DLA DIBBS for small shops

What DIBBS is

The DLA Internet Bid Board System, DIBBS, is the Defense Logistics Agency's own site for posting requests for quotation and awards on the parts it manages. DLA supplies spares, hardware, and consumables to all the military services. Its buying activities include DLA Aviation, DLA Land and Maritime, and DLA Troop Support, each with its own commodity focus.

DIBBS is separate from SAM.gov. Large DLA buys are also synopsized on SAM.gov, but the day to day flow of small RFQs lives on DIBBS. Each RFQ is tied to a National Stock Number, a quantity, a delivery requirement, and a technical data package. Many are small. Some repeat every few months.

For a shop that makes parts to drawing, this is the most direct path to federal orders that exists. There is no proposal. You read the requirement, enter a price and a delivery, and wait.

How to register and get set up

You need an active SAM.gov registration and a CAGE code first. Then you register on DIBBS with your CAGE and receive credentials. Someone at your shop should also be set up in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment, PIEE, for Wide Area Workflow invoicing, because that is how you get paid after delivery.

If you will need export controlled drawings, and most military parts drawings are controlled, apply to the Joint Certification Program with DD Form 2345. DLA keeps controlled technical data in a separate system that requires JCP certification to open. Without it you can see the RFQ but not the drawing.

Set up saved searches or email notifications on DIBBS for the federal supply classes you make. The bid board moves fast, and RFQ windows are short.

How awards are made

Many DIBBS RFQs are automated simplified acquisitions. Quotes are evaluated by DLA systems against the terms in the DLA master solicitation for automated simplified acquisitions, and an award can be made without a buyer reading your quote. Price matters, but so does your delivery history. DLA keeps a performance score for each supplier based on past delivery and quality, and it weighs that score in evaluation.

Larger or more complex RFQs are handled by a buyer and may involve a request for more information, a first article, or negotiation. These are the ones where your quote notes are read by a person.

Some items are restricted to approved sources. The RFQ will show acquisition method codes that tell you whether the item is fully competitive, limited to approved sources, or sole source. If you are not an approved source on a source controlled item, you can quote as an alternate offer, but you will need to submit a source approval request with the technical evidence the buying activity requires. That process takes time and is worth starting early on items you see repeatedly.

Reading procurement history

Each NSN on DIBBS shows its procurement history: past awards with the supplier CAGE, quantity, unit price, and date. This is the most useful pricing information a small shop can get. It tells you what the government paid last time, how often it buys, and who has been winning.

Use it in two ways. Before you quote, check whether your price is in the range of recent awards. And when you research a part family, look for items the same few CAGEs keep winning at prices that look comfortable. Those are the openings.

Our award history views bring this together across DLA and the other public sources so you can see the pattern by part class instead of one NSN at a time.

Common mistakes

• Quoting without opening the drawings, then discovering a plating, heat treat, or first article requirement after award.
• Leaving military packaging and marking out of the price.
• Quoting an alternate or surplus item as the exact item.
• Promising a delivery you cannot meet to win the award, then delivering late.
• Missing the return date. DIBBS RFQ windows are short and there is no extension.
• Quoting items you cannot source with traceability, then being unable to provide certifications.
• Not setting up PIEE and Wide Area Workflow, then waiting weeks for payment while you sort it out.
• Ignoring your performance score. A few late deliveries follow you onto every automated evaluation.