20200310-ABMS_BAA_Frequently_Asked_Questions_Published.docx

ABMS BAA Call 001 Frequently Asked Questions

1) QUESTION: There are three dates referenced under Proposal Due Dates:

20 March 2020 13 April 2020 31 August 2020 For this BAA Call 001 which date is the due date?

ANSWER: They are staggered due dates…we will incrementally on ramp companies. So if you submit by 20 March, you will be part of the first set of awards. If you can’t make that due date, you can submit by 13 April and be part of the second set of awards. Same with the August due date.

In addition, your proposal will be considered at any time…we are encouraging maximum participation to support our effort. So we expect to continually on ramp companies which meets the intent of open, continuous competition.

2) QUESTION: Please confirm that the anticipated ABMS Multiple-Award Multi-Security Level ID/IQ contract has been newly established for the sole support of the ABMS Program?

ANSWER: Yes, this will be a newly established set of contracts to support the ABMS effort; however, it will not be the only contract supporting ABMS. Our organization (AFLCMC/CAIO) is responsible for the integration efforts. There will be other efforts within the Program Executive Officer portfolios, other services and other agencies supporting ABMS.

3) QUESTION: Does the ID/IQ contract have a have a ceiling Value?

ANSWER: Each ID/IQ awarded will have a ceiling value – TBD at this point in time.

4) QUESTION: Does the ID/IQ contract have an overall Period of performance for the IDIQ contract itself?

ANSWER: The basic ID/IQ will have a five year base period and five one year options.

5) QUESTION: Please confirm the owning agency of the IDIQ?

ANSWER: The Department of Defense is the owning agency – Air Force is the owning service – and AFLCMC/CAIO will issue the contract.

6) QUESTION: What type of work will be authorized under the IDIQ Contract?

ANSWER: The basic ID/IQ scope will mirror the category descriptions included in the BAA.

7) QUESTION: Can I submit multiple ideas in the same category?

ANSWER: Yes, multiple ideas are encouraged.

8) QUESTION: What is the difference between Call 001 and Call 002?

ANSWER: Call 001 utilizes the one-step process (proposal submittal) and is specifically being used to on-ramp contractors onto the Multiple-Award Multi-Security Level ID/IQ contract. Call 002 utilizes the two-step process (white paper followed by an invite for a proposal submittal) and is intended to capture ideas, technologies, and solutions from contractors either not interested in the ID/IQ or who are unsure about how they want to proceed but want to share their idea.

9) QUESTION: Within the page constraints should we still follow the AFRL BAA Guide Part II – Technical Proposal format (see page 18 of the attached)? If so, can we provide an Executive Summary that is outside of page count, limited to 2 pages? Also, will the Government consider waiving the need for a Program Organization and Schedule due to the page count constraints? We would also request not to submit a Table of Contents, and List of Illustrations/Tables due to the short page count of the submission?

ANSWER: As stated at the top of page 18, the specific announcement instructions take precedent over the guide – an executive summary is not requested in Call 001. A program organization, table of contents and list of Illustrations/Tables were not requested either but project schedule was requested. The expectation is a small diagram with a schedule by month included within the technical volume page constraints.

10) QUESTION: Is the Government open to pre-proposal communications (Page 10 of the attached), as we would like to have a one-on-one teleconference with the contracts, PM, and engineering team to discuss our corporate capabilities aligned to ABMS.

ANSWER: Yes, the Government team is open to pre-proposal communications; in addition, there is a follow-on industry day that will be announced shortly (targeting Apr 2020). Also, the first delivery order on the ID/IQ is each company’s opportunity to present their ideas, technologies, solutions to the Government team face-to-face in more detail.

11) QUESTION: Does the existence of the two separate calls (#001 and #002) imply that a company should pick one avenue or the other? That is, if you want to be on the IDIQ, you only respond to Call #001? Or, conversely, if a company doesn’t want to be part of the IDIQ (for some reason), it should only respond to call #002?

ANSWER: The two calls are not meant to imply a company should pick one call or the other. A company must respond to Call 001 if they want to participate on the ID/IQ. Call 002 is meant to capture ideas from contractors who do not want to participate on the ID/IQ. Call 002 can also be used to issue contracts for ideas/solutions prior to establishing the ID/IQ. A company can submit ideas under one call or both but keep in mind, Call 001 is a one-step process so proposals were requested in the call itself. Call 002 is a two-step process so white papers were requested in the call and, if invited, a proposal will be requested at a later date.

12) QUESTION: Will the FFP contract type be consistent for all work under the ID/IQ?

ANSWER: No, the contract type will be considered on a case-by-case basis for each Fair Opportunity Proposal Request sent under the ID/IQ.

13) QUESTION: We have different divisions within each category. Can we submit separate proposals for each division under the same category?

ANSWER: The intent is to issue one ID/IQ contract per company. The expectation is divisions within the same company would coordinate and submit one response per category.

14) QUESTION: The directions indicate that "proposals are desired with small feature sets focused in one area but may span multiple categories when reasonable". Based on this our assumption is that each company can submit multiple proposals even if they cover the same category as long as the proposals cover different feature sets. Is that assumption correct?

ANSWER: The intent of Call 001 is to on ramp companies to the IDIQ. Once a company is included in a category pool on the IDIQ, submitting another proposal in that same category is unnecessary. The expectation is once a contractor is included in the category pool on the IDIQ, any future proposals under that same category would be submitted via a response to a Fair Opportunity Proposal Request under the IDIQ or under Call 002 if the idea, solution, technology has not been shared previously.

15) QUESTION: If a company submits a proposal on 20 March 2020, can the same company submit proposals on subsequent proposal dates ( 13 April 2020, 31 August 2020) that address different feature sets under the same technical categories as the original proposals?

ANSWER: Yes but as stated above the intent of Call 001 is to on ramp companies to the IDIQ. Once a company is included in a category pool on the IDIQ, submitting another proposal in that same category is unnecessary. Call 002 is intended to share additional ideas, technologies, solutions so it is recommended additional proposals for the same category would be submitted under Call 002.

16) QUESTION: Please confirm Evaluation Criteria #2 refers only to the price of the Face-to-Face meeting to present the innovative approach(es).

ANSWER: Confirmed - the price requested for Call 001 is limited to the face-to-face meeting.

17) QUESTION: Item 14 requests that the proposer identify any tech data and/or computer software to be delivered with less than unlimited rights; yet it doesn't identify "which" volume or where those assertions should be placed. Does the assertions-table information count against the specified page count limit and if so, of which volume? If not, can we enter the data rights information in either volume or can/ should we provide in our transmittal letter?

ANSWER: Data assertions should be included in the technical volume and are included in the page count.

18) QUESTION: Must the offeror submit capabilities/ technologies in all six categories to be considered for award under the IDIQ contract in all six categories?

ANSWER: No, offerors do not have to submit capabilities in all categories to obtain an ID/IQ award. Our intent is to establish a "pool" of contractors for each category who will compete for requirements under that category via the Fair Opportunity process. Contractors will be considered for the category pool based on the category proposals submitted. A contractor can be included in one category pool or multiple but will only be able to respond to Fair Opportunity Proposal Requests if they are included in that category pool.

19) QUESTION: If an offeror submits candidate capabilities/ technologies in two categories for the March due date, are these the only categories for which they will be considered on the IDIQ? Or, If the company then addresses two other categories in August, can they have these new categories added to scope of their IDIQ award, ‘in incremental fashion”?

ANSWER: Contractors can incrementally be added to the category pools throughout the course of the IDIQ. The intent is to foster open, continuous competition.

20) QUESTION: Is there any disadvantage, other than early participation, for a company waiting till the April or Aug 2020 submission dates to respond versus in March 2020?

ANSWER: No disadvantage other than the fact that companies will not be able to respond to the Fair Opportunity Proposal Requests by category until they are on ramped to the ID/IQ.

21) QUESTION: The proposal instructions state that two volumes are required, a Technical Volume and a Cost Proposal, however a 1 page limit is separately given for Past Experience. Will the Government please clarify if vendors are to include the Past Experience page in the Technical Volume or if you expect Vendors to provide Past Experience as a separate volume.

ANSWER: Past Experience should be submitted with the proposal and has a 1 page limit. It is separate and distinct from the Technical and Cost volumes which have their own page limitations.

22) QUESTION: Assuming we are awarded a BAA contract, will all of the Areas of Interest Categories be included in the scope of the awarded BAA IDIQ or only those Categories that we respond to in Call 001? I would assume all categories since Call 002 identifies all of the Categories.

ANSWER: The intent of Call 001 is to establish a pool of contractors by category on a Multiple Award IDIQ. The basic IDIQ contract will include all the categories in the scope; however, a contractor must be included in a category pool in order to respond to future Fair Opportunity Proposal Requests in that particular pool. To be added to the pool requires a response to BAA Call #1 and a technical volume detailing the ideas, technologies, solutions in that category. Contractors can be added categories incrementally. BAA Call 002 is separate and individual contracts may be awarded based on the responses to BAA Call 002. The purpose of Call 002 is to capture ideas, technologies, and solutions from contractors who are not interested in participating on the IDIQ. BAA Call 002 will also provide an avenue to award contracts prior to establishing the IDIQ.

23) QUESTION: After the award of the On-Ramping IDIQ contract, will all Calls (i.e. Call 002) be issued on a competitive basis?

ANSWER: The Calls issued under the BAA are separate from the Fair Opportunity process that will be executed via the Multiple Award IDIQ. Both processes will utilize competitive procedures to award contracts/delivery orders/task orders unless a Justification & Approval or Fair Opportunity Exception apply and are approved.

24) QUESTION: Will contractors have the opportunity to propose unsolicited concept papers for consideration?

ANSWER: Unsolicited proposals are not desired. The intent is to have a Call available at all times for contractors to submit white papers against.

25) QUESTION: What type of contract will the BAA be? FAR 15 vs FAR 12 or both?

ANSWER: The BAA is a solicitation method. The contracts awarded against it will depend on the idea, technology, solution presented. Commercial awards are preferred but not always appropriate. Awards could be either depending on the situation.

26) QUESTION: If a FAR 15 award, then will the contract type by CPFF vs FFP or both?

ANSWER: The contract type will be determined on a case-by-case basis and will be detailed in the Request for Proposal.

27) QUESTION: Can a company respond to both Call 001 and 002? Could a company be awarded awarded an IDIQ contract under Call 001 and a separate contract under Call 002?

ANSWER: Yes and yes.

28) QUESTION: If one were to submit a proposal onto Call 002 and would like to on-ramp to the ID/IQ – would that require a possible re-submission of a proposal to Call 001?

ANSWER: Each call has a specific intent and proposal criteria/process. Call 001 utilizes the one-step process (proposal submittal) and is specifically being used to on-ramp contractors onto the Multiple-Award Multi-Security Level ID/IQ contract. Call 002 utilizes the two-step process (white paper followed by an invite for a proposal submittal) and is intended to capture ideas, technologies, and solutions from contractors either not interested in the ID/IQ or who are unsure about how they want to proceed but want to share their idea. A company must respond to Call 001 if they want to participate on the ID/IQ. White papers submitted under Call 002 will not address the pricing requested in Call 001 (limited to a Firm-Fixed Price for a kick off meeting to present the proposed technical approach face-to-face in Dayton, OH).

29) QUESTION: If a proposal submission doesn’t meet the 20 Mar 20 deadline – is it automatically “rolled over” and applied to the next deadline?

ANSWER: As stated in both Call 001 and 002, proposals submitted after the stated due dates will still be considered.

30) QUESTION: Is there any guidance on travel restrictions to support the face-to-face kickoff meeting related to the Coronavirus?

ANSWER: No official travel restrictions have been announced. Recommend pricing the worst case travel scenario (travel to Dayton) and the team will work with the appropriate contractors to readjust travel requirements (e.g. change to VTC) at a later time, if necessary.