SP4701-21-R-1A07.pdf

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Action Code: N/A

Date: January 13, 2021

Year: 2021

Contracting Office Zip Code: 19111

Classification Code: 541614

Contracting Office Address:

DLA Contracting Services Office Philadelphia 700 Robbins Avenue, Building # 26/2, North Side Philadelphia, PA 19111

Subject: Reverse Auction Pricing Tool (RAPT)

Proposed Solicitation Number: SP4701-21-R-1A07

Closing Response Date: February 1, 2021 at 9:00 am

Contact Point: Jessica Reilly; Jessica.Reilly@dla.mil

Thomas Sartin; Thomas.sartin@dla.mil

Contract Award: NA

Contract Award Dollar Amount: NA

Contract Line Item Number: NA

Contract Award Date: NA

Contractor: NA

Description:

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.

This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This requirement shall be restricted 100% to Small Businesses.

Solicitation Number: SP4701-21-R-1A07

This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through

Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-87.

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541614 with a size standard of $16,500,000.00BASIS FOR AWARD: This task order will be evaluated in accordance with Tradeoff evaluation procedures. Award of this task order will be made on a competitive basis, using “tradeoff” procedures between non-price, past performance, and price. In evaluating task order offers, the non-price factor (Technical Approach Proposal) is considered significantly more important than past performance. Past Performance is considered more important than price. All Non-Price sub-factors are all of equal importance. An overall roll-up rating will be assigned to the Non-Price factor. The factor’s assigned overall roll-up rating will be supported in narrative by the Evaluation Team’s report. The Government may consider award to other than the lowest priced contractors or other than the highest technically rated contractors.

Schedule of Items/Statement of Work:

DLA has a requirement for Reverse Auction Pricing Tool (RAPT):

Reverse Auction Pricing Tool (RAPT)

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

A. INTRODUCTION

The requesting office is the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) HQ Acquisition directorate (J-7).

The mission of J-7 is to manage acquisition policy and provide procurement policy direction to the DLA contracting offices. J-7 also participates with Department of Defense (DOD) and other Federal agencies in the development of Federal and DOD-wide policy on matters concerning procurement. Furthermore, J-7 develops, implement, maintains, and interprets procurement policy in a manner that facilitates provision of cost-effective logistics support to meet DOD/Agency strategic goals.

B. SCOPE

The requirement is to procure services for an integrated, cost-effective, flexible web-based

Reverse Auction Pricing Tool (RAPT) system that will meet the needs of DLA from contract inception through full deployment of the tool. DLA personnel will utilize the service provider’s server, software, and services. The service provider must have the system capable of hosting a real-time reverse auction utilizing web-based technology at remote Government/bidder sites. DLA buyers will access the RAPT online with credentials and monitor supplier activity as suppliers lower their prices until the auction stops and an awardee is identified by the Contracting Officer.

C. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

C (1) Specific Tasks - The Reverse Auction Pricing Tool (RAPT) must, at a minimum perform the following functions:

i. The tool must have the ability to create an auction for materials to be sold/dispositioned by the DLA. This includes enabling bidders to compete to buy goods being dispositioned by allowing auction bid prices to increase during the course of the auction. Also, to enable this ‘forward auction’ to have the ability to either auto-extend by pre-established parameters, or be done in a Final Blind bid format. The auto-extend or Final Blind time parameters must be fully editable by Page 2 of 87 the auction creator.

ii. Web-based Auction Events - Provide a secure, user-friendly architecture that allows Federal Government Agencies as well as their sources of supply, both foreign and domestic, to participate in real-time, online, web-based auction events. Each auction event participant identity must be anonymous to other bidders.

iii. Proper Authorization - The RAPT shall not be accessible without the proper authorization and shall be accessible only for the duration of the event, since much of the data disclosed during an auction event is proprietary.

iv. User-friendly Tool - Provide a tool that is easy to use and that participants need only a cursory overview of the tool in order to adequately use it.

v. Accommodate DLA-PLFAs - The RAPT shall have the ability to accommodate separate realms for each DLA Major Subordinate Command (MSC) with separate realms for MSC detachments as deemed necessary. A realm shall be created for each of the following:

1. Aviation

2. Contracting Services

3. Disposition

4. Distribution

5. Document Services

6. Energy

7. Headquarters

8. Land and Maritime

9. Strategic Materials

10. Troop Support

11. Land Aberdeen

* Additional Realms will be created on request of DLA.

MSCs and their detachments shall also have the option for visibility for DLA and the other MSCs.

(For example, Troop Support shall be able to conduct RA events without Aviation receiving notifications and information pertaining to the event. However, if DLA Troop Support decides to give other MSCs or HQ visibility, the option shall be available).

vi. Real-time Visibility - DLA shall have the ability to determine the runtime for an event. The event shall occur in real-time so that all participants know the exact status of the event at any given point.

vii. Input of bids - Only the Government shall have access to input into the system the original offerors’ proposed prices, before the official auction. Once the live auction begins, it becomes the offeror’s responsibility to input any updated proposal pricing.

viii. Self-Reliance - Permit the Government personnel to be self-reliant in the setup and execution of the events including supplier registrations and participant invitations.

The government should be able to set up each individual auction with no assistance from the RAPT contractor.

ix. Functionality within DLA infrastructure - Provide a solution that will function within the DLA infrastructure (Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer or Firefox browser) without the need for installation of additional software or programs. The restrictions and security requirements of the DLA infrastructure prevent users from installing software without prior approval. The approval process is extensive and not cost effective to pursue on a case by case basis. DLA user desktops are running Windows 10. The standard web browsing software consists of Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0 SPI or higher, Netscape Communicator v4.76, Adobe Reader v7.0.8, Windows Media Player v9.0, Macromedia Flash Player v9, Apple QuickTime Movie and Audio Viewer v6.3, Internet Pictures iPIX v6.2.0.5, DirectX v9.0b, and Sun Java vl.3.1_15, vl.4.2_06, and v l.5.0_01. IT specs are subject to change.

Offeror shall confirm that the RAPT will not conflict with the above listed software prior to completing programming on RAPT. Java applets and other files downloaded to work with the above list cannot be installed to the "All Users" folder of the "Documents and Settings" folder of the operating system. They must be directed to the specific user folder logged onto the desktop. Users are very limited in changing any configuration settings on their desktop.

x. Technical Support for global user-base - Provide technical support of the system 24 hours, 7 days a week to accommodate the global user base.

xi. World Wide Internet Accessibility - The RAPT must have world-wide internet accessibility.

xii. User defined data - The RAPT must be able to receive user defined data in its native format, from any previous version or tool. The RAPT shall provide the ability to conduct auctions for multiple line items and apply bid constraints for all or each line item as necessary. The proposed solution shall be configurable to the line item level. The system shall also contain "sample data", which includes dummy accounts for testing purposes.

xiii. Self-Help Library - The proposed solution shall have an on-line library of self-help documentation that can be reviewed by potential users of the system. Documentation shall include a step by step user's guide that explains how the tool works and how to conduct a reverse auction event. There will be separate user’s guides for government buyers and commercial suppliers. Commercial suppliers will not have access to the government buyer guide. The training manual shall also be available. All documentation shall be kept up to date.

xiv. System purge - Government data will reside on the offeror's system for a period of time not to exceed 1 year or 365 days, after the last option has been exercised. Upon completion of the contract, there needs to be a means for transferring that data to the Government for archiving and possible reuse in accordance with Records Management policies.

xv. DLA Desired Data - PLFA RA Government Program Managers must be made aware of any system changes throughout the life of the contract.

xvi. Line Item Uploads System shall be able to upload pricing information during the auction via EXCEL spreadsheet.

xvii. Training - If the Reverse Auction Government Program Manager (RA PM) determines that additional face to face training is required, such training shall be performed at DLA HQ by the RAPT provider to an audience of DLA PLFA/ Major Subordinate Command (MSC) POCs, limited to no more than 30 individuals in a train the trainer approach, unless the RAPT provider has a different approach acceptable to the RA PM.

xviii. he RAPT will notify all quoting vendors that are tied for the lowest price on an item. At any point in a Reverse Auction where there is a tie for the lowest price on an item, all vendors with that price will receive a notification, with the notification stopping if a bid is placed that eliminates the tie for lowest price.

xix. The RAPT will allow buyers to Reverse Auction an item for an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity procurement. These items may have quantity ranges for one year's pricing where each quantity range has a different unit price, allowing vendors to quote on economies of scale. The RAPT will be able to apply a weighing factor to any variable within the system, creating a weighted average unit price for the year. These RAPT users’ proposed items/prices also have annual escalation rates, quoted by a percentage that the prices will increase for each subsequent year of the contract.

xx. A formula that uses the base year pricing and percentage escalation rates to find the average unit price throughout the expected life of the contract. Below is an example of what the tool should accomplish.

xxi.

xxii. The RAPT will have the ability to solicit quotes from a list of vendors with an RFP process, in lieu of Reverse Auction for certain procurements. This RFP process will only solicit quotes from a list of vendors provided by the buyer for that individual procurement.

a. The RFP process will allow vendors to quote delivery schedules for each line item solicited, and a government proposed delivery in the RFQ itself. This delivery schedule will be entered as the number of days after contract award.

b. The RFP process will allow for solicitation of several levels of quantity price breaks and will allow vendors to propose alternate quantity price breaks if the government proposed quantities do not match up with the vendors’ price breaks. Alternate quantities can be entered either in a notes field attached to the vendor’s quote, or within the quote lines themselves.

c. The RFP process will allow for solicitation of phased deliveries, partial quantities of each line to be delivered at regular intervals and will allow vendors to propose alternate phased delivery schedules if the government proposed quantities and/or dates do not match up with the vendor’s proposed delivery schedule. Alternate schedules can be entered either in a notes field attached to the vendor’s quote, or within the quote lines themselves. Buyers will be able to download a spreadsheet that contains all of the bids or quotes submitted by all vendors during the Auction or RFQ.

C (2). RAPT FUNCTIONALITIES

The following items describe the minimum functionality of the Reverse Auction Pricing Tool (RAPT) with regard to the ability to create, run, and provide post-auction documentation.

*System Changes - Any system changes must be communicated to the program manager and subject matter experts at each of the MSCs with an illustrated guide showing the old functionality versus the new functionality that is replacing it.

1. Auction Creation Stage - These are the functions that will take place during the creation of an auction. Some items relate to events that may occur during the Live Auction stage (for instance a tie bid will occur during the live auction, but needs to be configured during the Auction Creation stage).

2. Clone/Copy – The RAPT shall have the capability to clone/copy an existing Reverse Auction (RA).

3. Auction Type – The RAPT shall have the ability to designate the auction as a training event or as a live auction.

4. Auction Size – The RAPT shall provide the ability to configure auctions for an unlimited number of line items and unlimited concurrent users simultaneously (i.e., minimum 10,000 line items/concurrent users.) There are currently approximately 2,000 RAPT users across DLA. There were approximately 600 auctions conducted using the RAPT across DLA in

2016.

5. Offeror Constraints – The RAPT will allow the Government to include or exclude vendors from quoting on individual line items within the auction.

6. No-Bid Indicator – The RAPT shall have the capacity to accept a non-numeric no-bid indicator that will not affect the line item low price or the aggregate price. This function must be able to be turned off in the event that the offeror is required to bid on all items.

7. Bid Decrement: The RAPT shall provide, at the line item level, the ability to set the bid decrement by the unit price of the item or the extended price.

8. Input of Bids at Creation - Only the Government shall be able to input offerors’ original proposed prices before the auction commences.

9. Decimals - Decimal places must be configurable between two (2) and nine (9) places.

10. Line Item Ordering – The RAPT shall not automatically change the line-item ordering in the auction; line items shall remain in the order in which they were entered.

11. Aggregate Pricing - The RAPT shall allow the Government the option to configure the reverse auction to allow all parties to view pricing as follows during the RA: (1) aggregate low, (2) individual line items, (3) both.

12. Tie Bids - The RAPT shall allow the Government to configure whether to permit or prohibit tie bids at the auction level.

13. Ranking Display – The RAPT shall allow the Government to configure the way rankings are displayed to the bidders. The RAPT shall allow the Government to let the bidder see their overall rank in the auction or if they are or are not the current low offer.

14. Tiered Bidding Rules – The RAPT shall be able to accommodate tiered pricing (where pricing is dependent on the quantity or volume of items to be procured) and/or bid bundles (where pricing is dependent on award of all bundled items).

15. Time Format – The time format shall be configurable in a twelve (12) and twenty-four (24) hour format.

16. Currency Format – The currency format shall be configurable to accept alternate currencies.

17. Extension Feature - The RAPT shall have an extension feature that will allow the system to extend the auction when a new bid is received during the quiet period of the auction. The times for the extension periods shall be adjustable. The maximum number of extensions shall be configurable. Also, the system shall offer the ability to allow all line items in the auction to end concurrently or for them to end individually.

18. Unit of Issue/Measure – The RAPT must allow for the unit of issue to be entered as either a text field or via a combo box. If a combo box is used it must contain all of the units of issue used by DLA.

19. Mass Uploads - The RAPT must be able to accept uploaded information via at least one standard file format (Excel file, XML file, Tab delimited text, or Comma delimited text). Page 7 of 87

Information such as line item information and vendor pricing information must be able to be mass uploaded to the RAPT via that standard file format by the Government.

20. Bid Visibility – The RAPT shall not allow bidders to see bids placed by other suppliers. It shall only display the anonymous low bid while not displaying any competing bids.

21. The RAPT must be able to query the System for Award Management (SAM) and obtain contact information such as contractor’s name, address, CAGE code, and DUNS number for both domestic and foreign sources, or provide an alternative solution. This information shall be queried when information is entered manually or via an upload sheet.

Live Auction Stage

These are the functions that will take place during the live part of an auction.

1. Communication Function – The RAPT shall permit the Government to chat with one vendor or broadcast to all participants during the auction.

2. Bid Errors – The RAPT shall allow the Government to pause the auction and edit bid errors.

3. Input of Bids During Auction – During the auction, vendors shall be able to input updated prices and upload pricing information via an upload spreadsheet). The Government shall also be able to enter updated offers for any vendor during this stage.

4. The service provider shall provide help desk support for technical difficulty resolution during the reverse auction event for the Government and the bidders.

Post Auction Functions

These are the functions that will take place after the auction closes.

1. DLA Reporting Data - All relevant data from the system shall be captured in a final form for the buyer to use as documentation of the auction event (e.g., auction rules of engagement, content information, final prices, time stamping of all activity during the auction, etc.). At a minimum, these reports shall be available in raw data and convertible to Excel spreadsheet format. There shall be a function that captures before and after auction prices for comparison and report generation, including aggregate rollup reports.

2. At least two event bidding reports should be available.

I. The first report, the Event Savings Report Summary, shows the event parameters, supplier information, bidding results and calculated savings for a specific event., summary filters should allow DLA to customize reports to suit reporting needs.

Reporting feature must be able to View Printable Report (in HTML format) or Download to a MS Word or Excel report.

II. The second report, the Event Bidding Detail Report, allows the DLA buyer to view, organize, and/or analyze the bids in a spreadsheet format. All submitted bids are downloaded to a file, which can then be saved to the computer or opened as a Microsoft Excel worksheet. The data can be saved as either a Microsoft Excel (.xls) spreadsheet or in a comma-separated value (.csv) format.

D. SPECIFIC TASKS - The Reverse Auction Program Manager will schedule regular conference calls with RAPT vendor provided to discuss any issues identified by users.

E. METHOD OF SURVEILLANCE

During auctions, the government will monitor to ensure the RAPT is functioning properly.

F. ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Certification by the Government of satisfactory services provided is contingent upon the RAPT in accordance with the performance standards contained in the Performance Requirements Summary Matrix (Section 2.3.4) and all terms and conditions of this contract, including all modifications.

G. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Performance measures will be used to assess the Contractors performance under this contract in order to determine whether the Contractor is performing at acceptable levels in order to allow for a 100% payment.

The Government will make objective and subjective assessments of the Contractor's performance to determine whether Contractor performance is acceptable. The Contractor is expected to perform all functions in a professional manner and prepare accurate and timely documentation. Progress will be tracked based on the milestone event when the Contractor receives a specific tasking.

H. Performance Measurements: The performance measurements under this contract(s) shall be based on timeliness and quality of the work and deliverables provided by the Contractor under the contract. These measurements are defined as:

a. Timeliness – The completion of tasks and/or the submission of deliverables within the schedule set forth by the government during the performance of the contract.

b. Quality – The quality of work completed under the resulting tasks will be measured based on the Government’s determination of the validity, accuracy, clarity and usefulness of a deliverable or if the work performance met the expected outcomes as was communicated to the Contractor by the government.

I. Fixed Price Performance Procedures

Fixed Price Payment Procedures

The subject procurement will be awarded using a firm fixed price contract with performance based measures. The performance measurements to be used to assess the Contractors performance under this contract will determine whether the Contractor is performing at acceptable levels in order to allow for a 100% payment of monthly invoices.

The Government will make objective and subjective assessments of the Contractor's performance to determine whether contractor performance is acceptable. The Contractor is expected to perform all functions in a professional manner and prepare accurate and timely documentation. Progress will be tracked based on the milestone event when the Contractor receives a specific tasking. The number of completed actions will be balanced against the quality of this output.

The Contractor may direct questions on any withholding of a payment to the Contracting

Officer. If the Contractor demonstrates that the firm’s inability to meet performance requirements was due to a failure in Government procedure (i.e. miscommunication of facts, failure to provide the Contractor with information or devices necessary to complete tasks, etc.) the monthly payment, or some part of the monthly payment, may be released to the Contractor in a future invoicing period.

J. Performance Review

Below are the Performance Standards that will be used in evaluation performance on a monthly basis and in determining the amount of the monthly payment owed to the Contractor:

Performance standards and ratings are designed to determine if performance exceeds, meets, or does not meet a given metric and acceptable quality level. The performance will be rated each month by the COR. These findings will be the basis for the amount paid for that month Note: The application of these performance ratings or failure of the Government to apply these performance ratings does not waive any of the Government’s rights to damages under this contract. The following overall ratings shall be used:

Good – Performance meets or exceeds contract requirements in terms of timeliness and quality. The COR recommends and the contracting officer will make a determination to pay the contractor 100% of the invoice amount.

Fair – Performance meets contract requirements with either only minor performance issues or minor timeliness issues. The performance and/or timeliness issues do not adversely impact the mission of the Agency. The COR recommends and the contracting officer will make a determination to pay the contractor 90% of the invoice amount.

Poor – Performance narrowly meets contract requirements by at least one of the following: bordering on unacceptability in terms of or quality of performance, bordering on unacceptability in terms of timeliness, or potentially having an adverse impact on the mission of the Agency. The COR recommends and the contracting officer will make a determination to pay the contractor 80% of the invoice amount.

Unacceptable – Performance has been at a less than acceptable level in terms of timeliness or quality. Possible issues include, but are not limited to: missed milestones, low quality documents requiring multiple reviews and rewrites, significant or serious complaints submitted by the customers, documents that do not comply with acquisition or policy regulations, or one or more cure notices have been issued. Payment will be withheld pending resolution of cure notice(s). Termination for default or cause may result.

The ratings, as described in the table above, will be based on the performance of the contractor on the timeliness and quality of the services provided using the rating scale for each criterion as shown below.

Timeliness Good Meets or exceeds contract requirements in terms of timeliness of delivery.

Fair Minor timeliness issues that do not adversely impact the mission of the Agency.

Poor Timeliness issues that are not minor and/or borders on unacceptability. Adverse impact on the mission of the Agency is possible.

Unacceptable Contractor failed to meet the timeliness requirements. Possible issues include, but are not limited to; one or more deliverables not submitted on time or missed milestones.

One or more cure notices may have been issued by the Contracting Officer.

Quality Good Meets or exceeds contract requirements in terms of quality of work performed.

Fair Performance meets contract requirements with only minor issues and the issues do not adversely impact the mission of the Agency.

Poor Performance narrowly meets contract requirements and either borders on unacceptability in terms of quality, or adverse impact on the mission of the Agency is possible.

Unacceptable Quality of performance has been at a less than acceptable level.

Possible issues include, but are not limited to: low quality documents requiring multiple reviews and rewrites, significant or serious complaints submitted by the customers, documents that did not comply with acquisition or policy regulations or one or more cure notices have been issued by the Contracting Officer.

These findings will be the basis for the amount paid for the task for that month. The COR will rate the performance of the Contractor on the timeliness and quality of the services provided.

K. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

Final inspection and acceptance of all work performed, will be performed at the place of delivery by the COR.

L. CONTRACTOR PAYMENT PROCESSING

The contractor is responsible for properly preparing, and forwarding to the COR, the invoice and receiving report or Public Voucher for payment in accordance with DFARS 252.232-

7003 ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PAYMENT REQUESTS AND RECEIVING

REPORTS (JUN 2012).

i. Invoice Review

The COR may reject or require correction of any deficiencies found in the invoice or receiving report. The COR may return the invoice to the contractor in accordance with the performance standards described in paragraph 2.3.3. In the event of a rejected invoice, the

Contractor will be notified in writing by the COR of the specific reasons for rejection. The vendor will resubmit the invoice.

M. SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE: See Section 508 information after Clauses at the end of this RFP.

N. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The primary place of performance for all contractor taskings will be at the contractor’s facility with the exception of initial training, at DLA HQ

O. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Base: 3/5/2021 – 3/4/2022 Option 1: 3/5/2022 – 3/4/2023 Option 2: 3/5/2023 – 3/4/2024

P. TRAVEL

*Travel in support of this requirement is projected to be suspended per COVID19 risk mitigation protocols. As a result, TRAVEL is established to be an optional CLIN to be invoked upon resumption of required travel.

Travel will be accomplished on a Time and Materials basis and will be conducted in accordance with FAR 31.205-46. Costs incurred for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses shall be considered to be reasonable and allowable only to the extent that they do not exceed on a daily basis the maximum per diem rates in effect at the time of travel as set forth in the Federal Travel Regulation.

The total travel expenses for the base period of performance and each option period are not to exceed $1,300.00 for each period. The contractor exceeds this ceiling price at its own risk.

All requests for travel must be submitted in writing in advance of travel, and requests must be approved by the COR in writing prior to incurring costs.

Contractor travel refers to travel by the prime Contractor or its sub-Contractors in support of requirements stated in a Task Order’s PWS. Contractor travel assignments will be authorized/approved by the Contracting Officer in coordination with the COR only when necessary in connection with activities associated with the PWS. Selection for Contractor travel assignments must be based on PWS necessity and qualifications of the individual to best perform the service required. Contractor travel includes assignments away from the employee’s normal duty location that are not so frequent or lengthy that the location is, in fact, the employee’s permanent duty location. Contractor travel assignments at one location may not exceed 90 consecutive days. Issuing a series of travel orders separated with brief returns to the contractor’s site, followed by more travel to the same location will be considered a violation of this 90 consecutive day policy. Under no circumstances will the Government pay for first class or business class travel unless expressly approved in advance by the Government under circumstances that would allow first class/business class travel under the Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) (for example, required because of disability or medical reasons validated by competent medical authority). Contractor travel does not include travel for the purpose of internal Contractor business. Internal Contractor business is defined as any travel not in support of specific tasks required under this PWS. Internal Contractor business includes sessions with any sub-Contractors where Government officials are not present or where primary purpose of the meeting is relationship driven as opposed to performance of tasks required in this PWS.

Q. ADMINISTRATIVE CONSIDERATIONS

To promote timely and effective administration, correspondence will be subject to the following procedures:

i. Technical correspondence (where technical issues relate to compliance with the requirements herein) will be addressed to the COR.

ii. All other correspondence, including invoices, (that which proposes or otherwise involves waivers, deviations or modifications to the requirements, terms or conditions of this PWS) will be addressed to the COR.

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFEROR

This section specifies the format and content that offerors shall use for responding to this Request for Proposal (RFP). Offerors are required to respond in accordance with these instructions. The goal is not to restrict the offerors in the manner in which they will perform their work but rather to ensure a certain degree of uniformity in the format of the responses for evaluation purposes. In order to receive full consideration, offerors are encouraged to ensure that the information provided within their proposal is factual, accurate and complete.

The offeror is responsible for providing adequate documentation to enable a thorough evaluation of the proposal. The offeror shall submit a proposal that clearly and concisely describes and defines the offeror’s response to the objectives/requirements contained in the RFP. Unnecessary elaboration or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired.

Elaborate artwork, expensive paper or bindings, and expensive visual or other presentation aids are neither necessary nor desired. Responses which merely repeat the Performance Work Statement will not be considered as being responsive to the requirements of this RFP.

Assurances of experience, capability, qualifications, without a clear demonstration to support this claim, will adversely influence the evaluation of the proposal. The proposal shall contain all the pertinent information in sufficient detail in the area of the proposal where it contributes most critically to the discussion of the same information. When necessary, the offeror shall refer to the initial discussion and identify its location within the proposal.

Alternate proposals are not authorized. Exceptions to any terms and conditions of the RFP may make the proposal unacceptable.

SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS

Should contractors have any questions with respect to this RFQ, they should submit them, via email, to:

Thomas.sartin@dla.mil

Jessica.reilly@dla.mil Page 13 of 87

Any technical questions, requests for clarification or requests for data in connection with this RFQ must be submitted in writing on or before at January 20th @ 15:00 (Eastern Time) to allow DLA adequate time to provide correct answers to the questions submitted and to prevent any delays in the closing date of the RFQ. The Contractor is strongly urged to follow-up the submission of any questions with a phone call to the Contracting Officer to ensure that questions have been received. A maximum of 10 questions per vendor are allowed.

OFFER SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Contractors shall submit their offer documents only by email to the following 2 inboxes:

Thomas.sartin@dla.mil

Jessica.reilly@dla.mil

Offer shall be submitted on or before __ February 1, 2021 at 9:00 am___ Eastern Time. All email submissions must be less than 10 MB. If needed, you may submit multiple emails if the total file size exceeds 10 MB.

Late Quotes will be handled in accordance with the requirement of FAR 15.208

PROPOSAL VOLUMES

Offerors shall use the format and provide the content requested below in responding to this RFP. Offerors are required to submit proposals in three separate volumes in the format stated in the following table.

Each page of each copy (Volume I, II, III, and IV) should include the “Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 AND 3.104” legend as outlined below. The offeror’s proposal must be organized and tabbed according to the following format, within the page limitations indicated below:

Volume Page Limitation Format

I. Cover Letter and Executive Summary 3 DOC, PDF

II. Technical Proposal (non-price factor 1) 10 (Not including

Training manuals)

Description of the system and a Work Breakdown Structure

DOC, PDF

III. Past Performance (non-price factor 2) 8 DOC, PDF

IV. Pricing Proposal (price factor) None DOC, PDF

The Offeror will conduct three Mock Auctions as part of its technical proposal.

The Non-Price Factors are listed in descending order of importance:

Non-price Factor 1: Technical Proposal/Mock Auctions, and

Non-price Factor 2: Past Performance.

The Technical Proposal/Mock Auction is more important than Past Performance. Non-Price Factors, when combined, are significantly more important than price. However, as proposals become more equal in merit of Non-Price Factors, price becomes more important.

1 Pricing information is to be contained only in the Price Proposal Volume.

2 Font size must be 12 point or larger.

3 Pages exceeding page limitations as specified above will not be considered part of the proposal.

4 Offerors shall respond to all requirements of the solicitation document. Offerors are cautioned not to alter the solicitation.

5 In the event any person who is not a bona fide employee of the offeror participated in the creation, formulation, or writing of any portion of the proposal, a certificate to this effect shall be included in the proposal which shall be signed by an officer of the offeror. Such certificate shall identify the name of the person who is not a bona fide employee, that person’s employment capacity, the name of the person’s firm, the relationship of that firm to the offeror, and the portion of the proposal in which the person participated.

6 Each volume must contain the following items in addition to the other items required by this solicitation:

Cover:

Title of the proposal

Volume Number (I, II or III)

Solicitation Number

Name and address of offeror

Table of Contents:

The table of contents should provide detail sufficient to allow the important elements to be easily located. The use of tabs and dividers is encouraged.

COVER LETTER/EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (VOLUME I)

This volume must include a cover letter. This letter should include the name, title, phone number, and e-mail address for the persons authorized to negotiate with the Government in connection with the RFP. The Page 15 of 87 letter must contain a statement committing to the proposal and stating its validity for a period of at least 90 Days. The letter must be signed by a responsible officer or partner/principal of the Offeror who is authorized to bind the firm contractually. The letter must also contain a statement that the proposal meets the specifications of each subsection of the RFP.

EXCEPTIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

Any exceptions or qualifications to the provisions, terms and conditions of the RFP (including Appendices) should be addressed in this volume. Offerors should include a detailed narrative, which describes the exception or qualification, the offeror’s difficulty in complying, and the offeror’s proposed solution. Qualifications where an offeror states it will not comply with one or more of these requirements may cause proposals to be considered unresponsive. This information should be included in this volume as an additional chapter.

AMENDMENTS

If any amendments are issued to the RFP, this volume should include an acknowledgment of the amendments. This information should be included as an additional chapter.

NON-PRICE FACTOR 1: TECHNICAL APPROACH PROPOSAL INFORMATION (VOLUME II)

This section of the proposal shall exclude any reference to the price/cost aspects of the proposal.

The firm’s Volume II proposal shall address how the overall solution proposed by the offeror ensures successful performance with the least risk to the Government. A Mock Auction will be conducted as part of the technical evaluation.

The offeror shall submit a technical approach outlining in detail how the offeror will successfully perform the performance work statement (PWS). At least five training manuals or instruction manuals shall be included as part of the proposal. A web-based Mock Auction will then be required after the proposal submission. The date and time for a Mock Auction will be scheduled after the closing of the

RFP.

The offeror shall provide the Government with a set of test accounts for the technical evaluation team (acting as the government buyer and commercial suppliers) to be used the proposed tool for the purpose of evaluating the offeror’s ability to meet the PWS and to test the compatibility with DLA’s Intranet network IAW section 1.3.9. The proposal shall provide account information and points of contact for the test accounts to notify in the event of technical difficulties. The Government will make an initial determination as to the ability to log in and perform cursory functions within the proposed solution.

Offerors will be notified as to the success or failure to access the site. Depending on the results, test auctions will follow (outlined below). The evaluation of mock auctions will not constitute discussions, nor will it obligate the Government to conduct negotiations. Offerors will not be permitted to make any changes to their proposals during this process.

MOCK AUCTION

A Mock Auction is a technique that is used to provide offerors with the opportunity to present Page 16 of 87 information through oral means. For this requirement, the Mock Auction will be combined with Mock Auctions based on three (3) separate scenarios. The use of this technique will provide the Government with a more comprehensive understanding of a Company’s Reverse Auction Tool. The purpose of using the Mock Auction technique is to eliminate, or greatly reduce, the need for written material, where information can be conveyed in a more meaningful and efficient way through verbal means. One of the benefits of the Mock Auction is that it permits the evaluators to receive information demonstrating the offeror’s understanding of the work or describing how the work will be performed, directly from key members of the offeror’s team that will actually perform the work.

The Mock Auction should be a demonstration of the offeror’s understanding of the work to be performed.

Instructions for Mock Auction:

The Mock Auction will be a portion of the Technical Proposal (Volume II) conducted via teleconference.

Each offeror will be notified of its company’s date, time, and call-in line after closing. It is recommended that the offeror identify in its written proposal any dates from time of closing through approximately (15) days that may present a problem.

a. Offerors will be allotted no more than three hours to present information, as specified below on the following Mock Auctions:

i. Scenario #1

ii. Scenario #2

iii. Scenario #3

b. Offerors will be allotted no more than three hours to present information. It should be noted that there will only be one Mock Auction per submission, i.e. if there is any type of joint venture or partnership, only one Mock Auction at the three hour limit will be permitted.

c. The order in which the Mock Auction occurs will be randomly selected by lottery. After the closing of the solicitation, offerors will be notified of the date when the Mock Auction is to be conducted. Once the date for the Mock Auction is set, request for changes will not be entertained. Offerors are reminded to specify in writing what dates the offeror would not be available for a Mock Auction. The Mock Auction dates could begin as early as four business days after the closing of the solicitation. Mock Auctions may or may not be scheduled for consecutive days.

d. No pricing information regarding the RAPT (Volume III) shall be included in the Mock Auction.

Non-Price Factor #1 – TECHNICAL APPROACH PROPOSAL:

The offeror shall demonstrate how its proposed software and services will meet the DLA PWS for Reverse Auction services. It shall demonstrate not only a clear understanding of the PWS, but also any enhancements or innovations the offeror may wish to provide for evaluation that are above and beyond the PWS requirements. The offeror shall address each of the Performance Requirements and RAPT Functionalities listed in the PWS and describe how the proposed solution meets the performance requirements.

The Mock Auction will be setup and conducted by the Technical Evaluation Team to evaluate the offeror’s proposed solution in meeting the PWS. The offeror will provide the Government with a set of test accounts for the Technical Evaluation Team (acting as the government buyer and commercial suppliers) to use on an existing system for the purpose of evaluating the offeror’s ability to meet the PWS and to test the compatibility with DLA’s Intranet network. The proposal shall include account information and points of contact for the test accounts to notify in the event of technical difficulties. At least five training manuals or instruction manuals shall be included as part of the proposal. The Government will evaluate the offeror’s solution by conducting three mock auctions to test. During the scheduled mock auction, the offeror’s representative shall be available for assistance and to help facilitate the use of the auction tool via teleconference. Vendor may be asked for clarification during the Mock Auctions.

The scenario for each Mock Auction is provided below:

A. Scenario #1 - There are fifty (50) line items in this fully competitive solicitation. Five (5) vendors will be participating. It is anticipated that multiple awards will be made.

B. Scenario #2 – Two (2) items with a base year and two (2) option years for a total of nine auction lines. DLA is procuring vitamins in bottles of 30 each and 1000 each. As a consideration to increase competition, two (2) bottles of 500 each are acceptable as an alternate to one (1) bottle of 1000 each. This is a competitive solicitation with two (2) qualified sources. Award is a single award to be made to the lowest priced technically acceptable (LPTA) offeror. The qualified companies are ABC Company in Mechanicsburg, PA and LMN Company in Denver, CO. ABC Company is offering 100,000 bottles of 30 each and 100,000 bottles of the 1000 each. LMN Company is offering 100,000 bottles of the 30 each and 200,000 bottles of the 500 each.

C. Scenario #3 – The solicitation is for a long term contract for 1 item with 4 quantity ranges. Each of these quantity ranges will have an evaluation factor applied by the buyer. The evaluation factors of the quantity ranges will add up to a value of

1.00. Vendors will submit prices for the base year of the contract, and percentage escalation rates will be submitted for the 4 option years. The escalation rates will apply to all 4 quantity ranges. Each option year may have a different percentage escalation rate. Escalation rates are compounding. I.E. the escalation rate for year 3 of the contract will be applied to year 2 prices. The system will use the 4 quantity range prices, and the 4 percentage escalation rates to calculate a weighted average unit price for each vendor submitting a quote. 3 vendors will submit quotes.

Please see the requirement shown at section C. of the PWS for more details.

NON-PRICE FACTOR 2: PAST PERFORMANCE (VOLUME III)

Past Performance - The offeror shall demonstrate that their organization has performed projects and/or tasks of similar scope and complexity as those referenced under the scope of the RFP located in the PWS. The offeror shall provide: Page 18 of 87

A minimum of one (2) and a maximum of two (2) contracts/accounts, commercial or Government, performed within the last three (3) years for the same or similar services as those proposed in this RFP.

The offeror shall provide for each contract/account a brief description of the type of work performed and in what ways the previous work described is similar to the current requirement;

The offeror must list for each contract/account the name, address, point of contact, telephone number, dollar value and period of performance.

The Government reserves the right to consider additional past performance sources including the PPIRS or CPARS system. Where applicable, offerors are encouraged to provide a copy of their most recent PPIRS or CPARS reports for submitted past efforts. The offeror shall ensure that information presented for contact points is accurate and current. The Government is not obligated to "track down" reference data in cases where inaccurate data is presented.

See attachment (1) for sample past performance template.

PRICE PROPOSAL INFORMATION (VOLUME IV)

This volume will be limited to the Schedule of Services. Offerors are to provide a total firm-fixed price for all services listed in the PWS. Pricing must be divided into 12 equal monthly payments and the contractor will invoice on a monthly basis. The contract item quantity will be 12. The unit of issue will be months.

12. The offeror’s proposed price shall include all costs associated with performance of the contract including, but not limited to, maintenance costs, costs of enhancements and upgrades, costs associated with all customization and configuration necessary to ensure that the proposed solution meets the requirements set forth in the Performance Work Statement (PWS.

13. The offeror shall provide pricing for the one year base period and the two one-year option periods.

14. The offeror shall provide pricing for face to face training for one session per year. Per section Cxxii., if the Reverse Auction Government Program Manager (RA PM) determines that additional face to face training is required, such training shall be performed at DLA HQ by the RAPT provider to an audience of DLA PLFA/ Major Subordinate Command (MSC) POCs, limited to no more than 30 individuals in a train the trainer approach, unless the RAPT provider has a different approach acceptable to the RA PM.

15. The resulting contract will be awarded on a firm-fixed price basis. Travel will be accomplished on a Time and Materials basis. No additional fees will be reimbursed to the contractor except as detailed in the pricing schedule below.

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES:

CLIN DESCRIPTION QTY U/I UNIT PRICE TOTAL PRICE

0001 Base Term:

Reverse Auction Tool - (Firm Fixed Price (FFP))

12 MO $ $

0002 Base Term: (Optional Item) Reverse Auction Tool - Training

1 EA $ $

0003 Base Term: (Optional Item) Travel Time and Materials (T&M)

1 EA - NOT TO EXCEED (NTE)

$1,300

TOTAL PRICE FOR BASE TERM: $

1001 Option 1 Term:

Reverse Auction Tool -

(FFP)

12 MO $ $

1002 Option 1 Term: (Optional Item) Reverse Auction Tool - Training

1 EA $ $

1003 Option 1 Term: (Optional Item) Travel Time and Materials (T&M)

1 EA $ NOT TO EXCEED (NTE)

$1,300

TOTAL PRICE FOR OPTION 1: $

2001 Option 2 Term:

Reverse Auction Tool -

(FFP)

12 MO $ $

2002 Option 2 Term: (Optional Item) Reverse Auction Tool - Training

1 EA $ $

2003 Option 2 Term: (Optional Item) Travel Time and Materials (T&M)

1 EA $ NOT TO EXCEED (NTE)

$1,300

TOTAL PRICE FOR OPTION 2: $ Page 20 of 87

TOTAL PRICE FOR BASE + 2

OPTIONS:

*Training and Travel lines will only be invoked as/if needed.

Period of Performance:

Base: 3/5/2021 – 3/4/2022

Option 1: 3/5/2022 – 3/4/2023

Option 2: 3/5/2023 – 3/4/2024

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

FAR 52.212-2 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999)

1.1. The Government will award a contract…