ATTACHMENT_4_-_Questions_and_Answers _15_JULY_2015.pdf

SP4708-15-R-0001, ATTACHMENT 4

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: CURRENT AS OF 15 JULY 2015

The following questions regarding solicitation SP4708-15-R-0001 were received on or prior to

July 15, 2015. Answers to these questions are hereby provided in accordance with FAR 15.201.

Any additional questions or follow-up questions to this notice may be submitted directly to the

DOD EMALL Contracting Office at: dod.emall@dla.mil.

i. General

Q.i.1: “Do you know when the anticipated release date is for the Solicitation?”

A.i.1: The solicitation will have been released on the same date as the posting date of these Questions and Answers.

NEW Q.i.2: “What is the average time of the process after submitting proposal to get on EMALL?”

A.i.2: An initial assessment of all proposals submitted prior to the closing date and time will be performed within a reasonable amount of time after offers are retrieved from the Business

Opportunities Office to determine completeness. (see Evaluation of Proposals, paragraph (c) for further information). Per paragraph (c) of the Addendum to 52.212-1, the period for acceptance of offers is 180 days (but this does not prevent the Government from requesting an extension, if deemed necessary).

NEW Q.i.3: “I cannot find definitive directions for actually obtaining a contract in these instructions so please be kind enough to clarify for me if you can”

A.i.2: See Section E., FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors–Commercial Items, including its Addendum. See also Section A for instructions regarding the due dates and ship to addresses for completed offers.

NEW Q.i.4: Amendment 3 looks like a complete revised version of the original solicitation document -when I send it to you guys do you still want me to include the original solicitation and all 89 pages of Amendment 3 as well?

A.i.4: Offerors only need to send the cover pages of the original solicitation SF1449, the

SF30 cover pages for Amendments 0001 and 0002, and all pages of 0003 and any later issued amendment (of which there are none at this time). Please see page 53 of Amendment 0003

(Section E., FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors–Commercial Items, including its Addendum) which provides these instructions.

ii. Impact on Current DOD EMALL Supplier Base

Q.ii.1: “Will existing vendors have to recompete their contracts?”

mailto:dod.emall@dla.mil

Q&A: SP4708-15-R-0001, 15 JULY 2015

A.ii.1: “Competition” for all delivery orders occurs at the ordering activity level.

Ordering activities are reminded to make a “best value” decision utilizing FAR Subpart 8.4 ordering procedures.

Q.ii.2: “How does this affect current DOD EMALL suppliers?”

A.ii.2: Current contractors are required to continue to perform under existing contracts.

If an existing contractor would like to submit a proposal under the forthcoming solicitation, SP4708-15-R-0001, they may do so.

Q.ii.3: “As a long term and current supplier to DOD EMALL, I wanted to know is EMALL as we know it going away or is it simply expanding?”

A.ii.3: See Section B.15. of the Caution Notices section of the solicitation.

Q.ii.4: “Our question is that it says DLA is working on putting out a new solicitation so are we supposed to respond to that? Is that something that is taking the place of the existing contracts or does that just mean for companies looking to get a new contract?”

A.ii.4: See response provided at A.ii.2 above.

iii. Questions regarding the Next Generation e-Commerce Solution (NGe-Com), i.e.

“FedMall”

Q.iii.1: “Will FedMall be for or include open market contracts?”

A.iii.1: No further details are available at this time.

NEW Q.iii.2: Is it still anticipated that FedMall will be in its Full Deployment stage by the end of

Fiscal Year 2015? Once FedMall is deployed, will our items on GSA Advantage move over to

FedMall? If we did add items to DOD EMALL before FedMall is fully deployed, what will happen once FedMall is in place? Will the GSA Advantage items override the ones we have on

DOD EMALL?

A.iii.2: As to the timing of FedMall operating capability, the current projection is either the 2nd or 3rd quarter of FY16. Vendors may to need to re-register and re-submit their catalogs.

The catalogs will have new/different data elements and we are using this opportunity to conduct a data cleansing. It is envisioned that GSA contract holders be able to participate on FedMall, just as they do on DOD EMALL. In order to participate on FedMall, a vendor will be required to have a valid federal contract and then have their contracting officer's signature allowing participation on FedMall. The vendor will need to agree to certain rules of behavior and sign an agreement for inclusion on FedMall. The items a vendor has on GSA Advantage today will not automatically move to FedMall. The catalog that will be present on FedMall will be referenced to a specific contract either with DLA, another federal agency, or both.

The following questions and answer apply to their corresponding sections of the Statement of Work.

1. Overview and Scope

Q.1.1: “Page 9. During the term of the contract, can we add other PSC or FSC to our items of supply if we find a need and availability?”

A.1.1: Vendors awarded contracts as a result of this solicitation may expand their product offering on a post award basis as long as the added items fall within the scope limitations of the solicitation The solicitation’s scope is limited to the listed subset of the DLA Managed Federal

Supply Classes (FSCs; also referred to as Product Service Codes (PSCs)) and COTS items matching the FSC description. The Government intends to award to any responsible offeror who can comply with the supply and technical requirements at fair and reasonable prices.

Q.1.2: “I noticed the required supplies being requested omit FSC 7510 office supplies, was this intentional and are any changes expected with this classification being offered on Emall?”

REVISED A.1.2: FSC/PSC 7510 has been added to the listing of supplies in scope, Table A.6.2.1, via Amendment 0003.

Q.1.3: “Will there still be the requirement that a GSA contract has to exist in order to load/submit corresponding contract?”

A.1.3: Firms are not required to have a GSA contract in order to be awarded a contract under this solicitation. However, if you do have a GSA contract, you may be required to provide information about this contract with your proposal (see FAR 52.216-20). NOTE: This solicitation seeks to establish Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award

Schedule (MAS) type contracts for various commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items which will be ordered through the DOD EMALL system; it does NOT seek to establish Blanket

Purchase Agreements (BPAs) against GSA Federal Supply Schedules.

Q.1.4: “Is there a criteria or basis for your multiple awards? ‘The intention of this solicitation is to make multiple awards for the entire spectrum of categories of items required.’”

A.1.4: The Government intends to award to any responsible offeror who can comply with the supply and technical requirements stated within the solicitation at fair and reasonable prices.

Q.1.5: “Page 9: ‘An offeror does not need to have prior sales of an offered COTS item as long as the offeror can demonstrate that the item is “sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace” (which may include sales by other legal business entities).’ To show need for these products on EMALL, we will add a spreadsheet of sales of these products over the last 4 months on EMALL with current vendor part # and our Part #. Would that be acceptable?”

A.1.5: In order to be considered a “commercially available off-the-shelf item (COTS)”, all offered items must meet the criteria set forth by the definition of this term at FAR 2.101.

NEW Q.1.6: “In the solicitation it indicates there are “Various” size standards, but that it is an

“Unrestricted” acquisition. Will there be separate awards for small business or is this full and open competition?”

A.1.6: The solicitation has been issued on an unrestricted basis. The Government intends to award schedule-type contracts to any responsible offer who can comply with the supply and technical requirements at fair and reasonable prices. Individual delivery orders placed against the schedule contracts will be placed pursuant to FAR Subpart 8.4 ordering procedures.

NEW Q.1.7: “Who at DLA we should direct our request to include items that have NSN's in our offer on Solicitation #SP4708-15-R-0001? Many of the NSN items we would like to offer are not active in Fedlog, but to comply with Section A.6.3.1 and A.6.3.4 we would like request authorization in advance to include the NSN items in our offer.”

A.1.7: Pursuant to A.6.3.4, the DOD EMALL Contracting Office may add an item with an NSN if it receives a prior request or authorization from the cognizant DLA Supply Chain or

Program Office responsible for managing the NSN. At this time, only NSNs that are being actively managed are considered as excluded items since inactive NSNs have no known cognizant DLA Supply Chain or Program Office responsible for managing them. Furthermore, at this time, actively managed National Stock Numbers (NSNs) means all NSNs with an

Acquisition Advice Code (ACC), with the exception of NSNs that have an ACC of "J", "V", "Y", or no AAC value assigned to it. Ultimately, it is the Offeror’s responsibility to exclude active NSNs from their catalogs.

NEW Q.1.7: “Once the contract has been awarded and uploaded to DOD EMALL, is pricing visible to the contract holders or only to the DOD EMALL customer”

A.1.7: Pricing on the DOD EMALL system is visible to authorized customers and other

DOD EMALL Suppliers.

NEW 2. Electronic Commerce (eCommerce) Requirements

At this time, no questions/answers are available regarding this topic.

3. Order Procedures

Q.3.1: “Paragraph D.6.2: Define when vendor can Kill the Line? Is it OK to fill the PO without certain lines killed”

A.3.1: Paragraph D.6.2. should be read in conjunction with Subsection D.3. Delivery

Orders may contain more than one line item. “Fill or Kill” requirements apply at the line-item level.

NEW 4. Delivery

NEW 5. Preservation, Packaging, Packing, Labeling and Marking (PPPL&M)

6. Invoicing and Procedures

Q.6.1: “Will these be credit card awards or MILSTRIP awards or both?”

A.6.1: Acceptable methods of payment under any resultant DOD EMALL contract shall be by Government Purchase Card (GPC), Military Standard Requisitioning & Issue Procedures

(MILSTRIP), or Federal Standard Requisitioning & Issue Procedures (FEDSTRIP). (See

Statement of Work, D.6.4)

Q.6.2: “Will MILSTRIP prices be required as many of our customers use MILSTRIP Payments.”

A.6.2: All offered pricing must be Free-on-Board (FOB) Destination. See the response to the previous question for authorized methods of payment.

NEW Q.6.3: “Is it preferred to include a flat rate or percentage of total cost for shipping costs?”

A.6.3: All pricing shall be FOB Destination and shall include any applicable transportation and handling costs (e.g. overhead, profit, etc.). The offeror must describe the basis or methodology for determining how prices in its catalog were established. Please see Section

E., Addendum to 52.212-1, Subparagraph (b)(6) for further information.

7. DOD EMALL Supplier Catalog Management

Q.7.1: “There is a requirement for naming OEM NAME and OEM Part NO for each product.

Are these fields public? i.e. does the customer and other suppliers of EMALL see them?”

A.7.1: “OEM_NAME” and “OEM_PART_NO” are required catalog fields. These fields are visible to authorized DOD EMALL customers.

Q.7.2: “Page 42: Catalog Loader Template: The names of our vendors are confidential information that allows us have a competitive edge in the marketplace. Can we leave these fields blank?”

A.7.2: “OEM_NAME” and “OEM_PART_NO” are required catalog fields, and must contain the name of the manufacturer and the manufacturer’s part number. No exceptions to this requirement shall be permitted.

Q.7.3: “Does Opening and closing of the solicitation apply to “updates” to the catalog. i.e.

submission later in the contract when Adding of product, deletion of products?”

A.7.3: See the Statement of Work, subparagraph D.7.5.3 “Limitations on Catalog Change

Requests”.

Q.7.4: “We work with two (2) main wholesalers for the majority of our products. Can we use the Letter of Supply/Commitment from our wholesalers?”

A.7.4: You may submit these letters with your proposal at your own discretion. Please note, however, that prior to and after award, vendors shall be responsible for maintaining up-to-date and accurate information within their offered catalogs, which may include requesting the removal of items that the vendor can longer guarantee will be provided to the customers within the offered delivery lead time(s), such as (but not limited to) items that continually encounter production delays or have been discontinued. Each offeror is strongly encouraged to take necessary precautions with its sources of supply to ensure that the offeror can provide uninterrupted support to DOD EMALL's customers for the items contained in its offered catalog.

The vendor shall endeavor to immediately notify the DOD EMALL Contracting Office or

Contracting Officer as soon as becoming aware of an issue that could inhibit or prohibit the vendor from meeting its offered delivery lead time(s). Language to this effect has been incorporated into the Statement of Work, subparagraph D.7.2.3.

Q.7.5: “Is there a Letter of Supply Template that has been released in the Presolicitation

SP4708-15-R-0001?”

A.7.5: The requirement for the submission of the “Letters of Commitment/Supply” has been removed. However, the clause DLAD 52.211-9014, Contractor Retention of Traceability

Documentation still applies to this acquisition. The full text of this clause can be found at:

http://www.dla.mil/Acquisition/Pages/DLAD.aspx.

Please further note that the requirement stated in the Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Subparagraph (b)(4)(i) has been revised to read as follows:

Contractors are required to identify the country of origin for each item in their catalog. This identifying information must be provided in such a way that the country of origin for each individual item is clearly identified, and may include submission of country of origin sheets from the manufacturer. Vendors not able to provide country of origin information may have their catalog, in part or in whole, considered non-compliant with the terms and conditions of http://www.dla.mil/Acquisition/Pages/DLAD.aspx the Trade Agreements Act and other Authorization Acts, Appropriations Acts, and Other

Statutory Restrictions on Foreign Acquisition (see DFARS 225.70) including the “Berry

Amendment”.

Q.7.6: “Paragraph D4.4: ‘…. inventory availability (quantity on hand ready for shipment) for each item in its catalog’. There is no field in the Catalog Loader Template for adding the

Inventory in the XLS. Is this field available for view by customers? How will we update it on a regular basis as inventory changes?”

A.7.6: Paragraph D.4.4. from the draft solicitation has been revised to read as follows:

“Within the catalog, the vendor shall establish “Days ARO” for each item in its catalog. Vendors shall honor the posted delivery times in the catalog at the time of delivery order placement.”

NEW Q.7.7: “Can we add Participating Dealers once awarded the DOD EMALL Contract?”

A.7.7: If awarded a contract, contractors may add new items to their DOD EMALL catalog in accordance with DLAD 52.216-9006 Addition/Deletion of Items (please see page 34 of the solicitation). Items that fall within the scope of existing contract pricing terms and conditions may be added pursuant to Section D.7.5.3.2 of this solicitation.

NEW Q.7.8: “Regarding Regional Catalog Pricing, are the “Zones” in the catalog defined by the offeror?”

A.7.8: See Amendment 0003, Section D.7.3.3 and all of its subparagraphs. See also the

Addendum to 52.212-1, Subparagraph (b)(6)(iv).

NEW Q.7.9: “Is there a fuller explanation of EMALL data elements catalog other than the data dictionary tabs? I'm looking for an option to permit choices, like colors, without having to list all the colors as separate products.”

A.7.9: There are no “choice” options on EMALL such as the ones that you describe.

Alternatively, you may come up with a unique DOD EMALL part number for each “choice(s)” and identify the “choice(s)” within the product description field.

NEW Q.7.10: Should pricing be based on past commercial sales and invoices?

A.7.10: Per the Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, subparagraph (b)(ii), “All pricing shall be

FOB Destination and shall include any applicable transportation and handling costs (e.g.

overhead, profit, etc.). The offeror must describe the basis or methodology for determining how prices in its catalog were established. This information may include, for example, evidence of prices on a GSA schedule held by the contractor, evidence of commercial sales at the prices quoted, invoices from vendors, and the overhead and profit factors added by the contractor to derive the catalog price.” See FAR 52.215-20 for further information.

NEW 8. Customer Service Requirements

NEW 9. Contract Administration Data

NEW 10. Special Terms and Conditions

NEW Q.10.1. “After I comply with SP4708-15-R-0001, ATTACHMENT 1, section 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 do I send my catalog to you for review and/or approval so I can complete 3.4?”

A.10.1: See Section E., FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors–Commercial Items, including its Addendum. See also Section A for instructions regarding the due dates and ship to addresses for completed offers.

NEW 11. Attachments

At this time, no questions/answers are available regarding this topic, or have been addressed elsewhere.