Questions_ISO_Audit_Solicitation_03-20-19_G_Edit.pdf

Questions 1:

Where in the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 registration cycle is each location (DCF and WCF)?

Answer 1:

The certificate dates are:

ISO14001 Washington DC (DCF) - 04/26/2018 ISO14001 Fort Worth (WCF) - 06/27/18 ISO9001 BEP (scope covers both Ft. Worth and Washington, D.C.) 07/20/2018

Questions 2:

When does the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certificate expire for each location (DCF and WCF)?

Answer 2:

See Answer 1.

Question 3:

Clarify how the number of hours were estimated for each facility (DCF and WCF) for each audit line item? Audit Day hours are typically up to 8 hours.

Answer 3:

Please provide bids / proposals to perform the audits in our Washington DC and Forth Worth TX facilities in accordance with IAF MD5:2015. The line items structure per hours has been removed and replaced by a unit of issue of EA. Check the revised solicitation that has been posted under amendment P00001.

Question 4:

Item 0001:

How was 64 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 0003:

How was 272 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 0004:

How was 80 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 1001:

How was 272 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 1003:

How was 64 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 1004:

How was 80 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 2001:

How was 544 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 2003:

How was 128 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Item 2004:

How was 160 audit hours calculated?

What type of audit (surveillance or reassessment)?

Answer 4:

The Line Items were revised in Amendment P00001.

The base year and Option Year I are for Surveillance. Option Year II is for Recertification.

Question 5:

What are the major QMS and EMS processes of DCF and WCF?

Answer 5:

A description of the Currency manufacturing process can be found on moneyfactory.gov. Any other information is considered proprietary.

Questions 6:

What is the Organization breakdown by department/function for DCF and WCF and employees by department/function?

Answer 6:

A description of the Currency manufacturing process can be found on moneyfactory.gov. Any other information is considered proprietary.

Question 7:

Is each location DCF and WCF classed as a single site?

Answer 7:

DCF and WCF maintain separate registrations for ISO14001. DCF and WCF are covered under one registration for ISO9001.

Question 8:

Are there any exclusions listed on the ISO 9001 certificate

Answer 8:

The scope of the ISO9001 registration is currency manufacturing. There are other printing activities that make up a very small part of what we do. Those non-currency activities are not included in the ISO9001 system.

Question 9:

Are there any exclusions listed on the ISO 14001 certificates?

Answer 9:

No.

Question 10:

ANAB Restriction and Contradiction in SOW:

The SOW is overly restrictive in that in limits competition by requiring only ANAB accreditation from the Offeror. ANAB is only one of many accreditation bodies. The appropriate language is to require "accreditation from a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) whose scope of accreditation includes management system certification." Any other references in the Solicitation to ANAB only should be removed.

a. SOW section 4.0 states: “The Contractor shall be an ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) or an equivalent accrediting body that is certified by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

b. SOW 3.5: “The contractor shall meet the accreditation requirements for registrars as established by the ANSIASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and be registered to ISO 9001:2015.”

Answer 10:

"American National Standards Institute - American Society for Quality National Accreditation Board accreditation is necessary to effectively fulfill BEP's requirement for these services."

Question 11:

Please confirm Line Items 0002, 1002 and 2002 should include travel costs for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 audits?

Answer 11:

Yes, Line items 0002, 1002, and 2002 should include travel costs for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 audits in our Forth Worth, TX and Washington, DC facilities for a maximum of 2 auditors.

Question 12:

Based on Section C of the PWS, Recertification audits occurred in 2018 for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 per site. This would allow for Surveillance audits in 2019 and 2020. For 2021, which should be Recertification audits, the descriptions listed under Section B, Line Items 2001 and 2002 (Options Year II) and under 5.0 Work Requirement state Surveillance audits. Please confirm.

Answer 12:

Please refer to Answer #3. Line items 2001 and 2002 state Recertification per the revised Solicitation in amendment P00001.

Question 13:

Line Item Numbers from Section B do not match up with Line Item Numbers in Section F. Please confirm.

Response 13:

The Line item numbers from Section B should match up the Line item number in Section F. Please refer to Amendment P00001 of the solicitation.

Question 14:

Can you explain the hours / days please.

DCF and WCF ISO 9001 Annual Surveillance Audit for Base Period from 02 April 2019 to 01 April 2020 | Description: 5 days in DC with 2 auditors 3.5 days in TX with 2 auditors for a total of 272 Hours | 8 hours is equal to 1 day.

My calculations show that 10 days plus 7 days = 17 days x 8 hours comes to 136 hours. Your calculation is double that.

Response 14:

Please refer to Answer #3. We remove the unit of issue of HR to change it to EA. Proposals / Bids should be submitted in accordance with IAF MD5:2015.

Question 15:

Will you please post a copy of the current certifications?

Response 15:

See attached documents.

Questions 16:

Could you please confirm that the BEP is aware the audit duration required for the 9001 certificate is well above the requirements of IAF MD5:2015?

Response 16:

Refer to answer #3.

Question 17:

When an audit runs beyond a 5 day work week – can we use more than 2 auditors? Do travel expenses extend beyond 2 auditors if more are utilized?

Response 17:

Refer to answer #3. All audits should be able to be completed within one week using a maximum of two auditors.