Q A_Part_3.docx

MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND

N00033-14-R-6507

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (PART 3)

The following are answers to questions received from potential offerors. The answers provide clarification only and DO NOT constitute an amendment to the solicitation.

1. With the expanded locations/scope, will the forthcoming amendment include an increase in Sample Scenario response?

ANSWER: No, the samples were drafted to address the most common types of situations that can occur at any location.

2. With the pending amendment and increase scope, will the government please provide an extension?

ANSWER: Please see Amendment 02 that was posted on fbo.gov on 14 April 2014.

3. Reference RFP pg 13 of 95, Specific Tasks, para 1. Can the government please provide expected timeframes to mobilize Task Orders or confirm that each Task Order will have established mobilization timeframes?

ANSWER: See FAR52.212-4 ADDENDUM Section 2.0 and 6.0 for information regarding task order procedures. Performance start times will vary depending on the requirement for each task order. The Government will take all available measures to ensure enough time is provided for the Contractor to mobilize for Task Order performance, however, urgent situations may occur, and the Contractor will be expected to support these requirements in accordance with the terms and conditions of the base contract.

4. Reference RFP pg 13 of 95, Specific Tasks, para 3. Can the government please clarify the following statement “The contractor must have sufficient computers, telephone and Internet bandwidth in contractor facilities. The Government will not reimburse the contractor for any computer and telephone in connection to these services.”

ANSWER: This refers to contractor-owned and contractor-operated facilities. All government-owned facilities operated by the contractor will have sufficient computers, telephone and internet bandwidth. If the contractor requires separate corporate connectivity in government-owned facilities the government will not reimburse the contractor for this.

5. Reference RFP pg 15 of 95, 2.1.1 Receive and Inspect Material, Record Transactions, para 1. Record receipt or custody of any unordered or frustrated material (items that cannot be cross referenced to MSC orders, items without identifying information or items with incorrect information.

Question. Can the volume of these transactions per week, month or year be estimated?

ANSWER: No, this cannot be quantified or estimated at this time, but the government systems are being updated with the capability. As MSC deals with a lot of commercial (non-DOD Supply system) material, identification, markings, and inconsistent labeling is a common occurrence.

6. Reference RFP pg 15 of 95, 2.1.1 Receive and Inspect Material, Record Transactions, para 1. Notify Government representatives that specified material is available for sight inspection and acceptance by the Government Technical Point of Contact (TPOC), On completion of Government TPOC inspections, the Contractor shall record results in CMLS.

Question. Once notified does the TPOC have specified timeframe in which these inspections must occur? How do these exception transactions reflect in metric calculations?

ANSWER: The government does not have a specified time yet. However, the contractor will have a specified time to execute once given disposition instructions. In general, a 10-day turnaround for the contractor after notification from the government can be expected, depending on the specific situation.

7. Reference RFP pg 17 of 95, 2.1.8 Perform Retrograde and Special Item Management Operations, para 2. The Government will identify retrograde material. If required, a designated Government representative will provide the piece, weight, cube, location, and disposition instructions to the Contractor.

Question. Is there a timeframe in which the government will complete these inspections and recommendations?

ANSWER: See answer to Question #6.

8. Reference RFP pg 18 of 95, 2.1.9 Process Material Turn-in or Disposal, para 1. Excess ready-for-issue (RFI), not ready for issue (NRFI), scrap and other ship operating or maintenance materials must be returned for repair or credit to the DoD supply system, turned over to DoD re-utilization/scrap facilities, turned in to MSC residual assets facilities or turned in to Navy fleet support facilities.

Question. Are these transactions considered “Issues”, if not what are they considered, will the contractor be responsible for identifying these excesses and if so how?

ANSWER: See answer to Question #9. The Government will be identifying material that is considered excess.

9. Reference RFP pg 18 of 95, 2.1.9 Process Material Turn-in or Disposal, para 2. The Contractor shall process material for turn-in or disposal and arrange shipment.

Question. Are these transactions considered “Issues”, if not what are they considered?

ANSWER: Material that is in inventory will be considered issues.

10. Reference RFP pg 18 of 95, 2.1.9 Process Material Turn-in or Disposal, para 3. The Contractor shall generate turn-in or disposal documentation, obtain the required authorization signatures, provide copies and notifications to concerned organizations and maintain Government files on these activities. The Contractor shall schedule delivery of the material to the Government.

Question. Are the government personnel onsite who have the authorization to provide signatures, does software provided transmit via EDI copy or notification to the concerned organizations?

ANSWER: Government representatives are located at each location. Transmittal of documentation to all concerned will be via the DLA systems or via the MSC applications.

11. Can the government please provide instruction on how they would like CLIN 0002 Travel Base Period and CLIN 0003 Material Base Period to be annotated in SF1449 along with all option years? Can CLIN 0002 and 0003 along with option years be entered on the SF 1449 as NSP since amounts aren’t known until Task Order?

ANSWER: None of the amounts on the CLINS on the 1449 can be determined at this time. All amounts are TBD because the task orders will determine the CLIN amounts. See FAR 52.212-1 ADDENDUM for pricing submission requirements.

12. Reference RFP pg 66 of 95, Factor 2 Past Performance. Offerors are requested to provide information on up to three previous Government contracts whose effort is/was recent and relevant to the effort required by this solicitation.

Question. Can the Government please define the required number of Past Performances required when using “up to three” previous Government contracts?

ANSWER: The Offeror may submit 0, 1, 2, or 3 Past Performance Data sheets (Attachment 06) in accordance with the RFP.

13. Reference RFP pg 68-69 of 95, 52.212-2 EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999). An offeror must be found ‘Acceptable’ in each non-price Factor or Subfactor to be considered for award. Any proposal with a rating of 'Unacceptable' for any sub-factor will result in the appropriate Factor being rated 'Unacceptable'. Any offer rated 'Unacceptable' for any non-price Factor may be excluded from the competitive range.

Question. If the Offeror “Must” be found Acceptable in non-price Factors to be considered for award how can the Offeror “May” be found Acceptable for competitive range for non-price Factors? Can the government please clarify if the Offerors proposal “Must” or “May” be evaluated as Acceptable or Unacceptable in non-price factors.

ANSWER: If an award is not made off initial proposals, discussions will be held with offerors in the competitive range. An Offeror may be included in the competitive range with an unacceptable initial rating, and it will be given an opportunity to revise its proposal after discussions are held.

14. Reference RFP pg 70 of 95, 52.212-2 EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999). In accordance with FAR 15.305(a) (2) (iv), an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.

Question. Based on the evaluation of non-price factors being rated Acceptable or Unacceptable, can the government please clarify how a past performance determination of “not” favorably or unfavorably be evaluated? Can the government further clarify if favorable and unfavorably are the same as Acceptable and Unacceptable?

ANSWER: In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available or so sparse that no meaningful past performance rating can be reasonably assigned, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance (see FAR 15.305(a) (2) (iv)). Therefore, the offeror shall be determined to have unknown past performance. In the context of acceptability/unacceptability, “unknown” shall be considered “acceptable.”

15. Reference Questions and Answers pg 2 of 8, question 6. If a CBA is in place on the current contract, will a copy be provided to price accordingly?

ANSWER: There is no CBA in place currently.

16. Reference Questions and Answers pg 6 of 8, question 28. Will the offerors labor rates in Attachment 3 be binding for Task Orders or will labor rates be determined at IDIQ award or with each Task Order? If labor rates in Attachment 3 are binding, labor categories and hours are requested per location.

ANSWER: Yes, labor hour rates are binding. They represent a ceiling. At the Task Order level, Offerors may reduce the rates, but not increase them. Please refer to Attachment 03 of the RFP , as amended.

17. Is the work force at any of the locations (Singapore, Bahrain, Chinhae South Korea, Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Norfolk VA, San Diego CA) covered by an on-going / applicable CBA?

ANSWER: No.

18. Please provide copies of all the CBAs that are currently applicable to the workforce at each of the locations.

ANSWER: Please see above (Question #16 and Question #18).

19. The rates for different labor categories would vary from location to location in accordance with the applicable SCA WD / CBA etc.

a. How do we submit different rates for different locations in one Labor Category Rate Table (Attachment 03) or does the Government require multiple Labor Category Rate Tables broken by locations?

b. Should we assume that most work would be done in Norfolk VA and provide only the Norfolk rates in Attachment 03?

ANSWER: See Amended Attachment 03, where locations are provided for each labor category.

20. Will contractor facilities be needed in all locations to support this effort?

ANSWER: The contractor will be operating in government provided facilities in all of the identified locations. However, these will be performance based fixed price task orders, and if the Contractor needs resources/facilities beyond what is available from the Government, those will be at the Contractor’s account.

21. Will the Government provide the number of vehicles needed by the contractor to move materials from the warehouses to the ship locations for each site?

ANSWER: Please refer to Attachment 18.

22. Will the Government provide all materials needed for shipping ie:. Boxes, shrink-wrap, pallets, containers etc.?

ANSWER: There will be an ODC CLIN on Task Orders for the contractor to purchase incidental material in accordance with the contract terms and conditions.

23. Will the Government provide historical data on the number of commercial shipments that require contractor deliveries to pick-up/drop off points for all facilities?

ANSWER: Attachment 11 provides historical information on the number of items shipped and received per year by location.

24. Since the contract’s security classification is “Secret” does this classification automatically disqualify local nationals in non-U.S. owned operational locations cited from employment on this contract? If the answer is “No” what actions are required to be performed by the contractor to employ the referenced individuals?

ANSWER: Security requirements may be found in Attachment 14.

25. Per the information contained in the RFP, the identification of key personnel employment must be provided at the time of proposal submission. Via what means does the government expect this to be shown in the proposal?

ANSWER: Please see 52.212-1 ADDENDUM.

26. While the current operational locations are specified in RFP, what is the potential of the expansion of the number and areas of location? In the event of expansion, will this requirement be addressed via an amendment to the current contract or will it be accomplished via a separate and independent contracting platform?

ANSWER: It will be accomplished at the Task Order level. A contract modification will be issued if needed. As per the PWS; MSC will require onsite (Government office/warehouse space) contractor support in, but not limited to, the following locations; Norfolk, VA, San Diego, CA, Singapore, Bahrain and Guam, Chinhae, South Korea and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

27. The contractor performance methods cited in the RFP appear to be etched in stone, however, situations can arise when these metrics cannot be met and the reason(s) for failing to meet them are the result of actions beyond the contractor’s control. How does the government propose to address issues of this nature?

ANSWER: Standard contract administration procedures will be employed. See 52.212-4 for standard Terms and Conditions such as the “Disputes” clause.

28. The requirement for communication is clearly demonstrated in the RFP, however, are there any specific methods to executing this task that the government expects?

ANSWER: We expect that communication methods appropriate to the requirement will be utilized. Telephones, email, etc. will all be available.

29. Will there be a Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) located at each operational location? If so, please elaborate on the magnitude of their responsibilities.

ANSWER: No, there will not, but there will be a government representative at each site. The Government representative will be available for onsite interaction, which will be dependent on the requirements of each individual Task Order.

30. Ordnance is listed as part of the inventory to be managed. Please elaborate on the government’s management expectations of the contractor, i.e., tasks to be performed.

ANSWER: There is no ordnance to be managed. There is ordnance handling equipment in the inventory, but no ordnance. See 52.212-4 ADDENDUM.

31. Section B of the solicitation refers to travel and ODCs as being FFP. However, page 27 52.212-4 Addendum 1.0 Contract type refers to travel and ODCs as being cost reimbursable. Please confirm the contract type for non-labor costs.

ANSWER: Travel and ODCs will be reimbursable.

32. Section B calls for a price for travel and ODCs for each year at the IDIQ contract level. We do not see plug numbers provided for non-labor, and we did not see a bill of materials or a list of anticipated trips. Is MSC requesting a price for non-labor costs, or should offerors simply complete the labor rate table? If MSC is looking for offerors to submit a price for travel and ODCs, will an amendment be coming out to provide the basis of estimate?

ANSWER: Interested parties shall only complete the labor rate table (Attachment 03). An amendment will not be issued to address this question, please refer to question and answer #30 of the initial Q&A document that was posted on fbo.gov on 04 April 2014. Offerors should not provide prices in the CLINS, those amounts are TBD, based on future Task Orders. See FAR 52.212-1 ADDENDUM for price submission requirements.

33. This solicitation is a small business set-aside. Is it a requirement that the prime perform 51% of the work? If the team consists of multiple small businesses, can the workshare of the small businesses be added together to meet the 51% requirement?

ANSWER: In accordance with FAR 52.219-14, the prime small business concern must expend at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance for personnel for employees of the concern.

34. Performance Work Statement, paragraph 1 General, under Specific Tasks, states that that “The contractor must have sufficient computers, telephone and Internet bandwidth in contractor facilities.” Is it the Government’s intent that work will be performed on contractor facilities? Please advise.

ANSWER: No. See the response to Question #4 and Question # 21.

35. Please confirm the work will be performed in Government provided facilities. ANSWER: See the response to Question # 4 and Question # 21.

36. RFP Attachment 06, Past Performance Data form, Block 14 provides space to enter a description of contract work and indicates “not to exceed two pages in length.” Does the Past Performance Data form count as one page, or does this requirement allow two pages for a description of contract work in addition to the Past Performance Data form? Please advise.

ANSWER: This requirement allows for 2 (two)pages for a description of contract work in addition to the Past Performance Data form.

37. Section 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commerical Items (July 2013), Volume II: Past Performance, Price, and Solicitation Documents, according to this section it appears that Section A-Proposal Cover Letter and Section B-Signed SF 1449, Acknowledge Amendments and Other Documents are at the end of the volume. Was this the Government’s intent? Please advise.

ANSWER: These submission requirements simply need to be included as part of Volume II of an Offeror’s proposal, any location in the volume is acceptable.

38. RFP Page 66, Would the Government eliminate the requirement for the submission of the Past Performance Questionnaire for submitted past performances that have a CPAR within the past year? The intent of this request is to reduce the burden on Government contracting officials in completing the past performance questionnaire.

ANSWER: In accordance with the RFP, Past Performance Data sheets and Questionnaires are requested, not required.

39. Attachments 8 and 15: for fairness and equity in providing a sound price proposal, would the Government please advise which Occupation Code Title for the geographic locations stipulated in Attachment 15, Wage Determinations, correlates to each of the Labor Categories stipulated in Attachment 8, Personnel Qualifications?

ANSWER: This will not be provided. Please see Q&A (Part 1, Question and Answer # 33) which was posted on fbo.gov on 04 April 2014.

40. What are the specific cities for Guam and Bahrain?

ANSWER: Naval Station Guam outside of Agat, and Naval Facility Bahrain.