Questions and Answers GITM Warehouse Support MD Comments FINAL.pdf

Questions And Answers

Solicitation #: 19AQMM21RO331

Solicitation Name: Warehousing & Logistics Management For The Bureau Of Information Resources Management (IRM), Global Information Technology Modernization

1. Can a prime use a Sub’s Past Performance?

Answer: Yes, however, ideally the prime will have relevant and well performed past projects

(experience). See added language in amendment A001.

2. Will the Government issue further solicitations with the other requirements for the connect program as previously issued in the original scope of work?

Answer: Once the IDIQ contracts are awarded, requests for quotations are anticipated to be issued to the IDIQ contract holders for more specific warehouse service requirements. The first RFQ will likely be for support of GITM’s current warehouses, and the draft requirements for it are the SOW provided as Attachment A.

3. It is indicated that the government will be consolidating the facilities. Is there a timeline for this?

Answer: No, there is no set timeline. Any related tasks would be subject to a task order under the IDIQ contract/s.

4. If the facilities are consolidated, does that mean that the required staffing will be reduced?

Answer: See answer above. Staffing issues would be addressed in task orders.

5. If there will be 4 awardees, does the government have a plan on what company will lead the operations?

Answer: DOS does not have any such plan, nor does it currently recognize that as a requirement.

6. Are awardees expected to bid on 100% of task orders?

Answer: IDIQ contractors will be required to bid on all competitive task orders.

7. The SF33 lists the due date for proposal submission as 2/25/22, and Section A001 lists the due date for proposal submission as 2/23/22 (page 6). Can the government please confirm the due date of the proposal?

Answer: The due date and time is February 25, 2022 05:00 PM, Eastern Time.

8. Referencing 19AQMM21R0331, M-001, p.29, Can the government please advise if the transition in period duration is 30 days? Or other duration?

Answer: The Offeror shall propose its transition plan, including the schedule.

9. Referencing, 19AQMM21R0331, L.1b, p.30, Can the government please confirm that Volumes I, II, and III are due at once? The government indicates it will evaluate Volume I prior to evaluation of Volumes II and III.

Answer: Yes, a complete proposal with all required sections is to be provided at the due date and time.

10. Referencing, Attachment B, Base and OY IDIQ Sheets, Can the government please advise if bidders should map to the DOL Occupation Code - Title in Column C (Base and Option Years)?

Answer: Yes, Offerors should map their pricing to the DOL Occupations.

11. Referencing Attachment B, Base and OY IDIQ Sheets, Can the government please confirm that the Janitorial Hours are Time and Materials (T&M) at 1645 hours for the base year?

Answer: The contract type has not been determined for the task order/s. The hours in the price worksheet are for evaluation purposes only and are based on what DOS’s estimates to be required.

12. Referencing, Attachment F & G, pp.1-5, Can the government please confirm the due date of PPQs to the DoS?

Answer: Completed past performance questionnaires, should be submitted by the offeror’s clients on or before the proposals due date and time.

13. Referencing Attachment E, #7, p. 1, Can the government please confirm the six (6) month evaluation period begins on day 1 of the base year?

Answer: In general evaluations will begin 30 days after transition. Note that Offerors responses on transition should be with regards to the sample/conceptual first task order, which is described in Attachment A, Statement of Work.

14. Referencing Attachment E, #9, p. 1, Can the government please confirm this AQL item evaluation period begins on day 1 of the base year?

Answer: It will begin 30 days after the completion of the transition period. Also, see answer to question 13.

15. Referencing Attachment E, #10, p. 1, Can the government please confirm this AQL item evaluation period begins on items arriving after day 1 of the base year? Given the backlog in the warehouse, the awardee could discover issues from the previous contract holder.

Answer: This will apply to all new record keeping documentation processed by the incoming contractor.

This will begin 30 days after the completion of the transition period.

16. Referencing Attachment E, #11, p. 1, Can the government please confirm this AQL item

Answer: This will apply to all new record keeping documentation processed by the incoming contractor.

This will begin 30 days after the completion of the transition period. Again, please note that Offeror’s technical approach and transition should be addressing the sample/conceptual first task order, which is described in Attachment A, Statement of Work.

17. Referencing Attachment E, #14, p. 1, Can the government please confirm this AQL item

Answer: This will begin 30 days after the completion of the transition period.

18. Referencing Attachment H, pp. 3-6, Non Key Personnel, Can the government confirm it has no education requirements for non-key personnel?

Answer: This is a competitive procurement. DOS expects contractor to hire qualified employees, and the proposal should address the qualifications of key personnel that would be provided.

19. Referencing Page 6, paragraph 3 states that the total volume of purchases will be $51M over 5 years. Page 7, paragraph B0002(b) states the max for this contract is $62M. Page 6, paragraph 3, Can the Government confirm the whether the estimated ceiling value for the contract is $51M or $62M?

Answer: $62 M is the ceiling.

20. Referencing FAR 52.211-11; Attachment E, Page 11 of the SOW, Can the Government provide the number of instances each AQL occurred in the previous contract? Would the Government provide the total dollar value of the AQL deductions in the previous contract?

Answer: This is a new requirement, so that information does not exist. Note that this is a follow-on contract that is similar to work performed by Dyn Corp, but there were no similar AQLs on that contract nor were services described as they now are in Attachment A, Sample/Conceptual First Task Order Statement of Work

21. Referencing FAR 52.211-11; Attachment E, Page 11 of the SOW, The KPIs listed in the AQL attachment involve costs incurred (for example: inspection of fire sprinkler on a quarterly basis).

Can the Government clarify whether the costs would be borne by the Government or is the contractor expected it to include those costs in the proposed price quote? If the Contractor is expected to bear the cost, would the Government provide more specifications to meet each of the AQL?

Answer: The question looks forward to the actual work and requirement of a task order, which will be clarified during the task order/s award process. Task orders, which are not being awarded with this RFP, are likely to have firm fixed price, time and material, and other direct costs components. The only prices required under the RFP are what is stated in the price worksheet, Attachment B, which is pricing for the IDIQ contracts.

22. Referencing, FAR 52.211-11; Attachment E, Page 11 of the SOW; Attachment E, The FAR clause refers to Liquidated Damages in the amount of $250 per instance, however Attachment E has varying deductions listed for specific events. Which of these is/are the determining deduction amount(s)?

Answer: Attachment E is intended for the anticipated first task order (SOW, Attachment A), and it will be effective in place of the FAR 52.211-11 clause, as to be clarified in the task order. The FAR 52.211-11 will be applied to other potential task orders, when more specific deductions are not identified.

23. Section H 002 (d) refers to Attachment F, Performance AQL (acceptable Quality Level)

Deductions, Page 17 of the SOW, Attachment E, Would the Government confirm that Attachment E, “Performance AQL Deductions” is the correct Attachment that determines the only deductions possible under the contract?

Answer: The Attachment letters have been revised to match what is on the documents. See the amendment letter.

24. Referencing H 012 Facilities, Page 18 of 32, Can the Government clarify if a contractor provided warehouse will be required for the performance of this contract?

Answer: Yes, the requirement calls for a warehouse as described in page 1 and 5 of Attachment A Statement of Work. The second warehouse (SA-21) is government leased. This will be clarified further in task order/s to be awarded following the IDIQ contract awards.

25. Referencing IRM Background and Program Objectives; H 012, Page 7 and Page 18 of SOW, Can the Government confirm whether the awardee will assume operations management of the current, existing GITM warehouse facilities (Gunston and SA-21)? Can the Government confirm whether the awardee is required to include a price for a facility as part of the RFP’s price schedule?

Answer: The RFP does not require pricing for providing facilities. This will be clarified further in task order/s to be awarded following the IDIQ contract awards. Also see above question and answer.

26. Referencing Section J001, Page 12; Section J001 List of attachments, Would the Government provide Attachments C (Price Worksheet – Initial Task Order) and E (Draft DD 254, Contract Security Classification Specifications)?

Answer: The price worksheet for the initial task order will be provided with the issuance of the first RFQ to the IDIQ contractors (awardees). The DD 254 will be provided as soon as it is available. Note again that Offeror’s technical approach and transition should be addressing the sample/conceptual first task order, which is described in Attachment A, Statement of Work. However, the pricing is only addressing the IDIQ contract by submitting the only provided price worksheet, Attachment B, Price Worksheet - IDIQ Contract.

27. Please confirm preferred method of Volume Organization for the proposal.

Answer: There are four separate submissions, which include the Price/business proposal, The Executive Summary for the technical proposal, and the two separate volumes of the Technical proposal, which are as follows:

• Volume 1: Factor 1, Past Performance; Factor 2, IT Supply Chain and Life Cycle Management Capability; and

• Volume 2: Factor 3, Task Order Technical Approach; Staffing and Key Personnel; Factor 4, Staffing and Key Personnel; and Factor 5, Transition Plan.

28. Referencing L001 Instructions to offerors, 27 of 32, 28 of 32, Can the Government confirm the page count of the referenced volumes?

Answer: Confirmed. They are as stated.

29. Referencing, L001 Instructions to offerors, 26 of 32, Do resumes count towards page count?

Answer: As stated, in Section L, Factor 4 - Staffing and Key Personnel, “Page limits for this factor is six (6) pages, plus one page for resumes of each key personnel.”

30. Will the Government confirm that the work in Attachment A, Task Order Statement of Work will be the initial task order award under the IDIQ contract? How will the Government cost be determined for this Task Order?

Answer: Yes, the initial task order is anticipated to be Attachment A, Statement of Work. The requirements and pricing for the initial task order will be clarified further during task order/s award process/es to follow the IDIQ contract awards.

31. Referencing, M 001 – Section M, 30 “The Government will value experiences in the greater

Washington DC Metro area, and examples that include process improvement and inventory management such as First-In First-Out and Order Accuracy”, Would the Government clarify this statement? How will the listed experiences be valued?

Answer: Experience will be evaluated on relevance and confirmed satisfactory performance, and then evaluated using an adjectival rating system based on confidence level.

32. Referencing M 001 – Section M, 31, “Factor 5 – Transition Plan”, Would the Government confirm that the Transition Plan is to detail the transition-in and transition-out of the Attachment A, Task Order Statement of Work task and not the IDIQ contract itself?

Answer: Yes, detail transition-in and transition-out for Attachment A.

33. Attach H Position Descriptions Oct 14 202, pg 1 of 6, paragraph 1, Identifies 3 Key LCATS and titles them as the following (that aligns with attach B IDIQ Price Worksheet):

1.) Warehouse Site Manager (Key) 2.) *Logistics Manager / Supervisor - *Does not state “Key” in the table but the paragraph above the table refers to the three labor categories as keys.

3.) Security Manager (Key) Attach A SOW GITM Warehouse Final, pg 8 of 13, paragraph 3, Section VI. KEY PERSONNEL, states, “VI. KEY PERSONNEL (if applicable) The following labor categories are considered as “key” personnel under this task order:

a. Warehouse Operations i.) Warehouse Operations Manager ii.) Warehouse Operation Assistant Manager” Would the Government kindly clarify which labor categories are defined as Key Personnel and the appropriate labor category titles?

Answer: For proposal purposes, refer to Attachment H Position Descriptions for key personnel positions, as well as other required but not key positions. Note that 2) Logistics Manager / Supervisor is a key position. It should have also had the “(key)” after the position. This is stated in the amendment.

34. The following labor categories are not listed in, Attach H Position Descriptions Oct 14, 2021, but are identified in Attach B IDIQ Price Worksheet GITM Warehouse 10-14-2021, Tabs 2-5, OPT 1

IDIQ.

1.) Repair and Return - 3760 hours 2.) Facilities Manager -1880 hours

Would the Government kindly confirm that the two labor categories described above should be added to Attach H Position Descriptions Oct 14 2021?

Answer: The two labor categories will not be added to Attachment H but DOS requires pricing information for administration, planning and evaluation purposes. Offerors may describe these positions in their proposals. DoS does not see an immediate need for the two labor categories mentioned.

However, we do want pricing information for planning purposes and potential use in future contract years.

35. Regarding the Quality Control Plan Submission Deadline, Attach A SOW GITM Warehouse Final, page 7 of 13 (VIII. QUALITY CONTROL) and page 10 of 13 (deliverables), state different due days for the quality control plan. Please clarify the due days for the Quality Control Plan.

Answer: The Contractor shall submit a Quality Control Plan (QCP) for the COR review fifteen

(15) calendar days after the contract award date. The second date (45) is when the QCP is finalized between the two parties.

36. Referencing, H 002 – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan, pages 16 of 32 & 17 of 32, Will the contractor be given and expected to execute against a government provided QASP or will we be expected to develop and submit our own?

Answer: This is to be determined at the task order level.

Referencing Section L 001 Instructions to Offerors, L.1 Volume 1 Factor 1 – Past performance page 18 of 32, under Volume 1, Factor 1, Will the Government consider increasing the acceptable timeframe for relevant past performance from three (3) years to five (5) years?

Answer: No. The requirement stands as written.

37. On Page 23 of the RFP (J 001 - List of Attachments), the list of attachments shown does not match the actual attachments released with the RFP. Please confirm which attachments that are listed in the RFP, are to be used by bidders.

Answer: The Section J is amended.

38. Please confirm that bidders are only to submit the single one Price Worksheet released with the

RFP, that covers the Initial Task Order for GITM Warehouse staff. (The RFP List of Attachments on page 23 indicates that bidders would submit two price sheets, one for the “Initial Task Order”, and one for the “IDIQ contract”).

Answer: Confirmed, Offers are only to submit Price Worksheet released with the RFP. A price worksheet for the initial task order will be likely required under an IDIQ contract task order competition, but it is not required under this RFP.

39. Please confirm the Key Personnel positions required. Attachment H indicates that there are four

Key Personnel positions required, whereas in Attachment A SOW under VI. KEY PERSONNEL, the following labor categories are considered as “key” personnel Warehouse Operations Manager and the Warehouse Operation Assistant Manager. Please clarify which are Key Personnel that will require resumes.

Answer: Use attachment H as the Key Personnel guide. See previous similar question.

40. Please confirm, per page 28 of the RFP, that all three Past Performance references are to be past performances for the Prime Contractor (the 8A) only, or if subcontractor past performance is also acceptable. Factor 1 – Past Performance: Under Volume 1, Factor 1, the Quoter must describe three (3) contracts that are similar in size, scope and complexity to the requirements of the RFP that have been performed within the past three (3) years (performance may be current/on-going).

Answer: DOS prefers to get past/current projects and references for the prime, but will consider past/current projects and references for subcontractors. See added past performance text in the amendment letter.

41. Please confirm, per page 28 of the RFP, that the (IT) Supply Chain and Life Cycle Management

Capability is for the Prime Contractor (the 8A) only, or if subcontractor capability is also acceptable. Factor 2 – Information Technology (IT) Supply Chain and Life Cycle Management Capability: The Offeror shall detail its IT supply chain management capability including experience and decision making/problem solving capability with regards to the entire lifecycle of IT equipment management.

Answer: See question and answer above.

42. Is a subcontractor allowed to be the top secret facility warehouse holder?

Answer: The prime contractor will be required to have a Top Secret Facility clearance at tie of proposal submission.

43. Is there a staff currently performing the work?

Answer: Yes . Note that this is a new requirement but follows a contract for similar work.

44. Is the mileage for the warehouse from The Department of State firm?

Answer: For purposes of this IDIQ, the contractor's place of performance will be within a thirty (30) mile commute of the Capital Beltway, I 495. However, task orders may have more restrictive location requirements.

45. Will this contract allow TAMS to seek a Top Secret Facility Clearance through DOS?

Answer: A Top Secret Facility clearance must be had at time of proposal submission.

46. Are we able to only propose on the labor category we would want the IDIQ for or all categories will need to be addressed?

Answer: Contractor should address all labor categories in the price worksheet.

47. Is there a staff performing these roles that are in place now and they will novate over to the contractor, or all labor categories will need to be filled by the contractor with its own staff?

Answer: There is staff performing these roles now.

48. Is a timeline available for Phase II and Phase III of this procurement?

Answer: DOS intends to award the IDIQ contracts within three-months of final proposal submissions, and the first task order withing three-months after the IDIQ contract awards.

49. Referencing Attachment A, III.a, Is a timeline available for desired warehouse consolidation to

SA-21? This will have significant effects on current warehouse lease negotiations.

Answer: See the answer to question 3.

50. Referencing Attachment A, The scope of work is to provide and maintain the Gunston

Warehouse or like facility. The RFP does not provide a pricing template for this facility. How does the Government want the Offeror to price the warehouse facility? Is the lease for the Gunston Warehouse (or like facility) an ODC to be included in the price proposal?

Answer: The only required prices for the RFP are what is shown in Attachment B, Price Worksheet.

Prices for warehouse leases and other directs task order requirements will be addressed in the task order award process.

51. Attachment B, The Facilities Manager, and Repair and Return lines of this attachment include 0 evaluated hours in the base year tab. Is this as intended?

Answer: Yes.

52. Attachment E, RFP 52.211-11 (p11) AQL deductions vary in Att. E as compared to the RFP.

Which numbers are correct?

Answer: See prior similar question and answer.

53. Attachment A, Does the Task Order SOW represent the first task order to be awarded under the contract – Task Order 1, or does it represent the entirety of the SOW for the IDIQ?

Answer: Attachment A, SOW will likely be the SOW for the first task order, which is to be competed separately amongst the IDIQ contract awardees.

54. Attachment A, The referenced section states that the contractor shall provide equipment maintenance support for equipment in the form of bench level repairs and reconditioning.

Please clarify the types of equipment that will need to be repaired.

Answer: All equipment requirements will be determined at the task order level. Note that this task is for repair and return. The type of equipment that may need coordination assistance or low-level repairs are desktops, printers, laptop, video conference, TEMPEST equipment, and other IT hardware.

55. Please clarify Volume formatting and numbering (as seen in specific questions below).

RFP L-001 (p26) The referenced section states that the proposal consists of 3 volumes, with Volume 1 being the Price and Business proposal, Volume 2 consisting of Factors 1 and 2, and Volume 3 consisting of actors 3-5. The section also provides guidance on submitting the proposal in two emails, the first consisting of the Price and Business proposal and the second as Volumes 1 and 2. Please confirm that the second email should include Volumes 2 and 3 rather than 1 and 2. RFP L-001 (p27) Section A does not reference a Volume number for the Business and Price Proposal. Does the Business and Price Proposal have a Volume number? RFP L-001 (p27) Section B states that the Technical Submission includes Volume I and Volume 2, which is inconsistent with the volume numbers provided on the previous page. Please clarify. RFP L-001 (p27) Section B states that the Technical Submission includes an Executive Summary and Two Volumes. Is the Executive Summary to be submitted as a separate file? RFP L-001 (p27) Section B states that the Technical Submission includes an Executive Summary and Two Volumes. Is the Executive Summary page limited? RFP L-001 (p27) Section B states that the Technical Submission includes an Executive Summary and Two Volumes. Does the Government have specific requirements for contents of the Executive Summary? RFP L-001 (p27) The first paragraph of Section B states that the index is not included in page limits. Please clarify what the Government means by “index”. RFP L-001 (p28) The direction for Volume I provides a list of items required for past contracts. This list is not all inclusive of the items called for in Att. F.

Please verify that all information requested in Att. F is correct and should be provided.

Answer: See the answer to question 27.

56. Referencing RFP M-001 (p30), The directions for the First Phase of the evaluation states that the Government will ensure the Offeror has an active Facility Clearance at the Top Secret Level.

Where in the proposal shall the Offeror place documentation relating to a facility clearance and is that document excluded from page count?

Answer: No documentation is required for the Top Secret Facility clearance. DOS will check government records to determine if the offeror has the required clearance.

57. Referencing RFP M-001 (pp30-31), The evaluation factors for Factors 3 and 5 refer to Offeror’s technical approach and transition plan for “the task order”. Did the Government intend to release a sample task order with this RFP?

Answer: Attachment A, Task Order SOW is provided for the offeror’s information, and it would likely be the first competed task order under the IDIQ contracts.

58. Referencing RFP M-001 (pp30-31), the evaluation factors for Factors 3 and 5 refer to Offeror’s technical approach and transition plan for “the task order”. Did the Government intend to refer to “the contract”?

Answer: The Technical approach should address both, the approach to handling the IDIQ contract, and to delivering the requirements as stated in the sample/conceptual first task order SOW, Attachment A.

The transition plan only needs to address the requirements as stated in the draft/conceptual fisrt task order SOW, Attachment A.

59. How will individual Task Orders be procured on this IDIQ?

Answer: Individual task order will be awarded in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505, Ordering.

60. Referencing DOS FY22 Procurement Schedule, The GITM recompete was originally developed as a new opportunity called "CONNECT". Are there additional components to this IDIQ that are planned to be added to this IDIQ at a later date?

Answer: The requirements defined at the IDIQ contract level are considered to be complete for the general requirements.

61. Referencing various RFP Section H clauses, Many of the clauses referenced for liability and accountability become vague and contradictory in a multi-award IDIQ setting for the items listed in the Task Order SOW (Att. A). Is the intent to split the SOW requirements among these multiple awardees, or are multiple awards being issued for additional Task Order requirements in the future?

Answer: DOS anticipates awarding 2 -4 IDIQ contract, and then competing task orders under the IDIQ contracts.