Questions_and_Answers_-_70B01C19R00000003.pdf

70B01C19R00000003

ATTACHMENT 1

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1 QUESTION

Is our Mexico factory an option for this solicitation?

ANSWER

Whether a particular Mexican factory is an option for this solicitation is a fact-dependent determination that depends on the application the Kissell Amendment (6 U.S.C. 453b) and the specific language of Trade Agreements, as well as the ability to satisfy the requirements of the Performance Work Statement. That said, we note that DHS must apply the Kissell Amendment consistent with United States obligations under international agreements. While currently all DHS Components are covered entities under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), upon entry into force of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, items manufactured in Mexico or Canada could not be used to satisfy TSA or TSA FAMS requirements. Offerors are ultimately responsible for understanding and tracking any changes to applicable trade agreements, laws, and regulations that could impact contract performance.

2 QUESTION

In Attachment C, Performance Work Statement (PWS), Section 7.1 Performance Indicators and Metrics, Contract-Wide, Table 7 (page 32), the Due Date – defined in calendar days states a “Contract Wide” “requirement of Allowance orders shipped within 7 days of order” at a standard of 90% or greater. Given that there are 1,450 line items, numerous skus, and millions of dollars of volume encompassed in this contract, several million dollars of Inventory, Work In Process and Raw Materials will be required by the Contractor at all times to service to that standard. What inventory liability will DHS agree to assume at the end of the contract?

ANSWER

None.

3 QUESTION

In Section 6.4, there is discussion surrounding the Contractor suggesting a change to an item. There does not appear to be discussion of DHS instigating a change to an item. Should DHS instigate an item change and should the change be modified to the contract, will DHS purchase any remaining inventory, work in process and raw materials that may still be owned by the Contractor because of such change?

ANSWER

Section 6.4 applies to all changes to the contract regardless of who initiates the change. The Government will not compensate the Contractor for work in process and raw materials, but will work with the Contractor to establish a draw-down timeline to allow for the purchase of the maximum amount of existing inventory prior to the new item being added to the component catalog.

4 QUESTION

In Section 6.4, page 30, it is stated that “For items that are no longer manufactured by a subcontractor, the pricing for any replacement item shall not change”. This (a subcontractor no longer manufacturing an item) may occur due to a Commercial vendor determining that they can no longer viably manufacture an item due to lack of volume, increased costs, or a variety of other reasons. This can also occur due to a Small Business going out of business. The Contractor, in most cases, has no control over these decisions made by other companies. Will DHS reconsider the position that a price cannot change in such a situation?

ANSWER

No; it is the expectation of the Government that the Uniform vendor will have mitigation plans in place for this type of occurrence.

5 QUESTION

In Section 6.4, page 27, related to the Change Management Process, the Contractor is required to obtain three different quotes for each item. The Industry standard for obtaining quotes is that vendors quote prices that are size driven (meaning “normal” sizes have one price and that oversize charges normally apply at different levels). In addition, quotes are typically based on an assumed annual quantity, exclude freight as it varies significantly by order size, and are only honored for 6 months to one year. When the term “Price” is used in this section for the determination of selling price after adding the coefficient, how does DHS define “Price”? (Given the Industry Standard, there is normally not a single number that is derived from the vendor for a given item).

ANSWER

Understanding that competitive forces are at play as quotes must be obtained from at least three vendors, each vendor shall provide a single price using their best estimating methodology in light of the Government’s requirements.

6 QUESTION

In the Solicitation Section IV.9, on page 55 of 61, it is stated that the “contractual coefficient is limited to a maximum of 25%”. What all is the coefficient assumed to cover?

ANSWER

The coefficient shall be used to cover all overhead costs and profit associated with the new items.

7 QUESTION

Attachment D, Kissell Tutorial, page 2 of 2: If NAFTA is replaced by the USMCA, the list of designated countries for TSA will no longer include Mexico or Canada. If/when this occurs, can the inventory that the Contractor holds at that time, that was manufactured in Mexico or Canada, continue to be sold through until it is depleted?

ANSWER

Yes, but only for delivery orders that were awarded prior to the entry into force of the USMCA.

8 QUESTION

On the Pricing Spreadsheets, it appears that several items are listed as Not being Frontline Duty items, when it would appear that they really should be listed as such. For example, CLIN# CBPOBP006, 007, 008 and 009 are all Dress Shirts that are worn daily on the Front Lines for Border Patrol. Other examples include Dress Pants for Border Patrol and similar items for Air and Marine. Can the items be re-reviewed to confirm which items are truly Frontline items, and therefore, subject to Kissell vs. being subject to TAA?

ANSWER

The items have been re-reviewed. Based on this re-review a new pricing spreadsheet is incorporated into this amendment.

9 QUESTION

On the Pricing Spreadsheets, will there be a way to have annual price escalations to cover cost increases during the 5 year Base Period?

ANSWER

No.

10 QUESTION

Would you like for us to test those DHS uniforms prior to deployment?

ANSWER

No.

11 QUESTION

Are we required to submit a bid for all departments in this RFP, or are we able to submit on specific programs? Example: bid on TSA and not CBP.

ANSWER

An offer must cover all DHS components and FDA.

12 QUESTION

From the PWS, Section 6.6 Transition Plan, is DHS purchasing the current supplier’s inventory to furnish to the new supplier?

ANSWER

No.

13 QUESTION

Is all of the inventory from the current contract going forward in the new contract?

ANSWER

No.

14 QUESTION

In the PWS, Section 6.4 Change Management, the coefficient is added to the unit price. In the PRICE PROPOSAL SUBMISSION section on page 55 it says the coefficient is limited to a maximum of 25%. If the coefficient is the same as a markup, we aren’t sure that 25% covers all costs, much less gives some profit. Can the coefficient be more than 25%?

ANSWER

No.

15 QUESTION

In the PWS, Section 6.4, page 27, it says items shall be sourced only through original source manufacturers, not through distributors. As a small business, we aren’t set up to buy from everybody, we sometimes have to go through a distributor. Will that be allowed?

ANSWER

The PWS will be modified to include language that will specify that for pricing purposes only, the coefficient shall only be applied to the original source manufacturer’s price, NOT to any distributor’s price, if a distributor is chosen. (See the attached “slip page 27”).

16 QUESTION

Section IV – Pre-Proposal site visits – Page 46 of 61. Are the site visits officially scheduled yet?

ANSWER

Yes, the site visits are scheduled for June 3-7. Please contact Tiffany Sawers as specified on page 46 of RFP.

17 QUESTION

In Attachment A, the FLETC Pricing Sheet Tab, starting with Spec # FLETC-053, it appears that the Description does not match the Specification, all the way through FLETC-085. In fact, per the document entitled FLETC Tech Specs for RFP 26 MAR 19, the spec numbers go to FLETC-087. It looks like FLETC-053, and 054, both BIA items, are not on the Pricing Sheet. Since they are missing, it looks like every Description from there on is off by 2 lines. Could this be reviewed and corrected?

The new pricing sheet (also see Question 8) corrects the error in the FLETC numbering.

18 QUESTION

Will there be a requirement to sell FLETC through a third party in this contract?

ANSWER

FLETC utilizes a third party contractor to fulfill its Uniform, Equipment, and Laundry Services requirements. As relevant to this procurement action, the third party contractor maintains FLETC inventory for student and staff and is responsible for ordering of uniforms and returns. The FLETC Contractor processes all uniform orders on behalf of FLETC; however, acceptance of all items will still be made by Government (FLETC) personnel. Any contractor performing such function on behalf of FLETC shall be considered an authorized ordering entity under the contract. This means that any vendor who is awarded this contract will have to accept delivery orders from the FLETC contractor at the same contract price the Government receives.

19 QUESTION

FAR Clause 52.222-3, Convict Labor, applies to this contract. The clause does not mention Federal Prison Industries (i.e. UNICOR). Is there a separate FAR clause that applies to UNICOR?

ANSWER

No.

20 QUESTION

In the PWS, Section 4.5.6 regarding Returns and Exchanges: It states that the Contractor shall accept returns/exchanges within 60 calendar days of delivery “regardless of serviceability”. Does this mean that Returns of worn, altered and washed garments are required? Can such items be resold to another employee of the Component?

ANSWER

Vendors must accept returns of worn, altered and washed garments if they are returned within 60 calendar days of delivery. Items can be resold to another employee as long as the items are still serviceable and appear in new condition. Items that show obvious signs of wear and washing should not be resold, but should be disposed of properly.

21 QUESTION

In the PWS, Section 4.3, it states that the Contractor is to provide a facility in the Glynco, GA area to provide Quartermaster uniform services for non-CBP Components due to space constraints. Where do these additional Glynco services get priced in Attachment A?

ANSWER

For Glynco, these shall be included in the Monthly Quartermaster services in E5, H5, and K5. No separate line item is required.

22 QUESTION

The following CLIN#s are on Attachment A to be priced, but are not in the Specifications: CBPOAM- 331; CBPCBP-068; CBPCBP-075; CBPCBP-118; CBPCBP-119; CBPOBP-241; and CBPCBP-254. Can these Specifications be furnished?

ANSWER

See Revised Attachment “A” attached. See the attached specifications.

23 QUESTION

On page 54 of 61, Sub-Factor F, the vendor is required to provide screen shots of the WBURS catalog in the proposal. Will these screen shots count against the 25 page limit?

No.

24 QUESTION

Is the previous solicitation award tabulation publicly available or may this be provided?

ANSWER

No.

25 QUESTION

RFP Solicitation 70B01C19R00000003, Paragraph V.10 , Page Number 56 Is this bid an all or nothing, or may we bid on specific line items or groups?

ANSWER

Yes this is an all or nothing requirement. An offer must cover all DHS components and FDA.

26 QUESTION

RFP Solicitation 70B01C19R00000003, Attachment A and Attachment B Can multiple items (different manufacturers) be offered per line item?

ANSWER

No, DHS must evaluate nearly 1400 line items in the current structure.

27 QUESTION

RFP Solicitation 70B01C19R00000003, Paragraph IV.6, n, Page Number 49 Will Non-TAA compliant items be considered in lieu of TAA compliant items?

ANSWER

No.

28 QUESTION

RFP Solicitation 70B01C19R00000003, Paragraph IV.3 and IV.4 , Page Number 46 Would it be possible to extend the due date of questions/clarifications (May 10th) until after the site visits have been completed at the end of May? Possibly changing the questions due date to the end of the first week or middle of June?

ANSWER

Only questions relative to the site visits may be submitted not later than 1:00 pm EST June 11th to the contract specialist at Rick.a.travis@cbp.dhs.gov.

Note

There is a discrepancy between the language in the RFP on page 47, where offerors are directed to a column titled “Kissell Covered Item Yes/No,” and the Pricing Worksheets, where the solicitation utilizes a different column title - “Frontline Item? Yes/No”. As Kissell only applies to “Frontline Items” this is considered synonymous for offer purposes.