Questions_and_Answers_12_Jan_18.pdf

Government Responses to Contractor Questions

FA442718R0006

Amendment 1

12 Jan 2018

Question 1

1.0.1 Pick-up and Delivery. The contractor shall pick up soiled linen five (5) days per week and deliver clean laundry five (5) days per week, Monday through Saturday, with a 48-hour turnaround, between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., for the next delivery day. Linen picked up on Saturdays shall be delivered on Mondays. New linen/Special Handling is to be picked up five (5) days per week and delivered no later five (5) days from the day it is sent to the contractor for cleaning. Contractor shall provide, at no additional cost to the government, pick-up and delivery of linen on Sundays and holidays when emergency delivery is required (See paragraph 2. “Emergency Linen Procedures”). See Appendix D

Question: Please provide clarification – Pick-up and delivery of linen is five days per week or six days?

The above reference to Monday through Saturday infers 6 days. Or is it stating that the 5 day period could be Tuesday thru Saturday? Appendix D lists Monday thru Friday as pickup and delivery days.

Government Response: Delivery should be 6 days a week to include Saturday.

Question 2

1.1.2. Emergency Linen Procedures. The contractor shall provide emergency delivery of clean linen on hand at the contractor’s facility when requested by representatives from DGMC when linens run out due to unusually heavy consumption. The government estimates approximately two (2) emergency calls per year. Government personnel authorized to request an emergency delivery of linen are:

Administrator (SGA) or Facilities Management (SGSLF). All clean linen ready for shipment shall be provided to DGMC within three (3) work hours of each request. The business and home phone numbers of the contractor and his or her on-call representative shall be provided to contracting officer and the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) of the DGMC linen contract.

Question: All reasonable efforts would be made to respond to your emergency linen needs as quickly as possible however a three hour timeline may not always be achievable. As deliveries are to be made by appropriately approved route service personnel, it is possible that it could take longer than three hours for a supplier to redirect the efforts of an appropriate route service representative, load the product onto a truck and make the delivery. It is also possible that our delivery could be delayed due to severe traffic, weather or other conditions outside of our control. Is DGMC‘s three work hour flexible in situations like these? Additionally, will the contractor be expected to store an inventory of linen to be delivered in case of emergency only? Otherwise, does DGMC understand that there will be windows within the process in which there is not an immediately available inventory of clean product awaiting delivery since COG?

Government Response: Agree that the above external influences would impact the 3 hour timeframe.

DGMC keeps enough linen on‐hand to meet the current population, but in the event of contingency response, this may vary. Additionally, loss of linen can contribute to low PAR levels that are not able to sustain daily ops.

Question 3

1.1.5. Repairs.

a. Serviceable Repairs. Except for articles determined to be unserviceable or worn beyond economical repair and no longer usable for the purpose intended by the government Functional Requirements Evaluator Designee (FRED), the contractor shall repair all minor rips, tears (less than four inches), open seams, minor hemming, broken zippers and holes using thread and materials of the same quality, compatible color, colorfastness, and texture as that used in the manufacture of the articles. In addition, the contractor shall replace all broken and missing buttons with buttons of matching color and similar appearance and quality. All such repairs are performed at no additional cost to the government. All repairable items shall be repaired and returned to use within five (5) working days. See Appendix E, Linen Serviceability Standards

Question: Our standard process is to bill for such repairs on a cost per hour basis. This allows us to keep the general processing cost low and only bill the hospital for work actually performed as opposed to increasing our processing rate to accommodate an estimation of the expense we will incur to provide mending services. Is this acceptable to DGMC or is it a requirement that we include mending services within the processing rate we propose?

Government Response: Sub‐Paragraph a. “Servicable Repairs” will be removed in its entirety. This change can be seen in the updated Performance Work Statement dated 10 January 2018.

Question 4

1.1.2. Washroom Tests. The contractor shall obtain washroom test services from an approved laboratory, at no additional cost to the government, on a quarterly basis or when requested by the FRED. National Association of Institutional Linen Management (NAILM), 2130 Lexington Road, Suite H, Richmond KY 40475, and International Fabricare Institute (IFI), 1251 Tech Road, Silver Spring MD 20904, are two known acceptable laboratories. Should the contractor propose to obtain these services from a laboratory other than one of these two, the name and address of the proposed laboratory shall be submitted to the FRED, for approval, at the pre-performance conference, or two weeks prior to performance start date, whichever is earlier.

Question: Contractor presently utilizes Ecolab to perform such tests. Ecolab is widely respected within the industry as expert in performing such testing. Would Ecolab be deemed an acceptable source?

Government Response: HLAC does not specify where the testing is performed, only that it meets certain requirements. Results of tests will be provided to the customer upon request.

Question 5

1.1.7 Workmanship and Sanitation.

a. Special Handling Items. All items that need special attention will be sent out as special handling and sent back separately. Special handling Hyperbaric’s linen “Wrap only in paper to avoid static electricity” No Plastic! “Fabric softener required” Wash separately. The vet clinic linen will be washed alone and not mixed with the other linen. New linen, aprons, lab coats and suicide blankets, etc. will be sent out as special handling.

Question: Our current process is to deliver hyperbaric linen bundled separately from standard linen items in plastic bags and labeled as hyperbaric linen. Would this be acceptable to DGMC?

Government Response: No, they cannot be wrapped in plastic as we need to be sure there is not static electricity. They must be wrapped in paper.

Question: Processing vet clinic linen in the same machines that patient linen is processed is concerning.

Animal hair can be difficult to completely remove during processing. This could compromise the integrity of the linen utilized for human patient use. Would DGMC object to Contractor not processing vet clinic linen?

Government Response: IAW OWS paragraph 1.1.7 section F the vet clinic linens will be washed separately via special handling request.

Question 6

1.1.3. Workmanship and Sanitation.

a. Packaging. The contractor shall separate and package all like items, by size, by drawstring, by elastic into bundles in accordance with Appendix C, Example Identification, Standard Packaging and Method of Finish. All like items shall be bundled and securely tied together by plastic string.

Question: Our standard practice is to use banding machines with exception of pillowcases which are returned bundled and tied with a synthetic string. Do these methods meet DGMC’s requirements?

Government Response: Hyperbaric’s linens are sent as special handling. Otherwise the above practice is acceptable.

Question 7

Solicitation Document

(a) Multiple awards. The Government may accept any item or group of items of an offer, unless the offeror qualifies the offer by specific limitations. Unless otherwise provided in the Schedule, offers may not be submitted for quantities less than those specified. The Government reserves the right to make an award on any item for a quantity less than the quantity offered, at the unit prices offered, unless the offeror specifies otherwise in the offer.

Question: Our proposal response will be based upon the scope of services defined in the RFP. We respectfully request the ability to attain a price adjustment should the actual services required vary significantly in nature or scope. Is this something that can be incorporated into a resulting contract?

Government Response: Yes, if the workload changes substantially the pricing may be adjusted in accordance with FAR 52.222‐43 Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards ‐‐ Price

Adjustment (Multiple Year and Option Contracts).

Question 8

Section SF 1449 – Continuation Sheet – page 3 of 72

Base Year changed to 1 Apr 18 – 30 Sep 18

Question: Item No 0001 – States pound quantity of 800,000 same as the subsequent 4 year options.

Since the base year is only going to reflect 6 months, wouldn’t the total pounds be adjusted for 6 months vs. being the same as the standard 12 month periods?

Government Response: Yes there should be an adjustment to the poundage. 800,000 lbs. per year /12 months = 66,666.00 per month is estimated.

Question 9

In the scope of work section 1.1.1 it states that 5 delivery days are required, but also states that it is

Monday‐Saturday. Our operation runs Monday‐Friday, does the hospital keep enough inventory to facilitate a 3‐5 day turnaround time on the customer owned products?

Government Response: See response under Question 1.

Question 10

1.1.5 Service and Repairs – typically these types of repairs are in regards to the garments. Just wanted to clarify that this section on repairs pertains to the garments only.

Government Response: See question 3

Question 11

1.1.7 Nursery and Pediatric – It says these are to be washed separately. Is this product separated out on site at Travis AFB?

Government Response: DGMC will send it out as special handling.