Post RFP QA for FBO 15Dec11.pdf

15 Dec 2011

POST-RFP INDUSTRY Q&A

1. Providing a best value price is directly related to understanding GFM and CFM replacement rates. The estimation of labor hours will change significantly based on the replacement frequency of major components. Additionally, the parts portion of the fixed price will vary significantly based on the replacement frequency of CFM components. Since the incumbent on this contract has many years of overhaul history and combined years of manufacturing history on the GFM components, this information provides them with an unfair competitive advantage. In order for the government to receive the most competitive pricing from all interested vendors, it will be necessary to share the GFM and CFM replacement factors. Will the government provide replacement rates on GFM and CFM components to all interested parties?

ANSWER: All available Government replacement data for GFM will be posted to FBO. This data is from the AF organic repair shop; no other data is available or releasable.

2. In order for contractors to obtain pricing on CFM parts, it is necessary for us to have the technical drawings for those components. Will the government provide contractors with drawings if the contractors identify the specific components for which the drawings are needed?

ANSWER: The Drawing requests will be evaluated on a case by case basis (based on availability, proprietary issues, and distribution statements). Offerors will need to provide a list of the specific drawing(s) required to the contracting officer.

3. (Page 34, section H06, paragraph (b)/ Page 66 paragraph (e)) Regarding the small business plan, it calls out that if we are a SB we do not need a plan, however we do need “Total Small Business Participation of TBN…” There should be a percentage in there. In section L, paragraph (e) they note a 10% mandatory target. Is this the same for a SB as they separated the two in section H06?

ANSWER: Page 34 Section H.06 (e) states, “The offeror shall provide a Small Business Subcontracting Plan (SBSP) (if required IAW FAR 19.702) with a 10% non-mandatory target.” FAR 19.702 (b) states, “Subcontracting plans…are not required – (1) from small business concerns… Therefore, a subcontracting plan is not required if the offeror is a small business concern.

4. (Page 67, Section 5.1.2 ) “The offeror shall state that the prices remain valid for 180 days.” SF 1447 indicates 160 days. Please provide the correct number of days?

ANSWER: 180 days is requested. Page 1 of form 1447 will be corrected with the upcoming amendment to reflect 180 days.

5. (Page 65, Paragraph c. i.)

In this paragraph, the government is requesting “evidence of current ownership.” Is a capital equipment inventory list acceptable?

ANSWER: It is important to remember the main reason for this list. First; the contractor has or will have in their possession equipment to accomplish the work. Second; the contractor’s equipment is large enough to accommodate the PNs listed in Table I.C. If the capital equipment list shows dimensions/capabilities and evidence of the above then yes this list will be sufficient.

Refer to Section M 2.1.1 (c) Equipment Plan:(A) acceptability “(A) identifies adequate equipment (in terms of capacity and throughput capability) to address the processes identified in Table I.C; and, (B) verifies adequate current ownership or documents adequate Equipment Transition in accordance with the minimum requirements of the Solicitation”.

6. (Pages 64/65) The RFP calls for a staffing plan with specific references to PWS 4.9.1 and 4.9.2 and Table 1; how would the government prefer to see staffing and rationale for program management functions?

ANSWER: It would be appropriate for contractors to list any program management positions they plan on using for this effort.

7. (Page 59) “Electronic copies of Volume IV shall be submitted using Microsoft’s Excel format. This indicates the entire Past Performance Volume is to be formatted in Excel. This paragraph also says Vols. I, II and III are to be submitted as PDF, but Section L/Para. 5.0.1.2/Pg 65 says to submit the Price Volume in Microsoft Word and Excel. Is this an error which will be corrected in an RFP amendment?

ANSWER: Section L 2.3 should state, “…The electronic copies of proposal Volumes I, II, IV shall be submitted in a format readable by Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF) Version 9. Electronic copies of Volume III shall be submitted using Microsoft’s Excel format…” This will be corrected in upcoming amendment.

8. (Page 59) Page size and format: “Pages shall be typed using 1.5-line spacing, except for the reproduced sections of the solicitation document; the text size shall be no less than 12 point Times New Roman font.” Para (b) allows tables, charts, graphs and figures to be 9 pt. font. Question: Is Arial font acceptable for text headings, and for figures (tables and graphics)? Question: Can text headings, tables and graphics be single-spaced, or must they be 1.5 line spacing?

ANSWER: The government would prefer consistency throughout the proposals. However, if an offeror is imbedding charts, graphs and figures that are in a different font, size or spacing that would make is difficult to reformat, the proposal will not be rejected.

9. (Page 87 Section 5) The e-mail address in this section that an organization completing a Past Performance Survey (Attachment L-Eight) is directed to use to submit the Survey directly to the government is:

LGR2.pastperfornace@hill.af.mil Is this the correct spelling for this e-mail address? If not, request you provide the correct address.

ANSWER: The correct address is LGR2.pastperformance@hill.af.mil, this will corrected in the upcoming amendment.

10. (Page 62 – 3.1.9 Section K "Complete representations, certifications, acknowledgments) “Note that if the Offeror has a current registration with the Online Representations and Certifications (ORCA) database a referral to the current record is sufficient." Does this submission requirement apply only to the prime contractor or to the prime and any subcontractors?

ANSWER: Certs and Reps are applicable to the prime contractor only.

mailto:LGR2.pastperformance@hill.af.mil

11. Reference: RFP Cover Page (SF1447) and RFP Section L, Para. 5.1.2 (Page 67) Discussion: The RFP Cover Page includes a note stating ".the Contractor agrees to hold its offered prices firm for 160 days." However, Section L, Para 5.1.2 states: "The offeror shall state that the prices remain valid for 180 days."

Question: Are we correct in assuming a 180 day validity is correct?

ANSWER: Same as question 4 above.

12. Reference: RFP Section L Attachments 1 through 4 and 6 through 10 (Pages 70-89) Discussion: These attachments are all currently in .pdf format

Question: Does the Gov't plan on providing Word / Excel versions of the attachments, or are offerors' conversions acceptable?

ANSWER: It is the 748 SCMG/PKA policy that all documents are to be in .pdf format. However, we did make an exception for the TEP and Exhibits which were provided in excel format due to conversion issues. The offerors conversions on all other documents are acceptable.

13. Reference: PWS Para 4.4.10 (Page 9) Discussion: This paragraph states: "...All commercially procured parts should be from approved services..."

Question: Request provide a list of USAF's approved sources for commercially procured Landing Gear parts.

ANSWER: This will be handled on a case by case basis for AMSC codes (C, H, R) as listed in Haystack.

The PWS will be amended to clarify the language to read, “When applicable based on AMSC codes (C, H, R), all commercially procured parts should be from approved sources..." The revised PWS will be attached to the upcoming amendment.

14. Reference: PWS Para. 4.4.15.1 (Page 12) Discussion: This paragraph states: "...shall be considered uneconomical to accomplish repair on an end item when the total cost for parts, materials, and labor exceed 75% of the applicable Stock List Price IAW 5352.291-9005 (End Items Beyond Economical Repair), or as amended or modified with approval of the appropriate Air Force Item Manager."

Question: Is Stock List Price per FEDLOG? If not FEDLOG, please advise Stock List Prices or reference document that we can access to obtain Stock List Price.

ANSWER: Stock list prices are listed on FEDLOG and/or Haystack.

15. Reference: PWS Para. 4.11.3.2 (Page 23)

Discussion: This paragraph states: "The contactor shall be responsible to acquire technical drawings as required. This data may be acquired by request through the contracting officer"

Question: Would the technical drawings package available from the Contracting Officer include Engineering Data List (EDL) and Engineering Data Requirements (EDR)?

ANSWER: Yes, if the EDL and EDR are requested.

16. Section L – Attachment Six - Past Performance Can you please explain the instructions in block b. None of it makes sense and the example given is most confusing.

Section IV: Detailed Project Information

(a) Section IV specifically relates your firm's project to the subfactors considered in this source selection.

(Refer Section M, Table III.B and Table III.C for relevance.)

(b)) In considering the project your firm is submitting for relevancy purposes please provide the information requested. Counting Note: When itemizing the number of repair/overhauls on the project(s) your firm submits the number of repair/overhauled should match the Solicitation’s Schedule B as closely as possible. (E.g., if an items consists of 7 components and it closely matches an item in the schedule that is ordered as 1(ea)/unit time it should be counted as ONE repair/overhaul.)

ANSWER: Section IV, (b) should read; “In considering the project your firm is submitting for relevancy purposes please provide the information requested. CountingNote: When itemizing the number of repair/overhauls on the project(s) your firm submits, the number of repair/overhauled should match the Solicitation’s Schedule B/ELIN quantities as closely as possible. (E.g., if an items consists of 7 components and it closely matches an item in the schedule that is ordered as 1(ea)/unit, time it should be counted as ONE repair/overhaul.)”

If further clarification is required, please let the contracting officer/alternate know as soon as possible.

Revised Attachment Six will be attached to the upcoming RFP amendment.

17. Requesting a page increase on Volume II, Technical Acceptability, Subfactor 1 from 75 pages to 100 pages. This is a major part of the contract and it would help immensely if we could just get that increase of 25 pages.

ANSWER: Request is granted. The RFP will be amended accordingly.

18. We would like to clarify the period of performance for years 1, 2,3 and 4. We see that the RFP does not specify Calendar or Fiscal Years let alone any year. The only reference to a schedule we see is the RFP Overtime CLIN 0002 on Page 5 which states:

“Year one including 6 month transition period (Feb 2013-Aug 2014)”

Then, RFP CLIN 0004 (page 12) breaks down into 4 “Basic years: One (1) is from contract award through 12 Months” with no date defined. Are we correct in assuming that with a Feb 2013 contract award, the transition period ends in Aug 2013 with inductions and Base Year One beginning September 2013 and ending August 2014?

Are we correct in assuming that years 2, 3 and 4 would follow base year 1 in 12 month periods? e.g., Year 2 would be Sept 2014 – Aug 2015.

ANSWER: CLIN 0002 OVERTIME is for the duration of the contract. The year one statement will be removed in the upcoming RFP amendment.

CLIN 0004 specifically states BASIC YEAR 1 – DATE OF AWARD THROUGH 12 MONTHS. Since the actual date of award is not known at this point, the dates will be definitized upon contract award. The preceding years (2 – 4) also state on the respective CLIN what the anticipated period of performance will be and will be further defined with specific dates upon contract award.

19. Is it the government’s intent that all costs associated with the transition period are to be presented in CLIN 0002?

ANSWER: No, the Government does not intend to cover transition costs. The transition period is not separately priced since the government is not anticipating significant start up costs by the offeror(s) based on market research. This should be considered a normal part of doing business and would need to be absorbed into the FFP’s appropriately.

CLIN 0002 is only for overtime necessary if surge is required. The statement “Year one including 6 month transition period (Feb 2013-Aug 2014)” has been removed from CLIN 0002 and will be included in the upcoming RFP amendment.

20. Section M 1.1: In discussing the importance of the evaluation criteria, the RFP states “significantly more important than price considerations” Can the government clarify what is meant by “significantly more”?

ANSWER: This is standard government contracting language as called out in FAR 15.101-1. This means that the government considers past performance significantly more important than price and may trade better past performance for price, accordingly. For instance; if we have two offerors and both pass technical, one has better past performance but a higher price over another offeror who’s past performance is not as good but has a lower price, we reserve the right to award to the higher price with the better past performance.

21. Page 92,Section M 1.1(b): Can the government confirm what is meant by “option prices if applicable” ? Is this reference to the option year pricing per the Total Evaluated Price Worksheet? Are there other options to be priced and if so will the government provide the appropriate worksheets?

ANSWER: It means if options are applicable to this requirement, however, there are no options so this is not applicable. There is no option year pricing on the TEP, this is for the offeror to price each individual year of the total 4 year requirement. This is a straight 4 year requirement, no options.

22. Section H, H.01 Configuration Update: “All items will be updated to the latest approved and supportable configuration specified in the contract at no additional cost to the Government.”

For estimating purposes, can the government quantify the chances/number of instances/quantity to make major modifications and/or replace obsolete parts, etc. to update the components being overhauled to “latest approved and supportable configuration”?

ANSWER: This question was answered in previous industry Comment Responses posted to FBO on 29 Sept 2011, the response remains the same:

“This information will not be included in the final RFP because it is impossible to predict configuration updates. However, if there is a minor change, there will be no cost. If the configuration update is a major change, then there will be a mod to the contract to cover the costs. Additionally, the RFP and resulting contract will include language allowing a request for equitable adjustment for configuration updates that are considered a major change.”

23. H.03 Not Mission Capable Supply (NMCS)/Mission Capability (MICAP) and Critical Items Support:

Wherein it states, “When the Contracting Officer notifies the Contractor, by email, of a NMCS/MICAP and/or of a critical item, the Contractor shall take all reasonably necessary action to complete repair and return of the item to the Government within 15 calendar days, including working overtime, if required, and using premium transportation (shipment by fastest mode) at no additional cost to the Government under this contract.”

How often does this happen? Should we assume there will be a percent of all repairs requiring expedited efforts?

ANSWER: Case by case basis based on world demand and crisis. There is no trend in current contract.

24. H.05 Standard Industry Warranty Clause: Is it the intent of the government to excIude the contractor from all consequential damages?

ANSWER: The government intends to obtain the remedies provided in 52.246-20 including: 1) The Contractor shall correct or reperform any defective or nonconforming services at no additional cost to the government: OR 2) The government shall get an equitable reduction in price resulting from the nonconformance of the contract by the contractor.

25. Can the government confirm the anticipated transition period is 180 calendar days?

ANSWER: The maximum transition period is 180 calendar days. The PWS further defines the transition period in 4.3.7.

NOTE: To clarify the transition period, the period of performance for year one will begin after the 6 month (180 calendar days) transition period is over and run through 12 months. Year two will begin upon completion of year one and run through 12 months, and so on for year 3 and 4. The upcoming amendment will have clarifying language for each year.

26. Page 68, 6.0 Volume IV Performance Confidence, paragraphs 6.1 (a) and 6.1(b), paragraph 6.3 and pages 69 and 82, 7.0 Section L Required Attachments:

The RFP requires proposals to include Section L – Attachment 7 – “Roles and Responsibilities Worksheet” for all proposed subcontractors.

Question 9.1: Must Section L – Attachment 7 be included if the company submitting a proposal to the government has not, at any previous point in time, performed work with the proposed subcontractor?

ANSWER: Yes

27. Question 9.2: Assuming the condition in Question 9.1 above, does the government require an estimated projection of roles and responsibilities included in the architecture of the Roles and Responsibilities Worksheet?

ANSWER: Yes