RASTER_Q A__2.pdf

FA9451-13-R-0243

R&D For Advanced Space Superiority Technology and Engineering Requirements (RASTER)

Questions & Answers (Q&A) #2

RASTER Q&A #2

1) The DRFP states that a preliminary WBS is included in the Bidders Library. There does not appear to be such a document on the disk.

A. The preliminary WBS is in Annex B of the RDS Systems Engineering Plan (SEP) located in the

RASTER RFP Information folder.

2) In reference to the requirement in the Basic Statement of Work, 3.3.3 and the instructions in

Section L, 6.3.4.3, the instructions should be clarified to indicate whether the ACAs to be submitted in the proposal are to be fully executed, or submitted unsigned for approval prior to execution.

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the submission requirement for Associate Contractor

Agreements.

3) Will AFRL reconsider its position to permit DOD S/TS & SCI addenda to the technical proposal that would provide additional insight into offerors' mission relevant technical capabilities?

A. Section L will remain unchanged. All proposals shall be unclassified. Classified addendums will not be accepted.

4) Request consideration for changing: “Master's Degree in Management or Business

Administration” to “Master's Degree in Management or Business Administration or equivalent experience.”

A. This requirement and Section L will remain unchanged.

5) Request that letters of intent, as referenced in Key Personnel paragraph 4.2.4.1, be included in

Section L, paragraph 2.2.1 Page Limitations, as part of the list of types of pages the following phrase refers to: “Each page shall be counted except the following:”

A. The Final RFP will be updated to exclude letters of intent from the page count.

6) Will AFRL provide a Security Classification Guide for the proper marking and handling of CUI and FOUO in the proposal products?

A. Security classification guides are for classified information, not controlled unclassified information.

In accordance with the Non-Disclosure Agreement of Non-Government Personnel Involved in Proposal Preparation in Response to the “R&D for Advanced Space Superiority Technology and Engineering Requirements (RASTER)” Request for Proposal (RFP), CUI information is to be handled pursuant to DoDM 5200.01-V4, dated 24 February 2012, DoDD 5230.25, dated 06 November 1984, and AFI 61-204. FOUO information is not to be included in any of the proposals.

7) Per the instructions of the NDA, if a subcontractor has signed the NDA of Non-Govt. Personnel, is that sufficient to allow them to view the CUI data from the Bidder's Library at the Prime Bidder's facility.

A. No. As stated in Paragraph 2 of the NDA, “MY BUSINESS UNIT WILL NOT DISCLOSE CUI

TO ANY OTHER INDIVIDUALS OR BUSINESS UNITS.” (emphasis added) If an individual needing access to the Bidder’s Library information is not part of your company, he/she would be required to submit a separate NDA and be certified in JCP prior to having any access to the Bidder’s Library.

8) Reference: DRFP, Sec L, Vol IV, Contact Documentation, paragraph 6.3.4.4.3 Integrated Master Plan (IMP), electronic page 178, this paragraph states: “This section is applicable for any Task Order over $20M using EVMS. The IMP will be used in support of the evaluations performed under Factor 1, Sub-Factors 1 and 3.”

Question: A review and word search of Task Orders 1-3 SOWs, CDRLs, and DIDs does not reveal any requirements for a IMP or EVMS artifact (CPR) for these 3 task orders. Is this contract documentation an “as required” requirement as specified in individual task orders, and as such not applicable to task orders 1 – 3 of this proposal?

A. Offerors are required to submit Integrated Master Plans (IMP) and Integrated Master Schedules

(IMS) for each initial Task Order with their proposals. Subsequent EVMS information will be submitted in accordance with CDRL A021 - Integrated Program Management Report, CDRL A032 - Contract Work Breakdown Structure, and CDRL A033 - Contract Funds Status Report.

9) On page L-26 of the RASTER DRFP, the concluding sentence of the first paragraph states, “The offeror shall complete Blocks 17 and 18 of each CDRL (in accordance with DoD 5010.12-M) and provide the completed versions with the proposal.” Block 17 of the CDRL requires the “17.

Price Group,” and Block 18 of the CDRL requires the “18. Estimated Total Price.”

Thirty –three CDRLs are required as denoted within the RASTER DRFP. The CDRLs do not contain Work Load Indicators, and they do not prescribe the requirements necessary to complete the task/item (e.g., Software Users Manual, Test Plan, Operation and Maintenance Instructions) by the CRDLs. Will the Government either (1) remove the requirement to provide an “Estimated Total Price” for the CDRLs, or (2) provide sufficient WLIs or requirements to allow the offerors to determine a realistic “estimation of total price” for each

CDRL?

A. Offerors must use the Task Order SOWs and Data Item Descriptors (DIDs) identified on the CDRLs to develop the Price Group and Estimated Total Price for each CDRL. Workload indicators (WLIs) will not be provided.

10) Page L-22, 23: Volume IV of the offeror’s submitted proposal is to contain Contract Documentation, and included in this volume are the Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS). The IMS requires the offeror to provide “an event-based plan containing significant accomplishments and accomplishment criteria needed to successfully complete each major program milestone.” The DRFP defines an event as “a key contractual or programmatic event defined by the Government or the offeror, which defines progress at a specific point in time. IMP events mark the conclusion/initiation of intervals of major program activity and serve as decision-oriented measures of program activity related to the program’s maturity.”

Per page L-22, an IMP is required for each Task Order (TO) over $20M using EVMS, which therefore encompasses RASTER TOs 0001, 0002, and 0003. The TO descriptions provided in the RASTER DRFP are not sufficiently prescriptive to provide insight to non-incumbent offeror’s such that they are capable of responding to the detailed IMP and IMS requirements required in Volume IV. Additionally, Section M of the DRFP gives no indication as to how the IMPs and IMSs will be evaluated. For such an onerous task, can the Government provide more TO specifics so that all offerors have an equal position in being able to develop the required IMPs and IMSs, or will the Government remove the requirement of submitting the IMPs and IMSs with submitted RASTER proposals? If the Government keeps the requirement of submitting an IMP and IMS for each TO, will the Government provide an evaluation criterion in Section M?

A. The IMP and IMS will not be evaluated. They will, however, be used in support of the evaluations performed under Factor 1: Sub-Factor 1 and Factor 1: Sub-Factor 3. Offerors must use the Government’s requirements, as defined in the Basic Statement of Work (SOW) and Task Order SOWs, to develop these documents. The Basic SOW and Task Order SOWs included in the Final Bidder’s Library will provide enough information to all offerors in order to respond to the detailed IMP and IMS requirements of Volume IV.

11) The information on the Bidder's Library CD is “Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)”.

The CD is labeled “UNCLASSIFIED Distribution F. Further dissemination only as directed by AFRL/RDS, 3550 Aberdeen Ave SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117, 5 Mar 2013, or higher DoD authority.”

Similarly, the addenda to the three task orders are labeled “DISTRIBUTION C. Distribution authorized to U.S. Government agencies and their contractors; Critical Technology; 30 August 2012.”

If we deem such content relevant to our proposal, and wish to include such content in our proposal, the proposal will have to be classified appropriately.

QUESTION: Is it permissible to include such relevant CUI material in an appropriately classified addendum to our proposal, and thereby simplify the process of identifying and controlling this information?

A. All proposals shall be unclassified. Classified addendums will not be accepted. Controlled

Unclassified Information may be incorporated into an offeror’s proposal, but it must be marked accordingly (in accordance with Section L and the RASTER Non-Disclosure Agreement).

12) Section L, Subsection 2.2, Table 2.2 shows submission of one (1) Cost Volume. Section L, Subsection 5.2 Volume Organization says "The Cost/Price Volume for each Task Order shall consist of the following sections:...". QUESTION: Do we submit one (1) cost volume which includes all Task Orders, or do we provide three (3) Cost Volumes--one for each Task Order?

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the submission requirement for the Cost/Price Volume.

13) The RFP requires the Small Business Subcontracting Plan be placed in both the Technical

Volume (Vol II) and the Contracts Volume (Vol IV). The Small Business Subcontracting Plan will contain pricing information, but Sec L, Paragraph 2.2.2 requires that all cost or pricing data should be contained only in Volumes III and IV. QUESTION: How should the Contractor structure their proposal to comply with both of these requirements?

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the submission requirement for the Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

14) Section L requires Associate Contractor Agreements (ACA) to be included with the proposal as applicable. Paragraph 3.3.2 for each of the three Task Orders says “The following contractors are associate contractors with whom agreements are required:….” QUESTION: Are Associate Contractor Agreements for every one of the companies listed in Paragraph 3.3.2 for each of the three task orders required to be submitted with the proposal? (The combined ACA lists for the three Task Orders include 18 separate companies or contracts that need to be addressed.)

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the submission requirement for Associate Contractor Agreements.

15) Paragraph 4.1.4.1 [sic] states "Resumes are limited to 2 pages." QUESTION: Are these 2 page resumes for key personnel exempt from the page count of Volume II?

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the page limitation for resumes.

16) Section L, Table 2-2 shows the Small Business Subcontracting Plan as part of Volume II, and

Paragraph 4.2.6.1 also states "The Offeror shall submit as part of its initial proposal, a subcontracting plan…" as part of Volume II. The requirement for Volume IV, Paragraph 6.3.4.1, states “…the offeror shall submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan" as part of Volume IV also. QUESTION: Please clarify within which volume the Small Business Subcontracting Plan should be submitted.

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the submission requirement for the Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

17) Table 2-2 cites ITO Para. 4.2.4.1 Key Personnel and indicates a page limit of 5 pages.

Paragraph 4.2.4.1 Key Personnel requires "Identify the key technical and management personnel for each Task Order…." QUESTION: Does the 5 page limit apply to each task order, or is the total number of pages for all three task order key personnel descriptions limited to 5 pages?

A. The Final RFP will be updated to clarify the page limitation for Key Personnel descriptions.

18) Section L requires the description of 10 items under Management Approach, but Section M describes the evaluation of only 9 items. “Reach Back” is included in Section L, but not Section M. QUESTION: Should “Reach Back” be included in Section M?

A. The Final RFP will be updated to include “Reach Back” in Section M.

19) The CD with the Bidder’s Library was to have contained the Contract Work Breakdown

Structure (CWBS), but that document appears to be missing from the CD. QUESTION: Will the CWBS be provided to Offerors?

A. The preliminary WBS is in Annex B of the RDS Systems Engineering Plan (SEP) located in the

RASTER RFP Information folder. A Contract Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS) is to be developed by each offeror, as stated in RFP Section L, paragraph 6.3.4.4.1.