3plqandas.doc

1. Section II, SF1449 Continuation: Schedule of Services, has unit of measure for general storage per pallet, refrigerated storage per pallet, and frozen storage per cubic foot described as “Month.” Please clarify as it does not coincide with the sentence in

Statement of Work, Background, paragraph 4, “Table 1 shows the estimated storage requirements per year for each warehouse location.”

Statement of Work numbers are per warehouse (i.e. 1,000 pallets of general storage per warehouse). The estimated quantities in the schedule of services was corrected in an amendment to the solicitation.

2. Offeror Notes, A, states that the contract will be a Firm Fixed Price per unit IDIQ. The pre-solicitation released on 18 Jan and the solicitation released with the RFP on 8 Feb state that the contract will be a combination of Firm Fixed Price and Time and Material.

Does the USDA intend for there to be any Time and Material costs?

No, there will be no time and material CLINS.

3. Offeror Notes, B, states that the line items described in the SF1449 Continuation:

Schedule of Services are estimated amounts for the entire third-party logistics contract(s) needs (both anticipated warehouses). In the Statement of Work, III, Background states that Table 1 shows the estimated storage requirement per year for each warehouse location. The two statements are inconsistent. Please clarify whether the estimated amounts are each location or both locations (i.e., each warehouse location is estimated to have 1,000 pallets of general storage or 500 pallets of general storage.)

See answer to question #1 above. (Statement of Work numbers are per warehouse (i.e. 1,000 pallets of general storage per warehouse). The estimated quantities in the schedule of services was corrected in an amendment to the solicitation).

4. The RFP seems to require the offeror to submit three distinctly different cost based on three different pricing models:

• Offeror Notes, C, states that the line items included in the SF 1440 Continuation:

Schedule of Services are all inclusive and shall include all labor, materials, general and administrative, overhead, and profit and pricing should be submitted as such.

• Attachment 4, C, Cost Proposal, states the offeror must identify estimated cost for service areas…project oversight…labor categories and labor rates.

• Attachment 5, Proposal Evaluation Criteria, C, Pricing, states that the offeror must provide a detailed price proposal and should include 11 areas.

How should the cost proposal be submitted?

These are all attempts to state that the proposed prices should be all-inclusive. The Offeror Notes C is saying that your company will not be reimbursed for any costs over and above the proposed price (so that price must include all of your costs). The attachments are asking for cost proposals to allow us to judge price reasonableness. The cost breakout will not affect the final pricing but will be used only to allow our evaluation team to determine adequacy of the pricing.

5. Statement of Work, E, Services, E2, Storage and Inventory Control, 6, bullet 4, states that the offeror must replace refrigerated or frozen products whose temperatures fall outside their required range. Is there an acceptable deviation in temperature range and length of time outside that acceptable deviation before the 3PL is required to replace product?

There is no easy answer to this question. Whether the vaccine remains acceptable depends on the amount of temperature deviation and the duration of the deviation. We would want the amount and duration of any deviation reported to CVB (copy to us) within 24 hours for its determination of continued efficacy and the necessity of testing for that efficacy.

6. Please confirm that the maximum pallet size is: 48”W x 48” H x 52”L.

Maximum pallet size is 40" x 48" base, 52" height

7. Please provide the National Fire Protection Association classification of commodities related to the current inventory and future inventory requirements (if known) as this affects the type/level of fire suppression requirements.

None of our material is hazardous. Its exposure under fire conditions will produce no hazard beyond that of ordinary combustible material.

8. Can we segregate medical items (vaccines) merely by shelving placement in huge secured walk in freezers/refrigerators or does the government want dedicated freezers/refrigerators space?

We do not need dedicated freeze or chill units for antigen or vaccine storage.

9. The size standard for the subject solicitation is 6.5M but the unrestricted box is checked. Could you clarify if this is for small business or unrestricted with a size standard of 6.5M?

The NAICS code small business standard is so that firms can categorize themselves as small or large businesses. This is important for our records as well as whether a small business subcontracting plan is required.

However, this is a full and open competition so small and large businesses can respond.