RequisitionBusinessRules.docx

Attachment 4 GSA Business Rules and Agreement for FSSI OS3 IDIQ Contract Holders All responsible Contractors submitting verification of a contract with acceptable items must be in good standing with the Government, offer items at fair and reasonable prices, and meet all eligibility requirements as part of their contractual agreement. Items may be ordered by Fedstrip/Milstrip or Government Purchase Card (GPC) via GSA Global Supply (ww.gsaglobalsupply.gsa.gov) or GSA Advantage!, GSA Call Center, GSA Customer Supply Center, and DOD EMALL (routed to GSA). Orders are not sent directly to the vendors. OS3 Contract holders shall comply with the following GSA Business Rules or be subject to termination, quarantine, suspension/ or cancellation of their GSA FSSI contract at the discretion of the GSA Contracting Officer (CO). Monitoring will be conducted to assure compliance:

1.0 Requirements:

1.1 System for Award Management (SAM) - The Contractor must be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) system, formerly known as Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and not suspended or debarred from doing business with the U.S. Government.

1.2 Modifications-Contractors are responsible to notify GSA CO of any changes to their business or contract(s) as it pertains to their award. Contractors will provide updated primary and alternate POC to the Contracting Officer as updates occur.

1.3 Professional Etiquette- Contractors will conduct business in a professional manner.

1.4 GSA Questionnaires- Contractors will respond to GSA questionnaires and inquiries when requested.

1.5 Green Requirements-Contractors shall adhere to all Green Requirements in the NSN’s IPDs and Government Executive Orders. GSA strongly encourages the use of environmentally safe and green procurements whenever practical.

2.0 Customer Complaints:

2.1Procedure- All customer complaints will be evaluated by the GSA Contracting office, followed by a notice to the Contractor when corrective action is required. Notice may be via email or telephone. Contractors are subject to the following depending on the severity of the complaint. If a customer complaint is validated, the Contractor will receive a formal notice requiring corrective action and resolution.

2.2 Period of Validity- A validated customer complaint will be maintained for a period of one (1) year.

3.0 Contractor Inventory Management

3.1 Non-Market Basket Items- It is the contractor’s responsibility to match their product offerings to currently available National Stock Numbers (NSN). Contractors may use the Federal Logistics Information System (WEBFLIS) http://www.dlis.dla.mil/webflis/pub/pub_search.aspx. If there is a question on a product’s match, then send it to your contracting officer for review. The contractor shall cover a majority of non-market basket NSN’s in their applicable supply class(es). The NSNs must be provided at a restricted price ceiling. NSN price changes will be considered in accordance with Economic Price Adjustment (TAILORED). If an NSN can no longer be provided at a fair and reasonable set price, then it will be removed from the contract. The contractor is contracted to provide the NSN, rather than a specific part number. Contractor is responsible to fulfill NSNs on their list even as part numbers change. If a viable product becomes unavailable given the NSN requirements, the contractor must notify GSA.

3.2 Keeping Catalog information up-to-date - Contractors are responsible for keeping up-to-date catalog information for contract items, and ensuring that GSA is privy to this list.

3.3 Price Adjustments-Price adjustments will be determined by the Contracting Officer. Clause Economic Price Adjustment (TAILORED), is applicable to the contract(s). In approving any request for a price increase, the Contracting Officer will conduct a horizontal and vertical price comparison. A commercial price increase will not be sufficient justification for approving a price increase under the contract.

3.4 Customer Service- Contractor shall provide a customer service center that is operational during normal business hours Monday through Friday, except U.S. Federal holidays. Customer service personnel shall be knowledgeable of the Federal Government’s purchase procedures and those procedures specifically tailored to the FSSI contract. Contractor must have dedicated agency managers available to meet with Federal agency officials. The same manager may serve multiple agencies.

3.5 Quality Control- The Contractor is responsible for providing quality control to ensure a proper level of performance throughout the contract’s period of performance that ensure items provided conform to contract performance standards (e.g., delivery time, deliverables relating to reporting submissions, etc.). In order to ensure that supplies conform to contract requirements, the Government reserves the right to inspect any and/or all surveillance at the Contractor and/or Government facility.

4.0 Ordering

4.1 Order Responsiveness- For any orders placed, the Contractor shall provide the following:

· Electronic acknowledgement within 8 hours to the customer that the order was received;

· Electronic acknowledgement within 8 hours of the order being shipped;

· Electronic acknowledgement of credit returns or refunds within 48 hours; and

· Out-of-stock/backorder notification within 24 hours informing the customer when an item will be available. Customers will determine if they wish to wait for the back-ordered item or order from another contract holder. If no response is received from the customer within 24 hours of notification of a back-ordered item’s delivery estimate, the Contractor shall default to “Kill” for the line item.

4.2 Partial Orders- Fill or Kill-Contractors are required to obtain affirmative acknowledgement from the customer, GSA Global Supply, on all orders received. Should an order fail to be able to be fulfilled by the Contractor at the time order is placed, the Contractor shall provide notification to GSA Global Supply that the intended order cannot be filled within the time specified and provide (when applicable) backorder details regarding the order. Should the customer fail to acknowledge to the Contractor to move forth with the requested items placed on backorder, the Contractor shall “kill” (not fulfill) the order within 24 hours of the Contractor’s response to the customer’s backorder. Otherwise, Contractor’s receipt of acknowledgment to move forth with the backorder for the agreed date of fulfillment, the Contractor shall “fill” the order as requested, agreed, and acknowledged. Fill or Kill applies at the line-item level, not at the order level. The Contractor must do the following:

· Notify the GSA ordering Contracting Officer placing the order within 24 hours if there are any problems filling an order;

· Provide any anticipated wait time; and

· Allow the customer to cancel that item or wait for the later delivery.

Notification and agreement with the customer must be in writing or through the ordering portal. The Contractor shall automatically deliver items available and notify customers within 24 hours of order placement when a backordered item can be delivered at a later date/time. Customers will determine if they wish to wait for the backordered item or order from another contract holder. If no response is received from the customer within 24 hours of notification of a backordered item’s delivery estimate, the Contractor shall default to “Kill” the line item.

4.3 Order Tracking- The Contractor shall maintain an order tracking system that permits the Government to ascertain the location of an order between the time the order leaves the Contractor’s facility and delivery and acceptance at destination.

4.4 Order Minimum- The established order minimum is $25.

4.5 Contractor Invoice Submission-

After shipment, Contractors shall submit invoices electronically, otherwise, they shall mail to:

GSA Accounts Payable Branch PO Box 419018 Kansas City, MO 64141

Contractors having any inquiries regarding payment details and status may contact GSA representatives at (816) 926–7287 during normal operating hours.

4.6 Communications with the Government - Contractor shall communicate with GSA to:

· acknowledge receipt of a purchase order;

· acknowledge receipt of a purchase order change;

· provide purchase order status including, but not limited to, cancelled, backorder, and shipped;

· invoice for orders fulfilled;

· correct erroneous information provided to GSA on the disposition of a purchase order;

· provide shipment information including tracking number

· provide delivery information including, but not limited to date of delivery and order signatory (not an initial requirement, but may be phased in at a later date); and

· provide inventory information (not an initial requirement, but may be phased in at a later date)

The contractor is required to work with GSA to understand and adhere to GSA business rules and requirements as they relate to:

· processing of backorders;

· purchase order acknowledgements;

· shipment information;

· delivery information;

· delivery documentation;

· accuracy of data provided to GSA;

· contractor cancellations;

· customer cancellations;

· interpretation of GSA data in order to meet GSA shipping documentation guidelines; and

· processing of emergency purchase orders

4.7 Business to Government Using EDI-

Functional Acknowledgement Transaction, EDI 997. The contractor is required to transmit a Functional Acknowledgement Transaction, EDI 997, to GSA within 24 hours upon receipt of the Purchase Order. This is required for all Purchase Orders.

· Purchase Order Acknowledgement, Version 4010, EDI 855. The contractor may use Purchase Order Acknowledgement, Version 4010, EDI 855 in place of the Advance Ship Notice Manifest, EDI 856, as described below.

· Advance Ship Notice/Manifest, Version 4010, EDI 856. The contractor is required to provide additional shipping notification using the Advance Ship Notice/Manifest, Version 4010, EDI 856 within 24 hours after an order has been shipped to a customer. The EDI 856 transaction set provides the shipment status (ship, cancel or backorder) of an order. For export shipments that cannot be mailed, this transaction set informs GSA of the Export Packing Facility or the Consolidation and Containerization Point that received the shipment. The EDI 856 transaction set should always display full line-item accountability.

· Invoice EDI 810. In order to invoice GSA, the contractor must utilize either the Invoice, EDI 810 transaction set, using version 3010; or the FedPay portal at http://apps.ocfo.gsa.gov/vendorpayment/index.htm. If using EDI, the 810 transaction set is sent to FedPay to initiate payment to the Contractor. NOTE: THE CONTRACTOR SHALL INVOICE AT TIME OF SHIPMENT.

· Communications Protocol: The awarded Contractor may choose a Value Added Network (VAN) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to conduct business with GSA; i.e., sending and receiving Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Extensible Markup Language (XML) transactions.

· Additional Technical Information for Transactions: Specifically, at a minimum, GSA will use the Reference Number (REF) segment with '2I' qualifier to receive the tracking number and carrier information of the shipment; the Date/Time Reference (DTM) segment with qualifiers ‘011’ for shipped dates and '139' estimated ship dates, and the PRF segment will house the contract number and the release/delivery order number in PRF01 and PRF02, respectively. GSA will be notified once the Purchase Order has been received, via the EDI 997 transaction set and once the order has been shipped, via the EDI 855 or 856 transaction set.

The following web site is available as a resource for researching detail on the above business-to-government and government-to-business transactions.EDI: EDD EDI Documentation, available at https://vsc.gsa.gov/EDIUser/eddven.cfm

5.0 Transportation and Routing:

5.1 Routing Instructions- Routing Instructions will be provided via purchase orders, its electronic equivalents, or via Vendor Shipment Module (VSM). Vendors are encouraged to use VSM when possible. The Routing Instructions include “Ship To” and “Mark For” addresses as well as special handling instructions, if applicable.

5.2 CONUS Shipments-For most cases these are FOB Destination. The vendor is responsible for all charges and fees. Shipping method should be determined by the ability to meet requirements and provide on-time delivery.

5.3 Shipment Consolidation- Shipping consolidation into appropriate unitized containers may be done when the customer, as defined by the “Mark For” Activity Address Code (AAC) information, is the same for multiple orders. Commingling of shipments destined to multiple customers to maintain item integrity is not allowed.

5.4 Delivery timeline- Delivery should be made in accordance with the required delivery date (RDD) identified on the purchase order.

5.5 OCONUS Shipments- Attention must be paid as to whether the consignee is a Department of Defense (DoD) recipient or non-DoD recipient. For most OCONUS shipments the vendor responsibility for delivery of the item will be considered complete once the shipment passes into the hands of the government or government transportation contractor.

5.6 Material Sourced from AbilityOne- The contractor shall use their proposed method of transportation of products from AbilityOne and National Industries for the Severely Handicapped when they are sourced directly from these vendors. The Government reserves the right to specify alternative transportation.

5.7 Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Disaster Response Areas- Shipments made during disasters will be directed by GSA; the contractor must be able to meet requirements during disasters that may not reflect normal routing or prioritization.

5.8 Security Cooperation Agreement Shipments- These types of shipments can come from Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and agreements where the consignee is not a U.S. entity and there may be additional requirements. The designation is made on the purchase order and in most cases can be treated similarly to OCONUS shipments with vendor delivery points in CONUS.

6.0 Delivery Requirements

6.1 Delivery Requirements- All orders, unless otherwise specified, should be delivered within the contiguous United States (CONUS) within four (4) business days after receipt of order. Delivery to outside the continental US (OCONUS) shall not exceed seven (7) business days. Expedited delivery requirements are not allowed in the OS3 FSSI Requisition Channel Contract.

6.2 Packing Slip- Contractor shall prepare a packing slip for each order that is included with the order that contains the following information:

Name of Contractor;

· Contract number, order, or call number;

· Government employee/purchaser and activity (agency) address (Ship-to address block);

· Government Order or Requisition number

· Date of purchase;

· Itemized list of supplies shipped;

· Manufacturer’s part numbers;

· National Stock Number (NSN); and

· Quantity, unit price, and total cost of each item shipped.

6.3 Safety Data Sheet (SDS)- Contractor shall affix the SDS to the outside of each transport package in a weather-resistant envelope in accordance with the latest revision of Federal Standard No. 313.

6.4 Damaged Goods- Contractor is responsible and liable for damaged goods. If the customer receives damaged goods, the contract must replace the items within 3 business days after the receipt of notification of damage, at the contractor’s expense. Contractor must provide a returned merchandise authorization (RMA) and prepaid shipping label with each replacement order. The cardholder or Government employee/purchaser will document damage on shipping documents.

6.5 Returns- The Government has 30 days from the date the item was delivered to return items in the original packaging and sellable condition and receive a full refund, less any restocking fee that is dictated by the contract.

6.6 Reliability- The Contractor shall maintain a 98 percent on-time delivery record. On a rolling 90-day basis, delivery must occur within the required timeframes for at least 95 percent of orders placed during the period. The 98 percent on-time delivery baseline will not include any items for which the Contractor has notified the customer of stock outages or delivery problems at time of order placement.

7.0 Marking and Packing

7.1 Wood Packaging Materials (WPM)- All CONUS shipments involving WPM must adhere to the requirements of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measure (ISPM) 15, “Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Materials in International Trade.” All WPM’s shall include certification/quality markings in accordance with ALSC standard.

8.0 Deliveries

8.1 Deliveries within CONUS- Contractors must be able to arrange for and verify deliveries to locations throughout CONUS. The costs of these shipments are the responsibility of the contractor. Shipments must be organized by the consignee. The contractor selects the mode of shipment that supports the delivery requirements with consideration for item characteristics.

Deliveries to DoD customers- shipments must be prepared in accordance with MIL-STD-129.

Deliveries to non-DoD customers-shipments must be prepared in accordance with FED-STD-123.

8.2 Deliveries for OCONUS Customer (Export)- The Contractor is responsible for being capable to deliver to Alaska and Hawaii, U.S. Territories, and foreign countries. In most cases the contractor is only responsible for arranging for and verifying deliveries to the port of export/embarkation or consolidation point, but shipments should be prepared for the ultimate export movement. The Contractor is responsible for costs associated with the delivery to the consolidation points. Shipments must be organized by the consignee. The Contractor selects the mode of shipment that supports the delivery requirements with consideration for the item characteristics.

Deliveries to DoD customers- shipments must be prepared in accordance with MIL-STD-129.

Deliveries to non-DoD customers-shipments must be prepared in accordance with FED-STD-123.

8.3 The Contractor must adhere to the following delivery schedules:

The Delivery Timeline for CONUS Shipments with no special provisions:

Delivery Timelines for OCONUS Shipments with no special provisions:

When the due date is a nonbusiness day, the delivery is due no later than the next business day.

9.0 Acknowledgement and Certification:

I have read and been informed about the content, requirements, performance and expectations of the Business Rules for OS3. I have received a copy and agree to abide by these guidelines as a contractual condition of any resultant contract under the OS3 solicitation. I understand that if I have questions, at any time, I may consult with the Contracting Officer.

I hereby acknowledge that the undersigned and all concerned parties represented by ____________________________________________ (insert Contractor’s name) understands the rules, guidelines and compliance responsibilities herein and will undertake to maintain compliance in good faith to the best of my knowledge and belief.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE(S):

TYPED NAME:

TITLE:

POINT OF CONTACT INFORMATION:

EMAIL: PHONE:

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