Enclosure 5 Instructions to Offerors.doc

RFP No. 1-B156-P-00400-00

ENCLOSURE NO. 5

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 1-B156-P-00400-00

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS

AND

NOTICES TO OFFERORS

I.

Proposal Submission Format:

The proposal shall be in three (3) parts: Part I - Technical Proposal, Part II –Business Management Proposal, and Part III - Cost/Price Proposal (as three separate submittals). Each of the parts shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of and concurrently with evaluation of the other. In no instance shall Part I, Part II, and Part III, be bound together or presented in such manner as to make them not severable. The Technical Proposal shall not contain any reference to cost/price. It must disclose your project approach in as much detail as possible including, but not limited to, the requirements of the Technical Proposal instructions.

Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the offeror's lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork and expensive visual and other presentation aids are neither necessary nor wanted. Proposals should be prepared with maximum economy, consistent with this particular procurement, to ensure that the resources of both offerors and Laboratory evaluators are efficiently utilized. The signed (electronic signature is acceptable) proposal shall be submitted electronically to ddzialo@anl.gov for evaluation. The email shall contain separate attachments for the Technical Proposal and the Cost/Price and Business/Management Proposal. Submissions not conforming to all the requirements of this solicitation may result in rejection of your offer.

Offerors should indicate on the forepage and on each subsequent page of their proposal those pages, sections, paragraphs, or areas, which they consider to be proprietary. Offerors should refer to the enclosure entitled “Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications,” second page “Notice,” and pages 14-15 for more information regarding proprietary markings. Argonne National Laboratory assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked data and may use or disclose such data for any purpose.

A.

Part I - Technical Proposal:

Enclosure No. 4, Evaluation Criteria, identifies the criteria that will be used to evaluate the merit of the proposals in response to the statement of work. While the Cost/Price Proposal may not be the controlling factor for award, it will be a significant part of the Laboratory’s selection decision. The proposal will be evaluated for reasonableness in light of the statement of work requirements and instructions, including completeness/conciseness and clarity of the material presented. All criterions are of equal importance. At a minimum, provide the following information:

Technical Merit

Listed in order of equal importance:

1. Demonstrated success in meeting project schedule and budget objectives on similar projects.

2. Discuss project organization plan & methodology to track projects.

3. Discuss ability to meet project objectives.

4. Discuss ability to embrace Argonne National Laboratory’s culture and collaborative dynamic process.

Personnel Capability The offeror will provide the names, resumes, organizational chart, and other information as required of the individuals they propose to supply to the Laboratory for the project team. The Key Personnel resumes shall be evaluated to determine the extent, depth and quality of the Key Personnel(s)’ relevant work experience; as well as the quality and applicability of their education, technical experience, and professional development as they relate to their proposed positions in performance of this contract. If Key Personnel are proposed for other proposals, or are currently Key Personnel on other contracts, the mitigation plan related to their availability to perform on this requirement is required and shall be evaluated. The offeror’s Key Personnel will be evaluated in accordance with the qualifications described in Appendix “B”, Statement of Work.

Past Performance

Each offeror will be evaluated on its performance under similar contracts that have been completed or current within the past five (5) years for similar services as defined in Appendix “B” Statement of Work. Performance information will be used for both responsibility determinations and as an evaluation factor against which offeror’s relative rankings will be determined to ensure best value to the Laboratory. The Laboratory will focus on information that demonstrates quality performance relative to the size and complexity of the procurement under consideration.

References: In addition to any other information that the Offeror shall provide to allow Argonne to evaluate past performance, each Offeror shall furnish with their proposal the following information: references from at least three (3) clients for whom your firm has provided incurred services within the previous five (5) years, preferably clients with whom you have contracted personnel with similar experience as specified in Appendix “B”, Argonne National Laboratory, Statement of Work, “ANL Smart Labs Test and Balancing Services” dated May 7, 2021. Include for each reference the company name, address, telephone number, point of contact, and the contract number. References may be commercial or government customers provided the work performed was comparable in scope.

Proposal Risk

Proposal Risk shall be considered with respect to all other factors. Evaluation of Proposal Risk includes consideration of: Offeror’s demonstration of understanding of scope; risk of successful performance of the contract; and ability and commitment to service.

B.

Part II – Business Management Proposal The following minimum information must be included for a responsive Business Management Proposal:

a. Financial Capability.

Provide the most recent certified financial statement with supporting documentation indicating the financial capability of your organization.

b.

Acceptance Period of Proposal:

Provide a statement that the proposal will remain valid for acceptance for a minimum period of one hundred twenty (120) days after the closing date set for receipt of proposals.

c.

Authorized Representatives:

Provide the names, titles, and telephone numbers of the persons authorized to negotiate on behalf of the offeror with the Laboratory.

d.

Pre-Award Information.

Include a fully completed and signed “Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications” with your proposal. A copy of the Booklet is included as Enclosure No. 2 to this Request for Proposal (RFP).

e.

Environmental Safety and Health. Note that this procurement has been determined to be High Risk. As such, offerors shall be required to comply with requirements as outlined in the solicitation. In addition, prior to award the successful bidder shall provide proof of appropriate insurance, as earmarked in the solicitation. It is noted that insurance shall be maintained during the life of the contract. All policies shall provide by appropriate language that UChicago Argonne LLC, the University of Chicago, and the United States Government are additional insureds, that the insurance afforded by such policies is primary insurance, and that all rights of the insurer for contribution from other insurers of UChicago Argonne LLC, the University of Chicago and the United States Government are waived.

f.

Exceptions and Deviations.

Provide comments describing whether or not you accept proposed contract, its schedule of articles, statement of work and general/specific terms and conditions. The exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions taken must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation(s). Such exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing benefit to the Laboratory may result in rejection of your proposal(s) as unacceptable.

C.

Part III - Cost/Price Proposal:

Cost/Price: Each offeror is requested to submit a Price Proposal.

Offerors are required to propose fully burdened rates for a one-year base period and two (2) one-year option periods.

Pricing shall be provided in accordance with the format provided in Enclosure 3, Pricing Proposal Format. Pricing shall be provided in the form of fully loaded hourly rates, inclusive of all training-related costs, for a fully burdened hourly rate schedule. For proposal evaluation purposes only, the estimated hours per discipline and per period are included in the Pricing Proposal Format. However, it should be noted that only actuals will be requested and may exceed or fall short of the estimate.

The computed total prices of each offer will be compared to determine the lowest priced proposal received. Rates shall not be specified by individual personnel, nor shall a range of rates for any category be specified. Failure to adhere to this pricing requirement may result in rejection of your offer. A comparison shall be made of the competitive prices received under this solicitation.

II.

Notices to Offerors:

A.

Explanation to Prospective Offerors

Any prospective offeror desiring an explanation or interpretation of the solicitation, statement of work, etc. must request it in writing by 12:00 p.m. Wednesday September 15, 2021, to allow a reply to be provided to all prospective offerors. Any information given to a prospective offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all prospective offerors as written amendments to the solicitation if such information is necessary for submission of an offer, or if the lack of the information would be prejudicial against any other prospective offeror. Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of a contract will not be binding.

B.

Submission of Offers Offers and amendments thereof shall be submitted via email. An electronic copy shall be received on or before 3:00 P.M. CST, local prevailing time, Wednesday September 22, 2021:

Argonne National Laboratory

9700 South Cass Avenue

Argonne, Illinois 60439-4873

Attention:

Debra Dzialo Procurement Specialist II Procurement Department

Building 201 - Room 2M-11 Email: ddzialo@anl.gov Reference:

RFP No. 1-B156-P-00400-00 Facsimile offers will not be accepted.

C.

Selection and Award 1.

Evaluation of Options: The Laboratory will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total cost for all options to the total cost for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Laboratory to exercise the option(s).

2.

Proposal may be eliminated from consideration if the proposal is so grossly and obviously deficient as to be totally unacceptable. For example, if it does not represent a reasonable initial effort to address itself to the essential requirements of the RFP, or clearly demonstrates that the offeror does not understand the requirements of the RFP.

3.

Offerors should be prepared to respond to requests by the Laboratory Procurement Official for oral presentations or written discussions, or both, facility surveys, and other information as may be necessary to assist in the detailed evaluation process. The Laboratory reserves the right, however, to 1) make a selection without discussion with any of the offerors; 2) reject any and all offers; and 3) waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. It is, therefore, emphasized that each initial offer should be submitted on the most favorable terms to the Laboratory that the offeror can submit.

4.

The Laboratory may solicit, from available sources, experience data concerning an offeror’s past performance and will consider such information in its evaluation.

5.

The Laboratory intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose proposal conforms to this RFP and represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in Enclosure No. 5.

6.

If the Laboratory Procurement Official determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conduced, the Laboratory Procurement Official may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

D.

Definitions:

As used below:

“Discussions” are negotiations that occur after establishment of the competitive range that may, at the Laboratory Procurement Official’s discretion, result in the offeror being allowed to revise its proposal.

“In writing” or “written” means any worded or numbered expression which can be read, reproduced, and later communicated, and includes electronically transmitted and stored information.

“Proposal modification” is a change to a proposal made after the solicitation closing date, at the request of or as allowed by a Laboratory Procurement Official as the result of negotiations.

“Time,” if stated as a number of days, is calculated using calendar days, unless otherwise specified, and will include Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. However, if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the period shall include the nest working day.

E.

Amendments To Solicitation:

If this solicitation is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged. Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by the date and time specified in the amendment(s).

F.

Submission, Modification, Revision, and Withdrawal of Proposals:

1.

Proposals and modifications to proposals shall be submitted electronically (EMAIL) (i) addressed to the Procurement Specialist specified in the solicitation, and (ii) showing the solicitation number, and the name and address of the offeror.

2.

The first page of the proposal must show—

(i) The solicitation number;

(ii) The name, address, and telephone and facsimile numbers of the offeror (and electronic address if available); and

(iii) Name, title, and signature of person authorized to sign the proposal. Proposals signed by an agent shall be accompanied by evidence of that agent’s authority, unless that evidence has been previously furnished to the issuing office.

3.

Late Proposals and revisions.

Any proposal received at the office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers will not be considered unless it is received before award is made and it is determined by the Argonne National Laboratory to be in the best interest of the Laboratory.

4.

Offerors may submit modifications to their proposals at any time before the solicitation closing date and time, and may submit modifications in response to an amendment, or to correct a mistake at any time before award.

5.

Offerors may submit revised proposals only if requested or allowed by the Laboratory Procurement Official.

6.

Proposals may be withdrawn by written notice or telegram (including Mailgram) received at any time before award. Proposals may be withdrawn in person by any offeror or an authorized representative, if the representative’s identity is made known and the representative signs a receipt for the proposal before award.

G.

Options

A Total Proposal Amount is being requested as well as a breakout of the proposal into separate prices for a one-year Base period and two (2) optional years as follows:

1. Base Work:

Base one-year work includes all the labor and supervision necessary to complete all work as delineated in the Statement of Work entitled, “ANL Smart Labs Test and Balancing Services” dated May 7, 2021, for a full description of the base work.

2. Option No. 1

Optional year work includes all the labor and supervision necessary to complete all work as delineated in the Statement of Work entitled, “ANL Smart Labs Test and Balancing Services” dated May 7, 2021, for a full description of the option work.

3. Option No. 2

Optional year work includes all the labor and supervision necessary to complete all work as delineated in the Statement of Work entitled, “ANL Smart Labs Test and Balancing Services” dated May 7, 2021, for a full description of the option work.

Evaluation of Options: The Laboratory will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total cost for all options to the total cost for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Laboratory to exercise the option(s).

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