Implementing and monitoring an industrial contract
This page outlines the roles of ESA-PRODEX and of the Research Institute in the implementation and monitoring of an industrial contract.
This process starts only after the PRODEX Head of Office has received, from the National PRODEX Point of Contact, the official Letter of Endorsement and approved activity proposal. The industrial contracts are implemented according to ESA standard rules.
The PRODEX Office and Research Institute staff are extensively involved, both during the preparation of the industrial contract and, after the contract is awarded, in its monitoring.
ESA-PRODEX:
- Head of Office:
- Presents procurement papers to relevant ESA boards, as applicable.
- Technical Officer:
- Develops the basis for the Statements of Work (SoW) and Requirements Documents (RqD).
- Iterates SoWs and RqD with the Research Institute and supports the Institute with the updating of the documents.
- Organizes Tender Evaluation Board (TEB) meetings – the Institute participates as expert.
- There are two TEB meetings:
- Pre-TEB: aimed at verifying the procurement package
- The TEB: aimed at evaluating the valid proposals and recommending a bidder to be invited to Contract Negotiations [1]
- Organises and coordinates contract negotiation and implementation.
- Assesses the Contract Change Notice (CCN) requests. (CCN are implemented only after supplementary funding is duly confirmed by the Participating States' National Space Authorities).
- Participates in progress meetings, key technical decisions, decisions on schedule, budget, and interfaces.
- Defines the specific support required for the project (e.g. dedicated support from the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality).
- Approves the payments.
The Monitoring of the contract is done by the ESA Technical Officer, supported by the Research Institute representative. This includes:
- Monitoring of contract execution (with Institute participation and support)
- Institute and ESA Technical Officer both receive the monthly reports from the industrial contractor and participate in progress teleconferences or meetings.
- Organization (with Institute support) of the reviews as per contracts requirement. The Institute will participate in the reviews as expert.
- For the reviews, the Technical Officer, supported by the Institute
- prepares the review procedure,
- is joint secretary for the review,
- supplies infrastructure for the review when required (e.g. management of the Review Item Discrepancies or RIDs).
- When required, ensures interface with partner agency (e.g. in case of common reviews, interface meetings, etc).
- The management effort is tailored to the project.
Developments are implemented by PRODEX and monitored on a best effort basis, in line with the requirements of the PRODEX Programme and of the specific boundary conditions set by the corresponding Letter of Endorsement and attachments, as defined by the Participating State National Authorities.
[1] More details on the ESA procurement process can be found on ESA's Industry Portal and on the EMITS website.