Instructions to Offerors.pdf

ADDENDUM

52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS

A. The following instructions cover the preparation and submittal of the offeror’s proposal for this solicitation. Non-conformance with any instructions provided below may result in an unfavorable proposal evaluation. Proposals received are subject to the requirements specified in FAR 52.212-1, unless otherwise tailored in the Addendum to the solicitation. Proposals shall be submitted to the Government in two (2) separate volumes as set forth below:

PAGE

VOLUME LIMITS

NUMBER

OF COPIES DESCRIPTION

I N/A 1 electronic copy Completed RFQ with pricing

II 50 1 electronic copy Technical Proposal

Completed RFQ with pricing and Technical Proposal shall be submitted in electronic format through DoD SAFE following the Communications paragraph below.

In addition to the page limitations set forth above, proposals should comply with the following format:

(1) Print shall be no less than 12 point and page size shall be 8.5 x 11 inches.

(2) Margins shall be no smaller than 1 inch on the top and bottom and 3/4-inch side margins.

(3) Pages shall be numbered sequentially by volume. Offerors are cautioned that any pages exceeding the limitations set forth above will not be read or considered in the evaluation of the proposal.

(4) Each page containing proprietary information should be so marked.

(5) Each page should contain the following legend at the bottom of each sheet: SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION--SEE FAR 2.101 and

3.104

FOR OFFICIAL USE

ONLY

B. Communications:

Exchanges of information between Government and offerors will be controlled by the Contracting

Officer. Offers must be received no later than 26 May 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT. Initial proposals submitted via email are not permissible. Written proposals for this RFQ will be accepted by submission to DoD SAFE. Please note that the uploaded files must be timestamped by the offer due date and time. Receipt date and time for determining timely submission will be based upon date and time DoD SAFE shows the files were uploaded. Offerors bare the risk for receipt of submitted offers being untimely. Any offer or modifications to the offer received after the exact time specified for receipt of offers/quotes may not be considered. Written Offers submitted in forms other than through

DoD SAFE are not permissible and will not be considered. All responsible sources may submit an Attachment 3 offer, which if received timely shall be considered by this agency.

Instructions for DoD SAFE are as follows:

1. Send a request to Frank Capuano at frank.capuano@us.af.mil or Kathryn Vaccaro at kathryn.vaccaro@us.af.mil and request a DoD SAFE drop-off request code or email link. When requesting a request code or email link allow for a minimum of 24 hours for a response (48 hours if requested on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday). Once the contracting office processes your request, you will receive an email with a link to the DoD SAFE location where files can be dropped off. Copy and paste the email link into browser. Click “Drop-off” button. Enter the request code that was provided by the contracting office and click next. Then follow the onscreen instructions to upload and send the files. For complete instructions on sending files via DoD SAFE, please refer to https://safe.apps.mil/about.php.

2. Files shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Word 2016 or earlier, MS Excel 2016 or earlier, MS PowerPoint 2016 or earlier, or Adobe Portable

Documentation Format (PDF). If submitting a PDF file, the Offeror shall create the file to enable textual search and copy functions. Macros or other embedded objects or features within files will be disabled as part of regular security precautions.

3. Uploaded files must be timestamped by the offer due date and time. Offerors shall allow sufficient time for receipt of electronic submissions by the due date and time. Offerors bare the risk for receipt of offers being untimely.

- The proposal shall be valid for 90 days from the RFQ closing date. The offeror shall make a clear statement in the proposal documentation volume that the proposal is valid through this date.

- In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.8 (Government Contract Files), the Government will retain one copy of all unsuccessful proposals.

4. After submission of the initial proposal package, email may be used to transmit information, only if the email can be sent encrypted, and must include “Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the subject line of the email. In order to facilitate the sending and receiving of encrypted emails, offerors must use MS Outlook email configured to support encryption or a different email product that is S/MIME compatible and configured to support encryption. If you intend to submit your post proposal source selection information via encrypted email, you will need to contact the Buyer/Contracting Officer indicated on the face page of the solicitation prior to that first submittal in order to exchange certificates used for encryption. When submitting source selection information via email, file suppression utilities, to include but not limited to zip files, will not be accepted. Before you can exchange encrypted email you first need to swap certificates one time. Instructions follow:

ENCRYPTING EMAILS

Before you can exchange an encrypted email, you first need to swap “certificates” one time.

To do this:

Send a digitally signed message to the end user.

Have the user respond with a digitally signed email.

You should now be able to encrypt any messages to that user.

Right-click the name in the “From” box, and then click “Add to Contacts” on the shortcut menu.

If you already have a contact entry for this person, select “Update new information” Attachment 3 from this contact to the existing one. To insure the process is working correctly, the offeror needs to send a test encrypted message first (without including any source selection information).

When you are ready to send an encrypted email, insure encryption is selected and include “Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the subject line of the email.

C, FUNDING - The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation, either before or after the closing date. In the event the Government cancels this solicitation, the Government has no obligation to reimburse any Offeror for any costs incurred in responding to this solicitation.

D. Volume I – Completed RFQwith Pricing

a. Volume I shall consist of the completed and signed RFQ with a cover letter delineating any exceptions taken to the RFQ terms and conditions. However, offerors are cautioned that any noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the RFQ may cause their proposal to be determined not eligible for award.

b. Offerors shall ensure that all clauses and provisions that require “fill-in” information are appropriately completed, including the proposed prices associated with the contract line items in the Supplies or Services and Prices/Cost section of the RFQ, pages 3-4.

c. Discussions may be conducted, but the Government reserves the right, in limited circumstances, to award without discussions. Proposals received are subject to the requirements specified in FAR 52.212-1, unless otherwise tailored in the Addendum to the solicitation.

B. Volume II - Technical Proposal

a. Technical proposals shall be clear, concise, and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation. Technical proposals shall include a written response to EACH paragraph of the

Purchase Description with sufficient supporting technical literature. Proposals shall include sufficient technical literature, documentation, etc., in order for the Government to make an adequate technical assessment of the proposed unit. Solely restating the paragraphs of the

Purchase Description or limiting the response to a simple statement of compliance is not acceptable. Where technical literature demonstrates that the proposed unit meets the requirement of a specific Purchase Description paragraph the page number and paragraph of the technical literature may be referenced in lieu of restating it. Offerors shall assume the Government has no prior knowledge of their proposed unit and will base its evaluation solely on the information presented in the offeror’s proposal.

b. The following information shall be used to evaluate each proposal to assess acceptability in accordance with 52.212-2 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

(1) Technical

(2) Past Performance

(3) Price

Technical acceptability and past performance, when combined, are more important than price;

however, price will contribute substantially to the final award decision.

c. The offeror shall provide documentation that demonstrates the verification and validation of the software in use. This documentation shall include the software revision number, date of verification, testing plan, and testing results.

(1) The testing plan shall consist of steps and procedures performed to verify the software.

(2) The testing results shall consist of the measured results and conclusions drawn from the testing plan.