SOW FINAL FOR RFI.docx

Statement of Work (SOW) Project: Ames/Kansas City Warehouse Process Improvement

GENERAL INFORMATION

1.0 Scope of Work: Prior to purchase of a new warehouse management system, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requires an independent assessment of the operating environment and processes at both the APHIS Warehouse and National Centers for Animal Health (NCAH) Warehouse to accurately map existing processed and identify opportunities for improvement. Additionally, APHIS mandates high-level user requirements to ensure the new system can perform all relevant tasks. Veterinary Services (VS) will expect the following:

On-site work for this contract will be performed at:

APHIS Warehouse 3500 East 149th Street, Suite 300 Kansas City, Missouri 64147

NCAH Warehouse 1920 Dayton Avenue Ames, Iowa 50010

2.0 Background (see Appendix 1 for additional agency information):

National Centers for Animal Health (NCAH) Warehouse The NCAH Warehouse is managed and operated by the Laboratory Resources Unit (LRU) of the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL), Ames, Iowa. The warehouse is considered a vital component in the daily operations of NCAH. Everything that comes in and goes out from this facility is handled by warehouse staff. The warehouse is unique in that it performs a wide variety of duties supporting a wide variety of agencies’ missions, which include: NVSL, Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), National Animal Disease Center (NADC), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), and federal and state Veterinary Medical Officers (VMOs). The warehouse provides customer service in five different areas:

· Shipping: Builds/ships kits for field VMOs, builds/ships tuberculosis kits to support FSIS, builds/ships kits in support of NAHMS, package/ship reagents from labs, builds/ships Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic kits and replenishments. – everything from a letter to a pallet, shipping sends items all over the world.

· FY 2019 – Shipped 24,707 total packages.

· Receiving: Receives items from couriers, determines if packages are sample submissions vs. vendor orders. The dock opens each vendor package, matches what was received to what was ordered, and receives it into the appropriate procurement system.

· FY 2019 – received 851 pallets of freight and 41,299 packages. Processed 8,168 vendor orders.

· Laundry: Laundry services are contracted out; the warehouse has a label machine to help facilitate laundry getting to the correct destination. A total of 2,890 articles of clothing have been labeled within the last two months.

· Mail: Mail is picked up from the Post Office and sorted by mail stop for internal delivery. Procured items from local business within Ames are picked up along with a weekly run to Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

· FY 2019 – Processed 5,014 pieces of mail.

· Warehouse: The warehouse delivers samples to the laboratories after being processed by Sample Processing. Media, glassware and supplies are delivered to the Mycobacteria and Brucella laboratory, located in building 401, daily. Compressed gas is delivered anywhere on campus. The warehouse fulfills warehouse orders and manages the 1,330 different items within the warehouse.

· FY 2019 – Delivered 1,172 compressed gases, picked 80,572 items that were ordered from the warehouse, and created over 800 vendor orders for warehouse re-stock.

APHIS Warehouse The APHIS Warehouse provides logistical support to states, tribes, and territories in support of APHIS’ mission. The APHIS warehouse effectively manages four separate warehouse inventories in the same physical location: the APHIS Warehouse, the APHIS Industrial Hygiene program, the Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) program, and the VS Warehouse. The majority of daily activity and workload at the warehouse involves management of the VS Warehouse, as items from the VS Warehouse are ordered daily. Additional information for each program is provided below.

· The APHIS Warehouse is the nation’s repository of critical veterinary supplies and equipment maintained by VS to respond to animal diseases of catastrophic proportions. The warehouse contracts with CEVA, a third-party logistics company, to manage inventory and store additional inventory in locations throughout the United States to ensure VS is able respond to multiple, large-scale, simultaneous Foreign Animal Disease outbreaks. As such, the APHIS warehouse is responsible for managing inventory at multiple locations, not just at the Kansas City distribution center location.

· The APHIS Industrial Hygiene program strives to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and control workplace environmental factors or stresses. The program is designed to prevent sickness and impaired health, and to preserve employee well-being by developing measures to correct or minimize health hazards. The Industrial Hygiene program is an APHIS-managed program and overseen by the APHIS Emergency Management Safety and Security Division.

· The ADT program ensures that owners identify all livestock moved interstate unless those livestock are specifically exempted. Identification of animals ensures that APHIS can track diseased animals to ensure rapid and comprehensive response to an animal disease outbreak. The warehouse stocks fewer than five items for the ADT program. Thus, the ADT program is a very small part of the warehouse operation and is not considered further in this review.

· The VS Warehouse exists to store and provide veterinary supplies (e.g., ear tags, back tags, blood tubes, and glue) to VS employees, USDA-accredited veterinarians, livestock producers, slaughter facilities, and laboratories to enable them to accomplish their mission of protecting the health, productivity, quality, and marketability of animals and animals products

CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

3.0 Technical Requirements/Tasks:

3.1 TASKS TO BE PERFORMED

3.1.1 CLIN 0001 Initiation, Planning and Project Management

The Vendor’s assigned project manager (PM) shall facilitate a meeting to kick off the project. The Vendor’s team and key project stakeholders shall be invited to the kick-off meeting. As part of the kickoff meeting, the PM shall present the project management plan that will be used to ensure the success of the project. The project management plan shall be consistent with the Project Management Institute framework, best practices and approved by the government assigned NCAH Warehouse and APHIS Warehouse PMs. An initial draft of the project schedule shall be provided at the kickoff meeting. The project management plan and the project schedule shall be maintained as living documents throughout the project and be used to proactively manage the project.

The Vendor’s PM shall provide project management services to ensure timely accomplishment of the following tasks:

· Provide weekly status reports. The Vendor’s Project Manager will review progress with government assigned NCAH Warehouse and APHIS Warehouse PMs and the product owner. The status reports shall include project accomplishments, the latest schedule and milestones, any identified risks, and issues and corrective actions.

· Facilitate project meetings with the NCAH Warehouse and APHIS Warehouse PMs, NCAH Warehouse and APHIS Warehouse team members, and other identified key stakeholders.

· Meet the 4-month Period of Performance.

3.1.2 CLIN 0002 Solution Analysis

Vendor will conduct an analysis of NCAH Warehouse and APHIS Warehouse processes in relation to the requisitioning, budgeting, purchasing, receipt, stocking, delivery/distribution, technological & logistical requirements. including:

· Assess key business strategies and technical objectives.

· Gather data to include information related to warehousing and acquisition policy, processes, data systems, and workload.

· Interview key stakeholders (e.g., managers, employees, customers) and other subject matter experts to understand current operating environments, business processes, and improvement opportunities.

· Map As-Is business processes for key procurement, budget, administrative and warehouse functions, including customer and supplier interactions. uploaded to ensure administrative processes are identified and reviewed.

· Evaluate the overall As-Is processes and potential new modernization efforts.

· Advise on strategies, technical designs, and implementations of best business practices; make recommendations to improve, implement or resolve technical issues as needed.

· Develop recommended process improvement initiatives along with expected rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM)/Return on Investment (ROI), costs and benefits. NOTE: Doesn’t have to be documented in SOW, but ensure familiarity of Laboratories, Warehousing, APHIS/VS Mission, Customer Service.

· Conduct preliminary market research of commercial-off-the-shelf systems and current APHIS-owned systems, including the potential for availability of a single IT solution to meet the needs of both warehouses and a cost analysis of available options.

· Coordinate with APHIS information technology (IT) and contracting offices to obtain guidance on USDA-specific requirements for selecting and implementing an IT solution, including security process, timelines, and small business goals.

· The system must be able to be hosted in a FedRAMP certified cloud, Azure Government Cloud, or on premises deployment.

· Develop high-level user overviews and/or demonstrations that explain pros and cons of potential IT solutions and how system features could benefit APHIS stakeholders.

· Provide a vendor neutral recommendation on the best solution (or solutions) available for management of NCAH Warehouse and APHIS Warehouse processes.

3.1.3 CLIN 0003 Recommendation Report

The Vendor will produce a formal report of findings in CLIN 2 and any recommendations to improve current business practices.

· Recommendations can include material and non-material solutions and should include alternatives with associated design documents. The alternatives should be logically grouped based on interdependencies.

· As a result of this work, which should be completed within four to six months, VS will expect:

· Microsoft Visio process maps: current (As-Is) state, potential opportunities or efficiencies, and future state (To-Be),

· Final briefing that includes high-level user stories, results of market research, recommendations, and ROM/ROI costs and benefits to justify investment, and

· Executive report outlining processes, challenges, and recommendations.

4.0 Government Furnished: NA

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule:

Vendor Key Deliverables

Within 1-2 weeks of award.

Weekly

At agreed upon time and frequency

Mapped As-Is processes for key procurement, budget, administrative and warehouse functions, including customer and supplier interactions.

Month 2

Month 4

6.0 Travel:

Contractor shall price an all-inclusive cost to include all labor, supervision, and materials. There will not be a separate line item for travel.

7.0 Vendor’s Key Personnel:

Quality Critical Technician Warehouse Technician Logistics SME Project Manager Process Manager

8.0 Security Requirements:

The contractor shall identify key personnel in the technical proposal regardless of the type of task. NOTE: key personnel may not be removed from a task without the express approval of the Contracting Officers Representative (COR).

The contractor shall provide a Project/Program Manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer. The Project/Program Manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract.

8.1 Identification of Contractor Employees

All contract personnel attending meetings, answering Government telephones, and working in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as such to avoid creating an impression in the minds of members of the public that they are Government officials. They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by contractors are suitably marked as contractor products or that contractor participation is appropriately disclosed.

8.2 Personnel Security Requirements

Vendor personnel must comply with USDA Homeland Security Presidential Directive, Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors, and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors. For SaaS solutions, the solution must support smart card, two-factor authentication using the USDA eAuthentication system.

Although the information being processed through this contract is not classified, the information is considered highly sensitive and must be protected accordingly. It is imperative that company personnel, such as Database Administrators, System Administrators, etc., or anyone who possibly could access the data being processed, have an appropriate level of background investigation and Security Clearance on file. The company would be responsible for ensuring that only personnel possessing the appropriate level of background investigation were instrumentally involved with the data processed by this contract.

Only US citizens with appropriate security clearance will be authorized to access government computer systems.

8.3 USDA Identification Badges

USDA requires government issued identification badges and display of them at all times while on the premises. All personnel performing the functions described in this contract shall qualify for, be able to obtain and maintain, a USDA LincPass (otherwise known outside USDA as a PIV – Personal Identity Verification - card). A LincPass card is required for access logical access to the network and to all information systems.

The Vendor shall ensure that all Vendor employee USDA identification badges are returned to USDA, if employees are dismissed, when the contract expires, or whichever comes first. The Government will have and exercise full and complete control over granting or denying of identification cards or other required security identification badges. It shall be the Vendor’s responsibility to account for all identification cards/badges issued to Vendor personnel. Final Vendor payment will be withheld until all identification cards and security identification badges as well as keys or other Government assigned items have been accounted for.

8.4 National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI)

The minimum Personnel Security Investigative (PSI) requirements for a Vendor working on a government computer system is a National Agency Check with Inquiries. All positions within the USDA are assigned Position Sensitivity Designations based upon the risk/damage an unauthorized disclosure would cause to the Agency and/or National Security. The COR will advise the Vendor of the assigned designation and investigative requirements at the kickoff meeting/at the onset of contract discussions. Based upon the assigned sensitivity designation, the minimum level PSI may not meet the requirements and a higher level of investigation and/or Security Clearance may be required.

A list of all Vendor personnel assigned to this task with the dates and types of security background investigation checks completed will be submitted to the COR prior to the initiation of any work effort charged against this Performance Work Statement (PWS).

8.5 Background investigations and fingerprinting

Background investigations and fingerprinting are required for all government and Vendor employees directly working in a government computer system. If the government receives an unsuitable report of any Vendor employee after review and processing of security background information, the Vendor will be advised immediately and such employee shall not continue to work at USDA or be assigned work under this or any USDA contract. The Vendor shall replace such employee with a new employee within 30 days.

The personnel assigned to this contract, by the contractor, who have access to the USDA network, will be required to participate in USDA Security Awareness Training and Rules of Behavior Training or USDA’s authorized equivalent provided by USDA in order to meet the training requirement set forth by the Office of Personnel Management. This training will not exceed one business day. USDA will inform the contractor of when the training must take place.

8.6 Disclosure of Sensitive or Proprietary Information

The Vendor shall not disclose sensitive or proprietary information of, or in the possession of, the USDA or any of its operating units, Vendors, or business partners to unauthorized persons. The Vendor will be subject to any penalties imposed by law for unlawful disclosure of Department information. Vendor employees will be required to sign Non-Disclosure Statements.

8.7 HIPAA, HITECH, and Privacy Act

Work on this SOW may require that personnel have access to Privacy Information. Personnel shall adhere to the Privacy Act, Title 5 of the U. S. Code, Section 552a – as amended and applicable agency rules and regulations. The Vendor shall ensure that all contract personnel take the required USDA Privacy training. The Vendor shall protect the privacy, security, and integrity of protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) from unauthorized access and shall comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinic Health Act of 2009, and Privacy Act of 1974 -- as amended. The Vendor will not use or disclose PHI, except as permitted by law and in accordance with the individual’s rights as required under the HIPAA regulations. Upon termination of this contract, the Vendor will provide the Government with the PII/PHI date created and amended during contracted service in the form of a common-use electronic format that is readable and accessible by mainstream database or spreadsheet software.

4 8.8 Physical Security

Custody of sensitive information must be protected under The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a -- as amended. The Contractor/Service Provider shall be responsible for safeguarding PII data against unauthorized disclosure, dissemination or modification in accordance with the requirements, law and USDA PII policy and regulations. This shall include, but is not limited to: Privacy and PII data located in IT Systems, software, research data / information, personnel (institutional knowledge) and buildings/offices.

9.0 Data Rights: NA

10.0 Section 508 – Electronic and Information Technology Standards:

Section 508 - Accessibility of Electronic and Information Technology

a) This SOW is subject to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) as amended by the workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220). Specifically, subsection 508(a)(1) requires that when the Federal Government procures Electronic and Information Technology (EIT), the EIT must allow Federal employees and individuals of the public with disabilities comparable access to and use of information and data that is provided to Federal employees and individuals of the public without disabilities.

b) The EIT accessibility standards at 36 CFR Part 1194 were developed by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board ("Access Board") and apply to contracts and task/delivery orders, awarded under indefinite quantity contracts on or after June 25, 2001.

c) Each EIT product or service furnished under this contract shall comply with the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (36 CFR 1194), as specified in the contract, as a minimum. If the UDSA Contracting Officer determines any furnished product or service is not in compliance with the contract, the USDA Contracting Officer will promptly inform the Vendor in writing. The Vendor shall, without charge to the Government, repair or replace the non-compliant products or services within the period of time to be specified by the Government in writing. If such repair or replacement is not completed within the time specified, the Government shall have the following recourses:

1. Cancellation of the contract, delivery or task order, purchase or line item without termination liabilities; or

2. In the case of custom EIT being developed by a Vendor for the Government, the Government shall have the right to have any necessary changes made or repairs performed by itself or by another firm for the noncompliant EIT, with the Vendor liable for reimbursement to the Government for any expenses incurred thereby.

d) The Vendor must ensure that all EIT products that are less than fully compliant with the accessibility standards are provided pursuant to extensive market research and are the most current compliant products or services available to satisfy the contract requirements.

e) For every EIT product or service accepted under this contact by the Government that does not comply with 36 CFR 1194; the Vendor shall, at the discretion of the Government, make every effort to replace or upgrade it with a compliant equivalent product or service, if commercially available and cost neutral, on either a contract specified refresh cycle for the product or service, or on a contract effective option/renewal date; whichever shall occur first.

Section 508 Compliance for Communications

The Vendor shall comply with the standards, policies, and procedures below. In the event of conflicts between the referenced documents and this SOW, the SOW shall take precedence.

Rehabilitation Act, Section 508 Accessibility Standards

1. 29 U.S.C. 794d (Rehabilitation Act as amended)

2. 36 CFR 1194 (508 Standards)

3. http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm (508 standards)

4. FAR 39.2 (Section 508)

5. USDA Standards, policies and procedures (Section 508)

In addition, all contract deliverables are subject to these 508 standards as applicable. Regardless of format, all Web content or communications materials produced, including text, audio or video - must conform to applicable Section 508 standards to allow federal employees and members of the public with disabilities to access information that is comparable to information provided to persons without disabilities. All Vendors (including subVendors) or consultants responsible for preparing or posting content must comply with applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, and where applicable, those set forth in the referenced policy or standards documents above. Remediation of any materials that do not comply with the applicable provisions of 36 CFR Part 1194 as set forth in the SOW, shall be the responsibility of the Vendor or consultant.

Section 508 needs

Section 508 Relevant Program Needs

The following Section 508 provisions apply to the content or communications material identified in this SOW:

1. 36 CFR Part 1194.21 a - l

2. 36 CFR Part 1194.22 a - p

3. 36 CFR Part 1194.31 a - f

4. 36 CFR Part 1194.41 a – c

The Vendor shall provide a completed Section 508 Product Assessment Template and the Vendor shall state exactly how proposed EIT deliverable(s) meet or does not meet the applicable standards.

Place of Performance: 1920 Dayton Ave, Ames IA 50010 and 3500 East 149th Street, Suite 300, Kansas City, Missouri

Period of Performance 4 months.

APPENDIX 1 - USDA Agencies and Missions

United States Department of Agriculture

The USDA provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.

Agricultural Research Services

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. Their purpose is finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day, from field to table. ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provide information access and dissemination to:

· ensure high-quality, safe food, and other agricultural products.

· assess the nutritional needs of Americans.

· sustain a competitive agricultural economy.

· enhance the natural resource base and the environment.

· provides economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

APHIS is a multi-faceted USDA Agency with a broad mission area that includes protecting and promoting U.S. agricultural health, regulating genetically engineered organisms, administering the Animal Welfare Act, and carrying out wildlife damage management activities. These efforts support the overall mission of APHIS, which is to protect and promote food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues.

National Centers for Animal Health (NCAH)

The NCAH campus consolidated three USDA programs: National Animal Disease Center (NADC) under the ARS, National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) and Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) both under the APHIS into one facility located in Ames, Iowa.

National Animal Disease Center (NADC)

NADC (part of ARS) conducts basic and applied research on selected diseases of economic importance to the U.S. livestock and poultry industries. The goals of the research mission are to produce knowledge and technology to:

· Reduce economic losses from infectious, genetic, and metabolic diseases to the livestock and poultry industries and the associated rural agricultural community.

· Reduce or eliminate pre-harvest contamination or infection of livestock and poultry with food-borne human pathogens.

· Prevent suffering and death caused by diseases in agriculturally important livestock and poultry.

Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB)

APHIS’ CVB implements the provisions of the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act of 1913 as amended to assure that pure, safe, potent, and effective veterinary biologics are available for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of animal diseases. This mission mandates the use of sound scientific technology to:

· Ensure that biologics are free of disease producing agents, especially foreign animal diseases.

· Develop appropriate standards and procedures for product release.

· Issue licenses and permits.

· Monitor and inspect products and facilities.

· Control field tests and release of veterinary biologics.

National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL)

APHIS’ NVSL safeguard U.S. animal health and contribute to public health by ensuring that timely and accurate laboratory support is provided by their nationwide animal-health diagnostic system. NVSL staff accomplishes this through:

1. Providing diagnostic services, reagents, and training in world-class facilities.

1. Responding to animal health emergencies.

1. Taking an active role in managing the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.

1. Serving as an international reference laboratory.

1. Maintaining a well-trained and responsive staff.

Combined Campus Services

During development of the NCAH organizational plan in 2009, it was agreed by the three entities that make up NCAH that several services could be combined to save money, time, and personnel resources. The specific services combined were:

· Administrative Unit

· Animal Resources Unit

· Facilities Engineering Unit

· Information Management Unit

· Laboratory Resources Unit

· Safety and Security Unit