Instructions to Quoters RFQ 73351020Q0038.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS TO QUOTERS

RFQ 73351020Q0038

ONGOING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT VALIDATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

The U.S. Small Business Administration intends to issue a Labor Hour contract type Purchase Order for contractor assistance with ongoing process improvement validation and implementation as a result of the completed After Action Report for the agency’s response to the 2017 Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM). Please see the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS) description for requirements.

Quotations shall be submitted as described below. It is the policy of the Small Business Administration not to provide any assistance to prospective Quoters in the preparation of their quotations. However, this is not meant to preclude a Quoter’s requests for information or clarification. Information will be provided if it is available and releasable, while clarification will be provided in all cases. Clarifications regarding these instructions can be submitted via email to the Contracting Officer (CO) Robert Atchison at Robert.Atchison@sba.gov.

Current/previous awards related to this effort: The current award related to this effort is 73351019P0017 awarded in the total amount of $614,672.00 and the incumbent Contractor is Consult DSA LLC (DUNS: 080196302). The previous award related to this effort is 73351018P0026 awarded in the total amount of $909,943.50.

INSTRUCTIONS TO QUOTERS

1. RESPONSE TIME FOR SUBMISSION OF QUOTATIONS

Quotations are due on or before 4:00PM Eastern Standard Time, 10 MARCH 2020. All volumes comprising the Quotation shall be submitted via email only to the Contracting Officer Robert Atchison at Robert.Atchison@sba.gov. No alternate methods of submitting the quotation are acceptable. Quotations submitted by other means shall not be evaluated and not eligible for award. Please ensure the RFQ number (73351020Q0038) and subject title (ONGOING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT VALIDATION AND IMPLEMENTATION) are clearly marked in the email subject line and at the top of all documents. The Quoter assumes full responsibility for ensuring their responses are submitted and received at or before the exact time and date specified in this notice. Should it be necessary to determine, the time and date recorded at the initial point of entry to the SBA’s email system shall be the official time and date a submission is received. Any submissions received after the exact time and date quotations are due will be considered “late” and will not be considered unless it determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Quoters are encouraged to confirm receipt with the Contracting Officer.

2. SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS

04 MARCH 2020 at 4:00PM EST is the cut-off date/time for submission of questions concerning this RFQ. Questions shall be submitted in writing only by email to the CO at Robert.Atchison@sba.gov. Please ensure the subject line of your email contains the following:

“[contractor name] questions for RFQ 73351020Q0038”. No alternative methods of submitting questions shall be considered. Responses to inquiries via phone or voicemail shall not be provided. The Government will provide responses in a Q&A document which will be added as an amendment to the RFQ post on the System for Award Management (SAM) website (https://beta.sam.gov/) as soon as practicable. Based on the number of questions received multiple Q&A documents may be posted. Quoters, and not the Government, are responsible for staying up to date regarding changes to the RFQ on SAM. The Government will not notify Quoters regarding changes to the RFQ posting on SAM. This includes availability of Q&A documents. In order to provide all prospective Quoters enough time to process responses to questions and revise quotations accordingly, responses to questions submitted after the established cut-off time/date is at the sole discretion of the Government. However, regardless of the timeframe, Quoters are strongly encouraged to notify the Contracting Officer as soon as practicable of perceived ambiguities or difficulties in interpreting any portion of the RFQ including terms & conditions, instructions, or evaluation criteria.

3. QUOTATION PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

Quotations submitted in response to this RFQ shall be comprised of the following separate stand-alone file volumes. The recommended file format is PDF. Quotations must be valid for at least 90 calendar days.

3.1. TITLE/COVERPAGE:

coverpage/title document shall be provided with the following information:

Dun and Bradstreet Number (DUNS) Complete Business Mailing Address Contact Name, Phone Number, and E-mail Address RFQ Number Quote Number (contractor's format: this is a unique identified by your office, it could be the date)

3.1.1. Authorized Representative. The Quoter shall provide the name, title, address, e-mail, and phone number of the company representative(s) who can legally obligate/bind the company to a contract. Additionally, the Quoter shall identify the individual(s) authorized to negotiate with the Government by providing the name, title, address, e-mail, and phone number of the individual(s).

3.2. VOLUME I (TECHNICAL)

3.2.1. Factor 1 – Prior Experience:

Please limit prior experience to 10 pages or less.

Prime Contractors shall provide demonstrated prior experience for a maximum of three

(3) contracts performed within the last three (3) years. Prior experience shall be similar in nature, size, scope, complexity, and difficulty in relation to the requirements of the PWS.

The quoter shall provide information to facilitate the Government's consideration of Factor 1. The Government is most interested in examples of real work with actual results of the prime contractor in developing After-Action Reports (AAR) for large-scale disasters. Experience in process mapping is desired. Process mapping is a way to diagram how work is performed. The map is a diagram that includes steps and products, or things created or transformed by the steps. The quoter shall demonstrate experience with process mapping to document how work is done, promote process understanding, and identify problem areas such as inefficiencies, redundancies, and unnecessary steps, as well as opportunities for improvement. Quoters shall also demonstrate relevant experience creating Process Improvement Implementation Plans. Experience can have been attained in either the federal or commercial sector.

The quoter shall provide at least one example of its experience as a prime (its own experience, not the experience of any proposed subcontractors or teaming partners). Prior experience as a subcontractor will only be considered if contractor performed at least 25% (in hours or dollars)* of the requirement relevant to the prospective contract/task order. The quoter shall clearly identify the owner of any prior experience submitted.

Quoters demonstrating prior experience supporting a federal agency’s disaster preparedness planning and execution such as those listed in the PWS will be looked upon more favorably. The Government is more interested in the quality and similarity of the prior experience examples to the requirement than the quantity of examples.

The information shall be sufficiently detailed that the evaluators can determine whether the example(s) demonstrate the prime contractor's experience. The Government will not contact the reference to obtain detail lacking from the offering contractor's response.

The Quoter is permitted to submit on-going projects as demonstrated prior experience (for itself or Major Subcontractors) if 12 months of performance, at a minimum, under the ongoing contract has been completed and if the Quoter clearly describes the stage that the project is at/what has been completed under performance to date.

The Government may contact the identified representative of the Government agency or company as part of the past performance reference checks to confirm the level and quality of this demonstrated prior experience.

*Major Subcontractor is defined as a subcontractor performing at least 25% (in hours or dollars) of the requirement relevant to the prospective contract/task order.

3.2.2. Factor 2 - Technical Approach:

Please limit your technical response to 15 pages or less. Title Page, Table of Contents and Resumes do not count towards the 15-page limit. Resumes are limited to no more than two-pages in length.

In this section, the Quoter shall describe its overall technical approach for meeting the contract objectives. The technical approach must be discussed in sufficient detail to clearly and concisely demonstrate that the Quoter has an understanding of all requirements specified in PWS. Responses which merely restate the requirements of the Government’s scope of work may be considered technically unacceptable. The Quoter shall demonstrate the sufficiency of its technical approach for each of the tasks in the PWS including its general approach as well as specific processes and resources used for each task.

The Quoter shall provide a Project Management Plan that demonstrates its approach to perform project management for this effort including maximizing costs to stay within contract ceiling amount. The vendor shall demonstrate sufficiency of its strategies, processes, tools, organization, and resources for managing risks and the work required by the PWS. The Quoter shall demonstrate the sufficiency of its approach to manage costs, schedule, staffing, team performance, contract performance.

Describe the proposed team of Key personnel and the full staffing plan for supporting personnel including the Quoter’s approach to staffing. This Plan must describe the roles and responsibilities of the team of Key and supporting personnel. Discuss Quoter’s approach to staff continuity, specifically, how to recruit, train, and retain staff to perform the contract tasks in relevant areas of technical expertise. This must include labor mix and level of effort.

At a minimum, the Quoter shall submit a resume for designated Key Personnel. The resume must contain information on education/training, background, general experience and more importantly specific experience as related to the PWS. Key personnel must demonstrate performance under projects similar in size, scope, and complexity. Greater credit will be given to key and other personnel experience that is linked to the past experience and performance references. The Government will evaluate the experience, education, and training of each key person proposed to determine the breadth, depth, and quality of relevant experience, results and effectiveness of their work in achieving goals in performance of projects of similar size and complexity to this requirement. Letters of commitment are required of all key personnel. The letter of commitment must be directed to supporting this program including the length of an individual’s commitment and must be signed by the individual and a corporate authorized official. Key Personnel proposed must be an employee of the Prime Contractor. Resumes shall identify the proposed Key Personnel as an "Existing Employee of the Prime Contractor".

Major Subcontractors may only team and propose with one Prime Contractor in response to this RFQ.

Labor categories can carry different titles depending on the industry and for this reason the Quoter’s may not match the titles used in this RFQ. Quoters shall map their designated titles to the ones used in this RFQ for reference.

The following labor categories have been identified for this effort and are based on historical data:

Project Manager/Consultant (Level III/Executive/SME)* Consultant (Level III/Executive/SME) Consultant (Level II/Senior) Consultant (Level I/Junior)

*Project Manager (PM) is designated as Key Personnel (SME=Subject Matter Expert)

3.3. VOLUME II (Past Performance)

3.3.1. Factor 3 – Past Performance:

Past performance is a measure of the degree to which an Quoter satisfied its customers in the past and complied with Federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Each quoter shall submit Past Performance Information for a maximum of three (3) contracts performed within the last 3 years for services comparable to the requirements of this RFQ similarity in topic, dollar value, workload and duration to demonstrating your ability to perform the proposed effort. For each reference, include the following information in the quote:

Project title, Description of the project, Contract number, Contract amount, Government Agency/Organization, COR’s name, address, and phone number, Contracting Officer’s name, address, and phone number, Contract and, if applicable, task order number, Current status, e.g., completed and/or if in progress, start and estimated completion dates, Dollar value and type of contract, Name of company being referenced, and, A brief narrative of why you deem the reference to be relevant to this effort A discussion of any problems encountered on the identified contract and the corrective action taken by the Quoter.

The past performance should be based on the Prime contractor’s experience. This can include the prime working as a major subcontractor. If you are submitting information as the subcontractor, please make sure that the roles are clearly stated. The Government reserves the right to communicate with the Point of Contact provided.

*Major Subcontractor is defined as a subcontractor performing at least 25% (in hours or

3.4. VOLUME III (PRICE)

3.4.1. Factor 4 – Price: Rates proposed for each labor category shall be fully burdened hourly labor rates. Fully burdened hourly labor rates are inclusive of profit, G&A, fringe benefits, salary, and other indirect rates. Quoters shall provide a completed copy of the Price Matrix spreadsheet attached to this RFQ. Instructions for completing are listed in the spreadsheet. The Price Matrix contains the labor categories identified by the Government determined to be most relevant to this requirement based on historical data.

The estimated hours included in the Price Matrix spreadsheet are representative of the actual hours for performance of this RFQ and will only be used to evaluated price. The estimated hours listed in the Price Matrix are based on historical data per labor category for similar efforts.

3.5. ASSUMPTIONS, CONDITIONS, OR EXCEPTIONS

Quoters shall submit all assumptions, conditions and exceptions to any of the terms and conditions of this RFQ in the pricing section. If not noted in the quotation, it will be assumed that the quoter proposes no assumptions for award, and agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein. It is not the responsibility of the Government to seek out and identify assumptions, conditions or exceptions buried within the quotation.

Each assumption, exception or dependency shall be specifically related to a paragraph and/or specific section of the RFQ or associated clearly with an asterisk of the pricing proposed. The quoter shall provide a rationale in support of any noted assumption, exception or dependency, explaining its effect in comparison to the RFQ.

Assumptions, exceptions or dependencies do not make a quotation automatically unacceptable but will be considered as part of the evaluation of the price as it relates to the quoter's overall quotation. Except see “Award without Discussions” below.

BASIS FOR AWARD AND EVALUATION FACTORS

1. BASIS FOR AWARD (see FAR 13.004 regarding the legal effect of quotations) The basis for award and evaluation criteria were developed using FAR 13.106-2, Evaluation of quotations or offers. The Government reserves the right to award a contract to other than the lowest priced quotation. The Government reserves the right to make no award resulting from this RFQ. The Government will consider the following four evaluation factors:

Factor 1: Prior Experience Factor 2: Technical Approach Factor 3: Past Performance Factor 4: Price

One award will be made to the responsible Quoter submitting an overall quotation determined most advantageous to the Government, price and non-price factors considered. The basis for award will be best value. "Best value" means the expected outcome of an acquisition that, in the Government's estimation, provides the greatest overall benefit in response to the RFQ. Best value evaluation is a subjective assessment by the Government of the proposed solution that provides the optimal results to the Government. The Government will conduct a tradeoff analysis that involves the assessment of benefits of superior technical quotation features (i.e., benefits clearly attributable to increased productivity, increased probability of successful performance, and unique and innovative approaches or capabilities) versus the added price.

Overall price to the Government may become the ultimate determining criterion for award of the contract should quotations become more equal based on other criteria. A comparative analysis of quotations (comparing quotations to one another) may also be conducted where evaluators compare and contrast each quotation’s strengths & weakness to one another. It is an additional evaluation method to assist in determining which quotation would be most advantageous to the Government’s needs.

a. Price Analysis. Price analysis will be done on the Total Evaluated Price (TEP). The Government anticipates adequate competition in response to this RFQ in order to determine fair and reasonable price. However, in the absence of adequate competition, other price analysis techniques such as those listed in FAR 13.106-3(a)(2) will be used to determine price reasonableness. As stated in FAR 13.106-3(a)(3), unreasonably high/unrealistically low, unbalanced, inaccurate or incomplete pricing may be the grounds for eliminating a quotation from competition, pending clarifications.

b. Evaluation of Options. In accordance with FAR clause 52.217-5, Evaluation of Options (Jul 1990), the Government will evaluate quotations for award purposes using TEP by adding the total price for all years. As part of price evaluation, the government will evaluate its option to extend services (see FAR Clause 52.217-8) by adding one-half of the quoter’s final option period price to the quoter’s total price. Thus, the quoter’s total price for the purpose of evaluation will include all three (3) years, plus 1/2 of the third (3rd) year (option period 2). Quoters are not required to enter a price for the six-month extension period. The Government may determine that a quotation is unacceptable if the follow-on year prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of the option to extend services shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option.

c. Award without Discussions. The Government intends to evaluate quotations and award a contract without discussions with quoters (except clarifications). Therefore, the quoter’s initial quotation should contain the quoter’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary. In the event discussions are held, a competitive range determination will be made. Any exceptions or deviations made by a quoter to the terms and conditions stated in this RFQ for inclusion in the resulting contract may make the quotation ineligible for award without discussions. If a quoter proposes exceptions to the terms and conditions listed in this RFQ, the Government reserves the right to award without discussions to another quoter whom accepts the RFQ stated terms & conditions if the quoter is determined to be the best overall value for this effort.

2. EVALUATION CRITERIA/FACTORS

2.1. General Instructions: Quotations shall be prepared in accordance with and comply with the instructions previously set forth in this RFQ. The technical capability submission and past performance will be evaluated separately from the price. Each submission will be evaluated against the evaluation factors listed below. The Government reserves the right to make no award resulting from this RFQ.

2.2. Optional Two-Phase Evaluation Process. To ensure the evaluation process is conducted in an efficient and expeditious manner, the Government reserves the right to conduct a two-phase evaluation process to reduce the number of quotations received. The two-phase evaluation process will be announced by the Government and Quoters not included in phase 2 will have an opportunity to be debriefed in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(d).

2.2.1. Phase 1. The Government will consider and evaluate all quotations using only evaluation Factor 1 – Prior Experience. Quoters rated as "high confidence" for Factor 1 will move into phase 2. If necessary, to provide for adequate competition in phase 2, the Government may select one or more quotations rated as "satisfactory confidence" for Factor 1 to move into phase 2.

2.2.2. Phase 2. The Government will complete the evaluation process using remaining Factors 2, 3 and 4.

2.3. Evaluation Factors for Award: Quotations will be reviewed and evaluated in accordance with the guidance listed in FAR 13.106-2, Evaluation of quotations or offers and this RFQ. The Contracting Officer is not responsible for locating or obtaining any information not identified in the quote and literature.

Factor 1: Prior Experience. Experience is distinct and separate from past performance.

Experience is the opportunity to learn by doing. The Government will evaluate each quoter’s organizational experience on the basis of its breadth, its depth, and its relevance to the work that will be required under the prospective contract, based on the information provided in the past performance/reference information sheets submitted. The Government will assess its level of confidence using Table 1 below that the prime contractor will successfully perform the requirements based on its prior experience.

a. Cited prior experience shall demonstrate, but is not limited, to the following:

- Ability to validate whether an organization’s current processes are working as designed and;

- Update process maps to reflect identified changes and;

- obtain, process, and provide recommendations based feedback from stakeholders and other federal contractors and;

- Developing requirements documents or business cases for executive approval, as needed, to reflecting new information technology systems, or use of automation for future improvements and other identified opportunities for improvement and;

- Develop implementation plans for new initiatives or processes to implement and;

- prepare and present presentations to senior level executive staff and;

- compiling and maintaining weekly, monthly, etc. status reports

b. For each example of prior experience provided, the Quoter shall, at a minimum, document:

- Name of project, duration, and dollar value.

- Government Agency or Company for whom work was performed and a name, title, e-mail and phone number for a representative of that client agency or company who can attest to the work performed.

- Brief description of project (enough to establish relevance of experience to the RFQ), and role of Prime or Major Subcontractor* which clearly identifies the

- level and type of services performed under the contract, and the role of the Prime or

- Major Subcontractor* in performing the work.

- Point of Contact for the Government agency (name, title, current phone number, and

- current e-mail) familiar with the project and can confirm level and quality of the

Quoter(s) referenced past performance experience and work.

The Government is more interested in the quality and similarity of the prior experience examples to the requirement than the quantity of examples. The information shall be sufficiently detailed that the evaluators can determine whether the example(s) demonstrate the prime contractor's experience. The Government will not contact the reference to obtain detail lacking from the offering contractor's response.

* Major Subcontractor is defined as a subcontractor performing at least 25% (in hours or

Table 1 (Factor 1: Prior Experience)

Factor 1 – CONFIDENCE ASSESSMENTS Rating Description High Confidence Based on the quoter’s stated experience, the Government has a high expectation that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort.

Satisfactory Confidence

Based on the quoter’s stated experience, the Government has an expectation that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort.

Low Confidence Based on the quoter’s stated experience, the Government has a low expectation that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort.

Factor 2: Technical Capability: This factor will be assigned a rating from Table 2 below.

Quoters shall demonstrate an understanding of the work, including thoroughness shown in understanding the objectives of the PWS and specific tasks required, including discussion of experience and knowledge of drafting after-action reports.

a. Discussion of the quoter’s experience, specific methods and techniques for completing the statement of work, including the following:

- Approach to identifying and implementing process improvements

- Approach to process mapping, including standard deliverables

b. Discussion of the quoter’s approach to project management, including standard deliverables. Discuss the quality of the Project Management Plan and allocation of personnel and resources. The project management plan refers to the way that you are going to manage the project. The plan should address how the project will be executed, monitored and controlled.

c. Discussion of the key personnel proposed; the currency, quality and depth of experience of individual personnel working on similar projects. Similar projects must convey similarity in topic, dollar value, workload, duration, and complexity. Include a staffing plan, resumes for key personnel and a description of your current personnel resources for this, which addresses their capabilities and experience relating to the attached Statement of Work.

Table 2 (Factor 2 – Technical Capability)

FACTOR 2 - ADJECTIVAL RATINGS

Rating Definition

Excellent The response exceeds stated requirements, as reflected through an innovative, comprehensive, outstanding approach. The response is complete in terms of the basic content and level of information the Government seeks for evaluation. There is a high probability of success and minimal risk that this Quoter would fail to meet the quantity, quality, and schedule requirements. Minor weaknesses, if any, need not be corrected to make award.

Good The response meets the stated requirements. The response is considered complete in terms of the basic content and level of information the Government seeks for evaluation. There is a reasonable probability of success and little risk that this Quoter would fail to meet the quantity, quality, and schedule requirements. Minor weaknesses, if any, may not need to be corrected to make award.

Marginal Factor is addressed, but information related to the factor is incomplete, unclear, or indicates an inadequate approach to, or understanding of the factor. The technical evaluation team believes there is [a] question as to whether the Quoter would be able to perform satisfactorily. Factor may be able to be corrected by a revised quotation.

Not eligible for award unless discussions are held offering revisions to original submission.

The minimum acceptable assigned technical ratings to be eligible for award are “EXCELLENT” and “GOOD”. Quotations assigned a technical rating “MARGINAL” are not eligible for award unless it is determined discussions will be held. Quotations assigned a technical rating of “POOR” will be ineligible for award and will not be further considered.

Factor 3: Past Performance. Past Performance will be evaluated and will be used as part of the overall tradeoff analysis in the best value determination. References will be evaluated, along with any other information obtained by the contracting office or evaluation team. Past performance is a measure of the degree to which a quoter satisfied its customers in the past and complied with Federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Government may contact some of the quoter’s customers to ask whether or not they believe: (1) that the quoter was capable, efficient, and effective; (2) that the quoter’s performance conformed to the terms and conditions of its contract; (3) that the quoter was reasonable and cooperative during performance; (4) that the quoter was committed to customer satisfaction; and (5) if given a chance would they select the same or a different contractor team. In the case of an quoter without a record of relevant past performance, or for whom information on past performance is not available, the quoter will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.

NOTE: Sources of existing information available to the Government include, but are not limited to, Contractor Performance Assessment Reports System (CPARS), PPIRS, FAPIIS, and Electronic Subcontract Reporting System (eSRS). The Government may use past performance information obtained from sources other than those identified by the Quoter. The Government reserves the right to use or not use past performance information submitted by the Quoter based on whether or not adequate recorded past performance information is available from other sources.

The responsibility to send out and track the completion of Past Performance Questionnaires rests solely with the Quoter.

Poor The response fails to meet the stated requirements and is technically unacceptable.

The response is considered deficient in terms of basic content and level of information the Government seeks for evaluation. Can only be corrected by major or significant changes to relevant portions of the quoter, or the factor is addressed so minimally or vaguely that there are widespread information gaps. In addition, because of the deficiencies, weaknesses, and/or information gaps, serious concerns exist on the part of the technical evaluation team about the quoter’s ability to perform the required work. Not eligible for award.

Table 3 (Factor 3: Past Performance)

Factor 1 – CONFIDENCE ASSESSMENTS Rating Description High Confidence Based on the quoter’s performance record, the Government has a high expectation that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort.

Satisfactory Confidence

Based on the quoter’s performance record, the Government has an expectation that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort.

Low Confidence Based on the quoter’s performance record, the Government has a low expectation that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort.

Unknown Confidence/Neutral

No relevant performance record is available or the quoter’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned. If a quoter receives this rating, it means that the assessment of its past performance will not be considered an advantage or disadvantage, but will be considered as neutral.

Factor 4: Price: Price will not be scored or rated. The Government anticipates adequate competition will establish fair and reasonable price. However, in the absence of adequate competition, the evaluation procedures in FAR 13.106-3 will be utilized.

The completed Price Matrix spreadsheet will be used to evaluate price. The Government will apply the Quoter’s proposed fully burdened labor rates to the Government’s estimated quantity of labor hours by labor category over the life of the contract, as estimated in the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), to derive a total evaluated price for the Quoter. The Government will evaluate the total evaluated price to determine that it is fair and reasonable.