Market Research Survey.pdf

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

TROOP SUPPORT

700 ROBBINS AVENUE

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19111-5092

IN REPLY

REFER TO

DLATS- Taylor Barletta 700 Robbins Ave Philadelphia, PA. 19111

SUBJECT: Market Research for: NSN 6230-01-686-4184 // Light, Marker, Distress

DLA Troop Support (DLATS) is conducting market research on the above item to determine an acquisition strategy that will enhance our support of military customers worldwide as well as to determine what your industry will be capable of providing with respect to the required item. For this reason, DLATS would appreciate your firm sharing your expertise and insight into how this item can be most efficiently procured.

DLATS anticipates issuing a solicitation for the referenced item under an Indefinite Quantity Contract.

The contract may be for a term of one year or two years. Further, it may contain an option to extend the term of the contract. If an option to extend the term of the contract provision is included in the solicitation, each option term would be one year. However, the total contract term will not exceed five years. The answer to the questions concerning pricing will be one of the factors that will help the Government to determine the terms of the contract.

It should be noted that this inquiry, in no way, should be interpreted as a solicitation for offers. No information provided in response to this inquiry will be considered binding between the vendor and the Government. With these facts in mind, it is requested that you review the items listed above and answer the questions on the attached pages. The answers you provide will remain confidential. Please return this survey to Taylor Barletta, by C.O.B. Friday, June 6, 2025, by email at taylor.barletta@dla.mil.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, Taylor M. Barletta Contract Specialist mailto:taylor.barletta@dla.mil

1. (a) Is this Light, Marker, Distress a commercial or modified commercial item in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101? For example: is the item of a type used by the general public; sold or offered for sale to the general public? Is the modification of a type available in the commercial marketplace?

(i) If the item is modified commercial, please briefly describe the modification(s).

(b) If the answer to (a) is yes, is the item commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item in accordance with FAR 2.101? For example, is the item sold in substantial quantities to the general public? Is the item sold to the Government in the same form in which it is sold in the commercial marketplace?

(i) If the item is modified, please briefly describe the modification(s).

2. (a) Is the Light, Marker, Distress made of any type of material that is a major cost driver?

(b) Does any part of the Light, Marker, Distress consist of foreign material?

(c) Does your firm normally stock the Light, Marker, Distress?

(1) If yes, how many are on hand at any given time?

(2) If no, would your firm be willing to stock the Light, Marker, Distress?

(3) If your firm is willing to stock the Light, Marker, Distress, would you need a stocking-up period? If so, how many days would be required to stock up?

(d) What is the production rate of the Light, Marker, Distress? How many can be produced at a time? Is the manufacturing process a batch process or a continuous process?

3. Can you deliver items on an FOB Origin basis? This item qualifies for First Destination Transportation and Packaging (See DLAD 52.247-9058 and 52.247-9059.) Would FOB Origin be acceptable to your firm under the projected contract?

4. (a) How are the Light, Marker, Distress usually transported?

(b) What is the average delivery per truckload?

(c) Is there a specific ordering quantity based on truckloads?

(d) How are the Light, Marker, Distress palletized?

5. What is the standard delivery time your company experiences for the Light, Marker, Distress? Would one standard delivery be suitable for the Light, Marker, Distress (i.e. 90 days for any quantity) or would a phased delivery schedule be a better option (i.e. a 30-day ramp up period with 1,000 EA delivered every 30 days thereafter)? Please give your preference and the actual delivery time frame (how ramp up days and what quantity you could deliver every 30 days thereafter until the order is complete).

6. The current ESTIMATED annual demand quantity for this Light, Marker, Distress is 45,969 EA.

(a) We are considering doing a one-time guaranteed minimum for the base year ONLY. There would be

NO guaranteed minimum for the option years. Would this be acceptable to your company?

(b) We typically do either a specific quantity for the guaranteed minimum or a percentage of the annual demand value of the contract, usually 10% or so. Do you a preference for one over the other, quantity vs. $ figure? In addition, what do you feel would be a fair guaranteed minimum?

7. Please use the above estimated annual demand quantity to answer the below questions:

(a) Will you be manufacturing the material supplied under this contract? If not, please provide the name and cage code of the actual manufacturer.

i. If you are a manufacturer, do you plan on submitting a proposal or do you plan to quote through a distributor?

(b) What would the per unit price be on an F.O.B. origin basis? (Please note you will not be held to any pricing information given during the market research phase. We are only asking for estimated prices and know that pricing may change between now and the time the solicitation is issued and your proposal submitted.)

(c) Is this Light, Marker, Distress quantity sensitive, as in would you offer price breaks? If so, at what quantity points and what would the associated estimated unit prices be for each price break?

8. Is the pricing of this Light, Marker, Distress stable or volatile?

9. If the Government wishes to use an option to extend the term of the contract, a pricing mechanism for the option year(s) needs to be included in any resultant contract.

(a) Would you be able to provide pricing for the base contract year, and any option year(s)?

That is, could you price items out 2 years, 3 years, 4 years or 5 years?

(b) Do you prefer a base period of one or two years?

(c) Would you be willing to accept an Economic Price Adjustment (EPA), which would allow the Government to adjust the base contract price to achieve a revised contract unit price for an option year(s)? The EPA is based on a formula that is generally tied to the Producer Price Index and is limited to a 10% annual increase.

(d) Which pricing method do you prefer, pricing out the option years or using an EPA?

(e) If an EPA was used to adjust pricing, would you require that an EPA adjustment occur more than once during the year? If so, how often and why?

(f) If an EPA adjustment were to be used to adjust the per unit price, what PPI index do you feel best represents this product?

10. Do you have a minimum ordering quantity and/or dollar value that you require for an individual order for this Light, Marker, Distress; if so, what would that quantity and/or dollar value be?

11. Do you have a maximum ordering quantity and/or dollar value that you require for an individual order for this Light, Marker, Distress; if so, what would that quantity and/or dollar value be?

12. Is there a maximum quantity per month that you would be able to supply?

13. Are you a large or small business? If you are a small business, what type of small business are you (woman owned, disadvantaged, veteran owned, etc.)? If you are a distributor, is your manufacturer a large or small business?

14. Do you have any long-term contracts (up to 5 years) with your customers and/or suppliers? If yes, please describe. If no, please explain why, e.g. pricing too volatile, no interest.

15. Can your company accommodate a Surge Requirement in which your company would be required to satisfy requirements for emergency situations (i.e., ramp up to meet early requirements (surge) and/or requirements that may exceed estimated annual quantities)?

16. Delivery orders issued under any resultant contract will be communicated to your company by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Does your firm have EDI capabilities? If no, do you plan on establishing EDI capabilities in the near future?

17. Have you encountered any problems with manufacturing this item if you are a manufacturer, or problems with supplying this item if you are a distributor, which may affect the upcoming contract? (i.e.

long lead times on component parts, problems with raw materials, quality discrepancies, etc.)

18. If the item is commercial, any anticipated Request for Proposal (RFP) may only allow 2 weeks between issue date and closing/due date. Can you respond to an RFP in this timeframe?

19. Is there any other pertinent information that you feel that the Government should know or consider in regards to this item when determining the best way to procure it for the forthcoming contract?

20. Do you have any other comments, suggestions, or concerns that were addressed by the above questions?