SB1341-16-RQ-0796_-_Instruction_to_offerors.pdf

RFQ# SB1341-16-RQ-0793

INSTRUCTION TO OFFERORS/BASIS FOR AWARD

BASIS FOR AWARD

The Government intends to award a single purchase order in response to the solicitation. The Government reserves the right not to award a contract depending on the quality of the proposals submitted and the availability of funds. Based upon the results of the integrated assessment of the technical and cost/price proposals, the Government may make an award to other than the lowest-priced offeror or the offeror with the highest technical score if the source selection official determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government.

All offers received will be evaluated in accordance with the stated evaluation factors. The Government reserves the right to make an award without discussions based solely upon initial proposals. Therefore, offerors should ensure that their initial proposal constitutes their best offer in terms of both price and the technical solution being proposed.

REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS

The offeror shall submit the proposal in 2 volumes: (1) technical proposal and one (1) business/price proposal. The contents of each shall be as follows:

Volume I – Technical Proposal:

Offerors shall provide a Technical Proposal that addresses the following evaluation criteria:

A. Technical Capabilities and Management Approach; and B. Personnel Qualifications C. Past Performance/References

The technical proposal shall include the following information to demonstrate the offeror’s understanding of the requirements:

i) The background, objectives, and work requirements of the statement of work as analyzed by the offeror,

ii) The proposed methods and techniques for completing each task,

iii) How each task will be evaluated for full performance and acceptability of work from the offeror's viewpoint; with support,

iv) Any anticipated major difficulties and problem areas, along with potential recommended approaches for their resolution,

v) Identification of roles and specify responsibilities for each role

vi) Definition of the primary skill set required for each role

MINIMUM CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS

It is estimated that this work will require a minimum of one contractor key personnel with at least 10 years of experience in wireless network research, software defined testbed implantation for smartgrid applications. The tasks and deliverables requires the contractor key personnel to possess theoretical knowledge and practical experience in wireless communications, wireless ad hoc networks, and in particular, synchrophasor networks with load balancing capability when the network has multiple gateways (e.g. mesh portal nodes). In addition, the contractor key personnel must be proficient in the use of ns2 network modeling and developing codes for the Emulab-based simulation tool in order to build upon the test tool developed during the course of this project.

* No pricing information shall be included within the technical proposal.

A resume is required for each key personnel proposed to satisfy the SOW requirements. The resume shall include the name, education, experience, the country of citizenship (if a foreign national), and the labor category from the contract under which they are proposed to perform the subject purchase order.

Past Performance/References

The offeror shall provide up to three examples of past performance conducted within the last three years of contracts of relevant work of a similar type and scope as the current requirement with federal, state or local governments and/or commercial customers. If the offeror has no relevant past performance, it should include a statement to that effect in its quotation. The government reserves the right to consider past performance data obtained from sources other than those provided by the offeror in its quotation.

The description of each reference described in this section shall not exceed a half page. For each of the contracts, the offeror shall provide the following information:

• Contract number

• Client’s name and address

• Dollar value

• Period of performance

• Narrative describing the requirement and its relevance to the current requirement

• Name of contracting officer or point of contact, telephone number and e-mail address

Volume II – Business/Price Proposal:

The Offeror’s Business Proposal shall be a separate volume from the Technical Proposal. The total propose price shall include all anticipated costs to fully perform all objectives as stated in the solicitation on a Firm Fixed Price basis.

The offeror shall provide a breakdown of labor hours used for each period of performance to demonstration the offeror’s understanding of the solicitation requirements.

The below table shows the page limits to which offerors’ submissions must adhere.

Volume Section Page limit

I Technical Capabilities, and Personnel Qualifications Past Performance/References

II Business Proposal N/A

* Resumes and letters of commitment will not be included as part of the page count.

Evaluation criteria

In determining which proposal provides the best value to the Government, non-price (technical) evaluation factors when combined are significantly more important than evaluated price. Non-price factors 1-3 are listed in descending order of important. An offeror’s proposal will be determined to be ineligible for award if the proposal merely reiterates the Government’s requirement.

(a) Technical Evaluation Factors.

Factor 1--TECHNICAL APPROACH. The proposal will be evaluated on how the offeror intends to organize, staff and manage the contract and the means that will be used to accomplish the contract requirements.

The degree to which the proposal demonstrates an understanding of the requirements will be evaluated, as well as the offeror's planned management of consultants and subcontractors, if applicable.

Factor 2--KEY PERSONNEL. The education, experience, and accomplishments of key personnel will be evaluated to determine the degree to which they possess the qualifications to perform their proposed duties under the contract.

Factor 3--PAST PERFORMANCE. The offeror's past performance on related contracts will be evaluated to determine, as appropriate, successful performance of contract requirements, quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, effective management of subcontractors, cost management, level of communication between the contracting parties, proactive management and customer satisfaction.

(c) Price Evaluation.

(1) The proposed prices will be evaluated but not scored. The price evaluation will determine whether the proposed price is realistic, complete, and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements.

Proposed price must be entirely compatible with the technical proposal.

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