific criteria you’re looking for in an opportunity. The software will search the database for you and surface only the opportunities that fit your profile, presenting them in a real-time dashboard.

  1. Submit quotes: DIBBS also permits users to submit their quotes directly to the DLA via the internet. Using a software platform that’s directly integrated with DIBBS allows you to complete the process of finding, submitting and tracking quotes in a single console, saving time and generating more precise reporting.
  1. Track your wins and losses. Using your DLA bidding console, track which contracts you’ve been awarded—and which ones you haven’t. Over time, patterns will emerge that will give you insight into your business and inform future bid decisions.

With Odyssey’s proprietary software, you can transform the DIBBS “sift and search” bidding process into “review and respond,” making your process more efficient and providing deeper insight into your bidding strategy. See a demo of our DLA-Bid Console to learn more.