RFR MED52 10-31-17.docx

REQUEST FOR RESPONSE

Influenza Vaccine for the 2018 – 2019 Flu Season RFR #MED52 / COMMBUYS Bid# BD-18-1080-OSD03-SRC3-20396

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

OPERATIONAL SERVICES DIVISION

Request for Response (RFR)

Document Title: Influenza Vaccine for the 2018 – 2019 Flu Season

Agency Document Number: MED52

COMMBUYS Bid#: BD-18-1080-OSD03-SRC3-20396

10/31/17

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete Bid (also referred to as Solicitation) that can be found on www.COMMBUYS.com. All Bidders are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements for the entire Bid, which are all incorporated into the Bid. Bidders may also contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us or the COMMBUYS Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk county holidays.

Contents

A. Introduction and Bid Overview

1. Description or Purpose of Procurement

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Immunization program (MIP) is the primary user of the Contract. Each year MIP purchases and provides flu vaccine free of charge to entities that provide free flu shots to the citizens of the Commonwealth. Local cities and towns, counties, state colleges and approved purchase of service providers may also purchase vaccine from the Contract.

2. Estimated Procurement Calendar

Training for Online Submission – Contractors that have not previously submitted electronic quotes via COMMBUYS are strongly encouraged to attend training Dates and Times Available:

Friday, December 15, 2017 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Register

Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as displayed on the COMMBUYS system clock displayed to Bidders after logging in. If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Calendar and dates in the Bid’s Header, the dates in the Bid’s Header on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bid record, including Bid Q&A, on COMMBUYS for Procurement Calendar updates.

3. Submission of Bid Questions The “Bid Q&A” function in COMMBUYS allows Bidders to ask written questions and receive written answers regarding this Bid. All questions must be submitted through the Bid Q&A found on COMMBUYS (See “Locating Bid Q&A,” below). Questions must be asked prior to the Deadline stated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar. The Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SSST) reserves the right not to respond to late questions. Bidders are responsible for verifying that their questions are recorded in COMMBUYS and appear on the Bid Q&A page.

Questions submitted to the SSST outside of COMMBUYS will not be answered.

Content entered must be suitable for public viewing. Bidders must not include inappropriate content, including but not limited to, information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, or collusory. The SSST reserves the right to edit or delete any inappropriate content.

All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated.

Bidders and awarded Contractors are required to view the COMMBUYS requirements associated with this bid are responsible for compliance with those requirements.

4. Locating Bid Q&A Log into COMMBUYS, locate the Bid, acknowledge receipt of the Bid, and scroll down to the bottom of the Bid Header page. The “Bid Q&A” button allows Bidders access to the Bid Q&A page.

5. Bid Amendment Deadline The SSST reserves the right to make amendments to the Bid after initial publication. It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and any Bid Q&A records related to this Bid. The SSST and the Commonwealth accept no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a Quote based on an out-of-date Bid or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

6. Late Bids will not be Considered Bid responses must be received in full by the posted due date and time. Proposals received after the deadline will be late and ineligible for consideration and deemed as non-responsive. Each offeror must submit all required bid response forms electronically through COMMBUYS. When submitting a quote electronically through COMMBUYS, please allow sufficient time to complete the online forms and upload documents. The solicitation will end at the closing time listed in the RFR. If you are in the middle of uploading your proposal at the closing time, the system will stop the process and your quote will not be completed and received by the system.

7. Debriefing The SSST will conduct debriefings for unsuccessful Bidders, if requested within 14 calendar days of the resulting Master Blanket Purchase Order being posted on COMMBUYS. The SSST will provide debriefing guidelines in advance of each debriefing.

8. Applicable Procurement Law:

9. Acquisition Method:

The acquisition method(s) to acquire goods and/or services from this Bid are identified below.

10. Anticipated Contract Awards:

Check One (“X”):

a. Estimated Number of Awards The target maximum number of Contractors is two per line item; the SSST may award more or fewer contracts, if it is in the best interests of the Commonwealth to do so.

Contract renewals will be offered at the sole discretion of OSD. At a minimum, offers to renew will be contingent upon satisfactory contractor performance, compliance with reporting requirements, and adequate sales volume; OSD reserves the right to reduce the number of awarded contractors for the duration of the agreement.

b. Adding Contractors after initial Contract Award If, over the life of the contract, the SSST determines that additional Contractors may be added, these may be drawn from qualified companies which responded to this Bid but were not awarded Contracts. If necessary to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth, the Bid may be reopened to obtain additional Qiuotes.

11. Entities Eligible to Use the Resulting Contract Statewide Contract – Open for Use by All Eligible Entities. Any Contract(s) resulting from this Bid will be open for use by the following entities:

1. Cities, towns, districts, counties and other political subdivisions;

2. Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches, including all Departments and elected offices therein;

3. Independent public authorities, commissions and quasi-public agencies;

4. Local public libraries, public school districts and charter schools;

5. Public hospitals owned by the Commonwealth;

6. Public institutions of higher education;

7. Public purchasing cooperatives;

8. Non-profit, UFR-certified organizations that are doing business with the Commonwealth;

9. Other states and territories with no prior approval by the State Purchasing Agent; and

10. Other entities when designated in writing by the State Purchasing Agent.

Each eligible entity is responsible for executing its own purchase orders and paying its own invoices for goods and/or services acquired from this Contract. Contractors will be responsible for marketing their goods and/or services to Commonwealth Agencies and other eligible entities.

12. Anticipated Contract Duration:

Initial Duration

One/Zero

Total Maximum Contract Duration

One/Zero

13. Estimated Value of the Contract The estimated value of purchase(s) resulting from this Bid is $1 Million. The Commonwealth makes no guarantee that any commodities or services will be purchased from any Contract resulting from this Bid. Any estimates or past procurement volumes referenced in this Bid are included only for the convenience of Bidders, and are not to be relied upon as any indication of future purchase levels.

The “Estimated Value (US$)” for this Bid was based on the following: This Estimated Value was derived by reviewing Contractor sales reports to Commonwealth of Massachusetts eligible entities for FY2016 and FY2017.

B. Procurement Scope and Description The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Vaccine Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SSST) are soliciting Bidders for the acquisition of Influenza Vaccine for the 2018 – 2019 Flu Season. The resulting Contract will be the primary Statewide Contract used by Executive Agencies of the Commonwealth for the goods and services covered by the Contract. The Statewide Contract will also be available for use by other eligible entities listed in section A11 above. Each Commonwealth Agency and eligible entity is responsible for executing its own purchase orders and paying its own invoices for goods and/or services acquired from this Statewide Contract. Contractors will be responsible for marketing their goods and/or services to Commonwealth Agencies and other eligible entities.

C. Bidder Qualifications

1. Company experience

a. Bidders must have sufficient capacity to deliver the required product and quantity. Before a contract is awarded, the Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SSST) may require a Bidder to submit additional proofs of this capacity such as a successful history of delivering similarly large quantities of influenza vaccine to other large users to the SSST before the award is made. If the SSST decides a Bidder lacks capacity, or cannot satisfactorily demonstrate its ability to deliver, it will reject the Bidder’s response.

2. Employee and/or business technical/business experience, certifications, licenses Authorization letters from Manufacturers - All distributors must supply a statement from each flu vaccine’s manufacturer on the manufacturer’s letterhead that the manufacturer will supply the distributor with the quantity of vaccine the bidder is stating in its bid it can supply to the Commonwealth for the 2018-2019 flu season. The Commonwealth will only consider Quotes from distributors that obtain influenza vaccine directly from the manufacturers.

All Bidders must comply with Federal and State pharmaceutical distributor licensing requirements.

3. Financial stability including DUNS report, bankruptcy, litigation and contract defaults Bidders must have sufficient financial stability as described in this section to demonstrate their capacity to meet the needs of the Commonwealth as a manufacturer or distributor. Mandatory questions about this section posted in COMMBUYS must be answered for a Quote to be considered. The SSST reserves the right to disqualify bidders as not meeting capacity requirements based on bankruptcy/litigation information, or days past terms to pay.

4. Emergency Response Capabilities In a declared state of emergency where the safety and wellbeing of Commonwealth citizens are at risk, contractors may be asked to supply the Commonwealth with the commodities and/or services under the Statewide Contract on a priority basis. The Bidder’s Quote should include the following: Indicate whether there is a written Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) that describes how the company will continue to do business in case of an emergency. A list of emergency contact information including name, position/title, phone, email and cell phone. A list of the Bidder’s building location (s) that would be available to serve the Commonwealth during an emergency. A description of the areas of Massachusetts that the Bidder could supply in the event of an emergency (e.g., Entire State, Specific City or Region).

D. Product and Performance Specifications

1. Commodity Specifications

a. Functional description Influenza Vaccines: Injectable Inactivated Subviron, Nasal Spray Live Attenuated, recombinant HA, cell culture, for the 2018 – 2019 Flu Season.

The MED52 Bidders Price Sheet posted in COMMBUYS with this Bid contains the specific vaccine types and quantities to be quoted. Bidders must completely fill out the information for each individual line item on the Price Sheet on which they are bidding. If a product NDC is not yet available - state “not available, to be supplied later”. A Bidder may bid more than one (1) product on an individual line item. In some cases the same exact product may be bid for more than one (1) line item on the Price Sheet but a bidder may only enter one price for the same exact product.

b. Warranties and product support Approvals and standards (UL, CE, FCC, FDA, ASTM, IEEE) The Bidder must either be the manufacturer or only buy influenza vaccine directly from the manufacturer and have an effective program in place that tracks the Pedigree of the drug (vaccines are included) from time of manufacture to sale. The influenza vaccines must be FDA approved for the 2018-2019 season. (See Definition of Pedigree in the Glossary). In addition to being FDA approved for the 2018-2019 season, to be sold under a contract resulting from this RFR, influenza vaccines must be recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in their 2018-2019 season recommendations regarding the use of seasonal influenza vaccines.

c. Delivery Terms

i. The initial flu vaccine order should be delivered as early as possible. We would prefer delivery to begin in August 2018. Bidders must include a projected delivery schedule with their bid.

ii. All fuel charges or fuel surcharges are prohibited under this Contract and Vendors must not bill such charges to Purchasing Entities.

iii. As specified in item 4 of the Commonwealth Terms & Conditions: “Upon immediate notification to the other party, neither the Department nor the Contractor shall be deemed to be in breach for failure or delay in performance due to Acts of God or other causes factually beyond their control and without their fault or negligence. Subcontractor failure to perform or price increases due to market fluctuations or product availability will not be deemed factually beyond the Contractor's control.”

iv. MA Department of Public Health’s Immunization Program (MIP) requirements: All influenza vaccine purchased by MIP must be sent to and distributed through the Federal Vaccine Management Business Improvement Project’s (VMBIP) distributor McKesson. Address: McKesson Distribution Center, 4100 Quest Way, Memphis, TN 38115. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the product in transit. All vaccine must be maintained and shipped under refrigeration. Delivery is FOB Purchasing Entity destination with Contractor maintaining ownership of product until delivery is accepted by McKesson.

v. All Other Purchasing Entities requirements All influenza Vaccine purchased by Purchasing Entities other than MIP must be delivered to the address that the Purchasing Entity specifies. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the product in transit. All vaccine must be maintained and shipped under refrigeration. Delivery is FOB destination with Contractor maintaining ownership of product until delivery is accepted by the Purchasing Entity.

d. Returns/Disposal Influenza vaccine is not returnable. A credit or refund check will be issued by the vendor for damaged or product delivered in error.

E. Service Requirements Bidders awarded a contract must service/deliver to all parts of the Commonwealth.

F. Own Use Statement All Pharmaceuticals purchased in accordance with this Contract are for use within Commonwealth of Massachusetts Agencies and Eligible Entities, and will be dispensed in accordance with the guidelines of Abbott Labs v Portland Retail Druggists Association Inc. 96 S.Ct. 1305 (1976) for Hospital exemption under the Robison-Patman act. Absolutely no products will be resold or redistributed outside the aforementioned governmental agencies, i.e. the products shall be used for the institutions “own use” as defined in Abbott Labs v Portland Retail Druggists Association Inc. 95 S.Ct 2655 1974. Furthermore, all goods and materials purchased in accordance with the Contract will be used in “traditional governmental functions” as that term is used in Jefferson County Pharmaceutical Association v Abbott Labs 103 S.Ct 1011 (1993).

G. Duty to warn Vendors may include a manufacturer’s duty to warn language with their bid. In general we will accept the duty to warn language that the Federal CDC accepts for use with its vaccine Contracts.

H. National vaccine Injury Compensation program (VICP) In the event a person suffers an injury from the vaccine all claims will be filed through VICP.

I. Evaluation Criteria Contractors must submit responses that meet all the submission requirements of the RFR. Only responsive proposals that meet the submission requirements will be evaluated, scored and ranked by the evaluation team according to the evaluation criteria. Additional information may be requested for evaluation purposes.

Any submission which fails to meet the submission requirements of the RFR will be found non-responsive without further evaluation unless the evaluation team, at its discretion, determines that the non-compliance is insubstantial and can be corrected. In these cases, the evaluation team may allow the contractor to make minor corrections to the submission.

Bidder scores will be used to rank Bidders and will determine which Bidders will proceed to subsequent stages of the evaluation and/or enter into negotiations with the Commonwealth to receive a Contract award.

1. Mandatory Requirements Mandatory Specifications must be met in order for a Quote to be evaluated and may be used to disqualify Bidders. In addition, certain mandatory specifications have desirable components to them that may be evaluated by the SSST. The SSST reserves the right, in its discretion, to determine if non-compliance with a Mandatory Specification is insignificant or can be easily corrected.

Bid sections that include terms such as: “must”, “shall”, “will” and “required” are “mandatory.” Failure to meet the requirements of a mandatory specification without providing an alternate that is acceptable to the evaluators may result in the disqualification of a Bidder's proposal.

2. Alternatives Unless otherwise specified, Bidders may submit Quotes proposing alternatives which provide equivalent, better or more cost effective performance than achievable under the stated Bid specifications. These alternatives may include related commodities or services that may be available to enhance performance during the period of the Contract. The Quote should describe how any alternative achieves substantially equivalent or better performance to that of the Bid specifications.

The SSST will determine if a proposed alternative method of performance achieves substantially equivalent or better performance.

3. Evaluation Components The following components will be some of the criteria considered by the team when evaluating each Quote: Each line item on the Bidders Price Sheet attachment will be evaluated individually and award(s) will be made by individual line item. Each line item has the potential of 100 points. The SSST has the option of making more than one award per line item. The Bidder with the highest number of points determined by summing the Price Points, SDP points and Additional Points will be selected by the SSST for award of the line item. If additional awards are made for a line item, they will be in descending order of points earned. The following components will be some of the criteria considered by the team when evaluating each Quote.

4. Price 80% Evaluation Weight Please note that price will carry a significant weight in the evaluation process.

The qualified bidder with the lowest Net Price on their RFR MED52 Bidders Price Sheet for a line item will receive 80 Price points. The price points awarded to other bidders will adjust downward using a percentage calculation based on the lowest amount bid for a line item divided by the amount the bidder bid for a line item multiplied times 80.

5. Supplier Diversity Plan (minimum of 10% weight) More points will be awarded for higher percentage commitments to the SDP. If the bidders SDP plan (Form 1 posted on COMMBUYS as part of this Bid) is not acceptable (or not submitted) with the bid, zero points will be awarded and the bidder will be notified they have 3 weeks from the date of the notice to submit an acceptable plan or risk disqualification.

6. Other desirable specifications PPD + EPP Total Evaluation 10% Weight Prompt Payment Discounts (PPD) -The SSST will award more points for a higher percentage PPD offered on the PPD form (posted on COMMBUYS as part of this Bid).

Environmentally Preferable products (EPP) - The SSST will award points based on a bidders EPP initiatives listed on the EPP form (posted on COMMBUYS as part of this Bid).

J. Statewide Contract Specifications

1. Use of COMMBUYS Bidders and awarded Contractors are required to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s contact person and prospective contract manager, if awarded a contract, and to monitor that email inbox for communications from the Purchasing Department, including requests for clarification. The Purchasing Department and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the prospective Bidder/Awarded contractor and the Purchasing Department to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering. Awarded contractors must comply with applicable COMMBUYS requirements outlined in Appendix 3.

2. Public Records Law All Quotes and information submitted in response to this RFR are subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L., Chapter 66, Section 10, and to Chapter 4, Section 7, Subsection 26. Any statements in submitted Quotes that are inconsistent with these statutes shall be disregarded.

3. Reasonable Accommodation Bidders with disabilities or hardships that seek reasonable accommodation, which may include the receipt of RFR information in an alternative format, must communicate such requests in writing to the contact person. Requests for accommodation will be addressed on a case by case basis. A Bidder requesting accommodation must submit a written statement which describes the Bidder’s disability and the requested accommodation to the contact person for the RFR. The SSST reserves the right to reject unreasonable requests.

4. Prohibitions Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the procuring Department or any member of the SSST regarding this RFR except as specified in this RFR, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFR. Bidders may contact the contact person using the contact information provided in the Header Information this Bid in the event that this RFR is incomplete or information is missing. Bidders experiencing technical problems accessing information or attachments stored on COMMBUYS should contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk (see the document cover page for contact information).

5. Non-Collusion By submitting a Quote, the Bidder certifies that the Quote has been arrived at independently and has been submitted without any communication, collaboration, or without any agreement, understanding or planned common course or action with, any other Bidder of the commodities and/or services described in the RFR.

6. Minimum Quote Duration Bidders’ Quotes to this RFR must remain in effect for at least 90 days from the date of Quote submission.

7. Ownership of Submitted Quotes OSD and the SSST shall be under no obligation to return any Quotes or materials submitted by a Bidder in response to this RFR. All materials submitted by Bidders become the property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will not be returned to the Bidder. The Commonwealth reserves the right to use any ideas, concepts, or configurations that are presented in a Bidder’s Quote, whether or not the Quote is selected for Contract award.

Quotes stored on COMMBUYS in the encrypted lock-box are the file of record. Bidders retain access to a read-only copy of this submission via their COMMBUYS account, as long as their account is active.

8. Multiple Quotes Bidders may not submit Multiple Quotes in response to a Bid. If a Bidder submits multiple quotes in response to an RFR that does not authorize multiple responses, only the latest dated quote submitted prior to the bid opening date will be evaluated.

9. Evaluation – Best Value Selection and Negotiation The SSST may select the Quotes(s) which demonstrates the best value overall, including proposed alternatives, that will achieve the goals of the procurement. The SSST and a selected Bidder may negotiate a change in any element of Contract performance or cost identified in the original RFR or the selected Bidder’s Quote which results in lower costs or a more cost effective or better value than was presented in the selected Bidder’s original Quote.

K. Scope of Goods and Services Authorized

1. Commodities:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Vaccine Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SSST) are soliciting Bidders for the acquisition of Influenza Vaccine for the 2018 – 2019 Flu Season. The resulting Contract will be the primary Statewide Contract used by Executive Agencies of the Commonwealth for the goods and services covered by the Contract. The Statewide Contract will also be available for use by other eligible entities listed. Each Commonwealth Agency and eligible entity is responsible for executing its own purchase orders and paying its own invoices for goods and/or services acquired from this Statewide Contract. Contractors will be responsible for marketing their goods and/or services to Commonwealth Agencies and other eligible entities.

2. Compensation Structure/Pricing

a. Cost tables Compensation will be based solely on the cost tables or catalogs supplied by the Bidder and accepted by the SSST and incorporated into a catalog on COMMBUYS. Cost tables must contain all goods and services to be provided on this Statewide Contract. Compensation will be based on these cost tables, which will form the basis for the Contractor’s catalog in COMMBUYS.

The Cost Table is the MED52 Bidder’s Price Sheet posted in COMMBUYS as part of this Bid. Bidders must completely fill out the information for each individual line item on the Price Sheet on which they are bidding. If the NDC of a product is not yet available, state “not available, to be supplied later”. A Bidder may bid more than one (1) product on an individual line item. In some cases the same exact product may be bid for more than one (1) line item on the Price Sheet but a bidder may only enter one price for the same exact product. Compensation will be based solely on the Price Sheet supplied by the Bidder and accepted by the SSST. The Price the Bidder enters onto the Price Sheet is the Net Price, which includes the Federal Excise Tax. Net Price is the final delivered price a Purchasing Entity will pay to a Vendor for a product prior to prompt payment discounts being taken by the Purchasing Entity.

L. Performance Measures:

1. Continued qualification based on performance The SSST reserves the right to suspend a Contractor for failure to meet the terms of the contract, including failure to timely file reports required under other sections of this solicitation, including Administrative Fee Report and Sales & SDP spending report.

2. Adding additional contractors If, over the life of the contract, the SSST determines that additional Contractors may be added, these may be drawn from qualified companies which responded to this Solicitation but were not awarded Contracts. If necessary to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth, the Solicitation may be reopened to obtain additional Bids.

M. Contract Management Requirements The individual listed in the Purchaser field in the Header Information section of the Master Blanket Purchase Order is the Commonwealth Contract Manager. Awarded contractors will be expected to comply with the following:

1. All Statewide Contract questions must be directed to the Commonwealth Contract Manager.

2. Provide timely responses to requests

3. Maintain professionalism and courtesy in dealings with OSD and eligible entities.

4. Make appropriate staff available for periodic meetings with the Commonwealth Contract Manager

5. Providing electronic documents for up-to-date transparent pricing

6. Change notification

7. Changes to Contractor’s information

a. Changes to the Contractor’s contact information, company name, legal address, payment address, tax identification number, authorized signatories, SDO-certification status, or EFT information must be promptly reported via email to the Commonwealth Contract Manager. In some cases additional paperwork will be required to effect the change.

8. Contractor account team: A list is to be provided to the Commonwealth Contract Manager.

9. Single Point of Contact

a. Designate a Single Point of Contact (Contractor Contract Manager) for communications with the Commonwealth Contract Manager This person should have sufficient authority to answer questions and resolve issues in a timely manner.

10. Replacement of Contractor Staff

a. Promptly notify the Commonwealth Contract Manager regarding Replacement of Contractor staff

11. Adding commodities and/or services to the Statewide Contract Send an email to the Commonwealth Contract Manager with the requested item(s) and net delivered price(s) inclusive of Federal Excise Tax.

N. Catalogs and Ordering of Products and Services Prior to the Contract Start Date, the Contractor will establish and enable a COMMBUYS-compatible online catalog, which may be hosted in COMMBUYS or by the Contractor. The catalog must utilize the Commonwealth commodity codes based on the United Nations Uniform Product and Service Code (UNSPSC) and must provide Eligible Entities with the capability to order only those products and/or services authorized by the contractor’s contract with the Commonwealth from the Contractor using COMMBUYS. The Contractor is required to maintain the catalog for the duration of the contract and must receive prior approval from the Strategic Sourcing Services Lead (SSSL) before posting any updates or changes to the catalog, which must be consistent with the terms of the contract.

1. Web sites specifically designed for this Contract

a. Orders (Contractor’s Interface with Commonwealth Agencies)

b. Closed Bids based on the Master Blanket Purchase Orders

i. Commonwealth Agencies are required to obtain quotes from multiple Statewide Contractors prior to issuing a Purchase Order. This will be done by issuing Closed Bids in COMMBUYS to awarded Contractors. Contractors will be required to use COMMBUYS to submit quotes in response to said Closed Bids. Purchase orders under this contract will be based on awarded Quotes.

c. Fiscal Terms

i. Bill Payment All invoices issued pursuant to this contract are payable in accordance with the Comptroller’s Bill Payment Policy: http://www.mass.gov/osc/docs/policies-procedures/accounts-payable/po-ap-commonwealth-bill-paying.doc

ii. Prompt Pay Discount All Bidders must agree to offer discounts through participation in the Commonwealth Prompt Payment Discount (PPD) initiative for receiving early and/or on-time payments, unless the Bidder can provide compelling proof that it would be unduly burdensome.

Bidders must submit agreeable terms for Prompt Payment Discount unless otherwise specified by the SSST. The SSST will review, negotiate or reject the offering as deemed in the best interest of the Commonwealth.

The requirement to offer a PPD may be waived by the SSST on a case-by-case basis if participation in the program would be unduly burdensome on the Bidder. If a Bidder is claiming that this requirement is a hardship or unduly burdensome, the specific reason must be documented in the Bidder’s Quote.

iii. Late Payment Fees Late Payment fees may be assessed only as authorized by the Office of the Comptroller: http://www.mass.gov/osc/docs/ctrinfo/comptroller-regulations/815/cumulative-lpi-rates.doc

iv. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) All Bidders must agree to participate in the Commonwealth Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) program for receiving payments. A link to the EFT application can be found on the OSD Forms page (www.mass.gov/osd). Additional information about EFT is available on the Comptroller’s VendorWeb site located at: https://massfinance.state.ma.us/VendorWeb/vendor.asp Upon notification of award, Contractors are required to enroll in EFT by completing and submitting the “Authorization for Electronic Funds Payment Form” to the SSST for review, approval and forwarding to the Office of the Comptroller, unless already enrolled in EFT. A link to the EFT application can be found on the Comptroller’s VendorWeb site (see above link). This form, and all information contained on this form, shall not be considered a public record and shall not be subject to public disclosure through a public records request.

v. Creditworthiness No public entity utilizing this contract shall be required, as a condition of purchase, to undergo any creditworthiness review or application process.

vi. Tax Exemption Payment vouchers or invoices submitted to Massachusetts government entities must not include sales tax.

d. Supplier Diversity Plan (SDP) Massachusetts Executive Order 524 established the Supplier Diversity Program within the Supplier Diversity Office of the Operational Services Division in order to promote the award of State Contracts in a manner that develops and strengthens Minority and/or Women Business Enterprises (M/WBEs). More recently the Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business Enterprise Program (“SDVOBE Program”), which is designed to promote access and equity of opportunity to Commonwealth business opportunities to SDVOBE qualifying businesses. As a result, M/WBEs and SDVOBEs are strongly encouraged to submit Quotes in response to this Bid, either as prime contractors, joint venture partners or subcontractors. All Bidders, regardless of their certification status, are required to submit a completed SDP Plan Form #1 – SDP Plan Commitment as part of their Quote for evaluation. It is required that Supplier Diversity Program participation accounts for no less than 10% of the total points in the evaluation.

Please note that no Bidder will be awarded a Contract unless and until they submit a completed SDP Plan Form #1.

All Bidders must provide a specific percentage of Bidder/Contractor sales derived from this contract to be spent with all certified SDP Partners on a Massachusetts fiscal year (July 1-June 30) basis.

e. Environmentally Preferable Products and Services (EPP)

i. Environmental Specifications Products and services purchased by state agencies must be in compliance with Executive Order 515, which requires Executive Departments to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring environmentally preferable products and services (EPPs) when EPPs perform to satisfactory standards and represent best value. EPPs are considered to be products and services that help to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, protect public health and the environment, and promote the use of clean technologies, recycled materials, and less toxic products. Questions concerning the EO or the appropriate specifications may be directed to OSD’s EPP Procurement Program, www.mass.gov/epp. The Order can be seen at http://www.mass.gov/governor/docs/executive-orders/executive-order-515.pdf.

Environmental benefit claims concerning products or services must be consistent with the Federal Trade Commissions’ Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Terms. Product environmental claims are to include the industry standard the product meets and certifier. Products claiming environmental benefits must include the industry standard it meets within the catalog product description.

ii. Environmental plan Beginning the first year of the Statewide Contract and throughout the life of the Statewide Contract, awarded Bidders must agree to work with OSD and the SSST to examine the feasibility of implementing an environmental plan. The objective of this requirement is to actively encourage suppliers to incorporate sustainable practices throughout their business operations and further market such practices to Contract users. Such a plan may include, but not be limited to, the following:

Implementing energy efficiency initiatives at the corporate level, such as lighting retrofits, purchase of energy from renewable sources, use of bio-heat fuel, and other energy reduction technologies.

Encouraging environmental initiatives at a corporate and/or manufacturing level to reduce the impact of manufacturing on the environment, such as: clearly identifying recycled content of packaging on the packaging, providing product life cycle assessments, working to eliminate ozone depleting chemical usage in the manufacturing or refining process, and conducting internal environmental auditing related to pollution control.

Adopting standards and/or obtain certifications, where applicable, for product development and manufacturing processes such as: LEED, ISO 14001, Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Protocol, Green Seal, Environmental Choice and others.

Using alternative fuel vehicles for delivery or transportation purposes and/or vehicles equipped with diesel emission control devices and deploying anti-idling initiatives.

Working with the SSST to develop and distribute information and/or materials to Commonwealth customers on the Awarded Bidder’s environmental practices and initiatives throughout the term of the Contract.

Developing a plan to implement the recycling of materials used or produced in normal business operations.

The SSST may award points to Bidders who provide evidence that measures and initiatives such as these are already in place within their operations, and/or for written proposals submitted with their Quote detailing a commitment to action contingent upon receipt of a Contract award. (See the Additional Environmentally Preferable Products/Practices form on COMMBUYS).

f. Instructions for Submission of Responses:

Responses must be sent via the “Create Quote” functionality contained in COMMBUYS. For instructions concerning how to submit a Quote, please see Appendix 2.

i. Electronic Signatures Quotes submitted via COMMBUYS must be signed electronically by the Bidder or the Bidder’s Agent by accepting the terms and conditions of the bid on the “Terms & Conditions” tab of the Bid in COMMBUYS. By selecting “Save & Continue” on the “Terms and Conditions” tab after accepting the terms and conditions of the bid, the submitter attests that s/he is an agent of the Bidder with authority to sign on the Bidder’s behalf, and that s/he has read and assented to each document’s terms.

ii. Ink Signatures Original ink signatures are required only after contracts have been awarded. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires Contractors to submit original ink-signature versions of the following forms:

a. Standard Contract Form

b. Commonwealth Terms and Conditions

c. Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing

d. Request for Taxpayer Identification and Verification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form)

e. Electronic Funds Transfer Sign Up Form Successful Bidders who agreed to the terms and conditions of these forms electronically via COMMBUYS online Quote submission tool must still submit the above forms with ink signatures within seven (7) calendar days of award notification or their contract may not be executed by the Commonwealth. Bidders who have previous contract(s) with the Commonwealth and have up-to-date, ink-signature versions of the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions and Request for Taxpayer Identification and Verification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form) on file with the Office of the State Comptroller may submit copies of the signed forms. However, a new Standard Contract Form and Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing with original ink signatures must be submitted for each new contract with the Commonwealth.

iii. Limits and Restrictions

iv. Document Pages Bidders should submit no more than three (3) double-sided pages in minimum 10 point font (excluding the required forms and attachments) of narrative in response to the questions asked and information requested. If Bidders exceed the page limits, the SSST may make provisions to penalize the Bidder in the Evaluation Criteria, read and evaluate only those pages up to the page limit referenced above or take other steps as determined by the SSST.

v. File Naming Conventions Files submitted via COMMBUYS must follow the file naming convention specified below. The Description entered during the file upload process ensures each file is readily identified by Company Name and content. The File Name assigned by the Bidder as stored on their computer or network must be structured such that each file can be processed by the upload tool. The upload tool will reject any file name that includes spaces or symbols, like the brackets [ ] some systems apply when files are downloaded from the Internet.

RFR Section or Quote Component Description Enter in COMMBUYS during upload File Name Assign when creating files

vi. File Size Limits The system will not accept files that approach or exceed 10 MB. If a large file fails to upload, the Bidder must save the contents as multiple files. Note the naming convention used above which illustrates distinguishing multi-part files through use of Part 1, Part 2, etc. <OR, if file descriptions and names are specified on the Bidder Response Form Only:>If a large file fails to upload, bidders must break up the file and append _Part1, _Part2 to the end of the Description and File Name.

vii. No Form Provided There are no forms provided for: emergency response plan, statement of insurance (typically Accord form from broker), or authorization letters from manufacturers for distributors. Bidders must upload these as part of their submission.

viii. File Format Restrictions Bidders must submit file formats readable by MS Word 2000 or later, or by Adobe Acrobat Reader or MS Excel or other format defined by the SSST.

All scanned documents must be in .pdf or .gif format, and must be scanned in such a way that they can be read on a computer monitor and printed on 81/2” x 11” paper, unless otherwise specified. Forms provided for the Bidder to complete, with the exception of the forms requiring ink signatures, must be completed and submitted in their original formats, NOT scanned and submitted as PDF or other file types.

ix. Quotes (Bid Responses) Deadline (Bid Opening Date/Time) See the Quotes (Bid Responses) Deadline (Bid Opening) Date and Time indicated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar (above).

x. Estimated Contract Start Date This is the approximate start date. The actual start date will be the Contract Effective Date which is the date the Contract is executed by the parties.

g. Reporting Requirements for Doing Business after a Contract Has Been Awarded The requirements below are specific to the Statewide Contract, if any, awarded as a result of this Bid. Awarded Bidders (Contractors) must also comply with the requirements stated in Terms and Requirements Pertaining to Awarded Statewide Contracts.

1. Report requirements & due dates

a. Report Templates will be published on COMMBUYS

b. Statewide Contract Administration Fee Quarterly Report – see section 2 below

c. Contractor revenue report – see section K below

d. Supplier Diversity Program expenditure report – see section P below

e. Ad hoc reports Contractors are expected to respond in a timely manner to such requests from the Commonwealth Contract Manager

f. Late report penalties The SSST reserves the right to suspend a Contractor for failure to meet the terms of this contract including failure to file timely reports required by this RFR.

2. Statewide Contract Administration Fee This Statewide Contract is subject to a 1% Contract Administration Fee, which is created pursuant to MGL c. 7, § 3B, 801 CMR 4.02. For information on the Statewide Contract Administration Fee, please see the “Statewide Contract Administration Fee and Report” section below.

a. Statewide Contract Administration Fee and Report

i. This Statewide Contract is subject to a 1% Contract Administration Fee, which is created pursuant to MGL c. 7, § 3B, 801 CMR 4.02 and the Transaction Fee section in this Bid and/or incorporated by reference into Statewide Contracts with the Operational Services Division (OSD). The price stated in any Bidder’s Quote price and any Contractor’s Statewide Contract shall be inclusive of this fee and Contractors shall not reflect this fee as a separate line item on customer invoices.

ii. This fee will be based on 1% of the total dollar amounts, adjusted for credits or refunds, paid by Eligible Entities to the Statewide Contractor based on your statewide contract.