Attachment_3_-_Section_L.pdf

SECTIONL

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS

L-I - INFORMATION TO OFFERORS (ITO) and INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL

PREPARATION

1.0 General Instructions

(a) The offeror's proposal and unit to be evaluated must include all data and information requested by this ITO and must be submitted in accordance with these instructions. The offer shall be compliant with the requirements as stated in the Purchase Description (PD) (Section C).

Non-conformance with the instructions provided in this ITO may result in an unfavorable proposal evaluation.

(b) The Contracting Officer (CO) has determined there is a high probability of adequate price competition in this acquisition. Upon examination of the initial offers, the contracting officer will review this determination and if, in the contracting officer's opinion, adequate price competition exists no additional data will be requested and certification under FAR 15.406-2 will not be required. However, if at any time during this competition the CO determines that adequate price competition no longer exists; offerors may be required to submit cost data to the extent necessary for the contracting officer to determine the reasonableness and affordability of the price.

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

( d) The unit to be offered for evaluation and testing must be the exact unit proposed, and must be a commercial item or commercially available off the shelf (COTS) in accordance with the definition in FAR Part 2. Items proposed shall be new units. Reconditioned, remanufactured, or used items are not acceptable and shall not be proposed. Units for evaluation shall be delivered to AFMETCAL no later than the proposal deadline listed in Block 9 of the SF1449. Any units not chosen as part of the award shall be returned the the offeror. The offeror shall bear the cost of shipping and returning units to their facility. The Government shall not be liable for units damaged in transit or from damage due to normal wear and tear during evaluation.

( e) Elaborate brochures or documentation, binding, detailed art work, or other embellishments are unnecessary and are not desired.

(f) The proposal acceptance period is specified in Section A (Standard From (SF) 1449), Block 9). The offeror shall make a clear statement in Section A of the proposal documentation volume that the proposal is valid through this date.

(g) In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.8 (Government Contract Files), the Government will retain one copy of all unsuccessful proposals. Unless the offeror requests otherwise, the Government will destroy extra copies of such unsuccessful proposals.

1.1 General Information

1.1.1. Point of Contact

The CO and Contract Specialist (CS) are the points of contact for this acquisition. Address any questions or concerns you may have to the CO and CS. Written requests for clarification may be sent to the CO and CS.

Contracting Officer's Name: Amy I. Poling Email address: amy.poling@us.af.mil

Contract Specialist Name: Michael D. Hickey Email Address: michael.hickey.2@us.af.mil

1.1.2. Debriefings

The CO will promptly notify offerors of any decision to exclude them from the competitive range; whereupon, they may request and receive information in accordance with FAR 13.106(d). The CO will notify unsuccessful offerors in the competitive range of the award decision in accordance with FAR l 5.503(b)(2). Upon such notification, unsuccessful offerors may request and receive a debriefing.

1.1.3. Discrepancies

If an offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the offeror shall immediately notify the CO in writing with supporting rationale as well as the remedies the offeror is asking the CO to consider as related to the omission or error. The offeror is reminded that the Government reserves the right to award this effort based on the initial proposal, as received, without discussion. This reservation includes matters of additional or substitute pages of the initial proposal.

1.1.4. Electronic Reference Documents

All referenced documents for this solicitation are available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website at https://www.fbo.gov/. Potential offerors are encouraged to subscribe for real-time e-mail notifications when information has been posted to the website for this solicitation.

1.1.5. Communications

Exchanges of source selection information between Government and offerors will be controlled by the CO. Email may be used to transmit such information to offerors only if the email can be sent and received encrypted and includes "Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 & 3 .104" in the Subject line. In order to facilitate the sending and receiving of encrypted emails, offerors must use MS Outlook email configured to support encryption or a different email product that is S/MIME compatible and configured to support encryption. If you intend to submit your source selection information via encrypted email, you will need to contact the CO indicated on the face page of the solicitation prior to that first submittal in order to exchange certificates used for encryption. To insure the process is working correctly, send a test encrypted message first (without including any source selection information).

1.1.6 Funding

The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation, either before or after the closing date. In the event the Government cancels this solicitation, the Government has no obligation to reimburse any Offeror for any costs incurred in responding to this solicitation.

1.2 Organization/Number of Copies/Page Limits

The offeror shall prepare the proposal as set forth in the Proposal Organization Table (Table 1.2 below). The titles and contents of the volumes shall be as defined in this table, all of which shall be within the required page limits and with the number of copies as specified in Table 1.2.

The attachments listed in the table shall be separately identified. The contents of each proposal volume are described in the ITO paragraph as noted in the table below:

Table 1.2 - Proposal Organization

VOLUME ITO Paragraph VOLUME COPIES PAGE LIMIT Number TITLE

I 2.0 Technical 1 Hard Copy and 1 40 Electronic Copy

II 3.0 Proposal 1 Hard 1 Copy and 1 40 Documentation Electronic Copy

1.2.1 Page Limitations

Page limitations shall be treated as maximums. If exceeded, the excess pages will not be read or considered in the evaluation of the proposal and excess paper copies will be returned to the offeror as soon as practicable. Page limitations may be placed on responses to Evaluation Notices (ENs). The specified page limits for EN responses will be identified in the letters forwarding the ENs to the offerors.

1.2.1.1. Page Size and Format

A page is defined as each face of a sheet of paper containing information. When both sides of a sheet display printed material, it shall be counted as two pages. Page size shall be 8.5 x 11 inches, not including foldouts . Except for the reproduced sections of the solicitation document, the text size shall be no less than 12point. Tracking, kerning, and leading values shall not be changed from the default values of the word processing or page layout software. Use at least 1 inch margins on the top and bottom and %-inch side margins. Pages shall be numbered sequentially by volume. These page size and format restrictions shall apply to both electronic and hard copy proposals.

1.2.2 Pricing Related Data

All pricing information shall be addressed in the Proposal Documentation volume, in Section B of the Schedule of the RFQ. Information shall be limited to Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) or SubCLIN, or level pricing, including unit and extended pricing, as specified in Section B of the RFQ.

1.2.3 Binding and Labeling

Each volume of the proposal should be separately marked. Be sure to apply all appropriate markings including those prescribed in accordance with FAR 52.215-l{e), Restriction on disclosure and use of data, and FAR 3 .104-4, Disclosure, Protection, and Marking of Contractor Bid or Proposal Information and Source Selection Information.

1.3 Electronic Submission of Proposal

In addition to the paper copies identified above, the offeror shall submit all proposal information in electronic format via the AMRDEC safe site, https://safe.arnrdec.army.mil/safe/welcome.aspx. The content and page size of electronic copies must be identical to the hard copies. In the event there are any discrepancies between the hard copies and the electronic copies of the proposal, the hard copies will be used for evaluation.

1.4 Submission Address

The "original" proposal shall be identified. Proposals and all copies shall be addressed to the PCO and mailed or hand carried to :

AFMETCAL/WNMK

813 Irving- Wick Drive W.

The Horton Building Heath, OH 43056 ATTN: Michael D. Hickey

RFP: FA2263-19-Q-A002

Be sure to advise "For Official Use Only" and "Source Selection Information--See FAR 2.101 and FAR 3.104".

1.5 Timeliness

Offerors are required to submit the hard copy proposal, the electronic AMRDEC proposal, and the unit to be evaluated no later than the proposal deadline listed in Block 9 of the SF 1449. In accordance with FAR 15.208(b )(1 ), any hard copy proposal, electronic copy, and unit to be evaluated that is received at the designated Government office after the exact time specified for receipt of proposals is "late" and will not be considered unless the CO determines that accepting the late proposal would not unduly delay the acquisition.

1. 6 RFQ Amendments If this RFQ is amended, all terms and conditions, which are not amended, will remain unchanged and in full force and effect. Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment and provide confirmation upon submission of the Offeror' s proposal.

1. 7 Proposal Revisions If the Offeror submits proposal revisions, any changed pages that are submitted shall be a different color than the original proposal pages and shall have changed information clearly marked by a vertical line in the left margin of the page identifying the changed content. The date of the revision and revision number shall be reflected on each changed page (preferably on, or next to, the vertical change line). The Offeror shall make spreadsheet revisions obvious by identifying cells that changed. The Offeror shall also provide a tracking list of all changes with references to the volume, page, and paragraph number, which will not be part of the page count.

Offerors shall also clearly identify in the summary of changes any revisions which are material in nature.

2.0 Volume I -Technical Volume

2.1 Format and Specific Content

The Technical Volume should be specific and complete. Legibility, clarity, and coherence are very important. Your responses for the Technical Volume will be evaluated against the Technical Factor defined in Section M. As stated in Section M, Technical Factor, the Technical Volume shall include a written response to each paragraph number in the Purchase Description (See Section C) with sufficient supporting technical literature. Provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology you would use for accomplishing/satisfying each paragraph number in the Purchase Description. Do not merely reiterate the objectives or reformulate the requirements specified in the solicitation.

All the requirements specified in the solicitation are mandatory. By your proposal submission, you are representing that your firm will perform all the requirements specified in the solicitation. It is not necessary or desirable for you to tell us so in your proposal.

3.0 Volume II - Proposal Documentation

3.1 Solicitation/Representations and Certifications

The purpose of this volume is to provide information to the Government for preparing the contract document and supporting file. The offeror's proposal shall include a signed copy of the Solicitation (SF 1449), and Sections A through K.

3.1.1 Section A -Solicitation/Contract Form

Completion of blocks 12 through 16 and signature and date for blocks 1 7 and 28 of the Solicitation, Offer and Award Form (SF 1449). Signature by the offeror on the SF-1449 constitutes an offer, which the Government may accept. The "original" copy should be clearly marked under separate cover and should be provided without any punched holes.

3.1.2 Section B -Supplies or Services and Prices

Completed pricing information in Section B of the solicitation.

3.1.3 Section I - Contract Clauses

Completed clauses incorporated in full text of the solicitation.

3.1.4 Section K -Representations, Certifications, and other Statements of Offerors Completed representations, certifications, acknowledgments and statements. In addition, completed copy of Online Representations and Certifications shall be provided. This can be accomplished by registering in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov and completing the Online Representations and Certifications. All prospective awardees are required to register at SAM and to maintain an active registration during the like of the contract.

3.2 Exceptions to Solicitation Requirements

Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements, such as terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and technical requirements, in addition to those identified as evaluation factors or subfactors. Offerors must clearly identify any exception to the solicitation terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale. Each exception shall be specifically related to each paragraph and/or specific part of the solicitation to which the exception is taken. Provide rationale in support of the exception and fully explain its impact, if any, on the performance, schedule, price, and specific requirements of the solicitation. This information shall be provided in the format and content of Table 3.2.

Table 3.2 - Solicitation Exceptions

Solicitation Pagel Document Paragraph

PD, Model Contract, Applicable . ITO, etc. Page and

Paragraph Numbers

3.3 Other Information Required

3.3.1 Authorized Offeror Personnel

Requirement/ Rationale

Portion

Identify the requirement or Describe portion to which exception why the is taken requirement can/will not be met

Provide the name, title, and telephone number of the company/division point of contact regarding decisions made with respect to your proposal and who can obligate your company contractually. Also, identify those individuals authorized to negotiate with the Government.

3.3.2 Company/Division Address, Identifying Codes, and Applicable Designations Provide company/division's street address, county and facility code; CAGE code; DUNS code;

TIN; size of business (large or small); and labor surplus area designation. This same information must be provided if the work for this contract will be performed at any other location(s).

3.4 Pricing

3.4.1 Price Reasonableness

The Government will review the pricing submissions for reasonableness, completeness and compliance with Section L of the solicitation. Additionally, unbalanced pricing poses an unacceptable risk to the Government and may be a reason to reject an offeror's proposal. Offers should be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate their reasonableness and balance. The burden of proof for credibility of proposed prices rests with the offeror.

3.4.2 Price Data

Data beyond that required by this instruction shall not be submitted unless you consider it essential to document or support your position. All data relating to the proposed price, including all required supporting documentation, must be included in this section of the proposal. Under no circumstances shall this data and documentation be included elsewhere in the proposal.

3.4.3 Cost or Pricing Data Requirements

In accordance with FAR 15.403- l(b) and 15.403.3(a), data other than certified cost or pricing data may be required to support a determination of price reasonableness. Data shall be provided in accordance with FAR 15.403-5. If, after receipt of proposals, the CO determines that there is insufficient data available to determine price reasonableness and none of the exceptions in FAR 15.403-1 apply, the offeror shall be required to submit additional cost or pricing data.