IDIQ Attachment J.7 IDIQ TO for eCommerce.pdf

Attachment J.7 IDIQ RFQ TO eCommerce: Trends, Changes, and Impacts on the Future of U.S. Transportation Activities

PRICE/COST

This is a Firm Fixed Price Task Order in the amount of $TBD.

CLIN Description/Services Quantity Extended Price 00001 1 $0

Total Price

$0

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS

Background

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) within the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is an objective supplier of statistically sound baseline, contextual, and trend information used to shape transportation policy and investment decisions across the United States and abroad.

BTS is responsible for providing timely, accurate, and reliable information on the U.S.

transportation systems used for moving people and goods, and their impacts on the economy, society and the environment. BTS’ many responsibilities include collection and analysis of data and information on critical topics including: traffic, travel, freight, aviation, transit, ferry, and economic activities.

As part of BTS’ transportation analysis programs and activities, the agency analyzes various transportation industry issues, including the emergence of technological advancements that directly impact the movement of goods both domestically within the country and internationally with markets abroad. BTS creates, coordinates, and implements projects designed to increase the overall availability of reliable data on: use and performance of the nation’s transportation system; the interactions of movement of people and goods on the available infrastructure; the changing shifts in the factors behind the observed trends; the interrelationships among goods movement, economic activities, logistics supply chains, electronic commerce (eCommerce), and newly emerging freight services; as well as the related data needs that result from all these transportation activities.

Objective

The objective of this contract is to provide analytical support in performing a rigorous review and analysis of many aspects of the eCommerce phenomena that is changing the U.S. economy in fundamental ways and directly influencing domestic and international freight transportation activities. The goal of the base task is to research eCommerce, assess current eCommerce data and statistical products and gaps, recommend improvements, and assemble data needed for comprehensive analysis. The goal of the optional tasks is to produce a technical report on the impacts of eCommerce on transportation that significantly improves our understanding of the interrelations among electronic selling, electronic shopping, virtual shopping, physical transportation, shopping trips, choice and frequency of means of shopping, alternate modes of transportation for physical distribution of virtual purchases, mobility and accessibility aspects of new product inventories and deliveries, among others.

Period of Performance

The period of performance shall be from date of contract award and will include a one (1) six (6) month base period and two (2) optional periods of nine (9) months each for a total of twenty-four

(24) months from the date of award.

Contract Type

This SOW shall be a firm fixed price contract. The contractor shall furnish the required services at the fixed-firm price. The Government intends to award a single Firm-Fixed-Price contract.

The requirements performed under this contracts are listed in the below task areas:

Scope of Work

Specific Tasks Requirements

Kick Off Meeting and Project Administration Within one (1) week after Task Order Award, the Contractor shall hold a kick-off with the Government via Teleconference or Videoconference. The kick off meeting shall be no more than two (2) hours in duration. The meeting shall cover the project management, roles, authorities, and responsibilities of involved individuals, reach agreement on common issues, resolve and identify potential problems, and clarify understandings of technical aspects of the task order. The kick off meeting will be used to discuss aspects of the work plan.

Task 1: Conduct Initial Literature and Data Review on eCommerce and Transportation, Compile Data, and Produce Technical Memo on eCommerce data and statistical products, data gaps and potential data programs and statistical products.

The contractor shall work with the BTS to review various subtopics and compile the data needed to allow a comprehensive analysis of the four aspects of eCommerce (business-to-consumer, business-to-business, consumer-to-business, and consumer-to-consumer) and how these relate to goods movement and travel trips for shopping. The subtopics to be covered will include, but not limited to the following:

• eCommerce the origins: from catalog mail ordering, to mainframe computers, to the Internet and to digital mobile devices and apps.

• eCommerce and supply chain efficiencies: time-definite processes in production and delivery.

• Relationship between eCommerce and physical distribution of goods.

• Relationship between eCommerce and personal shopping trips, particularly in urban areas.

• Socio-economic and demographic factors behind choice of shopping methods, including eCommerce.

• eCommerce and changes in transportation service delivery: carriers, intermediaries, to virtual drones.

• eCommerce and unintended externalities: system performance, congestion, bottlenecks, travel patterns, environment, transportation employment and the future of eCommerce data and statistics.

The contractor shall research and assess current eCommerce data and statistical products, identify data gaps and recommend potential data programs and statistical products that may be pursued by BTS outside this task to fill these gaps. These potential data programs and statistical products should provide a timely, accurate and complete picture of the transportation impacts, including goods movement and travel (both long distance and last mile) associated with the four aspects of eCommerce.

Deliverables for Task 1:

• Completed draft of results of comprehensive review of available technical literature on the above subtopics.

• Completed draft table of contents for the technical report on the main topic, eCommerce and Transportation in the United States.

• Completed list of approved data sources of reliable government and publicly available data to be used as input for the comprehensive analysis.

• Technical Memo on current data and statistical products, data gaps and potential data programs and statistical products that may be pursued by BTS

Optional Tasks:

Tasks 2: Produce Complete Draft and Final Publication-Ready Analytical Report on eCommerce and Transportation (Optional)

The contractor shall work with the BTS Team to compile and analyze all data and information from the identified sources to prepare written drafts and final report on the primary and subtopics. The specific contents of the analytical report may vary based on results of Task 1, but shall also include at least the following:

• Changing trends in eCommerce;

• Characteristics of eCommerce versus in-store shopping;

• Transportation impacts of changes and advancements in eCommerce;

• Implications of eCommerce for goods movement – supply chain decisions by firms, location of distribution and fulfillment centers;

o Changes in shopping methods o Changes in volume and frequency of deliveries o Changes in spatial patterns of distribution systems

• Implications of eCommerce for individual activity patterns, personal travel, and trip-chaining;

• Unintended effects of eCommerce: last mile deliveries, consumer in-store pickups, employment, environment, safety;

• Estimating impacts of eCommerce on transportation activity; and

• Data requirements for evaluating the transportation impacts of growth in eCommerce.

Deliverables for Task 2:

Draft analytical report ready to go through the BTS publication editorial process:

• Completed and fully annotated report in Microsoft Word;

• Word document formatted to BTS/USDOT document style guide;

• Complete figures, charts, and tables in Microsoft Excel; and

• Complete data for mapped illustrations.

Final Section 508 compliant publication-ready analytical report that addresses all comments provided by BTS. The completed analytical report shall include all supporting tables, figures, charts, and maps.

Task 3: Post-Publication Support to Update Data and Present Results (Optional)

The contractor shall Government, provide support on updating the base data used to produce the analytical report and also prepare the results, including PowerPoint presentation, flyers and handouts, for presentation at government selected events including public forums and webinars.

Deliverables for Task 3 are:

The deliverables for Tasks 3 shall include:

• Fully updated versions of all the data tables in the report to the most recently available data to allow release of timely data on the BTS website;

• Supporting materials, including but not limited to PowerPoring presentations, flyers and handouts, for presenting the results of the report at government events.

Milestones and Due Dates

The following milestones for the deliverables shall be basis for acceptance of the services performed under this SOW:

Deliverable Deliverable Date Kick off Meeting Notes 1 week after meeting Task 1 Literature Review 1 month after award List of Data Sources 4 months after award Technical Report Table of Contents Five (5) months after award Technical Memo Six (6) months after award Task 2 Draft analytical report Six (6) months after option period award Final publication-ready analytical report Nine (9) months after option period award Task 3 Post-publication support for updating data and prepare for public presentation:

Updated data PowerPoint presentation(s) Flyers and handouts

Nine (9) months after option period award

During the base and optional periods, the following shall be the required performance of the deliverables:

Tasks Task 1 – 6 Months

Optional Task 2 – 9 Months

Optional Task 3 – 9

Task 1:

Conduct initial research compile data and produce Technical Memo

- Deliver completed literature review, tables of contents, list of data sources, and Technical Memo

None None

Tasks Task 1 – 6 Months

Optional Task 2 – 9 Months

Optional Task 3 – 9

Task 2:

Produce draft of analytical report for BTS review and comment

Deliver draft of analytical report and drafts of all supporting tables, figures, charts, and maps.

None

Task 3:

Produce publication-ready analytical report

Deliver completed analytical report and all supporting tables, figures, charts, and maps.

None

Task 4: Post-publication support for updating data and preparation of results for presentation

None None

Update all the available data to most recent year available.

Support preparation of results for public presentations.

The contractor shall work closely with BTS staff on each phase of the performance of this SOW to ensure timely execution and delivery of each component throughout the entire project period.

The contractor shall provide a quarterly work report to the BTS project manager. The quarterly report shall include tasks performed by contractor staff, the ongoing work for the current reporting period; any problems encountered and implemented solutions, and other related issues.

The contractor shall provide project management services to include but not limited to project kickoff, project close out, and support.

Delivery Administration In most cases, draft deliverables shall be provided to the COR electronically a minimum of 2 days prior to the due date and time of the Final deliverable. Final deliverables shall be provided by the assigned due date/time in a format and quantity agreed-upon in advance by the Requestor, the Contractor and the COR, and reconfirmed at the time of delivery of the draft version. At other times, non-routine deliverables with tighter lead times and revision requirements, will be assigned to the Contractor by or with prior consent of the COR. In the event of competing assignments and deadlines, the Contractor shall notify the COR immediately, so that the COR may advise the Contractor on the prioritization of work.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROGRAM REVIEWS

The contractor shall work closely with BTS staff on each phase of the performance of this SOW to ensure timely execution and delivery of each component throughout the entire project period.

The contractor shall provide project management services to include but not limited to project kickoff, project close out, and support.

Monthly Progress Reports: Within the first 10-days of the quarter reporting, the Contractor shall submit to the COR(TO) monthly reports containing information on tasks performed, progress and activities during the applicable reporting period, information relevant to listed tasks, financial information, any problems encountered and implemented or recommended solutions, any delays, any concerns, and other related items.

Monthly Project Status Meetings Monthly project status meetings will be held. Meetings will last approximately one (1) hour.

Place of Performance

Performance of this Task Order shall be at the Contractor’s facility.

Deliveries and Performance

Delivery and performance of the services called for hereunder shall be performed in accordance with the instructions of the basic contract, in addition to:

• Base Period of Performance: The base period of performance of this SOW is from the date of award through __________________.

• Optional Period of Performance:

• The optional period of performance 1 of this SOW shall be ___________ through

• The optional period of performance 2 of this SOW shall be ___________ through

• Deliveries: The deliverables with due dates and performance measures are delineated in the Milestones and Due Date respectively, of this SOW.

All written deliverables shall be provided in well-written layperson language. All data deliverables submitted shall be Section 508 compliant. The final data delivered shall be the property of the Government and can be used by the Government in all products and presentations about the finished report.

• Inspection and Acceptance: On an ongoing basis, BTS personnel will conduct inspections of the contractor’s work, primarily evaluating services rendered under this contract and for recommending acceptance or replacement/correction of services or materials that fail to meet the contract requirements to the Contracting Officer. Government inspection and acceptance of services, data reports and other required deliverables or outputs shall take place at the BTS Office in Washington, DC.

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), who is an authorized representative of the Contracting Officer, shall perform acceptance of services and deliverables under this contract. Final acceptance of all services under this contract shall be made in writing by the COR.

Contract Administration Data

The contract administration data of the basic contract applies to this task order as well as the following:

• COR: The Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for this task order is ____________, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

• Payments: Invoices for this task order shall be submitted monthly by the contractor in accordance with a schedule agreed upon with the COR.

Special Contract Requirements

During the course of normal duties, the contractor staff may work with or come into contact with confidential transportation data and information from BTS, other government agencies, and private industry. BTS operates under strict nondisclosure rules, which provides, in summary, that no confidential information may be used for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was supplied, and that such information may not be published or released to any unauthorized person.

Given these restrictions on use of confidential data, the contractor shall be required to ensure that any such data it comes into contact with shall not be disclosed and or used for any other purposes.

Travel

At the time of the award travel is not anticipated. However, should the BTS Contract Manager determine that travel is needed after the award, approval for the travel shall be pre-approved in writing by the authorized government Contracting Officer Representative (COR). The travel invoices shall be submitted and paid in accordance to federal government travel regulations.

General Instructions

Offerors shall examine and follow all instructions in this Section. In order to aid the Government's evaluation of offerors' quotations, the contents of each quotation shall be clearly and concisely written as well as neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. Offerors are reminded that all material submitted should be directly pertinent to the requirements of this RFQ. Extraneous narratives, elaborate brochures, uninformative public relations material and so forth shall not be submitted. All pages of each part shall be appropriately numbered, and identified with the name of the Offeror, the date, and the RFQ title.

As part of proposal, the Offeror shall provide the following:

• RFQ Number and Project Title

• Offeror’s Point of contact for this project including name, title, address, phone number, and email address

• Tax Identification Number (TIN)

• Dun & Bradstreet/Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)

• The validity period of the quote [Offeror's proposal (s) must be valid for at least 90 calendar days

The Offeror’s overall Technical Proposal/Quote shall not exceed 10 pages. The Technical Proposal shall cover (1) Technical Approach and (2) Management Approach/ Personnel Qualifications. Cost Quotation shall not have page limitations. The Cost Quotation shall cover Section 1, Price/Cost (See Attachment 1 Business Quotation Template).

Page count doesn’t include Cover page, Resumes, the table of contents, and portfolio samples.

General Staff Labor Category Descriptions

Junior:

A junior labor category has up to 3 years of experience and a BA/BS degree. A junior labor category is responsible for assisting positions that are more senior and/or performing functional duties under the oversight of more senior positions.

Mid-Level:

A mid-level labor category has 4 to 10 years of experience and a BA/BS or MA/MS. A mid-level labor category typically performs all functional duties independently. Under general supervision, plans, conducts and supervises assignments.

Senior:

A senior labor category has over 10 years of experience and a MA/MS and a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of a subject area (e.g., a history of publications, speaking on the topics, and presenting to peers). A Senior labor category typically works on high-visibility or mission critical aspects of a given program and performs all functional duties independently. A senior labor category may oversee the efforts of less senior staff and/or be responsible for the efforts of all staff assigned to a specific job.

National Expert:

A National Expert labor category has over 10 years of experience, a BA/BS degree, and a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of a subject area (e.g., a history of publications, speaking on the topics, and presenting to peers). National experts have a broad and deep competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field or subject area and are widely recognized as an authority by peers. Has special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the senior labor category, sufficient that others officially rely upon the individual's opinion on that topic. This should be documented through a combination of:

Multiple peer reviewed published reports, journal articles, or other documents;

Multiple key note presentations at national or international conferences Service as committee chair at national level association Multiple interviews, citations or quotes in national media or trade journal

Quotation Submission

Offerors shall submit a quotation consisting of two (2) volumes: (1) Technical and (2) Price. The technical volume shall address the following the criteria, but not limited to provide:

Demonstrated understanding of ecommerce and relationship to goods movement and travel trips and interrelationships, including selling, shopping, transportation, frequency and mode of trips, distribution, inventories, etc.

Proven ability to conduct analysis of transportation activities and impact on U.S.

economy.

Proven ability to produce technical memos and reports, including charts, graphs, maps, etc.

Proven ability to identify and manage well qualified labor resources capable of accomplishing the requirement in the most cost-effective manner to meet required schedules and submission of prescribed deliverables; and

Qualifications and relevance of personnel academic credential(s), years of comparable professional experience, favorable references, breadth of experiencein transportation and logistics.

VOLUME I - TECHNICAL

Part I: Technical Approach

Part II: Management Approach /Personnel Qualifications

• Page Limit: 10 (Excluding resumes)

• The electronic submission(s) shall be submitted in a format compatible with

Microsoft Office.

Volume I shall be presented in 10- point font or larger. The dimensions of each page in Volume I shall be no greater than 8 ½ inches by 11 inches. Footnotes, legends, or labels associated with tables or diagrams, and other information that is ancillary to the main text, may be presented in a font size smaller than twelve- point font - provided that any such smaller font is fully legible.

Resumes are not considered ancillary material, and must therefore be presented in 10-point font or larger.

VOLUME II– COST/PRICE

Part I: Cost/Price Information Part II: Other Financial and Organization Information

•The electronic submission(s) shall be submitted in a format compatible with Microsoft

Excel and shall allow the Government to interact with the data.

• Page Limit: None

I. TECHNICAL FACTORS

The technical factors are listed in descending order of importance. The technical factors technical approach and management approach/personnel qualifications combined are more important than the price factor.

The Government will perform the technical review of proposal/quotations in accordance with the following criteria:

A. Technical Approach

The Offeror shall describe its planned approach detailing how the work will be performed and meet deadline requirements as described in the SOW. The Offeror to demonstrate an understanding of and ability to conduct analysis of ecommerce and relationship to transportation and the U.S. economy and offer a technical approach to fully meet or exceed the Government’s expectation.

The Offeror shall describe its understanding of product development process for publication, including how to tell a “story” with data using visualizations andwriting for the target audience.

B. Management Approach/ Personnel Qualifications

Management Approach:

The Offeror shall demonstrate the ability to identify and manage well qualified labor resources capable of accomplishing the requirement in the most cost-effective manner to meet required schedules and submission of prescribed deliverables. The Offeror shall discuss its staffing plan and how risk will be mitigated.

Personnel Qualifications:

The Offeror shall provide résumés for all proposed personnel for the COR(TO) review and approval. Résumés shall include 1) academic credential(s) and 2) transportation-related professional experience and specialized skills requirements relevant to this request for proposals. The résumé shall contain the 1) knowledge,

2) professional experiences, 4) registrations (if applicable), 4) any certifications (if applicable), and 5) experience previously performed of a similar nature. In the event that the Contractor’s staffing change during the course of the project, the Contractor shall arrange for an efficient transition to a qualified replacement and shall consult with the COR(TO) prior to any transition plans.

Cost/Price Proposal

This volume shall be separate from Volume I – Technical Proposal, and shall contain all pricing information and certain general financial and organizational information as described above in XX and below:

Cost/Price Information

a. Cost/Price Information Assumptions:

An Offeror shall provide its labor rates and categories to support the needs outlined using the Business Quotation Template provided as in Attachment 1.

The quotation shall be prepared in accordance with the Offeror’s accounting system and current business practices. The Price Quotation shall illustrate price data which is used to determine its fixed loaded hourly rate. Because the goal of the Task Order Contracting Officer is to issue the Task Order without further communications with the quotes, there may be no additional opportunity for Contractors to revise pricing submissions or offer further discounts prior to issuing of Task Order.

b. Price Information Breakdown:

Quotations shall include, at a minimum:

1. Labor Rates/Categories: Provide labor rates/categories for all proposed staff to perform the tasks in the SOW. The annual direct labor escalation rate and its basis shall be clearly stated with the quotation.

2. Level of Effort: The Government has provided the anticipated Level of Effort in Section 1.

Offerors shall propose the appropriate labor mix to meet the requirements.

3. Other Direct Costs: None anticipated at this time.

Basis for Award and Evaluation Factors

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s technical, management/personnel and cost to ensure that it meets the requirements as outlined in this RFQ.

For the purpose of evaluating the estimated total price proposed, the Government will review the quotation submitted by the Offeror.

Clarifications or discussions (negotiations) with Offeror, if conducted, will be in accordance with FAR 15.306, “Exchanges with Offerors after receipt of proposals.”

1. Technical Approach

2. Management Approach/Personnel Qualifications

3. Price

Basis of Award

The requirement will be a negotiated procurement in accordance with best value tradeoff source selection process outlined in FAR 15.101-1. The award will be made on the best overall (i.e., best value) quotation that is determined to be the most beneficial to the Government, with appropriate consideration given to the four evaluation factors.

Evaluation Criteria

The Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) will evaluate and rate the Technical Quotations. The method of evaluation for each of these factors is described below. All factors and sub-factors are listed in descending order of importance.

In making its selection decision, the Government will consider the following criteria listed in descending order of importance:

1. Technical Approach

2. Staffing/Resumes and List of Key Personnel

3. Price (non-technical factor)