Attachment 09 - Questions and Answers.pdf

Questions and Answers

1) Will the Government allow relevant past performance examples completed within the past 5 years? E.4.4 Factor 2: Past Performance; page 24

Response: Yes, the Government will allow relevant past performance examples completed within the past 5 years.

2) The price schedule requests a labor category mix where labor categories, experience, and qualifications are undefined. To estimate the level of effort, the Statement of Work does not quantify all work to be performed. For example, “the contractor shall monitor all systems and equipment they use…”, peak period of document delivery, surges in shelving, etc., are not quantified. Since evaluation of Technical Factor is dependent upon staffing to execute the plan of operation, request clarity on the adjectival ratings to be assigned to Technical Factors, and weighting of the evaluation factors.

Response: The relative importance of each factor has been stated within Section E.4 of the solicitation following simplified acquisition procedures IAW FAR 13.106-1.

3) Since this is a firm fixed price contract, what provisions will the Government make for future prices increases if the workload increases above the Estimated Volumes of Work in Attachment 7?

Response: This is a firm fixed price contract. The estimated variance for the collection maintenance volumes is +/-10% and document delivery volumes are more variable with a variance of +/- 20%. Any changes are subject to clause 52.212-4(c).

4) Please affirm: Basis of Quantity and Unit(s). Please affirm what Unit(s) are? For example, Qty:

1 & Unit: Lot or Qty: 12 & Unit: Month

Response: The solicitation is for a firm fixed price contract by year with monthly billing.

5) The RFQ states at:

52 .216-1 Type of Contract. TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984) The Government contemplates award of a firm fixed price service contract resulting from this solicitation. Yet later in the RFQ the pricing instructions state: Price Section Submittal: Vendors shall provide a completed Price Schedule Template (attachment 2) with fully loaded hourly rates for each labor category quoted.

Our question is: Is this a firm fixed price contract by year with monthly progress billing or is it a time and materials (or Labor Hour) type of contract and monthly bills are calculated using the fully loaded hourly labor category rates shown in attachment 2 for each labor category that performed during that month?

Response: The solicitation is for a firm fixed price contract by year with monthly billing.

6) In attachment 2—the price schedule, has us a bit confused…under the “Rate” column, we assume that you want us to show the fully loaded hourly rate for the labor category; what do you want us to display in the “Unit” column? Do we show the number of hours used for this labor category or do we show the “unit” as an “Hour”?

Response: Attachment 2 – Price Schedule has been updated with the addition of a Quantity column. Please use the Rate column for the fully loaded hourly rate for the labor category.

7) How many employees are working on the current contract?

Response: seven

8) What is the minimum staffing for work onsite?

Response: Minimum staffing is not being provided for this solicitation. It is up to the vendor to review all documents within the solicitation and propose their solution.

9) RFO states, “Provide a flow chart(s) describing the workflow(s) for both of the functional areas described in the SOW (Collection Services and Document Delivery) including decision points, quality control check points, statistics gathering points and interaction with the COR and other NAL work units.” E. Solicitation Provisions, E.4 Evaluation Factors for Award, E.4.3 Factor 1:

Technical Factors: Plan of Operation and Staffing, Subfactor 1 Plan of Operation. Page 24. The flow charts of the functional areas in the SOW are very complex and detailed. It is not possible to demonstrate the comprehension of these tasks with workflow charts within the 8-page limit of the Plan of Operation section. Will the Government allow the flow charts to be outside the 8-page limit of the Plan of Operation section or allow the flow charts to be added as an appendix?

Response: The flow charts should be the main focus of the Plan of Operation and not an appendix.

10) Can resumes for key personnel be added as appendix and not included in the page count? E.

Solicitation Provisions, E.4 Evaluation Factors for Award, E.4.3 Factor 1: Technical Factors:

Plan of Operation and Staffing, Subfactor 2, Staffing. Page 24.

Response: The requirement is to designate key personnel positions and describe the skills required by those positions. Resumes for key personnel may be provided as an appendix to this response.

11) Is the contractor responsible for ordering any supplies or items necessary to perform the work of the statement of work? Will the government be providing an ODC line item? Statement of Work, 3. General Requirements, E. Monthly Narrative Report. Page 4.

Response: The contractor is responsible for providing office supplies for their own use.

Computer equipment and supplies that are specifically for use with NAL collection materials or NAL owned equipment will be provided by NAL.

12) What is the Government background security processing timeframe for new hires? This is relevant as it relates to on boarding and training for new hires in the event of contract transition, staff vacancies, and turnover. E. Solicitation Provisions, E.4 Evaluation Factors for Award, E.4.3 Factor 1: Technical Factors: Plan of Operation and Staffing, Subfactor 2, Staffing. Page 24

Response: Onboarding time varies from person to person. The timeframe usually ranges between four and twelve weeks. Onboarding processes are driven by USDA and NAL does not have control over the onboarding timeline.