Origin
PR Builder (https://www.prbuilder.navy.mil/) automates the process by which a Purchase Request (PR) will be generated and routed between the originator and contracting communities. In large part, the procurement process can be separated into three major functional phases: front end, procurement, and back end. The front end phase of the procurement process is defined as those actions which occur prior to the contracting office receiving a completed and approved PR. The procurement phase of the process begins when the Contracting Office receives the PR and ends when a contract is awarded. The last phase of the procurement process is the back end phase that includes the post-award contract administration and coordination with the vendor for pre-performance coordination.

PR Builder was created to address a wide-array of Purchase Request efficiency issues. Some of these problems involved:
· No standardized or enterprise-wide requirements generation tool exists:
· Many Navy activities lack integrated purchase request generating capability, including: NAVFAC, SPAWAR, NAVSUP, NAVSEA.
· Existing COTS products require complex and costly deployments
· Need to provide workflow status of specific procurement requests.
· Need to reduce cycle times of the manual process.
· Need for centrally managed requirements generation tool.
· Need to provide capability to provide data to financial and contract systems.
· Support Vision of Seamless End-to-End Procurement Process

Current Capabilities
PR Builder is used to automate the front end phase of the procurement process, transmittal of the PR data to the contracting office, including importing into the Standard Procurement System (SPS), and to facilitate the procurement phase.
· Provides an easy to use, enterprise web-based tool for requirements generation by field activities.
· Provides customized workflows and manages workflow process.
· Provides insight into status of specific procurement requests.
· Provides interfaces to financial systems.
· Provides a standardized, interim solution to ERP for the requirements generation process.
· Provides a centrally managed solution for requirements generation.

Below, Figure 1 illustrates the front end phase of the procurement process.

The procurement process is initiated when a requirement is identified and it has been determined that a PR must be generated to fulfill this requirement.[1] Before the PR can be forwarded to the contracting office, it must be approved by pre-defined Approval Chain. This chain may be comprised of several parties, including officials or ranking officers at a local level and more specialized approvals such as HAZMAT or special security approvals.[2]

The Approval Chain must include a local Funds Administrator (FA) who will assign funding data to the PR. The FA receives and reviews the PR and assigns a line of accounting (LOA) and/or a Fiscal Information Pointer (FIP).[3] Once the FA approves the PR, it is forward to the next approver in the Approval Chain.

The Approval Chain must also include an approver that represents the Contracting Office. This specific approver represents the approval of a PR for contractual submission to a Procurement System, generally SPS. The Contracting Office can choose to receive and review the PR prior to its submission; this optional step will allow the contracting community to ensure that the information in the PR is sufficient to begin the contracting process for procurement.[4] Once the PR has been approved by the Contracting Office the PR is electronically submitted to the universal interface (UI).[5 ] The PR is then electronically mapped through the UI (please see the UI initiative) to a Financial System for funding reservation [6] and to a Procurement System where the contractual procurement process begins.[7]