Attachment 4 Instruction to Offerors.docx

ADDENDUM

52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS

A. The following instructions cover the preparation and submittal of the offeror’s proposal for this solicitation. Non-conformance with any instructions provided below may result in an unfavorable proposal evaluation. Proposals shall be submitted to the Government in two (2) separate volumes as set forth below:

Completed RFQ with pricing and Technical Proposal shall be submitted in electronic format as a .pdf compatible attachment through DoD Safe by following the Communications paragraph below.

In addition to the page limitations set forth above, proposals should comply with the following format:

(1) Print shall be no less than 12 point and page size shall be 8.5 x 11 inches.

(2) Margins shall be no smaller than 1 inch on the top and bottom and 3/4-inch side margins.

(3) Pages shall be numbered sequentially by volume. Offerors are cautioned that any pages exceeding the limitations set forth above will not be read or considered in the evaluation of the proposal.

(4) Each page containing proprietary information should be so marked.

(5) Each page should contain the following legend at the bottom of each sheet:

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION--SEE FAR 2.101 and 3.104

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Communications:

Exchanges of information between Government and offerors will be controlled by the Contracting Officer. Initial proposal packages shall be submitted through DoD Safe at https://safe.apps.mil/. Please note that the uploaded files must be timestamped by the offer due date and time. Receipt date and time for determining timely submission will be based upon date and time DoD SAFE shows the files were uploaded.

Offerors bare the risk for receipt of submitted offers being untimely. Any offer or modifications to the offer received after the exact time specified for receipt of offers/quotes may not be considered. All responsible sources may submit an offer, which if received timely shall be considered by this agency.

Instructions for DoD SAFE are as follows:

1. Send a request to Michael Hickey at michael.hickey.2@us.af.mil or Amy Poling at amy.poling@us.af.mil and request a DoD SAFE drop-off request code or email link. When requesting a request code or email link allow for a minimum of 24 hours for a response (48 hours if requested on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday). Once the contracting office processes your request, you will receive an email with a link to the DoD SAFE location where files can be dropped off. Copy and paste the email link into the browser. Click “Drop-off” button. Enter the request code that was provided by the contracting office and click next. Then follow the onscreen instructions to upload and send the files. For complete instructions on sending files via DoD SAFE, please refer to https://safe.apps.mil/about.php.

2. Files shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Word 2016 or earlier, MS Excel 2016 or earlier, MS PowerPoint 2016 or earlier, or Adobe Portable Documentation Format (PDF). If submitting a PDF file, the Offeror shall create the file to enable textual search and copy functions. Macros or other embedded objects or features within files will be disabled as part of regular security precautions.

3. Uploaded files must be timestamped by the offer due date and time. Offerors shall allow sufficient time for receipt of electronic submissions by the due date and time. Offerors bare the risk for receipt of offers being untimely.

a. The proposal shall be valid for 90 days from the RFQ closing date. The offeror shall make a clear statement in the proposal documentation volume that the proposal is valid through this date.

b. In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.8 (Government Contract Files), the Government will retain one copy of all unsuccessful proposals.

4. After submission of the initial proposal package, email may be used to transmit information, only if the email can be sent encrypted, and must include “Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the subject line of the email. In order to facilitate the sending and receiving of encrypted emails, offerors must use MS Outlook email configured to support encryption. If you intend to submit your proposal source selection information via encrypted email, you will need to contact the Buyer/Contracting Officer indicated on the face page of the solicitation prior to that first submittal in order to exchange certificates used for encryption. When submitting source selection information via email, file suppression utilities, to include but not limited to zip files, will not be accepted. Before you can exchange encrypted email you first need to swap certificates one time. Instructions follow:

ENCRYPTING EMAIL

Before you can exchange an encrypted email, you first need to swap “certificates” one time.

To do this:

Send a digitally signed message to the end user.

Have the user respond with a digitally signed email.

You should now be able to encrypt any messages to that user.

Right-click the name in the “From” box, and then click “Add to Contacts” on the shortcut menu.

If you already have a contact entry for this person, select, “Update new information” from this contact to the existing one. To insure the process is working correctly, the offeror needs to send a test encrypted message first (without including any source selection information).

When you are ready to send an encrypted email, insure encryption is selected and include “Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the subject line of the email.

B. Volume I – COMPLETED RFQ with PRICING:

a. Volume I shall consist of the completed and signed RFQ with a cover letter delineating any exceptions taken to the RFQ terms and conditions. The completed Total Evaluated Price worksheet (attachment 5) shall also be included with Volume 1. However, offerors are cautioned that any noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the RFQ may cause their proposal to be determined unacceptable.

b. Offerors shall ensure that all clauses and provisions that require “fill-in” information are appropriately completed, including the proposed prices associated with the contract line items in the Schedule of the RFQ, pages 3-5.

c. Discussions may be conducted, but the Government reserves the right, in limited circumstances, to award without discussions. Proposals received are subject to the requirements specified in FAR 52.212-1 and as tailored in this Addendum to the solicitation.

C. Volume II - Technical Proposal:

a. Technical proposals shall be clear, concise, and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government’s requirements, but rather shall provide convincing rationale to address how the offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the offeror’s proposal.

b. The following information shall be provided and will be evaluated to assess technical acceptability in accordance with 52.212-2 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

(1) Proposals shall describe the offeror’s proposed approach to performing the requirements set forth in Purchase Description 20M-201A-DI, Revision 0, dated 7 February 2020.

(2) Proposals shall include descriptive literature, brochures, and a technical proposal response. Sufficient technical literature, documentation, etc., shall be submitted in order for the Government to make an adequate technical assessment of the proposed unit.

(3) Proposals shall include a written response to EACH paragraph of the Purchase Description with sufficient supporting technical literature. Solely restating the paragraphs of the Purchase Description or limiting the response to a simple statement of compliance is not acceptable. Where technical literature demonstrates that the proposed unit meets the requirement of a specific Purchase Description paragraph the page number and paragraph of the technical literature may be referenced in lieu of restating it.

Attachment 4