NextGen Questions and Answers 9 5 2024 Final.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 27 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 19AQMM24R0113
About this file
This document contains Questions and Answers related to a federal contract opportunity for the Department of State Office of Acquisition Management's Next Generation (NextGen) Passport Personalization Printers Support solicitation, Solicitation Number 19AQMM24R0113.
The key details include:
- The solicitation requires providing NextGen passport personalization printers, associated equipment, facilities, and support services.
- The Questions and Answers cover topics such as pricing, labor categories, facility requirements, past performance requirements, and subcontracting goals.
- The Government indicates it will make revisions to the solicitation documents based on the questions, including increasing the page limit for technical proposals, revising pricing spreadsheets, and providing additional details on certain contract line items.
- The Government also confirms the applicability of certain FAR clauses and reiterates requirements for the contractor to have a Top Secret facility clearance and meet Department of State security requirements.
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NextGen
| Identifier | RFP Reference | RFP Page # | Question | Response | ||
| 1 | Appendix 1 | |||||
| L.3.1.1 Subfactor 1: Corporate Confirmations | 40 | In the case of facility location, the Offeror must provide the full street address of the facility. In cases where the facilities are not owned by the Offeror, the Offeror shall provide a copy of the lease and building schematics and/or blueprints, and shall provide written documentation that the required facilities will be available when performance begins. |
We recommend the Government allow the copy of lease, building schematics and/or blueprints be outside of the 60 page limit given the potential size of these documents Concur. Copy of the lease and building schematics and/or blueprints will not be counted towards the 60-page limit. Only written documentation that the required facilities will be available when contract performance begins will be counted towards the 60-page limit.
See revised Section L.3 Volume I: Technical Proposal page limits.
| 2 | 19AQMM24R0113 SF33 | ||
| G - Contract Administration Data | 7 | Please confirm, for pricing purposes and any contract award, FAR 52.225-8 "Duty-Free Entry" will be included to prevent redundent (sic) costing on required imports. | Concur. See revised 19AQMM24R0113 SF33 Section I - Contract Clauses. |
| 3 | 19AQMM24R0113 SF33 |
I - Contract Clauses
| FAR Clauses 52.222-41, 52.222-43, and 52.222-55 | 10 and 11 | Per Section I the identified FAR clauses are provided by reference only. Please confirm if these clauses are applicable and if so, please provide the appropriate Wage Determination information for the applicable labor categories and locations. | The clauses are applicable because this is a service contract and WDs, if required, will be provided upon award. |
| 4 | Attachment A | ||
| Pricing Summary Table | N/A | Multiple CLINS have optional elements, not all CLINs with these elements are listed in the OPTIONAL CLIN Section of the spreadsheet. Specifically, CLINS 0012, 0013, 0015, 0016, Can the Government update the spreadsheet accordingly. |
See revised Attachment A Pricing Table. Optional CLINs referencing "New Print Facility" do not need to be priced at this time. Additional information regarding "New Print Facility" location(s) will be made available during contract performance as required.
| 5 | Attachment A | ||
| Pricing CLINS 006, 0007, 0008, 009, 0012, 0013, 0015, 0016 | N/A | These CLINS reference "New Print Facility" (Optional) Shift 1 and "New Print Facility" (Optional) Shift 2; please provide additional details such as location, number and types of printers, hours of operations, etc. |
See response to question #4.
| 6 | Attachment A | ||
| Pricing CLINs Structure | N/A | The spreadsheet has multiple lines under each CLIN. We assume each of these lines are independently awarded SubCLINs (SLINs). Please confirm | Yes, the multiple lines under each CLIN will be independently awarded SubCLINs. See revised Attachment A Pricing Table. |
| 7 | Attachment A | ||
| Pricing CLINs Structure | N/A | The spreadsheet has multiple lines under each CLIN (SLINs). How will the Govenrment evaluate a summarized FFP CLIN that contains optional activities for an undefined new print facilitiy. |
See response to question #4.
| 8 | Appendix 1 | ||
| B.5 Other Direct Costs | 2 | This section references ODC costs; however, there is no CLIN in the pricing spreadsheet nor estimated ODC plug number the Government will use for evaluation purposes. Will the Government please update the RFP accordingly. |
This section is provided for reference if, and to the extent, that it may be applicable during contract performance.
| 9 | Appendix 1 | ||
| L.2.1 Proposal Formatting | 36 | Given the large Calibri 14-point font requirement for text and similarly large Calibri 10 for tables and graphics, would the Government allow use of 11x17 for graphics/tables and count these as a single page in order to clearly illustrate complex content. | Offerors shall adhere to Section L.2.1, Proposal Preparation Instructions and Formatting. |
| 10 | Appendix 1 | ||
| L.2.1 Proposal Formatting | 36 | Given the depth of PWS requirements (there are 46 pages with more than 342 shalls) combined with the very large Calibri 14 font and the requiremtn to address all technical, management, staffing and corporate experiece (5 Subfactors) in 60 pages, would the Government please consider increasing the page count to 70. | Yes the Government will increase the page count to 70. See revised Section L.3 Volume I: Technical Proposal page limits. |
| 11 | Appendix 1 | ||
| L.1.5(a) Department of State Subcontracting Goals | 35 | Please confirm that the subcontracting plan will be delivered post award. | The subcontracting plan, if applicable, is added to the table of Deliverables/Reports in Section F.3 and the initial submission will be due 10 days after contract award. |
See revised section F.3, Deliverables/Reports
| 12 | Appendix 2 | ||
| PWS C.3.9.3 NextGen Lab | 41 | The contractor shall provide a Passport Development Lab/Testing Facility in support of the NextGen Passport Personalization Printers requiring OpenNet connectivity (see Attachment H, DOS Connectivity Requirements). The lab is to accommodate one (1) High-Capacity and one (1) Low-Capacity Passport Personalization printer and associated IT equipment, furniture, dedicated HVAC, compressor, and approved department network LAN\WAN infrastructure. |
As PWS section C.3.9.3 requires the contractor to "ensure the lab facility complies with all Department and CST policies and procedures and DS regulations", can the Government please confirm that the lab space must be secured by a lease at proposal submission and will be designed in cooperation with the Government following contract award, with final operational date dependent on acceptance from Dept. of State and respective Government security authorities? The Offerors must adhere to Section L.3.1.1 Subfactor 1: Corporate Confirmations and confirm it possesses or is able to possess a facility location within a 30-mile radius of 600 19th St NW, Washington, DC 20522 at the start of contract performance.
In the case of facility location, the Offeror must provide the full street address of the facility. In cases where the facilities are not owned by the Offeror, the Offeror shall provide a copy of the lease and building schematics and/or blueprints, and shall provide written documentation that the required facilities will be available when performance begins. A contingent lease is acceptable and will satisfy this requirement.
The Offerors will adhere to all DS security requirements and security controls needed to support the security of the Lab/Testing Facility. DS will provide final inspection and clearance of the Lab/Testing Facility granting final authority to proceed.
13 Appendix 1 Attachment A Section L Section M Pricing Tables N/A We've researched sources for the IAI Next Generation Personalization (NGP) Printers and understand that there is currently only one reseller of the NGP Printers for the Department of State. Given this single source situation, would the Government direct this one reseller to provide most favored customer (meaning the Government) pricing to all potential bidders at least fifteen days prior to proposal submission date.
The Offeror shall adhere to the requirements of the RFP. No further information will be provided at this time.
14 Appendix 1 L.3.2 Past Peformance
| PPQ | Page 41 | If we are submitting past performance references from contracts where we are a Subcontractor, we assume our Prime Contractor for that work is who we list as the Technical Point of Contact and who fills out our PPQ? Is this correct? | Technical references should be filled out in accordance with Section L.3.2.1 Past Performance Profile. | ||
| 15 | Appendix 1 | ||||
| L.3.2 Past Peformance | Page 41 | Regarding the total contract dollar value, if we are a Subcontractor on the past performance references, we assume we would only list the total contract dollars that are applicable to the work we did as the Subcontractor? Is this correct? | Yes. Offerors should provide total contract dollar value and total contract dollar value expended to date based on the work described. | ||
| 16 | L.3.2 Factor 2: Past Performance | 40 | Section L.3.2.a of RFP states: "Provide three (3) Past Performance Profiles in the technical volume for the prime contractor and no more than two (2) for each subcontractor" |
| If applicants submit more than 3 relevant prime contractor Past Performance references in their proposal, will the Government evaluate them? | No, the Government will only evaluate three (3) past performance profiles for the prime contractor. | ||||
| 17 | Attachment A Pricing Table | Attachment A | CLIN 0006 states: "shipping for high capacity printer with or without temporary storage (FFP)-optional" and CLIN 007 requests: "shipping for low capacity printer with or without temporary storage (FFP)-optional" |
| Please clarify how the responders should provide prices for both "with or without". | As described in Section C.3.4 of Appendix 2, Descriptions/Specifications/Work Statement, shipment with storage refers to when a high capacity or low capacity printer is shipped and stored at a designated Government warehouse prior to shipping directly to a passport center or/and agency location. Shipment with storage at the Government warehouse will require a total of two shipments and additional handling of each printer to be installed. The detail tab of Attachment A shows a section without storage and a section with storage for each shipping location under CLINs 0006 and 0007. For additional clarification, SubCLIN numbers will be added to each of those CLINs. See revised Attachment A, Pricing table. | ||||
| 18 | Attachment A Pricing Table | Attachment A | The Pricing Table requests details in a separate tab |
Please clarify if the "details" tab requires labor information only. If so, where there are no stated labor categories, is the responder expected to insert that information with inserted lines?
The Offeror shall adhere to the requirements of the RFP, specifically Section L.4.1.4.
19 Attachment A Pricing Table Attachment A The Pricing Table requests details in a separate tab
Does the "detail" tab require other information other than labor?
See response to question #18.
20 H.3 Key Personnel; L.3.1.4 Subfactor 4 14 The Government only lists two Labor Categories for Key Personnel in Section H, but states, "Program Manager’s name and other key personnel labor categories and names to be inserted by Offeror at time of proposal submission." Section L.3.1.4 states "the Offeror shall provide resumes for all proposed Key Personnel."
Will the Government allow Offeror to submit Key Personnel resumes in addition to the Program and Deputy Program Manager?
Yes. Offerors may propose additional key personnel. Positions and names are to be provided at time of proposal submission.
21 Pricing N/A Clin 0018 - Vendor Support site is only listed in the RFP as CLIN 0018 and nowhere else in the RFP.
What are the requirements for this CLIN?
See revised Appendix 2 - Section C PWS. Reference C.3.9 Vendor Support Site Locations.
22 RFP L.3.2, L.3.2.b, and RFP Attachment F RFP page 38 The Government requires past performance questionnaires (RFP Attachment F) to be completed and submitted by offerors' customers/clients. It is possible that those customers/clients may also be competing as offerors on this procurement, generating a potential conflict of interest, whereby the PPQ respondent could give a less than favorable performance evaluation on another offeror.
In such cases, and since RFP L.3.2.b states that "other related past performance information may be sought and used for evaluating completeness and accuracy of the Offeror's proposals", will the Government allow an offeror to go directly to a Government representative, who is familiar with the work on the contract/subcontract being cited as past performance, to complete and return the PPQ Attachment F to DOS?
See response to question #14.
23 Appendix 1 L.1.5: Subcontracting Goals 35 In the event that a small business offeror is awarded a contract as a prime contractor, all contract dollars will go towards meeting DOS' small business contracting goals.
| Please confirm that the DOS small business subcontracting goals (Appendix 1, page 35) do not apply to a small business prime contractor. | DOSAR Clause 652.219-70 is prescribed by DOSAR Section 619.708-70 whenever FAR Clause 52.219-9 is used. FAR 19.708 prescribes FAR Clause 52.219-9 for solicitations and contracts that offer subcontracting possibilities with some exceptions. FAR Clause 52.219-9(a) states “This clause does not apply to small business concerns.” Therefore, if a small business is awarded a contract resulting from this solicitation, the DOS small business goals in DOSAR 652.219-70 would not apply. | ||||
| 24 | Appendix 1 L.1.5: Subcontracting Goals | 35 | In the event that a small business offeror is awarded a contract as a prime contractor, all contract dollars will go towards meeting DOS' small business contracting goals. |
| Is a small business prime offeror required to complete the small business subcontracting plan? | As stated above, FAR Clause 52.219-9 does not apply to small businesses and a small business prime contractor would not be required to submit the small business contracting plan described in DOSAR Clause 652.219.70. | |||||
| 25 | H.4 Security | 15 | The Contractor shall provide a facility at the TOP SECRET security clearance level for initial contract performance in accordance with the DD Form 254, Department of Defense (DOD) Contract Security Classification Specification (CSCS). (See Attachment E – Bidders DD 254). Please confirm how and when, prior to the start of contract performance, State intends to confirm the putative awardee holds a TS FCL. | Once an awardee is selected, DOS will do one of the following actions: 1) if the awardee has an active TS FCL, DOS will request DS/IS/IND to prepare an award DD Form 254; 2) if the awardee does not have an active TS FCL, DOS will sponsor the awardee for a TS FCL and performance will not begin until the TS FCL has been granted. | ||
| 26 | Appendix 1, Attachment A Section L, Section M, Pricing Tables | We've requested pricing for the labor required to service and maintain the IAI Next Generation Personalization (NGP) Printers and related equipment. We’ve been informed that one company has the exclusive right to service and maintain the NGP printers and related equipment for NGP printers. Related equipment and labor to service the NGP printers will only be provided if we request pricing for the entire solution and partial pricing will not be provided. Given this situation, would the Government direct this one reseller to provide most favored customer (meaning the Government) pricing to all potential bidders at least fifteen days prior to proposal submission date. | DOS declines the request. | |||
| 27 | Appendix 1, Attachment A Section L, Section M, Pricing Tables | We understand there is only one provider of the NextGen software suite to include Print Controller, Printer Controller Startup Manager and Chip Encoder software. Did the Government’s market research indicate there was more than one provider of the NextGen software suite? If so, will the Government identify all such providers? | Market research showed two or more entities with apparent capability to perform the requirements of the PWS. |
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