LIS Sources Sought Industry Day QAs 20240724.pdf

Logistics Integration Support (LIS) Industry Day Attendees and Sources Sought- Q&A

1. Will there be additional locations for contractors to expand on?

Yes, there will be a flexibility to add on additional sites.

2. When structuring Section L and M in the way of how Past Performance and Technical are weighted, could the Government include a type of cost realism so they can offer LIS/SECREP to integrate with

GPN?

No, the Government will not include a type of cost realism within Sections L and M of the Request for Proposals (RFP).

3. When will the DRAFT RFP be posted?

The Government’s target time frame to release a DRAFT RFP is the end of Q1 2025 or beginning Q2 2025.

4. Does the incumbent have proprietary rights concerning the software? Does the Government have the desire to own software rights? This will be needed for GPN and Classified information purposes.

Yes, the incumbent does have proprietary rights. The Government is not interested in software rights at this time.

5. Has your contract tapped into ASOS (Army Support Other Systems)?

No, the Government is not currently tapping into ASOS.

6. Which critical parts are needed as part of the contract? Could the Government provide any information, data, or any analysis concerning filling inventory?

The Government will provide a list of current National Stock Numbers (NSNs) which are considered to be critical. The Government does not intend on providing historical repair data.

7. Would you see program where it goes into how they manage inventory? Would the Government consider doing a Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract?

No, inventory management will not be part of the program. The Government does not intend on doing a PBL contract.

8. If a proposal could show savings by enhancing lead times, show tangible enhancements, larger repair in trade free zone areas, would the Government be interested?

The Government would be interested in all enhancements as proposed by an offeror. However, the Government will review all proposals in accordance with Sections L and M of the RFP.

9. It is difficult to price integrators due to Raytheon not sharing information. Can the Government assist?

The Government will assist as appropriate. The Government is aware of the LIS Integrator running into challenges with potential sub-vendors (mostly OEMS or Directed Source) who previously worked with Marine Corps Systems Command under an acquisition/fielding contract. In order to assist the Integrator and help to meet the RFP timeline, the Government will contact the potential sub-vendor and explain the LIS repair contract, the role of the Integrator, and the purpose for information requested.

10. Historically, transportation was rolled into the price of SECREP which gives limited capabilities.

Transportation was included in the SECREP Pricing data under Contract M67004-16-C-0005.

Under the current (M67004-21-D-0002) contract, transportation is priced separately as a cost reimbursable CLIN.

11. Is Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE)/Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) functioning?

Yes, Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment is functioning.

12. Response to Sources sought. Will questions be answered? Are you keeping Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)?

Yes, the follow-on contract will be an IDIQ.

13. Recommendation to shipping CLINS, it requires a great deal of reconciliation right now and not a clear view for the Government to see. Would the Government consider consolidation of shipping, anticipated, and amortized across the NSNs, or total cost and broken down by NSNs?

No, the Government will not consider consolidating shipping.

14. Concerning Past Performance within evaluations, if one has no Past Performance would it still be considered neutral?

Yes, FAR 15.305 (a)(2)(iv) states, “In the case an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.” Therefore, the offeror shall be determined to have unknown past performance. In the context of acceptability/unacceptability, “neutral” shall be considered “acceptable.”

15. Does the Government have a clear understanding of the requirement or RFP?

The Government is currently in the process of developing the LIS recompete requirement and

RFP.

16. Concerning Small Business participation, as we have goals as well, with the growing use of OEMs on contracts, the base is getting smaller and smaller. Would the government consider allowing us to report small business goals? Would the Government be open to take out the NSNs which are not available through small businesses?

No, the Government cannot remove NSNs that are not available for small businesses. We, at this time, do not have accurate historical repair data on many NSNs that are OEM to determine a percentage of dollars that are exclusive to large businesses. Further, the Government does not have projected future repairs or equipment that may incorporate into LIS that are OEM.

However, the Government will, annually, review the efforts made by the contractor to ensure that best efforts were made to meet the established small business subcontracting goals and if determined so provide relief.

17. Could small business be competitive in this requirement, if financials and FTEs, were acceptable?

Yes, small businesses could be competitive in this requirement if financials and full-time employees (FTEs) were acceptable.

18. Section 7 PWS – is this necessary? This is going to add a lot of cost. Why FFP on labor? With so many items? Referring to page 33 in PWS.

Section 7 of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) will be deleted. However, DFARS Clause

252.204-7023 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRACTED SERVICES—

ALTERNATE I (JUL 2021) will be included in the contract.

19. Section 4.6 PWS – will this be issuing with government documents/orders?

Yes

20. Is there a cyber security? Will there be training?

Yes, the annual Cyber Awareness training will be required.

21. Do you have to have a ATO certificate before, during, or at the time of award? This takes months if we need this before.

No, Offerors do not need to have an Authority to Operate (ATO) certificate.

22. Section 4.5 alluded to security clearance. There is a DD254. Is it facility level? Will an individual be needed?

The DD254 is at facility level. No individual security clearance is needed.

23. Would the Marine Corps be open to other DOD agencies utilizing this contract?

No.

24. What are the Government’s major pain points?

The Government is consistently looking at process improvements to include but not limited to:

1) contractual turn-around times, 2) automation process systems, 3) O&As, and 4) FFP submissions of NSNs in a contested environment.

25. How many vendors do we work with? How many are OEM? Do vendors change?

There are an estimated 136 sub-vendors and approximately 30 are OEM. Yes, the vendors may change at the discretion of the incumbent contractor.

26. How do you track warranty information?

The LIS Integrator is responsible for Warranty Management. A warranty is issued for the repair/replacement of assets (under certain conditions and for a certain period of time) that have been through the LIS ROR process. The LIS Integrator (not the OEM/ROR Sub-Vendor) is responsible for Warranty execution and Warranty management. The Contractor shall provide visibility of historical records to include all Open Warranties; create new reports as required; search, sort, and filter; and download data to Microsoft Excel.

27. With FFP per item and working capital (a couple), how important is price to the Government?

The weight of evaluation factors are still to be determined by the Government and will be detailed in Section M of the RFP.

28. With 1000 NSNs how many SECREPS are being managed?

There are approximately 7,000 to 9,000 inductions done annually.

29. How do you manage Performance Requirements? Is there an automated report?

Performance Requirements are managed by Desired Outcomes and Performance Objectives of the PWS. No, there is not an automated report.

30. With Contractor turnaround times are there specific things that could be done differently? Seems Integrators are leading the TAT.

Offerors are responsible for submitting their technical proposal describing their approach to turn around time (TAT) as detailed in Sections L and M of the RFP.

31. Is the Government aware of Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract (WEXMAC)? They are going after multiple vendors worldwide in case of wars. They are issuing multiple awards.

The Government is aware of WEXMAC and the upcoming WEXMAC 2. This contract vehicle is not suitable for the Government’s requirement and would not allow for accurate tracking of

SECREPS.

32. The Government needs to think about expanding the coverage to protect the warfighter worldwide. Is one vender the best option or two or more?

The Government intends on awarding a single award, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract.

33. Will a list of OEM parts be identified at the time of the RFP?

OEM parts will be identified at the time of RFP.

34. The Description of Services requires “the consulting services provided by the Contractor include: 1) productivity improvement, 2) quality assurance and quality control; 3) inventory management; 4) distribution networks; 5) transportation and shipments of goods and materials; 6) materials management and handling; 7) optimizing supply chains by supporting USMC regional Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) strategy and leveraging existing regional capabilities with partner nations and local commercial industry.” That doesn’t indicate that the prime has to have the capability to perform the repairs in house. Does the SECREP Program Office intend that the Integrator also perform the maintenance and repair?

The Integrator may perform repairs or sub-contract out as appropriate.

35. The PWS indicates “The Contractor will be required to develop and maintain a vendor base to provide remanufacture, overhaul or repair (ROR) capability for 1,000 National Stock Numbers

(NSNs) through consultation with the LIS SECREP program office.” What information regarding the vendor database will the Program Office provide?

Government will provide a list of NSNs that have a required source of repair.

36. PWS 1.4: “The National Stock Number (NSN) list/Pricing Workbook (Solicitation/Contract Attachment 2) identifies the NSNs on contact.” Do we individually price item repair for the proposal?

Or is this just the exercise of adding Mark-up Rates to establish vendor prices?

The desired outcome expected by the Government is an individual quote for each NSN with a proposed level of ROR, FFP $, KTAT and warranty terms.

37. The PWS lists the desire for “Fixed Unit Price”. Are we to provide a single price for ROR for each item, even though the amount of repair may vary?

Offerors will be provided the requested level of repair (repair, remanufacture, or overhaul) of each NSN for pricing submission. O&A will be incorporated into the contract for any additional costs not covered under the level of repair established on the contract.

38. The PWS 1.2 lists a fixed Contractual Turn Around Time (KTAT) for each item as a condition of the program. How is that timeline established? Does the Government provide historical results?

Historically, the Government has requested a 90-day KTAT. The offeror shall provide a proposed KTAT for the Governments acceptance.

39. PWS 5.11 Asset Visibility: The Contractor shall provide visibility of GFP in the Contractor’s possession, and historical records, to designated Government personnel via a password-protected commercial website viewable from Marine Corps network computers. Confirm that this a company developed/provided tool. – Based upon the DD 254, this is a Contractor Owned – Contractor Operated System (MAXIMO).

The Contractor provides visibility of Government Furnished Property (GFP) as stated in PWS

5.11 and owns the Information System (MAXIMO). As stated in PWS 4.5.3 Access to Procedures, Records, Data, and Facilities: All records/information entered into, contained within, or derived from the Government-Owned Contractor Operated Information Technology (GOCO-IT) systems are the property of the Government. GFP shall be tracked through PIEE.

40. What was the total value of the repairs performed last fiscal year?

KY03 total obligation was roughly $72M.

41. What is the value of the inventory supported by this program?

The value of the Inventory supported by this program is $1.4B

42. What challenges are you facing within the next 5 years?

Obsolescence of legacy parts, Government owns database but does not own the system, Government systems cannot link with database, and increase in directed source NSNs for ROR.

Maintaining force readiness; Maintaining supply chain efficiencies with commercial and foreign allies across a global network.

43. Key Personnel are sometimes not available at award. Would the Government be open to naming a company representative with resumes instead of key personnel?

The PWS currently requires positions to be identified, however, names of personnel are not required at time of award.

44. We prefer oral discussions, are they coming back?

No.

45. In terms of Past Performance – this contract is unique. Can the Government devalue the cost and increase the scope and size?

The Government is establishing how “relevant” is defined for past performance. A draft RFP will be posted to the GPE for industry comments on Sections L and M.

46. Will the PWS be close to the one posted in SAMS?

The Government will make changes within the PWS based on industry feedback and will post a revised version along with the draft RFP for industry comments.

47. In the past has the Government had repair vendors which were close in location? How many vendors are there currently and what is the transition period?

No, the repair vendors are not close. Currently, there are approximately 136 vendors. The Phase-in period will be established in accordance with (IAW) section 4.9.1 of the PWS.

48. Do you have push back from other sources of repairs from vendors? Is the current contractor who is running the program late with turn times?

The Government will not comment on the performance of the current contractor.

49. Is there a trend analysis to show how long the items are sitting on the shelves?

Inventory turns (IT) are the best metric to show the length of time assets are sitting in inventory. During FY23, SCMC Wholesale (MPB) maintained an average of $721M of SecRep assets in inventory while generating a Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) of $61M. Using this information the annual inventory rate is calculated at 8.5%. Therefore, the time it takes MPB to turnover its SecRep inventory is 11 years and 9 months.

50. Is there any historical data which could assist the contractor?

Due to Force Design the current data is not valid due to the number of NSN’s that have been deleted and added. As a result, the Government does not intend on providing historical data.

51. Is there foresight, to increase the funding, to support growing the on sites?

The contract will be awarded with a set ceiling price, incorporating all anticipated growth.

52. Is there Inventory at each location? If so, is there a quantity of stock you keep at each location?

The offeror will not be responsible for keeping stock nor will the Government own any excess inventory in the contractor's possession.

53. During transition periods, does the current contractor provide the warranties to the Government?

Warranties will be maintained by the incumbent contractor throughout the duration of warranty period.

54. What software or system, currently is used? Does it belong to the Government?

The system currently being used belongs to the current Contractor. The Government owns the data.

55. Does the Government require a subcontractor to manage the warranty, or would the subcontractor communicate with the prime?

Subcontractors should communicate all information with the Prime Contractor.

56. What is the relationship with the RIPs and components?

Currently, there are no issues affecting the relationship.

57. Is there a configuration management? Checklist of assets of components that are mandatory. Joint inspection is required.

Yes, there is configuration management with checklists for assets of components and joint inspections as covered in the PWS Section 3.3.

58. Do any personnel have to have Marine Corps experience? Note: The language in PWS states they are to communicate effectively to Marine Corps.

No, personnel are not required to have Marine Corps experience.

59. Are there any Reporting formats?

There are no reporting formats for contractors. However, it is requested that the program office have input on the design of the dashboard layout.

60. Who are the audiences for the reports?

All reports the Government receives from the integrator, the Program Office presents to the audience of the Marine Corps.

61. Does the Government foresee the scope changing if we go to war.

This assessment will be made if such developments occur.

62. Will the Government consider annual NSN pricing vs. five-year pricing?

The Government is considering annual and bi-annual pricing per NSN.

63. Will the Government consider stand along transportation costs for CONUS deliveries?

The Government is considering incorporating CONUS transportation fees into the firm fixed pricing structure.