Attachment 4 - Section L.pdf

NdFeB MAGNET BLOCK

SECTION L SP8000-25-R-0022

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

GENERAL INFORMATION

General Instructions

The Offeror is required to submit sufficient information concerning the following areas to enable Government personnel to fully ascertain the capabilities of the Offeror to perform the requirements. The proposal must be sufficient in detail and scope to permit evaluation and provide the evaluators with a clear understanding of the Offeror’s capability to meet or exceed the defined elements as required by the solicitation. All proposals must clearly and convincingly demonstrate that the Offeror has a thorough understanding of the requirements and associated risks; the Offeror is able, willing, and competent to devote the resources necessary to meet the requirements; and the Offeror has valid and practical solutions for all requirements and potential risk areas. The Offeror must respond to all requirements of the solicitation and not alter or rearrange the solicitation. The Offeror has the burden of proof to demonstrate compliance with all the evaluation factors identified in this solicitation. The Offeror is advised that the Government may incorporate into the final contract any portions of the Offeror’s proposal deemed beneficial to the Government. Except for Volume III Price, no cost or pricing information should appear in any other volume. Pricing information that is contained in any other volume, but Volume III, will not be incorporated into the final contract.

In presenting material in the proposal, be advised that quality of information is more important than quantity. Clarity, brevity, and logical organization should be emphasized during the proposal preparation. The Offeror is responsible for presenting enough information to allow the Government to evaluate the proposed work effort, support, approach, and the price proposal without opening discussions. Statements that the prospective Offeror understands, or can and/or will comply with, the specifications, and paraphrasing the requirements or parts thereof without supporting information are considered inadequate by the Government and may result in a rating of unacceptable.

The Offeror must include any data that illustrates the adequacy of the various assumptions, approaches, and solutions to problems. Failure to address a specific factor clearly may be considered a deficiency and/or may result in the factor being rated unacceptable. There is no need to repeat information in more than one volume if an overlap exists; the detailed information must be included in the most logical place and summarized and referenced in other areas. Unnecessarily elaborating brochures or other presentation materials beyond what is sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal is neither necessary nor desired.

The Offeror is expected to comply with all requirements of the solicitation. The Government advises the Offeror that taking exception or deviating from any term or condition of the solicitation may make an offer technically unacceptable and rejected without further consideration. Any request to tailor FAR Clause 52.212-4 per FAR 12.302 must be clearly identified by the Offeror in the Executive Summary.

However, the Government advises the Offeror that it is not required to consider nor accept any requests to tailor FAR 52.212-4. Any exception or deviation from any terms and conditions of the solicitation will be provided in Vol I, Cover Letter.

Questions

Offerors may submit questions requesting clarification of solicitation requirements by emailing:

The Contract Specialist at Christine.Boyer@dla.mil

The Contracting Officer at Alicia.Barrowman@dla.mil The Government:

• Requires that all questions be received within four (4) Calendar days from the date this solicitation is issued.

• Will not accept phone calls

• Will post answers to the questions received on the Sam.gov website (https://sam.gov) via amendment

• Recommends listing questions in a Microsoft (MS) Excel spreadsheet with document name, page number, paragraph or section number, context, and question or comment Sample:

Document Name Page # Paragraph, Section # or context Question/Comment RFP 7 Paragraph 6 or last paragraph:

Contract Maximum Dollar Value

Typo

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

The submission date for all volumes shall be no later than the date and time specified in the solicitation.

Electronic Submissions Only

The Offeror shall use Electronic means (Email) of sending the proposal. No mailed copies will be permitted. The Electronic documents should be clearly marked with the solicitation number and appropriate volume number.

Late Submissions

Proposals submitted after the closing date and time specified for receipt of offers are “late” and will not be considered for award.

The Government will process late submissions of proposals in accordance with FAR 52.212-1. If the electronic copy is received late, it is not eligible for consideration in accordance with FAR 52.212-1 and Alternate I. The Government will reject that proposal without evaluation.

Proposal Submission

Solicitation No: SP8000-25-R-0022 Opening/Closing Date and Time: 16OCT25 – 30OCT25 Note: Proposals will be accepted any time before the closing date and time.

The Offeror shall submit one Electronic copy of the proposal as shown in paragraph 2.6.5 of Section L and must be emailed to Alicia.Barrowman@dla.mil and Christine.Boyer@dla.mil and received no later than the solicitation close date.

CAUTION NOTICE – EMAIL DELAYS

mailto:Alicia.Barrowman@dla.mil mailto:Christine.Boyer@dla.mil

Submission of proposals via electronic mail (email) is required. However, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has informed all Department of Defense (DoD) Activities that all email traffic from Non-DoD sources are experiencing delays upon entry to the Enterprise Email Security Gateway (EEMSG). Therefore, it should be anticipated that any proposal submitted via email in response to this solicitation will experience some level of delay. All potential Offerors are hereby cautioned that any proposal, modification, or revision that is received at the designated Government office AFTER the exact time specified for receipt of proposals is “late” and will not be considered. For purposes of this solicitation only, any proposal, modification, or revision that is submitted via email to the designated Government office AND received by DISA/EEMSG no later than the time specified by this solicitation will be considered to have been timely received at the designated Government office. It is highly encouraged that an email with no attachment is sent to those indicated above to alert them your proposal has been sent via email and to request confirmation of receipt.

Classified Data

All proposals must be UNCLASSIFIED.

Document Requirement

All volumes of the proposal shall be delivered to the email addresses provided prior to the closing date and time stated in this solicitation. There shall be no reference to pricing in the Non-Price volumes (Volume I & II) or in the cover letter or executive summary.

The Offeror shall mark each page of the proposal with the legend “Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104.” This includes the cover page and every page that may contain source selection information. Note that the Offeror has an independent requirement to mark anything deemed to be bid or proposal information, protected proprietary information, or other information that is to be protected from disclosure to ensure that the information is protected.

Proposal Content and Volumes

Cover Page Each volume shall contain the following items in addition to the non-price and price proposal data required by the solicitation.

Cover Page: The cover should indicate the following:

Proposal Title Proposal Volume Volume Number Offeror Name and Address Principal Point of Contact Name and Phone Number Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE)/ Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) formally Data Universal Numbering System

(DUNS)

Table of Contents: The table of contents shall provide sufficient detail as to allow the important elements to be easily located.

Note: The Cover Page and Table of Contents are not included in page counts with respect to page limitations.

Cover Letter and Executive Summary The cover letter should be on company letterhead and must contain a statement committing the Offeror to the proposal and stating its validity for a period of at least 60 days. This letter should also include the name, title, phone number, and email address for the people authorized to negotiate with the Government in connection with the solicitation. The letter must be signed by a responsible officer or partner/principal of the Offeror who is authorized to bind the firm contractually. The letter must also contain a statement that the proposal meets the specifications of each subsection of the solicitation.

An Executive Summary of the Offeror’s entire proposal is required. This summary will not be evaluated but will be used to gain an understanding of the overall proposal contents. It should identify and highlight significant features of the proposal and include the salient points contained in the various volumes and chapters. The Executive Summary shall not include any price-related information.

The following format should be followed in developing the summary:

1. General Information (see Note 1 below)

2. An overview of Technical Capability

3. Solicitation Deviations, Qualifications and Requests to Tailor FAR 52.212-4 (see Note 2)

Note 1: The General Information section of the Executive Summary should include the following information:

a) Company name and address

b) Company Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

c) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) formally DUNS number

d) CAGE code

e) The name, phone number, and e-mail address of the authorized company negotiator relative to the proposal Note 2: Solicitation deviations and qualifications are proposed exceptions to one or more of the requirements contained in the SOW or elsewhere in Request for Proposal. Solicitation deviations and qualifications may cause proposals to be considered unacceptable and rejected without further consideration. Therefore, Offerors must address each deviation or qualification in the Executive Summary and provide a detailed description of its request with the reasons for the request, such as any difficulty with the applicable requirement, in addition to the firm’s proposed approach. Separately, and in accordance with FAR 12.302, the Offer will identify all requests to tailor FAR Clause 52.212-4.

However, the Government advises the Offeror that it is not required to consider or accept any requests to tailor FAR 52.212-4.

Solicitation Amendments (if Applicable) The proposal shall include a signed acknowledgment of the amendments, if any amendments are issued to the solicitation. This information should be included as an additional chapter. Refer to Volume Structure section.

Proposal Evaluation Factors Evaluation factors are listed as follows:

Factor 1: Production Capability o Subfactor 1.1: Production Capacity o Subfactor 1.2: Speed to Delivery

Factor 2: Technical Approach o Subfactor 2.1: Material Description o Subfactor 2.2: Qualification Efforts o Subfactor 2.3: Sampling o Subfactor 2.4: Testing o Subfactor 2.5: Certificates of Analysis o Subfactor 2.6: Packaging o Subfactor 2.7: Labeling

Factor 3: Past Performance Factor 4: Price

Volume Structure Proposals submitted shall be contained in separate volumes in the required number of copies. Page limitations for each volume, if any, are also specified in the table below. Title and table of contents pages do not count toward page limits. If the offeror feels inclined to include a glossary and/or a compliance matrix to cross reference proposal sections to PWS requirements, these documents will not count toward page limits. Proposal pages beyond the specified maximum limit will not be reviewed as part of the evaluation. The contractor shall submit a distinct response for each factor. Information included in one factor’s response will not be taken into account for any other factor’s response. When identical information pertains to multiple factors, it must be separately addressed within each applicable factor’s response. Offers that do not follow the volume structure indicated below may not be evaluated or further considered for award.

List of volumes and factors are as follows:

Volume Chapter Page Limit Format Copies Required

Introduction to Vol I

Cover Letter and Executive Summary Exceptions and Deviations and Glossary and Index

10 pages

PDF

1 Electronic copy

Introduction to Vol I

Solicitation and Amendments Acknowledgment (if applicable)

No Limit

Vol I Non-Price Proposal Refer to Section 3.0

Factor 1: Production Capability

Subfactors

20 pages

Volume Chapter Page Limit Format Copies Required

Vol II

Proposal Refer to Section 3.0

Factor 2: Technical Approach

60 pages

Vol III

Proposal Details on Section 3.0

Factor 3: Past Performance

Vol IV Price Proposal Details on Section 3.0

Factor 4: Price

Excel and/or PDF

Proposals shall be in electronic format (Excel and PDF) and use Times New Roman 12-point normal font (no reduction permitted), single-spaced with 1-inch margins all around, and formatted for standard

8.5 x 11-inch paper. All pages shall be numbered with section and page numbers. Graphs shall be presented in no smaller than Times New Roman font 10-point font and shall contain a grid, which allows values to be read directly from the graph to the same accuracy that a 10 x 10 to the ½-inch grid provides. Graphic resolution, including such data as tables or charts, shall be consistent with the purpose of the data presented.

EVALUATION FACTOR SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Evaluation factors are described in Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award, in the solicitation. The evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance. Non-price factors (1, 2, and 3) when combined, are significantly more important than Factor 4, Price. As non-price factor ratings become more equal, Price will become more important. Offeror’s proposals shall include all information necessary for evaluation as described in Evaluation Factors for Award. In addition, specific submission requirements for certain items are described below. The Offeror shall use the requirements outlined in the SOW and all other Government provided documentation to respond to Evaluation Factors.

Factor 1: Production Capability

Subfactor 1.1 Production Capacity to the Required Specification

• The offeror must demonstrate and specify capability to produce the desired specifications for the year 1 table quantities listed below for each grade of magnet. The Government may also consider the Offeror’s ability to meet out-year requirements as identified in the solicitation.

Item Planned Procurement Quantity (kg)

Offeror’s Available Capacity*

Offeror’s Total Capacity

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N38EH

27,787 To Be Filled by Offeror

To Be Filled by Offeror

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N45SH

31,207 To Be Filled by Offeror

To Be Filled by Offeror

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N48SH

31,207 To Be Filled by Offeror

To Be Filled by Offeror

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N52

37,459 To Be Filled by Offeror

To Be Filled by Offeror

* Available capacity is capacity that the offeror is able to provide for this solicitation. This amount excludes other commitments that have been obligated to other entities.

Subfactor 1.2: Speed to Delivery

• The offeror must demonstrate ability to deliver the offeror’s proposed capacity to be filled in subfactor 1.1.

Item Planned Procurement Quantity (kg)

Days after Proposal Receipt that offeror may begin delivery

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N38EH

27,787 To Be Filled by Offeror

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N45SH

31,207 To Be Filled by Offeror

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N48SH

31,207 To Be Filled by Offeror

Sintered NdFeB magnet block grade N52

37,459 To Be Filled by Offeror

Factor 2: Technical Approach

Subfactor 2.1: Material Description

• The offeror must demonstrate and document the specifications/standards that the offeror can produce, and compliance with section 4 of the Statement of Work (SOW).

NdFeB Grade Sintered Magnet Block - Physical Properties

Expected Values

Magnetic Properties

Parameter/ Property Units N38EH N45SH N48SH N52

MIN MAX MIN MAX MIN MAX MIN MAX

Minimum Residual

Induction, Br Gauss 12,200 12,800 13,300 13,800 13,700 14,300 14,300 14,800

Minimum Coercivity, HcB Oersteds 11,700 12,500 12,900 13,500 13,200 13,800 10,300 11,000

Minimum Intrinsic

Coercivity, HcJ Oersteds 30,000 N/A 20,000 N/A 20,000 N/A 11,000 N/A

Energy Product, BH

Mega Gauss- Oersteds 36 40 43 47 45 49 49 53

Thermal Properties

Thermal Coefficient of Induction, αBr

%/°K -0.090 -0.100 -0.100 -0.120

Thermal Coefficient of

Coercivity, αHcj

%/°K -0.430 -0.510 -0.510 -0.640

Curie Temperature, TC

℃ 310 315 315 309

Maximum Continuous Temperature

℃ 200 150 150 80

Other Prop. Density g/cm3 7.60 7.55 7.55 7.50

• The magnet block must adhere to the material property specifications described in Table 3. The magnet blocks must contain a combination of the following elements: Iron (Fe), Boron (B), Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr) and Dysprosium (Dy).

• Material must be non-radioactive, non-licensable per Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations. Individual values of Thorium (Th) and Uranium (U) must be reported. The material cannot have more than 0.05 percent combined Thorium and Uranium by weight.

Subfactor 2.2: Qualification Efforts

• The offeror must submit documentation with the proposal a list of DoD Programs of Record that the Offeror is currently working with, and the Offeror shall provide letters of support from DoD Programs of Record or members from the Defense Industrial Base that state that the Offeror is currently qualified or progressing towards qualification for the above listed magnet block specifications.

Subfactor 2.3: Sampling

• The offeror’s proposal must provide detailed sampling information as outlined in section 5 of the SOW, with particular focus on contents of the sampling plan

Subfactor 2.4: Testing

• The offeror’s proposal must provide detailed sampling information as outlined in section 6 of the SOW, with particular focus on contents of the testing plan.

Subfactor 2.5: Certificates of Analysis

• The offeror must provide a sample of the Offeror’s Certificate of Analysis (COA) (see Section 7 of the SOW) from past deliveries of the solicited material or make an affirmative statement that the Offeror has never sold the proposed magnet block.

Subfactor 2.6: Packaging

• The offeror’s proposal must provide detailed packaging information as outlined in section 8 of the SOW, with particular focus on type of packaging, coating information, waterproofing and palletization will be used. Evaluations will also include a sample Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the solicited material in accordance with SOW Section 14.4.

Subfactor 2.7: Labeling

• The offeror’s proposal must provide detailed labelling information as outlined in Section 9 of the SOW.

Factor 3: Past Performance

The evaluation of an Offeror’s Past Performance will be based on both the overall confidence assessment derived from an evaluation of an Offeror’s submitted previous contracts, and an examination of other information obtained from Government and other systems including but not limited to:

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting (CPAR), Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) and Contract Business Analysis Repository (CBAR). The confidence assessment is created by evaluating the Recency, Relevancy, and Quality of the submitted contracts. By considering each Offeror’s demonstrated recent and relevant record of performance, combined with how well the Offeror performed on the contracts, will demonstrate the Offeror’s probability of meeting the solicitation’s requirements.

Recency is an evaluation of the Offeror’s past performance. Recency is expressed as a time during which past performance reference is considered relevant. Past Performance that is presently being performed or was completed in the last four (4) years prior to the solicitation issue date is considered recent, but the offeror can provide less recent references up to ten (10) years prior to the solicitation issue date. Experience that is less recent will not be rated as highly as recent experience.

Relevancy is an evaluation of how relevant an accomplished effort is to the effort to be acquired. The Government will evaluate relevancy of the Offeror’s prior projects to the current SOW requirements. In establishing what is relevant for the acquisition, consideration will be given to those aspects of an Offeror’s provided contract history that will give the greatest ability to measure whether the Offeror will satisfy the current procurement. More relevant past performance will be a stronger predictor of future success, and have more influence on the performance confidence assessment, than less relevant past performance. Common aspects of relevancy include similarity of service/support, complexity, dollar value, contract type, use of key personnel (for services) and extent of subcontracting/teaming. Highly relevant past performance requires that most of the prior contracts provided are essentially the same scope, magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires.

Quality is an evaluation of the overall quality of the Offeror’s past performance. The determination of how well the Offeror performed on prior contracts will be decided by examining such indicators as: the organization’s history of successful completion of projects; history of producing high-quality reports and deliverables; commitment to customer satisfaction; and history of staying on schedule and within budget. Evaluation of this aspect will be based on information provided in Past Performance Questionnaires and the Offeror’s proposal. This may include the Government independently verifying provided information with an Offeror’s prior customers, or through past performance databases including, but not limited to, the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) through the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). Additionally, the Government may use information from publicly available sources including, but not limited to, internet searches, and financial reports. If the Government’s information conflicts with assertions made in the Offeror’s proposal, the Offeror will be asked to clarify any discrepant information.

The evaluation of Recency, Relevancy, and Quality will result in an overall Performance Confidence Assessment, from which the Government will assign a Performance Confidence Assessment rating.

The Offeror may submit up to three (3) previously awarded contracts that are presently being performed or was completed in the last four years of the date of this solicitation’s posting; with at least one year of completed performance as of the date of this solicitation’s posting; and of similar scope, size, and complexity to the current requirement.

If an Offeror provides more than three (3) contracts, only the first three contracts in the order they are listed in the proposal will be considered. Any contracts provided over three will not be considered, the information will be deleted by the Contracting Officer, and it will not be provided to the Past Performance Evaluation Team. The Offeror shall include the company name, address, point of contact, current telephone number, email address, dollar value, period of performance, and a brief description of work. The Offeror shall discuss the similarities and differences between the proposed effort and contract being referenced. The proposal shall include, at a minimum, a narrative that describes the following for each contract cited:

1) Scale of prior work performed for relevance to this effort.

2) Complexity of prior work performed for relevance to this effort.

3) Specify contracts for Government or private sector.

4) Describe any significant problems or issues that occurred during the performance of the contract and how issues were resolved.

The Offeror shall provide information that demonstrates the relevancy of these experiences to the requirements of this solicitation, as well as to their proposed approach.

The Offeror shall ensure that information presented is accurate and current (i.e., current phone numbers, titles, etc.). The Government will not attempt to track down reference data in cases where inaccurate data is presented.

For each of the submitted past performance examples, the Offeror shall provide:

1) The name of the project and the contract ID number.

2) The name of the contracting agency or organization the contract was awarded by.

3) The date of the contract award and the contract award amount in dollars.

4) The date of the contract completion or expected contract completion.

5) A brief description of the scope of work for the contract in question.

6) Identification of at least one point-of-contact at the organization that awarded the submitted contract, including (if applicable) the name of the point-of-contact; their current mailing address; phone number; and email address.

Past Performance Questionnaire:

A Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) is provided in the Attachments section of the solicitation (Attachment #6). To document past performance, Offerors shall send copies to previous customers based on the list of contracts submitted for the Past Performance Assessment. A maximum of three (3) per proposals permitted. The questionnaire shall be completed by the Offeror’s customers and emailed directly by those customers to the following address(s):

Contracting Officer: Alicia Barrowman EMAIL: Alicia.Barrowman@dla.mil

Contract Specialist: Christine Boyer EMAIL: Christine.Boyer@dla.mil

Note: If the Offeror does not have any past performance, the Offeror shall provide an affirmative statement stating no past performance.

The Government reserves the right to use other information, as part of the Past Performance Evaluation, obtained from the following Government systems but not limited to: Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting (CPAR), Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) and Contract Business Analysis Repository (CBAR). The Government reserves the right to perform a financial review of the Offeror.

Factor 4: Price

Offerors shall complete the pricing table in Section B of the solicitation. The Government will evaluate the proposal for price reasonableness using the price analysis techniques described in FAR 15.404.

There may be multiple awards for the IDIQ. The first delivery order will be evaluated along with the evaluation of each proposal for the IDIQ. Each subsequent delivery order will be evaluated based on competition with Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) techniques, Best Value Trade-Off, or the Government will initiate a direct award in the interest of industrial mobilization. The evaluation factors for each delivery order will be determined at the delivery order level.

The Government will evaluate price when the Government finds an Offeror acceptable under Factors 1, 2, and 3. The Government will evaluate price in accordance with FAR 15.101-2(a) Lowest price technically acceptable source selection process and DLAD 15.405 Price negotiation. The Government reserves the right to make more than one award. The Government also reserves the right to make no award.

A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

Price Reasonableness Proposals will be evaluated for price reasonableness. If price reasonableness cannot be determined, additional pricing information will be requested by the Government in accordance with DFARS 215.403-5. Price evaluation will be based on the total price for all CLINs. If necessary, an informal breakdown will be required at the CLIN level to include, but not limited to, material, labor, overhead, general and administrative expenses, miscellaneous subcontracting, travel/per diem, contract data and any miscellaneous cost items.