AG-3198-S-12-0014 - Addn 0002 - Uniform Coding.pdf

A G - 3 1 9 8 - S - 1 2 - 0 0 1 4

OMB Approval 2700-0042

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 30-105 STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

PREVIOUS EDITION UNUSABLE Computer Generated Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.24

1. CONTRACT ID CODE PAGE OF PAGES

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1 4

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

0002 See Block 16c

6. ISSUED BY CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)

CODE

U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, Contract Management Branch 3101 Park Center Drive, Ste 228 Alexandria Virginia 22302

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No. Street, county, State and ZIP: Code) 9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

AG-3198-S-12-0014

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

07/19/2012

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

CODE 1EFX9 FACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended, is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning one (1) copy of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATA SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and data specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

N/A

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

() A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET

FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return _____ copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

Amendment 0002 to Solicitation AG-3198-S-12-0014 hereby incorporates government responses to vendor questions as part of the subject solicitation.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

Except at provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

Pamela Martin

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

BY _____________________________________________

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

USDA/FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE

AG-3198-S-12-0014 - UNIFORM CODING

VENDOR QUESTIONS & GOVERNMENT ANSWERS

1) Will sample EBT data records be available before the submission deadline?

ANSWER: NO.

2) Are all EBT point-of-sale records in same format, regardless of the retailer submitting them?

ANSWER: NO. All data will be in machine readable format but may contain different variable fields in different orders.

3) Objective 2, in section C. 3, page 9 states: "For objective two of this project, the contractor shall leverage the functionality of one or more commercially available off the shelf (COTS) tool(s) to provide to FNS a solution to recode and manipulate the data mention above, in-house, into a combined schema developed in Objective One." Does this imply that only standard routines already available in the COTS system (e.g., standard PROCS in SAS) may be used, or is custom programming permitted as long as it is not proprietary?

ANSWER: NO. This requirement does not imply that only standard routines already available in the COTS system may be used. Custom programming using COTS resources is permitted as long as it is compatible with existing in-house resources.

4) What dataset does FNS anticipate would be the source of the UPC codes and descriptions to be used to develop the mapping to the USDA data sets listed on pages 5 and 6 of the RFP?

ANSWER: The anticipated source of the UPC codes and descriptions is FoodAPS and occasional data sets of point-of-sale purchase data from private sector retail partners. Information on FoodAPS can be found at:

http://www.bls.gov/cex/hhsrvywrkshp_cole.pdf.

A mock up of what anticipated data/variables may look like is as follows:

5) Given that the UPC code assignments change frequently, does FNS anticipate developing the mapping for a single or multiple years? Which year or years are needed by FNS?

ANSWER: Anticipated development of mapping is for data from 2011-2012, however, the underlying process shall be applicable to future years.

CardNum VisitNu m Store Time Visit_Total Total Retail Date TENDER Form

Amount of Tender

Scanned Count

RETAIL

PRICE

UPC

DESCRIPTION UPC_NBR DEPT ITEM_DESC

10000000000 1 1000 2:00 49.36 46.97 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 9.3 2 2 HERSH ALMD K 3400000xxx 1 HERSH ALMD KG 10000000000 1 1000 2:00 49.36 46.97 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 9.3 1 1 HSY CNC KG 3400xxxxx 1 COOKIES 'N' CRÅME KG 20000000000 2 2000 3:00 34.23 34.23 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 34.23 1 5.88 MEAT SAUCE 510000xxxx 2 PREGO MEAT SAUCE 30000000000 3 2000 4:00 68.86 68.86 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 68.86 4 3.72 SC CA LEMON 78xxxxxxxx 3 SC CLAMR LEMON 1LT 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 94.63 2 4.84 BEEF LIVER 78xxxxxxxx 4 BEEF LIVER 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 94.63 2 3.76 BESF FSMVEG 145xxxxxxx 4 BESF FS MIX VEG 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 197.69 1 7.28 DOMINO SUGAR 492xxxxxxx 3 DOMINO SUGAR 10 LB 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 197.69 1 3 2% MLK 78xxxxxxxx 1 2% MILK 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 197.69 4 4 WW ELBOW 78xxxxxxxx 3 WW ELBOW MAC 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 94.63 1 1.48 LETTUCE CLO 33xxxxxxxx 4 LETTUCE CELLO ADU 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 94.63 2 2.56 MCCORMICK 52xxxxxxxx 2 MC PORK GRAVY 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 197.69 2 5.48 MRS DASH 22xxxxxxxx 2 MRS DASH GARLIC&HERB 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 197.69 1 2.98 NB HM GRAHMS 44xxxxxxxx 5 HONEY MAID GRAHAMS 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 94.63 1 1.84 NOYOLK DMPLG 71xxxxxxxx 2 NO YOLK DUMPLINGS 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 94.63 1 1.84 NOYOLK NOODL 71xxxxxxxx 2 NO YOLK X-BROAD NDLE 40000000000 4 5000 5:00 292.32 292.32 8/5/2001 EBT Foodstamps 197.69 1 3.55 PNUTBUTTER 48xxxxxxxx 2 SKPP CREAMY 28OZ http://www.bls.gov/cex/hhsrvywrkshp_cole.pdf�

6) Can FNS provide a sample of the input data sets (e.g., point of sale store data) that would need to be coded for this project?

ANSWER: NO. Reference Response to Question 4.

7) Is there an incumbent on this effort, or are there other related projects that would inform the mapping needed for this project?

ANSWER: NO

8) What is FNS’s anticipated level of effort for the project?

ANSWER: NONE The successful vendor is expected to have the necessary competencies in retail food coding, existing nutritional categorization systems and in coding automation systems development asked for in this procurement.

9) What is the award date?

ANSWER: The anticipated award date is by or before September 30, 2012.

10) Can you please clarify the “Content and Format of Submissions”. The following seem to differ

a. Submit three (3) original complete response including Volume I: Technical and Volume II:

Pricing in one (1) 3-inch, three-ring binder.

b. An original response to this solicitation must consist of two (2) Volumes.

• Volume I shall contain the Technical and must not contain any pricing information

• Volume II shall contain Pricing and Representations and Certifications

c. Originals must be unbound. The number of copies should be submitted in economical, three-ring binders. Responses to Technical Approach, Experience/Management, Past Performance and Price shall be in a separate binder.

ANSWER: a – The technical proposal and price proposal shall be separate from each other (e.g. Volume I: Technical Proposal and Volume II: Pricing Proposal. The vendor is requested to provide three (3) copies (original and two copies) of the technical proposal, and one (1) copy of the pricing proposal.

b – Reiterates “a” above in stating the proposal is to be submitted in two (2) parts:

• Volume I – Technical Proposal

• Volume II – Pricing Proposal; and, There shall be no pricing information in Volume I – Technical Proposal. Vendor Representation and Certifications shall be placed in Volume II – Pricing Proposal.

c – Do not use glued or book binding when presenting proposals. Paper shall be 3-hole punched (not 17-hole punched) and placed in 3-ring binders.

11) Can you e-mail Attachment II as a Word Doc.? The questionnaire would be easier for our customers to fill out versus a PDF doc.

ANSWER: NO. This document is not available in MSWord Template format.

12) Can FNS provide a sample of EBT transaction data that would include UPC’s & PLU’s?

ANSWER: NO. Reference response to question 1.

13) Can FNS provide a sample of the data dictionary that is currently being used.

ANSWER: NO. There is no current data dictionary. See data sets referenced in Section C – Work Statement of the RFP.

14) Can FNS provide a sample of survey data?

ANSWER: NO. Reference Question 4

15) In Section C.6 Performance Measures is a bullet item in the Performance Requirements Summary “Well-written, with proper grammar, and appropriate for the target audience.” Who is the “target audience.”

ANSWER: Technical Evaluation Panel.

16) This project appears to be planned using waterfall project management. Given the interest expressed in current technology (COTS) in other sections, including C.2, C.3, C.5.4, is FNS willing to consider Agile methodologies?

ANSWER: YES. There are no allusions in the RFP with respect to any specific project management style nor is there a single best way to define an ideal project life cycle. The responsibility for determining what processes are appropriate and the appropriate degree of rigor for each process is the responsibility of the Offeror.

17) Section C.4 Scope of Work lists several variables that may be included. Would this set of data need to be tracked at a level of detail identifying individuals?

ANSWER: NO.

18) Should L.4.2 Capabilities of Proposed Staff

ANSWER: YES. Capabilities of Proposed Staff shall be included as part of the Technical Approach Section, and shall be excluded (like the resumes) from the 50 page limit.

be included as part of the Technical Approach section?

If so, will it be excluded (like the resumes) from the 50 pg limit.