Attachment 6 Cost Estimates BPA Ordering Guide 16AUG2021.pdf

O&S Legacy Cost Model Support and Independent Cost Estimates Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)

6 August 2021

SCOPE AND ORDERING GUIDE

SECTION I. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

Purpose, Background

Purpose. Air Force Cost Analysis Agency (AFCAA), 1500 W. Perimeter Rd. Suite 3500 Joint Base Andrews NAF, MD 20762, has a requirement to acquire cost estimating multiple award BPA that will provide AFCAA a contracting vehicle to award individual Call Orders for a full range of cost modeling and/or cost estimating services to support the AFCAA legacy cost estimating model as well as the creation and sustainment of newly developed independent cost estimates and/or cost models. The multiple award BPA will provide a qualified set of vendors with predetermined labor categories and rates which AFCAA can utilize for acquisition of cost modeling/cost estimating (CM/CE) Support Services.

Background. This multiple award BPA will provide support for modeling and cost estimating on legacy systems, including legacy weapon system operation & support (O&S). Legacy in this context refers to programs at or beyond Initial Operating Capability plus five years. Federal law requires these legacy programs to have legacy O&S cost estimates for the life of the program, updated annually. Federal law further mandates sustainment reviews for these programs every five years, requiring independent cost estimates in support of those reviews. The annual legacy O&S cost estimates will serve as a starting point for other more detailed cost analyses such as independent cost estimates, trade studies, divestiture analysis, force structure analyses and comparisons to follow-on or new weapon systems etc. Currently, the legacy model utilizes Microsoft Excel. The model support effort will also incorporate new (non-legacy) cost estimates performed by other analysts into a single output file that will provide a long-term picture of Air Force sustainment resources requirements.

The cost estimates will use AFCAA best practices to ensure the Air Force produces high quality, consistent cost estimates for decision support. The Air Force will brief the independent cost estimates to the Office of Secretary of Defense Cost Analysis and Program Evaluation (OSD CAPE). The Air Force will then provide the estimates to Congress. Federal law provides for General Accounting Office (GAO) review of the estimates.

Objectives. The objective of this BPA is to provide a variety of cost modeling and cost estimating services to assigned programs to AFCAA. These services will be procured using primarily the GSA Professional Service Schedule, FCO-00-CORP-0000C under Special Item Number (SIN) 520-13 (Complementary Financial Management Services), NAICS 541611. This is NOT an Information Technology (IT) contract;

however, IT services, tools, and models may be used/developed. Services under this BPA include, but are not limited to developing and signing Nondisclosure Agreements (NDAs) with the source organizations, data collection, data normalization, analysis, results reporting, documentation of methods, report preparation, model preparation, cost estimate creation, cost model creation, post-product support, and participation in required briefs or written-work product.

The Government anticipates establishment of multiple BPAs as a result of this RFQ for the cost modeling and/or cost estimating services described herein. Call Orders that are Firm Fixed Price (FFP) for Program Management (PM) and Travel/ODCs, and FFP/Level of Effort (LOE) for labor CLINs will be issued under the multiple award BPA for project specific services.

This is a notice that this is a total set aside for small business concerns. Only quotes submitted by small business concerns will be accepted by the Government. Any quote that is submitted by a vendor that is not a small business concern will not be considered for award. Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) encourages small businesses to respond to this opportunity. The RFQ evaluation factors include a preference for small business concerns.

SECTION II. BPA SCOPE

Scope, Locations

Scope. To provide the required support, AFDW plans to procure and establish a multiple award BPA for CM/CE services. The two main tasks under this BPA are to 1) provide support to the legacy cost model and estimates (Task 2), and 2) develop independent cost estimates under government oversight (Task 3). Call orders for FFP for PM and FFP/LOE for labor CLINs will then be issued under the BPAs as CM/CE support services are required on specific projects. The multiple award BPA will be established for a period of five (5) years with an ordering ceiling of $8,918,876.00.

The Call Orders to be issued under the BPA will be based on scopes of work defining specific requirements.

The BPA will establish agreed upon labor rates for various related labor categories. BPA holders will then use the BPA labor rates times quoted man-hours, plus costs associated with the necessary contract support items (if needed) to quote FFP for PM and FFP/LOE for labor CLINs. BPA holders will be considered for competition of Call Orders as established by BPA ordering procedures in accordance with FAR 8.405-3(b).

Factors such as (but not limited to) technical approach, including technical capability, commercial/corporate experience, management/staffing plan, and price proposals, and socioeconomic status may be considered in determining establishment of individual Call Orders.

Given the time constraints imposed, only vendors awarded Special Item Number (SIN) 520-13 (Complementary Financial Management Services), and NAICS 541611 as of the closing date of the RFQ will be initially eligible to submit a quote. The resultant BPAs will contain onramp/offramp provisions to increase the available pool of vendors if determined to be in the best interest of the Government.

Contractors are encouraged to offer discounts from their currently awarded Schedule prices. However, it is emphasized that there are no intended, nor implied, guarantees regarding the Government’s usage of this vehicle. The BPAs established as a result of this RFQ do not obligate any Government funds.

Locations. In accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS), the vendor shall perform the tasks identified in each call order at an off-site location provided by the vendor. The vendor’s facility does not have to be physically located in the National Capital Region (NCR).

SECTION III. DESCRIPTION OF TASKS

General Tasks

The Contractor may be required to provide any or all of the professional services described under SIN 520-13 (Complementary Financial Management Services), or NAICS 541611 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services), as detailed on individual Call Orders. For the purposes of this RFQ, services include the following:

The Contractor shall provide the Government with sound management advice regarding all work performed on projects via Call Orders issued under its BPA. For each project, the goal shall be to achieve the best value in the work being performed. The Contractor shall also be proactive in helping to resolve problems and minimize claims, taking all reasonable measures to anticipate problems and delays and to minimize or eliminate their adverse impact on project completion. This includes keeping the Government apprised of any potential disputes. The Contractor shall exercise all due diligence, utilizing competent personnel within authorized limitations, to make certain that work is performed in conformity with applicable requirements (codes, regulations, standards, and specifications).

The Contractor shall possess a thorough understanding of the principles of Federal Contracting and contract administrative processes.

Contractor shall ensure that Contractor personnel take action to fully integrate into AFCAA, creating a seamless Government-Contractor team. The Contractor shall manage vendor personnel. The Contractor shall interface and perform technical and programmatic liaison support with DOD agencies, military services, and other parts of the US Government including various Government agencies including the AFCAA community.

The Contractor shall develop and maintain good working relationships with AFCAA personnel, client agency personnel, developers, and other vendors involved with all work performed.

The Contractor shall provide all services, materials, supplies, equipment, and project supervision, as required in connection with any call orders awarded using the AFCAA O&S Legacy Cost Model Support and Independent Cost Estimates BPA. The primary NAICS for this BPA is: 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services. This is NOT an Information Technology (IT) contract; however, IT services, tools, and prototypes may be used/developed as long as it is necessary to provide a total transformational solution to meet agency needs.

Call orders issued on this multiple award BPA cover services that are: commercial; unclassified (Secret clearance level); and performance shall be CONUS for any required travel.

The Contractor shall advise the Call Order CO/COR/PM immediately of any potential delays in completion of work associated with Call Orders and any problems that are outside the responsibilities of the Contractor per the BPAs and/or Call Orders issued.

The Contractor shall be responsible for the security of all project documents provided to them for work under Call Orders in accordance with the provisions of federal law, regulation, policy, including, but not limited to the provisions of DFARS Clause 252.204-7012.

Call orders under this BPA may require that Contractor personnel have access to information which is subject to the Privacy Act of 1974. Personnel must adhere to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a and applicable agency rules and regulations when handling this information. Privacy Act information is considered sensitive and appropriate safeguards must be implemented by the Contractor. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring all Contractor personnel are briefed on Privacy Act requirements.

The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining all information required to successfully carryout the scope of work authorized under each Call Order. In cases where the Contractor believes that available information is not adequate, or of such poor quality as to be unusable, the Contractor shall immediately notify the Call

Order CO/COR/PM and propose alternative data and/or collection methods.

Contractor employees have no authority, either implied or explicit, to bind the Government in any manner.

Contractor employees shall not represent him or herself as a Government employee under any circumstances and shall further clearly identify that he or she is a vendor employee when interacting with other vendors and Government Officials.

Contractor shall provide its own computer equipment and software to fully satisfy all operational requirements of the BPA. The Contractor equipment and/or software must be compatible with the system and software used by the Government, including, but not limited to, Microsoft Suite Applications. No direct reimbursement is authorized for such items. The vendor shall be familiar with both Office 365 and/or Office 2013 applications and/or services, including, but not limited to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive, Teams, Access, Project, Power-Bi (hereinafter Microsoft Suite Applications). Contractor shall be familiar with the Tableau application.

Personal Services as described in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 37.104 are prohibited under this

BPA.

Specific Tasks

Introduction. The two main tasks under this BPA are to 1) provide support to the legacy cost model and estimates (Task 2), and 2) develop independent cost estimates under government oversight (Task 3). Because the government cannot predict several years in advance the number of independent cost estimates requiring vendor support each year, the government is using a multi-award BPA approach. The government may exercise the multi-award BPA for one or both of the major tasks (Task 2 and &/or Task 3) each year. The government may utilize Task 2 to support up to 90 independent cost estimates, but may ask for less than that based on the expected number of required independent cost estimates for that year.

The government will provide a model template and standard input data to develop estimates for annual O&S legacy estimates and to serve as a starting point for independent cost estimates. The legacy model template will include initial cost estimating methodologies that the contractor may modify for a specific program in consultation with the government.

Task Descriptions

The contractor shall provide legacy model and estimating support, independent cost estimates for sustainment reviews, and provide the plans and non-disclosure agreements necessary to perform the tasks, as described below. Each call order shall have a PWS provided for the call that will identify the areas of the support in coordination with these base multi-award BPA tasks. It is possible that a call issued might not have all tasks to support. At the call level additional information will be provided for the anticipated support and labor categories.

Task 1 - Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): Access to and evaluation of data sources may require contractor personnel to develop and sign NDAs with the source organizations. During the period of performance for all tasks, the contractor will sign an NDA with the Government and private organizations as required by the Contracting Office Representative (COR). The contractor will ensure they complete NDAs before data collection begins. The contractor shall provide signed NDA forms for all contractors and subcontractors working on this contract to the COR.

Task 2 - Legacy Cost Estimates: The contractor shall operate the legacy cost model to generate 70-90 legacy cost estimates per year. The government will provide the model template, model instruction, estimate documentation outline, and inputs to the contractor. The contractor will develop the estimates within the template using the provided guide and inputs. The contractor is responsible for recommending improvements to the model and documentation.

Subtask – Legacy Cost Estimate Data Collection, Analysis, Results, Documentation, and Post Product Support: The contractor will review and integrate the data provided by the government to populate the Legacy Excel model template. Though not anticipated, if necessary the contractor will collect any additional information needed with the assistance of the government. The contractor shall document any new data to include the data source by database/location, person name/email, document name/point of contact, if this is not already in the template.

The contractor will normalize and adjust the data as needed and project forward using AFCAA’s best practices with the provided data and model template from the legacy programs. The model template will provide an initial set of cost estimating methodologies for the contractor to use. The contractor will ensure the Microsoft Excel-based model template has appropriate documentation of methods, data, and modeling, and shall add to or amend these as necessary with government concurrence. The contractor shall generate results as required by the template and legacy model concept of operations, including both unclassified and classified model outputs.

The contractor will use the legacy model template and legacy model instructions received from the government to develop the estimates. The contractor will work with the government lead to recommend and make improvements to the structure and methodologies underlying the legacy model, along with associated documentation. The contractor will assist the government documenting resulting changes to the MS Excel model template within the legacy model instructions in MS Word. The estimate documentation explains for each cost element where the data came from, the normalization of the data, and the methods used to develop and phase the cost estimate for each element. It also includes assumptions and why the analyst made choices on data and methodology used, in particular any unique choices specific to a multidimensional scaling (MDS). Another analyst should be able to duplicate the estimate results using the documentation to include full development from the rawest set of data used. Each estimate shall have separate documentation.

AFCAA and other organizations will request estimating documentation and questions in support of various analyses. Given the large number of legacy estimates expected from this process annually, AFCAA requires support to manage the legacy models and generate the requested information. The contractor shall respond to questions with information from analysis developed in support of Task 2via NIPR/SIPR e-mail, MS Excel, or MS Word and attend meetings as required as subject matter experts. The contractor shall provide any draft models, documentation, and briefs to the government for review upon request within one business day.

Task 3 - Independent Cost Estimates for Sustainment Reviews: The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) legislation resulted in a requirement for independent cost estimates on legacy programs every five years as part of Sustainment Reviews. The government requests the contractor to provide one analyst per four assigned independent cost estimates per year, up to five analysts in total per year, starting with at least one senior analyst. This is separate from Task 2 and represents a much more structured and extensive process for independent cost estimates, consistent with Department of Defense and Air Force regulations. The expanded support will allow AFCAA support up to 20 independent cost estimates a year. AFCAA leadership, OSD CAPE, and Air Force organizations will review the independent cost estimates, prior to the Air Force submitting them to the U.S. Congress in compliance with federal law. Thus, the estimate will be more rigorous and external interactions, reviews, documentation, and post product support of the independent cost estimates more extensive than the legacy model described in Task 2.

Subtask – Independent Cost Estimate Data Collection, Analysis, Results, Documentation, and Post Product Support: The contractor will develop an independent cost estimate on assigned programs, using the legacy cost model from Task 2 or a previously existing cost model as a starting point. Cost estimation tasks include data collection, review of Cost Analysis Requirements Document and identifying missing needed model input information, development of cost estimates and models, active reconciliation of estimates with program office and CAPE estimates as needed, generation of results, answering questions, and preparation and participation of out-briefs and documentation using AFCAA directed formats.

Required deliverables include assigned independent cost estimates, complete with documentation and briefings prior to and for the Cost Review Board, and post-product support and drills as required. The contractor will deliver documentation to the government in form of a documented Excel cost model, PowerPoint briefing summarizing estimate using the AFCAA division template, and word documentation as necessary to document and complete the task. The contractor shall support necessary product reviews prior to the Cost Review Board on schedule determined by the government, and share all draft models and documentation upon government request.

On rare occasions, the uniqueness of the program may require the contractor to develop an independent cost estimate with new methodologies and a new model. The contractor shall document any new data to include the data source by database/location, person name/email, document name/point of contact. In addition, some programs heavily utilize contractor logistics support for maintenance, often requiring analysis of contractor cost data reports and/or collecting additional data collection from that contractor or its program office.

The contractor shall use Microsoft Excel for the model, and use Microsoft Office and PowerPoint and/or Tableau as necessary for documentation and charts.

The contractor shall respond to questions with information from analysis developed in support of Task 2 via NIPR/SIPR e-mail, MS Excel, or MS Word and attend meetings as required as subject matter experts.

The contractor shall provide regular status update on the independent cost estimate to the government lead, and shall providing any working product (models, documentation, briefings) to the government upon request for review within one business day.

Task 4 - Meetings: At the kickoff meeting, the government and contractor will make a plan for four types of status meetings. Although there is no location requirement for participation in this BPA, there may, on occasion, be a requirement that a contractor be capable of physically attending meeting(s) with the AFCAA and/or other government organization. The government and contractor will make a plan on the physical requirements for meetings under the individual call order at the kickoff meeting regarding any physical presence requirement for the Weekly Status Meeting, Quarterly Review meeting, or Presentation of Results.

The Ad Hoc meetings are of a nature unplanned, but absent extraordinary circumstances, the government will either allow virtual and/or dial in presence for Ad Hoc meetings, or give no less than 5 days advance notice of any Ad Hoc meeting requiring physical presence of the Contractor.

Subtask- Weekly Status: This is a weekly status meeting to provide status and review of products for the government task lead, branch chief, and/or technical adviser and to receive guidance on changes and priorities.

Subtask- Quarterly Review: The quarterly review is to inform the O&S Division Director and the AFCAA Technical Director of progress against schedule no less than four times throughout the contract annual Period of Performance. The government and the contractor will agree on frequency and content, and can adjust this plan by mutual agreement.

Subtask—Ad Hoc Meetings: During the period of performance, the BPA Holder may be required to attend ad hoc meetings. An Ad Hoc meeting is a one-off, unplanned meeting or discussion that focuses on a specific topic. The government and the contractor will endeavor to agree on establishment of an ad hoc meeting, including content thereof; aforementioned notwithstanding, the government has the authority to require a Contractor to attend an Ad Hoc meeting with remote and/or dial in capability with less than 24 hour notice. If physical presence is required, then the Government shall notify the Contractor at least 5 days in advance of any Ad Hoc meeting, unless contractor agrees to a shorter notice period.

Subtask- Presentation of Results: During the period of performance, the contractor will support presentation of results to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cost and Economics (SAF/FMC) leadership and to a SAF/FMC chaired Cost Review Board with attendees from outside SAF/FMC. The contractor will adjust the estimate per the action items from these briefings.

Additional Terms and Conditions:

The Contractor shall comply with all terms and conditions of their awarded GSA Professional Services Schedule (PSS) and/or Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract under the BPAs and orders issued against the BPAs. The terms and conditions of the Contractor’s Schedule PSS and/or MAS contract shall prevail over the BPAs and Call Orders, except to the extent that any lower prices established in the resulting BPA take precedence over the PSS and/or MAS higher prices.

The terms and conditions in the BPAs apply to all orders placed pursuant to it. In the event of an inconsistency between the provisions of the BPA and Call Orders, the provisions of the BPA will take precedence.

BPAs do not obligate funds. The Government is obligated only to the extent of authorized orders made under the BPAs. It is the responsibility of the individual ordering activities to ensure adequate funds are available.

Restrictions and Minimums Associated with Call Orders Competition and Exception to Fair Opportunity:

This is a centralized multi-award BPA through a small business competition. There are no minimum call order or dollar requirements (with the exception of the required initial call order at BPA award). Call orders will primarily be competitive (see section 1.4 for evaluation criteria). At the Governments sole discretion, without notification, or written justification & approval, call orders can be awarded based on exception to fair opportunity. In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C), if a call order is a follow-on or continuation of a previously competed call order, then award will be given to the previously awarded vendor.

Off-Ramping. The Government reserves the unilateral right to Off-Ramp non performing BPA Holders. BPA Holders that are Off-Ramped must still complete existing call orders under the BPAs at the time of the Off- Ramping. Off-ramping may result from one or more of the following conditions:

• BPA Holders who fail to provide a valid response to more than one (1) per year of Request for Quotes (RFQ), identified in GSA eBuy, under the BPA Line Items of which they hold an award.

Valid response would include either placing a quote or providing a no quote with justification on why not quoting.

• Debarment, Suspension, or Ineligibility as defined in FAR Subpart 9.4.

• Receipt of more than one (1) marginal technical proposal ratings during the five (5) year ordering period.

• Poor performance. Poor performance includes, but is not limited to: missing milestones and deadlines, not performing IAW vendor’s proposal, misconduct of employees, and poor quality of deliverables. Poor performance determinations are at the sole discretion of the Government.

If a BPA holder does not meet these expectations, it is the Government’s intent to “off-ramp” the BPA holder by:

• Implementing a termination for convenience (if applicable and only if such action is in the Government’s best interest); or

• Implementing a termination for cause, if applicable; or

• Taking any other action which may be permitted under the BPA terms and conditions

• BPA Holders who are Off-Ramped will no longer be able to propose on future call order requests.

• Any notices of removal will be provided in writing to the vendor from the Contracting Officer.

SECTION IV. ORDERING GUIDE

Who is this Ordering Guide written for?

This short guide is written for the users of and contractors on the AFCAA O&S Legacy Cost Model Support and Independent Cost Estimates multi-award BPA. It explains the process that will be used when awarding each call order. The Guide addresses contracting processes and concepts specific to the AFCAA O&S Legacy Cost Model Support and Independent Cost Estimates multi- award BPA.

Vendors that utilize small businesses and non-traditional small businesses to the maximum extent practicable may be the preferred vendor when an exception to fair opportunity is contemplated. *

Who can use this multi-award BPA?

The multi-award BPA is available for use to all AFCAA divisions that require support outlined in the BPA-level PWS. All call order requests shall be made through and approved by AFCAA Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) prior to submission to AFDW/PKS for solicitation and award.

Period of Performance

This BPA will be effective from the date of establishment for a period of five years (e.g., if a BPA is established on 30 August 2021 the full performance period would run through 29 August 2026 unless cancelled). Work on issued Call Orders may extend beyond the effective period of this BPA. However, no new Call Orders may be issued once the five year period has expired. Additionally, should a schedule contract expire during the period of performance, the BPA expires on the same date as the GSA schedule contract and no new Call Orders may be issued after that date. Note that if option periods remain on the Schedule contract, the end of a Schedule contract option period is not considered “expiration” for purposes of this BPA or Call Orders hereunder and performance may continue (See FAR 8.405-3(d)(3) for details). The Contractor shall notify the BPA Contracting Officer no less than sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the Contractor's Multiple Award Schedule / PSS contract that its contract is about to expire. The BPA will not extend beyond the final expiration of the Contractor’s GSA MAS / PSS contract.

The BPA Contracting Officer shall perform yearly reviews of the BPAs in accordance with FAR 8.405- 3(e).The Government may cancel the BPA at any time by notifying the BPA Holder at least thirty (30) days in advance. BPA cancellation does not release the vendor from the duty to continue Call Order performance.

Ongoing orders continue in accordance with their own period of performance, even if the BPA is cancelled.

Termination procedures for Call Orders are addressed in the underlying schedule contract.

Onramp/Offramp (open season) Provisions: This program will be reviewed one year after BPA establishment (then annually thereafter) to determine whether it is in the best interest of the Government to “reissue” an RFQ for purposes of adding additional BPA holders. The Government is under no obligation to solicit or establish additional BPAs. However, should such a determination to hold an open season be made, during this process the Government may add additional BPA Holders. In the event that additional BPAs are established in accordance with these provisions, the period of performance of the “onramped” BPAs will only be for that length of time remaining in the originally established 5 year BPA period.

During the last option period, the transition-out period, it is essential that attention be given to minimize interruptions or delays to work in progress that would impact the mission. The Contractor shall outline the specific steps that will be taken to prevent disruption to the program offices at the end of the task order period of performance, to include the transfer of on-going work to the incoming Contractor, as well as furnishing employee roster and employee contact information to the incoming Contractor. The Contractor shall identify risks and risk mitigation plans to minimize disruption during the transition-out period. The Contractor’s Transition-Out plan shall become an attachment to the contract.

Scope determination & Request for Information (RFI)

Potential mission partners can submit a request for scope determination and/or RFI for market research purposes to AFDW/PKS.

A scope determination request will require a draft statement of objectives. The Contracting office will provide a response to scope determination requests no later than five (5) business days. If the scope determination requires input from the vendors, the request will take up to ten (10) business days.

RFI’s can be no more than 10 questions and the responses from the BPA vendors will be no longer than two

(2) pages.

Addendums to Tasks

An addendum may be attached to any call order that further breaks down the BPA-level tasks. This may be done to provide background and further specifications in regards to AFCAA support areas.

AFCAA Call Order Proposal Request (COPR) Ordering Procedures (FOR GOVERNMENT

PERSONNEL)

1. Complete the project request steps (See Appendix 2)

2. Mission partners require a trained COR

3. Submit complete requirement package to AFCAA Acquisitions

4. Project Request Form and Task Addendum (if applicable)

5. Certify Funding (Planning PR is acceptable for End of Fiscal Year actions)

6. Obtain Independent Government Estimate

7. Provide (AFCAA Acquisitions) the completed package to AFDW/PKS for review

8. Confirm (AFDW/PKS) all required documents are complete, provides any feedback and comments (if required)

9. AFDW/PKS forwards COPR to the vendors for proposal, after review and approval

10. Vendors have one (1) calendar day to review COPR and submit questions NLT 5:00PM Eastern Time the same day.

11. After questions and answers are finalized, AFCAA Acquisitions in conjunction with AFDW/PKS will make any changes to the COPR and AFDW/PKS releases the COPR to the BPA holders

Depending on the approved request form, vendors have the following timelines to provide a proposal package:

*Extended 30 Calendar Days *Standard 10 Calendar Days *Expedited 3 Calendar Days

* Exact number of days will be indicated in each call order proposal request

12. Vendors respond with a proposal including Technical Approach, Management/Staffing Plan (to include the Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix (See Appendix 2) and Resumes) and Pricing.

13. The AFCAA has five (5) business days to evaluate proposals submitted by the vendors and respond to AFDW/PKS with recommendations using the established evaluation criteria.

14. Deviation from the established evaluation criteria will cause delays in the acquisition process.

Unsubstantiated ratings will be returned to evaluators for re-write. The Contracting officer will remain the decision authority on all call orders unless a formal request is made to change the decision authority.

Actual start of work is based on the defined period of performance, but a minimum of five (5) business days is recommended to allow coordination for a call order initiation meeting and the contractor finalizing and ensuring availability of personnel.

AFCAA COPR Evaluation and Procedures (FOR VENDORS)

1. AFDW/PK provides the applicable Position Qualifications with COPR package.

2. Vendors have one (1) business day to review the package and submit questions NLT 5:00PM Eastern Time the same day, unless directed otherwise by the CO.

3. Vendors shall identity if any questions are strategy specific. If any questions are deemed specific to a vendor’s strategy, a follow-up call will be made to answer those questions only.

4. The Contracting officer is the only individual that will deem a question strategy specific. If the question is deemed non-strategy specific by the CO, the CO will provide that response to the vendor via email.

5. Any changes made to the COPR as a result of questions will be incorporated and a new COPR package will be sent the same day. The COPR timeline starts when the COPR is sent. COPR response time depends on the process selected by the AFCAA and AFDW/PKS team.

6. Depending on the procedure selected, vendors have the following timelines to provide a proposal package:

*Extended 30 Calendar Days *Standard 10 Calendar Days *Expedited 3 Calendar Days

* Exact number of days will be indicated in each call order proposal request Vendors respond with their Technical Approach, Management/Staffing Plan (to include the Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix (See Appendix 2) and Resumes) and Pricing.

7. The proposal will provide any assumptions. Pricing will be FFP for Program Management CLINS and Travel/ODC CLINs and FFP/LOE for Labor CLINS, and will include all labor, travel, materials, tools, etc. to complete the project.

8. Each vendor must also provide each employee’s security clearance that will be working each individual call order with its proposal (if applicable). Once awarded clearance verification will be required. A “Security Clearance” column in the Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix (See Appendix 2) is included for this purpose.

9. Offerors shall provide a qualifications/cross reference matrix for all personnel and resumes for all personnel. Utilizing the qualifications matrix, Offerors shall provide a cross reference that assigns the proposed labor categories (with qualifications) to the tasks/objectives within the PWS. An example of the qualifications/cross reference matrix is found in Appendix 2.

10. The CO will notify the awardee and non-awardees in writing via the evaluation form of their respective overall technical rating and price. The evaluation form will provide feedback for each respective vendor’s proposal (each vendor will only receive their own evaluation form). The final form will also provide the successful vendor’s overall technical rating and price.

11. Actual start of work is based on the defined period of performance, but a minimum of five

(5) business days is recommended to allow coordination of a call order initiation meeting and the contractor finalizing and ensuring availability of personnel required at initiation.

12. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s ability to accomplish the tasks per the PWS. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s approach, methodology, and analytical techniques to perform the requirements outlined in the PWS inclusive of all tasks for understanding. The Government will evaluate the qualifications matrix and personnel resumes to ensure the Offeror has the ability to both hire and retain qualified personnel across the tasks in the PWS. The Government will also evaluate the Offeror’s qualifications matrix.

How will each call order be priced?

Each call order will be priced as a package as outlined below in the CLIN Structure - Table 1. The quantities and units of issue are samples below. The quantity and unit of issue will be specified on each individual Call Order PWS.

CLIN Structure – Table 1

CLIN DESCRIPTION QTY UNIT OF

ISSUE

PRICE TOTAL

0001 Program Management and Day-to-Day Tasks (FFP)

X Months $X $X

0002 Cost Estimating Labor (FFP/LOE)

X Months $X $X

0003 Travel/ODC (FFP) 1 Lot $X $X

If options or optional tasks are required, they will be clearly requested in the COPR and separate CLINs will be required and priced.

How will each call order be evaluated?

Basis of Award. The award will be made to the offeror that presents the overall best value to the government using a Best Value with Tradeoffs evaluation process. The government anticipates awarding a call order to the contractor whose proposal represents the best value, price and other factors considered.

Factor I is significantly more important than Factor II.

Technical Evaluation. Each offeror’s technical proposals shall be evaluated based on this factor below, to determine if the offeror provides a sound, compliant approach that meets the requirements of the PWS, and demonstrates a thorough knowledge and understanding of those requirements and their associated risks. The technical proposal addresses the factor in sufficient detail. For each factor, the offeror identifies risks, if any, associated with the proposed approach and actions the offeror will take to mitigate the identified risks. If no risks/mitigations are identified in the offeror’s proposal, it indicates the offeror does not consider there to be any risk associated with their proposed approach.

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s submission for these factors:

▪ Factor I: Technical Approach & Management/Staffing Plan (O, G, F, U)

▪ Factor II: Price

Technical/Risk Ratings: Factor I: Technical Approach & Management/Staffing Plan will be rated as “Outstanding, Good, Fair and Unacceptable” (O, G, F, and U). Rating definitions are provided below – (Table 1 – Technical/Risk Rating). Any proposal that receives a rating of “Unacceptable” in Factor I will NOT move to Factor II for price evaluation.

Relative Importance of Factors: Factor I - Technical Approach & Management/Staffing Plan is significantly more important than Factor II - Price.

TABLE 1 – TECHNICAL/RISK RATING

Rating Description

OUTSTANDING (O)

Exceeds one or more solicitation requirements for this factor providing value to the Government, AND proposal demonstrates a low risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

GOOD (G)

Fully meets all solicitation requirements for this factor; areas where the proposal does exceed the solicitation requirements, if any, are of little or no value to the Government AND proposal demonstrates a low to moderate risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

FAIR (F)

Does not meet some of the solicitation requirements for this factor; the proposal indicates superficial or vague understanding of the program goals and the methods, resources, schedules and/or other aspects essential to contract performance. The risk of unsuccessful contract performance is moderate to high.

UNACCEPTABLE (U)

Does not meet the requirements of the solicitation, and thus, contains one or more deficiencies for this factor. The risk of unsuccessful contract performance is unacceptable. Proposal is unawardable.

Evaluation Definitions:

Deficiency: A material failure of a proposal to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level.

Significant Weakness in the proposal is a flaw that appreciably increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

The Government will review all quotes to determine if the response meets the evaluation criteria listed below for Factor I –Technical Approach & Management/Staffing Plan:

Factor I - Technical Approach & Management/Staffing Plan (O, G, F, U)

The Technical Approach is Outstanding when the Offeror’s Technical Approach demonstrates the following: Proposal indicates an exceptional approach and understanding of the requirements; AND;

Exceeds one or more requirements for this factor in a valuable way that will be advantageous to the Government during contract performance; AND, Demonstrates a low risk of unsuccessful contract performance. Management/Staffing Plan analysis will include:

a. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan outlines the proposed number of labor categories and proposed personnel that maps back to the specific tasks of the call order PWS.

b. The Offeror’s Management/Staffing plan demonstrates an exceptional management and staffing plan that will document/identify qualified personnel to support the tasks IAW the PWS, minimize impact on recruiting and retention, and incentivize employees to meet or exceed requirements. The Management/Staffing Plan will also clearly identify all personnel resources and skill sets to fulfill the full scope of the PWS requirements through a Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix that clearly identifies the proposed staff, qualifications and skillsets, as well as any certifications (if applicable) of the proposed personnel. Proposed staff, qualifications and skillsets, as well as any certifications, exceeds one or more requirements in a valuable way that will be advantageous to the Government during contract performance.

c. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan addresses the oversight of the staff/personnel supporting this contract at the Offeror’s facility and the process for safeguarding all data and documents at the facility.

The Technical Approach is Good when the Offeror’s Technical Approach demonstrates the following:

Proposal indicates an adequate approach and understanding of the requirements; AND Meets all requirements for this factor; AND, Demonstrates a low to moderate risk of unsuccessful contract performance; Areas where the proposal exceeds the minimum solicitation requirements, if any, are of little or no value to the Government performance. Management/Staffing Plan analysis will include:

a. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan outlines the proposed number of labor categories and proposed personnel that maps back to the specific tasks of the call order PWS.

b. The Offeror’s Management/Staffing plan demonstrates an adequate management and staffing plan that will document/identify qualified personnel to support the tasks IAW the PWS, minimize impact on recruiting and retention, and incentivize employees to meet or exceed requirements. The Management/Staffing Plan will also clearly identify all personnel resources and skill sets to fulfill the full scope of the PWS requirements through a Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix that clearly identifies the proposed staff, qualifications and skillsets, as well as any certifications (if applicable) of the proposed personnel.

c. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan addresses the oversight of the staff/personnel supporting this contract at the Offeror’s facility and the process for safeguarding all data and documents at the facility.

This Technical Approach is Fair when the Offeror’s Technical Approach demonstrates the following:

Proposal indicates a superficial or vague understanding of the program goals and the methods, resources, schedules or other aspects essential to contract performance; AND, Does not meet all requirements for this factor; requirements that are not met are immaterial or do not increase risk of unsuccessful performance to an unacceptable level; AND, the risk of unsuccessful contract performance is moderate to high.

Management/Staffing Plan analysis will include:

a. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan does not fully outline the proposed number of labor categories and proposed personnel that maps back to the specific tasks of the call order PWS.

b. The Offeror’s Management/Staffing plan does not fully demonstrate a sound management and staffing plan that will document/identify qualified personnel to support the tasks IAW the PWS, minimize impact on recruiting and retention, and incentivize employees to meet or exceed requirements. The Management/Staffing Plan does not clearly identify all personnel resources and skill sets to fulfill the full scope of the PWS requirements through a Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix that clearly identifies the proposed staff, qualifications and skillsets, as well as any certifications (if applicable) of the proposed personnel.

c. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan does not fully address the oversight of the staff/personnel supporting this contract at the Offeror’s facility and the process for safeguarding all data and documents at the facility.

The Technical Approach is Unacceptable when the Offeror’s Technical Approach demonstrates the following: Technical proposal has one (or more) deficiency and/or substantial omissions for this factor AND the proposal demonstrates a lack of understanding of the program goals, methods, resources, schedules and/or other aspects essential to contract performance. The risk of unsuccessful contract performance is unacceptably high. Proposal is unawardable. Management/Staffing Plan analysis will include:

a. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan does not fully outline the proposed number of labor categories and proposed personnel that maps back to the specific tasks of the call order PWS.

b. The Offeror’s Management/Staffing plan demonstrate an inadequate management and staffing plan that will document/identify qualified personnel to support the tasks IAW the PWS, minimize impact on recruiting and retention, and incentivize employees to meet or exceed requirements. The Management/Staffing Plan does not clearly identify all personnel resources and skill sets to fulfill the full scope of the PWS requirements through a Qualification/Cross Reference Matrix that clearly identifies the proposed staff, qualifications and skillsets, as well as any certifications (if applicable) of the proposed personnel. Proposed staff, qualifications and skillsets, as well as any certifications, contains one (or more) deficiency and/or substantial omissions.

c. An Offeror’s Management/Staffing Plan does not fully address the oversight of the staff/personnel supporting this contract at the Offeror’s facility and the process for safeguarding all data and documents at the facility.

Factor II - Price Quote

The Cost/Price Volume shall be evaluated, but shall not be scored nor otherwise combined with other aspects of the proposal evaluation. Price will be evaluated using the Offeror's price proposal for all Orders, proposed Labor Rates, the Government's Independent Cost Estimate, and various Cost and/or Price Analysis techniques, IAW FAR Part 15.404-1.

The Government will evaluate options in accordance with FAR clause 52.212-2(b), as prescribed in FAR 12.301(c)(1). The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

As part of price evaluation, the government will evaluate its option to extend services (IF FAR Clause 52.217-8 is included in any call order). The option can be exercised in increments less than six months but for no more than a total of six months during the life of the contract. In accordance with the clause, price for any option exercised under this clause will be at the same rates as those in effect in the contract for the period of performance current at that time. This evaluation will not obligate the Government to exercise any option to extend services under FAR 52.217-8.

Unbalanced Pricing. Unbalanced pricing may increase performance risk and could result in payment of unreasonably high prices. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more line items is significantly over or understated as indicated by the application of cost or price analysis techniques described in FAR 15.404-1.

Reasonableness. Comparison of proposed prices received in response to this COPR is the preferred and intended price analysis technique. Other techniques and procedures found in FAR 15.404-1, if deemed necessary and reasonable, may be used to establish a fair and reasonable price.

Basis of call order awards

Basis of Award. The award will be made to the Offeror that presents the overall best value to the government using a Best Value with Tradeoffs evaluation process. The government anticipates awarding a call order to the contractor whose proposal represents the best value, price, and other factors considered. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are considered significantly more important than price.

This may result in an award to a higher rated, higher priced Offeror, where the decision is consistent with the evaluation factors, and the Ordering Contracting…