Amended Combined Synopsis Solicitation.docx

Multimedia Scientific Technical Illustration / 1333ND22QNB680270

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A SEPARATE WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF FAR Part 13.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2022-06, dated May 26, 2022.

1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010)

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to both the Contract Specialist Tracy Bisson at tracy.bisson@nist.gov and the Contracting Officer Forest Crumpler at forest.crumpler@nist.gov Questions should be received no later than five (5) calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. All responses to the questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

(End of Provision)

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541430- Graphic Design Services, with a small business size standard of 8 million revenue.

This acquisition is being competed as 100% small business set-aside.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS:

The following documents and forms are hereby provided as attachments. The purpose of these attachments is for reference and to provide specification requirements to the Contractor for quotation purposes only.

Attachment #1: Statement of Work Attachment #2: Examples of Tasks

All offerors shall provide a firm-fixed-price quotation for the following line item(s):

** Quotations shall include pricing for all annotated tasks in CLINs. If desired the vendor’s provided quotation may separate each CLINs pricing into individual tasks (Task 1: 12 animations; Task 2: 18 illustrations, Task 3: Maintain web-based online archive)

FAR 52.212-1, INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS

INSTRUCTIONS:

System for Award Management (SAM) Registration

In accordance with FAR 52.204-7, the awardee must be registered in the System for Award Management (www.sam.gov) prior to award. Refusal to register shall forfeit award.

DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS

Offerors shall submit their electronic quotations, via email, so that NIST receives them not later than 11:59pm Eastern Time on July 7, 2022. E-mail quotations shall be submitted directly to the Contract Specialist at tracy.bisson@nist.gov and the Contracting Officer at forest.crumpler@nist.gov

Please reference the RFQ number in the subject line of email communications. Offerors quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered in the e-mail inbox set forth above.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Quotation Preparation Instructions:

All quotations shall conform to solicitation provisions/clauses and be prepared in accordance with this section. The quotation shall be clearly and concisely written as well as be neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. Note: The term “indexed” refers to a table of contents that lists sections and page numbers. In the event that the Offeror is unable to create an indexed quotation, an alternative approach such as a Table of Contents shall suffice. All pages of the quotation shall be appropriately numbered.

In preparing the quotation, each volume shall stand on its own. For each given evaluation factor or subfactor the Government will only evaluate the information provided in the corresponding section of the quotation.

There shall be no pricing information or labor rates included in the Non-Price/Technical Volume. Volume I shall include the responses to Technical Understanding/Approach, Management Approach, Staffing Plan and Key Personnel, Experience, and Past Performance. The Offeror’s quotation shall be clearly divided into the following distinct sections. The below table shows the page limits to which Offerors’ submissions must adhere.

Volume

A. Technical Understanding/Approach B. Management Approach / Staffing Plan and Key Personnel C. Past Performance/ Experience

N/A

Note: The quotation cover page, executive summary, definitions for acronyms page, Table of Contents, resumes, Schedule of Labor Categories, and completed Past Performance Questionnaires will not count towards the page limits listed above for Volume I. Resumes shall be provided as an attachment to the volume, and each resume shall be limited to three (3) pages in length.

Volume I: Non-Price Volume

Volume I of an Offeror’s quotation shall consist of the following five subsections:

A. Technical Understanding/Approach: The Offeror shall include its technical approach for completing the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW). The technical approach shall demonstrate that the Offeror understands the requirements of the SOW and demonstrate the Offeror’s expertise and ability to perform the SOW requirements.

B. Management Approach/ Staffing Plan and Key Personnel: The Offeror’s management approach shall demonstrate the Offeror’s approach to managing all SOW requirements. The Offeror shall describe its team structure and its plan to manage its team to successfully complete the contract requirements. The Offeror shall describe the responsibilities of each team member, demonstrate clear lines of authority, and the plan for communications among team members and with the Government. The Offeror shall demonstrate a strong working relationship among team members that will lead to successful completion of the task order requirements. In addition, the Offeror’s management approach shall include:

i. Quality Control Plan – At a minimum, the Quality Control Plan shall address the following:

a. A description of the Offeror’s inspection system to cover all services listed within the SOW. The description must include specifics as to the items to be inspected on both a scheduled and unscheduled basis, frequency of inspections, and the title and organizational placement of the inspectors;

b. A description of the methods to be used for identifying and preventing defects in the quality of service performed; and

c. A description of the records to be kept to document inspections and corrective or preventive action taken.

Staffing Plan and Key Personnel: At a minimum, the Staffing Plan and Key Personnel subsection shall address the following:

ii. The Offeror’s proposed schedule of labor categories, with accompanying role descriptions and minimum experience required, that will be used to fulfill the SOW requirements. The Offeror shall clearly demonstrate that its labor categories will meet the SOW requirements and promote successful completion of the requirements;

iii. Resumes of individuals proposed as key personnel. The resumes shall include the names, titled, and a description of the duties for the respective individuals. If proposed key personnel are not currently an employee of the Offeror, the Offeror shall provide a letter of commitment or other evidence of the candidate’s commitment to this project. The key personnel working under this task order must meet the minimum contractor qualifications as listed in the SOW.

C. Past Performance/ Experience:

Experience: At a minimum, the Experience subsection shall provide examples of experience (either as a prime Contractor or as a significant subcontractor) in performing work on similarly sized and scoped contracts completed or substantially completed within the past three (3) years.

Past Performance:

The offeror shall provide past performance information regarding relevant contracts over the past three (3) years with Federal, state, or local governments, or commercial customers.

A list of references, preferably at least 3, if available, to whom the same or similar product has been provided. The list of references shall include, at a minimum:

1. The name of the reference contact person and the company or organization;

2. The telephone number and email address of the reference contact person;

3. The contract or grant number, the amount of the contract and the address and the telephone number of the Contracting Officer if applicable; the date of delivery or the date services were completed and a description of the equipment sold to each reference.

If the offeror has no relevant past performance, it may include a statement to that effect in its quotation. The government reserves the right to consider data obtained from sources other than those described by the offeror in its quotation.

Volume II: Business Quotation The offeror shall submit the following as part of Volume II –

· Firm-fixed price F.O.B. Destination quotation for each CLIN. Price quotations shall remain valid for a period of 90-days from the date quotations are due. Contractor shall state express warranty coverage.

· Addendum to FAR 52.212-1(b)(11) – Acceptance of Terms and Conditions: The Government intends to award a firm-fixed price purchase order as a result of this solicitation that will include the clauses set forth herein. The quotation shall include one of the following statements:

“The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition.”

OR

“The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:

Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)

Note: This procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an Offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant purchase order, not the terms and conditions of the Offeror’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

· Terms and Conditions (Addendum to FAR 52.212-1(b)(11): Offerors shall submit a completed copy of all provisions listed below:

· FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items

· FAR 52.225-25 Prohibition on Contracting With Entities Engaging in Certain Activities or Transactions Relating to Iran-Representation and Certification (End of provision)

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Evaluation Factors:

The Government intends to use a price/non-price tradeoff process to award a firm-fixed price purchase order to the responsible Offeror whose quotation represents the best value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the lowest-cost/priced Offeror or to the Offeror with the highest technical rating if the Contracting Officer determines that doing so would result in the best value to the Government. The Contracting Officer intends to award without discussions, but reserves the right to initiate discussions, if necessary.

Quotations that are unrealistic in terms of technical or schedule commitments, or unrealistically high or low in terms of price, may be deemed to be reflective of an inherent lack of technical competence, or indicative of a failure to comprehend the complexity and risks of the proposed work and may be grounds for rejection of the quotation as being technically unacceptable. Failure to provide the information required to evaluate a quotation could result in rejection of the quotation as being technically unacceptable.

Trade-Off

An Offeror’s failure to address any factor may be considered indicative of the Offeror’s lack of understanding of the Government’s requirements and may result in the quotation being determined unacceptable.

The following evaluation factors will be used. Non-price Factors A, B, and C are considered equal in importance. In determining best value, all non-price factors, when combined, shall be equal to price – Factor D.

Factor A – Technical Understanding/Approach

Factor B – Management Approach/ Staffing Plan and Key Personnel

Factor C – Past Performance/ Experience

Factor D – Price

Factor A – Technical Understanding/Approach: The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s overall technical understanding of the Statement of Work (SOW); the soundness and feasibility of the proposed technical approach to fulfill the requirements of the SOW; and the extent to which the Offeror has demonstrated the technical expertise and ability to perform the requirements of the SOW.

Factor B – Management Approach/ Staffing Plan and Key Personnel:: The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s proposed management plan to determine the extent to which the offeror has proposed project staff capable of fostering successful completion of the purchase order requirements.

The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s quotation demonstrates an effective and feasible approach for managing the requirements of the SOW.

The Government will further evaluate the Offeror’s proposed Quality Control Plan to assess the extent to which it demonstrates a feasible plan to control quality of deliverables and services.

The Government will evaluate the degree to which the Offeror has proposed key personnel that meet or exceed the “Contractor’s Minimum Qualifications” as detailed in the SOW (and below), and the degree to which they possess the qualifications to perform their proposed duties under the requirement.

Contractor’s Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s or advanced degree in physical sciences from an accredited university, physics strongly preferred, and ability to read and understand the contents of scientific journal articles describing research in advanced physical sciences including quantum science, microelectronics, optics, and photonics.

Five (5) years of proven ability to communicate complex research results in advanced physical sciences, including various aspects of quantum science, to an intelligent general audience using illustrations, animations, and other multimedia information products.

Factor C- Past Performance/ Experience:

The Government will evaluate the Offeror's experience information and, if appropriate, its proposed subcontractors' experience to determine its relevance to the current requirement and the extent to which it (a) demonstrates that the offeror has successfully completed relevant contracts in the past three (3) years. In assessing the offeror's past performance information, NIST will evaluate, as appropriate, (b) successful performance of contract requirements, quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, (c) communications between contracting parties, (d) proactive management and customer satisfaction.

Evaluation of this factor will be based on information contained in the technical portion of the proposal and information provided by references. The Government will evaluate past performance information by contacting appropriate references, including NIST references, if applicable. The Government may also consider other available information in evaluating the Offeror’s past performance. The Government will assign a neutral rating if the offeror has no relevant past performance information.

Factor D – Price: The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s proposed pricing information to determine the extent to which the pricing is fair, reasonable, realistic, and consistent with or discounted from prevailing market pricing information. Proposed pricing must be entirely compatible/consistent with the technical quotation.

(End of provision)

PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference.

All FAR clauses may be viewed at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html.

All CAR clauses may be viewed at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/VFCARA.HTM

PROVISIONS

Any of the following clauses that are not current and complete in the responders SAM.gov profile should be filled out and returned with the response:

FAR 52.203-11 Certification and Disclosure Regarding Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions.

FAR 52.203-18, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements--Representation FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting FAR 52.204-17, Ownership or Control of Offeror FAR 52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting FAR 52.204-20 Predecessor Of Offeror FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment FAR 52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting With Inverted Domestic Corporations-Representation FAR 52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters FAR 52.209-9 Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items FAR 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options FAR 52.225-25, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Sanctioned Activities Relating to Iran

Additionally, the following clauses are required to be completed and returned with the solicitation response:

FULL TEXT CAR PROVISIONS:

CAR 1352.233-70 Agency Protests

(a) An agency protest may be filed with either (1) the Contracting Officer, or (2) at a level above the Contracting Officer, with the agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 Fed. Reg. 16,651 (April 6, 1999).

(b) Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following address:

NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: FOREST CRUMPLER, CONTRACTING OFFICER

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(c) Agency protests filed with the Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO)

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(d) A complete copy of all agency protest, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority.

(e) Service upon the Contract law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230

FAX: (202) 482-5858

(End of clause)

CAR 1352.233-71 GAO And Court of Federal Claims Protests

(a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed.

(b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims.

(c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230

FAX: (202) 482-5858

(End of clause)

CLAUSES

FAR 52.203-3 Gratuities ALT I FAR 52.203-6 Restrictions on subcontracting Sales to the Government FAR 52.203-12 Limitation on Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions.

FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance FAR 52.204-19, Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications FAR 52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment FAR 52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services FAR 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract

FAR 52.212-5 - Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

(1) 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements (Jan 2017) (section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions)).

(2) 52.204-23, Prohibition on Contracting for Hardware, Software, and Services Developed or Provided by Kaspersky Lab and Other Covered Entities (Jul 2018) (Section 1634 of Pub. L. 115-91).

(3) 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment. (Section 889(a)(1)(A) of Pub. L. 115-232).

(4) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations

(5) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (31 U.S.C. 3553).

(6) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (Public Laws 108-77 and 108-78 (19 U.S.C. 3805note)).

(b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside 52.219-13, Notice of Set-Aside of Orders 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program representation (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)).

52.222-3, Convict Labor (E.O. 11755).

52.222-19, Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (E.O. 13126).

52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (E.O. 11246).

52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (29 U.S.C. 793).

52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (22 U.S.C. chapter 78 and E.O. 13627).

52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving (Jun 2020) (E.O. 13513).

52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (E.O.’s, proclamations, and statutes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury).

52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer— System for Award Management (31 U.S.C. 3332).

52.222-53, Exemption from Application of the Service Contract Labor Standards to Contracts for Certain Services-Requirements (End of clause)

FAR 52.232-39, Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations FAR 52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payment to Small Business Subcontractors FAR 52.247-35 F.O.B. Destination, Within Consignee’s Premises FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address:

CAR PROVISIONS & CLAUSES FULL TEXT CAN BE ACCESSED AT:

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48cfrv5_02.tpl

CAR 1352.201-70, Contracting Officer's Authority CAR 1352.209-72 Restrictions Against Disclosure CAR 1352.209-73, Compliance with the Laws CAR 1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest CAR 1352.246-70 Place of Acceptance

(a) The Contracting Officer or the duly authorized representative will accept supplies and services to be provided under this contract.

(b) The place of acceptance will be:

100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD. 20899-0001.

NIST LOCAL CLAUSES

NIST LOCAL-54 ELECTRONIC BILLING INSTRUCTIONS

NIST requires that Invoice/Voucher submissions are sent electronically via email to INVOICE@NIST.GOV.

Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following:

(1) Contract number;

(2) Contractor name and address;

(3) Unique entity identifier (see www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers);

(4) Date of invoice;

(5) Invoice number;

(6) Amount of invoice and cumulative amount invoiced to-date;

(7) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN);

(8) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price, and extended price of supplies/services delivered;

(9) Prompt payment discount terms, if offered; and

(10) Any other information or documentation required by the contract.

NIST LOCAL -53 Contract Performance During Changes in NIST Operating Status Unless otherwise stated in the contract terms and conditions, normal days of business operation are Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays. However, throughout the contract period of performance, there may be circumstances beyond the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that will impact normal days of business operation, such as inclement weather, power outages, etc. In circumstances such as these, the Contractor must call the appropriate NIST campus status line to verify the operating status:

Gaithersburg Campus Operating Status Line:

(301) 975-8000

(800) 437-4385 x8000 (toll free)

Boulder Campus Operating Status Line:

(303) 497-4000

During a lapse in appropriation, access to Government facilities and resources, including equipment and systems, will be limited to excepted personnel for both Federal employees and Contractor personnel. If performance of the contract is onsite and/or requires Government interaction, unless you have been, or are notified that you are to work under an excepted status, you will automatically enter a temporary work stoppage. The work stoppage shall remain in effect until the lapse is resolved and notification is provided via the NIST website at https://www.nist.gov/ and/or the NIST operating status lines. Additionally, Contractors are encouraged to monitor public broadcasts or the Office of Personnel Management’s website at www.opm.gov for the Federal Government operating status.

NIST will provide notification to all contractors that are determined to have excepted status. All excepted contractors are required to continue performance and communicate with the appointed Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for further guidance, or NIST Contracting Officer if a COR is not appointed.

Contractors with supply or service contracts that are fully funded at the time of contract award and do not require access to Government facilities, resources, or active administration by Government personnel in a manner that would cause the government to incur additional obligations during the lapse in appropriation may continue performance.