Questions_and_Responses.docx

Questions and Responses from the Taiwan F-16 Maintenance “Industry Day” on 24 June 2014 at Luke AFB, AZ

1. PWS paragraph 1.1.1 states there are 16 aircraft. The RFI stated there were 14 aircraft. Please verify the correct number of program aircraft.

Response: There are 14 aircraft assigned as the 21 FS Total Aircraft Inventory (TAI). Two of the 14 TAI aircraft (2 B model aircraft) are Back-up Inventory Aircraft (BAI). Paragraph 1.1.1. has been corrected to show 14 TAI aircraft.

Referenced Performance Work Statement (PWS) Paragraph 1.1.1.: “The mission of the 21st Fighter Squadron (21 FS) is to train Lethal Warriors in the 14 assigned F-16 block 20 Total Aircraft Inventory (TAI) for the defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan).”

2. PWS paragraph 2.1.3.4 requires the SP to provide to the Gov’t the names of SP employees NLT the contract pre-performance conference.

PWS paragraph 2.1.9.1.1.2 requires the SP to provide a Visitor Access List of all employees prior to the contract start date.

Since non-incumbent bidders will likely hire a majority of the current workforce, these personnel will not be on the new contractor’s payroll until the first day of contract full performance. They will still be incumbent employees until the first day of contract full performance.

Recommend the PWS paragraph 2.1.3.4 and 2.1.9.1.1.2 requirement be changed to provide to the Gov’t the names of SP employees NLT the first day of contract full performance.

Moving the due date also match with the PWS paragraph 2.1.3.5 reporting requirement.

Response: PWS paragraph 2.1.9.1.1.2. is in-place to allow Service Provider (SP) employees into the facilities and have flight line/phase hanger access on day one of contract full performance (no delays). This requirement is to facilitate a seamless contract assumption and work performance. This requirement will remain the same.

3. PWS paragraph 2.1.7.1.1 states the Gov’t will provide initial custodial training NLT 5 working days prior to start of the basic contract period.

Since non-incumbent bidders will likely hire a majority of the current workforce, these personnel will still be working for the outgoing incumbent until contract full performance start.

Please verify that Gov’t training for incumbent personnel who will be hired by the next (non-incumbent) contractor will receive Gov’t training while still incumbent employees.

Response: The Government cannot guarantee new hire employees that are in current employment of an incumbent contractor can be made available for such training. However, the Government will ensure training remains current for 60 days after a contract turn-over to provide adequate time for training for employees of a successor company.

4. Please clarify the terminology the Gov’t will use for this contract.

1. Award date:

ANSWER: The date the contract is awarded to the successful offeror.

2. Transition start date: (is this the same as contract start?)

ANSWER: This is the mobilization start date or start of on-site preparations for assuming contract performance for the newly awarded contract. This will occur at least 30 days before the Contract Full Performance start date.

3. Contract Full Performance start date: when the contractor assumes all contract responsibilities from the former contractor.

ANSWER: This is the date the successful offeror who is awarded the new contract assumes full responsibility for contract performance.

5. Is the “Task Certification and Qualification Training Plan” in PWS paragraph 2.1.7.1 the same as the “Training Plan” in PWS paragraph 1.7.4?

Response: The “Task Certification and Qualification Training Plan” is only one specific part of the overall Aircraft Maintenance/Supply Training Plan. The SP shall develop their Training plan.

Updated PWS Reference 2.1.7.2.: “The SP shall develop a comprehensive training program that ensures a properly trained and qualified workforce is available throughout the life of this contract. The program shall meet requirements of AFI 21-101, AETC SUP, paragraph 1.15. and AETCI 21-112, all.”

Updated PWS Reference 2.1.7.2.1.: “The SP’s Training Program shall contain procedures to ensure SP employees are fully trained, thoroughly task qualified through proficiency training and task certified prior to being declared position qualified for the Taiwan F-16 block 20 aircraft, equipment servicing, towing and maintenance duty position category and supply or any other contract required function. The SP shall establish adequate qualification standards for each position.”

6. Please describe what the “Training Business Area (TBA)” application is and where is it provided by the Gov’t.

Response: Training Business Area is a Government furnished training tracking database application used to track on-the-job (OJT) training and serve as the service provider employee’s electronic training records (Like AF Forms 623 and 797 automated). This software database will be a part of Government furnished equipment listed in the Request for Proposal Government Furnished Equipment Appendix EE.

7. PWS paragraph 2.1.9.8.9 states “Additional vehicles may be required to support new work load requirements.”

Please define the new workload requirements. Without this information, bidders cannot determine how to determine the price of this requirement.

Response: Currently there are no new workload requirements pending or any new projected workload known for this contract. If the scope of this contract workload increases to support new Government requirements, at that time, vehicle requirements may need to be reassessed.

8. PWS paragraph 2.1.9.8.1 states “For Gov’t provided vehicles that are no longer serviceable; the SP shall be responsible for providing replacement if determined by the SP as necessary to accomplish the required services.”

In order for bidders to properly price this requirement, the following information is needed for each Gov’t vehicle in RFP PWS Government Furnished Equipment Appendix EF.

1. Make, model, year

2. Annual historic usage data

a. Number of miles/year

b. Number of hours/year

c. Annual maintenance and operating costs for each piece

Please also clarify that the replacement costs are to be borne by the contractor.

Response: The Government is responsible for determining if a Government owned vehicle requires replacement in accordance with (IAW) AFI 24-302 Section 1B. If a Government owned vehicle requires replacement, that vehicle is the responsibility of the SP to be purchased. The PWS Government Provided Vehicle Appendix EF will include the following information:

a. Approximate number of miles/year

b. Or approximate number of hours/year (if available)

c. Annual maintenance costs for each piece (parts only) because government provides the labor

d. The Government does not track operating costs for each Government vehicle

9. PWS paragraph 2.1.9.8.18 allows the SP to use Gov’t facilities for routine maintenance on SP vehicles. Please define what facilities will be made available.

Response: Phase Hanger Bldg. 408 facility will be available for vehicle maintenance.

Updated PWS Reference 2.1.9.8.18.: “The SP shall provide all maintenance/repair of SP furnished vehicles. The SP may use Phase Hanger Building 408 up to 24 hours per repair to perform routine vehicle maintenance. Government facilities shall not be used for long-term storage of SP vehicles (over 24 hours) or for extended repair of vehicles (over 24 hours). SP vehicle repair that requires more than 24 hours to complete shall not be repaired in Phase Hanger Building 408.”

10. Will the facilities have lifts and Gov’t provided tools for vehicle maintenance?

Response: No

Updated PWS Reference 2.1.9.8.18.1.: “Aircraft, equipment and 21 FS events (change of command etc.) shall have priority over SP vehicle repairs in the Phase Hanger Building 408. SP vehicle tools, parts and required equipment (lifts, jacks etc.) shall be supplies by the SP at no cost to the Government.”

11. Will the facilities be shared spaces? If yes, what will be the process for determining priority for the space?

Response: Yes, the Phase Hanger shall be shared with 21 FS aircraft/equipment and 21 FS events (change of command etc.)

12. PWS paragraph 2.1.23.6 states the SP will provide equipment for employee break rooms and that the Gov’t will not repair or replace Gov’t currently provided equipment.

Please provide a list of the Gov’t provided equipment that will be available at the start of the contract.

Please provide the make, model number and number of years each item has been in operation so bidders can determine replacement timeframes and costs.

Response: The Government provided furniture equipment will be listed in the RFP PWS Appendix E. The Government will conduct a joint inventory (with the contract awarded service provider) of all Government furnished equipment during contract mobilization. The Government Provided Equipment inventory will provide: Nomenclature, Color, Serial Number, NSN/Part Number, Location, Cost, and Yearly Inventory Date.

13. How many break rooms are there for this contract?

Response: One

14. PWS paragraph 2.1.23.10 requires the SP to “provide any biological monitoring programs required, …”

Please clarify what biological monitoring programs have been required in the past and what biological monitoring programs are anticipated to be required for the next contract.

Response: The Government is not responsible for this program. It is the service provider’s sole responsibility to protect their employees. The offeror has to determine what industrial contaminates/radiation/noise their employees come in contact with using Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements to develop OSHA acceptable protective measures for their employees. It is up to the offeror to determine what required testing under OSHA needs to be accomplished. The Government can provide the exposure/Biological monitoring report for the SP work area for reference only. See the reference below:

PWS Reference 2.1.23.10.2.: “The SP shall provide a personal exposure-monitoring program to include, but not be limited to, air samples, noise dosimeter, and ionizing radiation dosimeter for employees. The SP shall provide any biological monitoring programs required, provide training in, and enforce the use of required personnel protective equipment (PPE). The SP may access 56 FW exposure/biological monitoring reports for the SP’s work area for reference only. However, the SP is solely responsible for the safety of their employees and any OSHA exposure/biological monitoring requirements. Compliance with OSHA and other applicable laws and regulations for the protection of the SP’s employees is exclusively the obligation of the SP, and the Government will assume no liability or responsibility for the SP’s compliance or noncompliance with such requirements.”

15. PWS paragraph 2.1.23.13 requires the SP to “replace common hand tools”.

Please clarify if the SP must only replace those tools which are lost, damaged, or stolen due to negligence on the part of the SP.

Response: Updated PWS Reference 2.1.23.13.: “Replacement of Common Hand Tools/Toolboxes. The SP shall provide replacement of Government provided tools/toolboxes (Contractor Furnished Material (CFM) with equal or higher quality tools or toolboxes at no cost to the Government when they are deemed unserviceable (even through normal wear and tear), lost, stolen, or damaged after the initial joint inventory is conducted/accepted during the contract mobilization period. CFM are contractor-provided common hand tools e.g., screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, toolboxes etc. requiring replacement at SP costs during the life of this contract. SP CFMs replacement responsibility shall before effective on the contract performance start date and shall remain in effect throughout all contract performance periods. All SP CFMs replacement items shall become Government property at the time of replacement.”

16. Will the Gov't provide replace common hand tools that is caused by normal wear and tear as evaluated by the COR?

Response: No, this is solely the service provider’s responsibility

17. PWS paragraph 2.1.24.1 requires the SP to provide custodial services. Please provide square foot measurements for each space the SP is solely responsible (not shared spaces).

Response: All facilities signed for by the service provider (SP) shall require custodial service (there are no shared spaces with the Government). The facility square footage will be identified by the Government in RFP PWS Appendix E. A base-wide facilities cleanup contract does not preclude the SP from PWS required custodial responsibilities and insuring the CO approved facilities custodial checklists are documented as required.

18. PWS paragraph 2.1.25.2 describes access to the Application Support Environment (ASE) databases. Since the incumbent is the only bidder with access to this information, it appears that the incumbent has an automatic advantage over other bidders. Please clarify what data is in this database and how the Government will level the playing field for all bidders.

Response: When an offeror is selected to perform the Luke “Taiwan” Aircraft Maintenance Contract, and has completed the requirement for access, see PWS – reference 2.1.9.3., then the SP will be given full access to the ASE Aircraft Deficiency Report Tracking System in order to initiate, send, track, and respond to deficiency reports as specified in TO 00-35D-54. There is no advantage to accessing the ASE Aircraft Deficiency Report Tracking System unless an offeror is currently performing this contract. This system is used only for real-time Aircraft and Equipment Deficiency Reporting (depot level request for repairs). ASE Aircraft Deficiency Reporting is contained in this data base for 21 FS Taiwan assigned aircraft/equipment. Unless a service provider is performing work under this contract and inputting data directly into the 21 FS Aircraft Deficiency Reports, offeror access is not required to place a bid for this contract. Workload requirements for inputting data in ASE will be contained in Workload Data Appendix 3B.

19. Please provide annual historic data and/or projected cross country deployment and recovery data.

Response: This data will be released in the RFP PWS Appendix 3B Workload Data.

20. Please provide further explanation for “Training Business Ares (TBA)”. Is this a module that is part of the Government provided Maintenance Information System software?

Response: The TBA is not a part the Maintenance Information System (MIS). The MIS shall be used to document training other than on-the-job-training. The TBA is a mandatory use (stand-alone) Government provided training database used to on –the-job-training (OJT) and to automate training records (like AF Form 623 and 797 in automated formats).

Updated PWS Reference 3.1.5.2.6.: “The SP shall use the MIS to document required training other than on-the-job-training (OJT) and Training Business Ares (TBA) to document SP employees OJT. The TBA shall serve as the SP’s automated training records.”

21. PWS paragraph 3.3.2.2 implies that the contract is to provide all common hand tools (at contractor cost). PWS paragraph 2.1.23.13 states that the cost of common hand tools are Government provided with the contractor responsible for replacement tools at the contractor’s cost. Please clarify that the Government will provide all tools.

Response: The Government will initially provide all tools to the service provider (SP) during the contract mobilization for Government Furnished Equipment inventories timeframe (usually within 30 days before contract performance start date). The SP will be responsible for replacement of common hand tools/toolboxes on contract performance start date. After the SP assumes responsibility for the tools (after accepting the joint Government/SP inventory and tool responsibilities after contract mobilization timeframe), the SP shall be responsible to provide equal replacement of all common hand tools/toolboxes that are broken, lost, or deemed unserviceable at the SP cost. See Updated PWS reference 2.1.23.13. Replacement of Common Hand Tools/Toolboxes.

“The SP shall provide replacement of Government provided tools/toolboxes (Contractor Furnished Material (CFM) with equal or higher quality tools or toolboxes at no cost to the Government when they are deemed unserviceable (even through normal wear and tear), lost, or damaged after the initial joint inventory is conducted/accepted during the contract mobilization period. CFM are contractor-provided common hand tools e.g., screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, toolboxes etc. requiring replacement at SP costs during the life of this contract. SP CFMs replacement responsibility shall before effective on the contract performance start date and shall remain in effect throughout all contract performance periods. All SP CFMs replacement items shall become Government property at the time of replacement.”

22. PWS paragraph 3.1.47.1 requires the SP to develop an acceptable quality levels baseline that depicts the maximum allowable number of minor discrepancies that may be charged for a task to be rated “Pass”.

Table 3-1.47 appears to provide the Government’s AQL baseline which then becomes the maximum allowable number of minor discrepancies that may be charged for a task to be rated “Pass”.

Please clarify the requirement for a contractor developed AQL.

Response: Table 3-1.47 is the Government Directed Quality Control Minimum Evaluations (SP must add to their Quality Control Program). The service provider can add any additional requirement with acceptable quality limits (AQL) in their Quality Control Program to include the supply warehouse area inspections.

Updated PWS References:

“3.1.47. SP Quality Control Plan (QCP) Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) Baselines.

3.1.47.1 The SP shall develop an AQL baseline that depicts the maximum allowable number of minor discrepancies that may be charged for a task to be rated “Pass” except for the Table 3-1.47. Government Directed Quality Control Minimum Evaluations. Table 3-1.47.1 requirements shall be added to the SPs QCP. The Table 3-1.47 AQLs are negotiable with the Government Chief COR and AETC A4PM PM and requires approval from the CO. The SP shall include justification of the methodology used to develop the baselines. The SP can add any additional inspection requirement with AQLs to their QCP to include the supply warehouse area inspections.”

23. Please clarify if the cost of purchasing the propane for Gov't forklifts will be reimbursed under a Cost Reimbursable CLIN.

Response: The cost of propane is a service provider expense.

Updated PWS Reference 2.1.9.8.10.4.: “The SP shall provide propane at SP expense for the operation of the Government provided forklift.”

24. During Industry Day, the Gov't stated that this contract will be based on the annual number of sorties and not on annual flight hours. Since the number of annual flight hours is critical for planning maintenance such as phase inductions, please provide both the historical and estimated annual flight hours for this program.

Response: The operational baseline projected sorties for the basic and each option year in RFP PWS Appendix 3A is 2430 sorties. The Average Sortie Duration (ASD) is 1.3 hours. 2430 sorties times 1.3 ASD equals and estimated 3158 flying hours projected per the basic and each option year of this contract. The historical flying hours for last option year 4 (last year) is 2646 sorties and the ASD was 1.3 for an estimated 3439.80 flying hours. Prior to that the contract award sorties were 2,700 sorties and the ASD was 1.3 hours for and estimated 3510 flying hours. This information will be contained in the RFP PWS Appendix 3B.