Turbine_Engine_Q A_Transcript.pdf

SP8000-16-R-0010

Turbine Engine Component Recycling

September 28, 2016—Q&A Conference Call Transcript

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The conference call was opened with introductions from all attendees, was then followed by highlighting a couple of key points in the scope of work as listed in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) document posted in FBO:

1. Paragraph A.2.1—The Government is looking to obtain clean/segregated scrap metallite that will be ready to be ready to be sent to aerospace industry Vacuum Induction Melters (VIM).

However, nothing will be sent at this point, it will be stored. Any and all precious metal bearing offtake and non-appropriate quality scrap metal will be returned to DLA.

2. Paragraph A.2.2—The Contractor will perform DEMILITARIZATION of all parts. And recycles the parts in such a way so that the material can be used for future Aerospace VIM process. All parts are destroyed, the parts are recycled as alloy not parts. All end products will be returned to DLA.

3. Paragraphs A.2.3.3 and A.2.3.5—The material will be preselected, in the past the Air Force ran a program where all material was brought to the Contractor’s site and the potentially strategic material was sorted there. In this case we are only including material that has been pre-identified by National Stock Number (NSN), as having the potential for strategic material (for example, superalloys). So we are focusing on blades, vanes, rotors and possibly shafts. We are not going to have a large amount of non-strategic scrap metal in the stream.

4. Paragraph A.2.3.7—The material originates from what was turned in to DLA Disposition

Services by the Military Services. DLA Strategic Materials has no control over what comes in, so we cannot tell you exactly what parts will be included in the stream/shipment.

5. Paragraph B.4—DEMILITARIZATION must completely destroy material resulting in destruction of the item to prevent reuse, reconstruction to the satisfaction of the Government’s appointed verifier; so material cannot be reused

6. Paragraph B.4—Nickel based material shall also undergo recycling such that it meets the requirements for domestic aerospace component VIM processing standards. This line is in essence what the Government is looking for. Documentation shall be provided showing that all material reclaimed meets the requirements for VIM processing standards. And in the proposal the experience we are looking for is the experience sending material to a VIM processor.

7. Paragraph C.4.1—The Contractor must be qualified to produce certified aerospace VIM alloys to go to domestic facilities; stressing domestic facilities.

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Below is the summary of questions and answers that transpired during the teleconference:

Contractor Question 1: According to Paragraph B.4.2.3—A DEMIL certificate is to accompany each

DD 1348-1/shipment. If there are numerous 1348’s, can the Government allow multiple certificates be consolidated into a single spreadsheet for signature/verification instead of signing multiple forms/certificates?

Government Answer 1: The contract performance will begin by performing as the PWS document states, one DEMIL certificate per DD 1348-1 per shipment. Then as contract performance progresses the option to consolidate documents can be explored. However, until that happens, any interested Contractors should propose according to the PWS and comply with producing a DEMIL certificate for each DD 1348-1 for each item in a shipment.

Contractor Question 2: Each DEMIL certificate and DD 1348-1 should be attached to every box/barrel/shipment that is being returned to DLA, is that correct?

Government Answer 2: Yes.

Contractor Question 3: According to Paragraph A.2.1, line item number 2, the precious metal bearing offtake, what form does the Government expect to receive this in?

Government Answer 3: It is stated in Paragraph B.3.1.1—It does not need to be refined. We are anticipating that the offtake comes in the form of something like a grit blast smug. Based on the discussion of what the process naturally yields, per the TCLP testing mentioned in Paragraph B.3.1.2, this will be the interaction/discussion between the Contractor and the Precious Metals program about final packaging. This is not a refining contract.

Contractor Question 4: The sludge material can be further processed to higher grade bullion this has been done for other DLA contracts. Is that advantageous to do it for this contract, or is it a separate entity/contract?

Government Answer 4: The objective of this solicitation is to recover the super alloy, our objective for this program is not to produce refined precious metals. The reason for that is that DLA already has a Contractor that does the refining to bullion, so we did not want to end up with a second Contractor performing that service.

But if you are interested in that, look up Precious Metals Recovery Program.

Which is a similar program run by DLA Disposition Services, that is the contract that is competed every five (5) years. Strategic Materials does not handle that contract, it is run by another department within DLA, which is why Strategic Materials is not looking for that to be done for this solicitation.

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Contractor Question 5: Is this solicitation set aside for Small Business or is this solicitation unrestricted?

Government Answer 5: This solicitation is 100% Small Business set aside.

Contractor Question 6a: What size standards are being used to justify, growth sales or employees?

Government Answer 6a: The size standard is 100 employees, the Product/Service Code is P200, the NAICS Code is 423930.

Contractor Question 6b: Which is Recycle Merchants, correct?

Government Answer 6b: Yes.

Contractor Question 7: Will this be verified before contracts are awarded, based upon a limited amount of small businesses in this industry? Or will it be verified for potential Offerors’ set aside standards, so there won’t be any conflicts of interests?

Government Answer 7: The Government will follow normal processes and procedures where Proposers are self-certified, we will do the normal process by checking against the SAM registration (System for Award Management website) as well as their checking their registration with the Small Business Administration (SBA). We did have to file the appropriate information with the SBA prior to issuing the solicitation and will also review prior to award.

Contractor Question 8: There is a specific NAICS code listed in the solicitation, if a Contractor has a slightly different NAICS code, what are the restrictions against that?

Government Answer 8: This is something that a Contractor would have to discuss with the Small

Business representative, as they would be very interested in the size.

Contractor Question 9: Is it advantageous to be a certified Veteran-Owned business?

Government Answer 9: It is always advantageous, however, we didn’t’ set-aside for that particular group, only for 100% set-aside for small business.

Contractor Question 10: What constitutes destruction/DEMIL of Nickel based alloy? Would this be acceptable to DLA?

(This question was asked in regards to FAA standards/purposes:

When the coating on the platinum plated turbine components is pickled, typically the amount of substrate lost can be controlled and as a consequence, it can be said that those pieces will no longer fit for their intended purpose/they no longer fit and meet the accepted tolerances. For commercial aircraft, this has been satisfactory because these pieces can no longer get back into service on an aircraft.)

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Government Answer 10: The Government cannot ask that specifically, we’re probably expecting them to be broken. The majority of parts in the program will be using codes, DEMIL “D” and DEMIL “B” codes, which are the more stringent DEMIL codes. These can be looked up online on the Disposition Manual, and look up the FSC Code 2840, look up the requirements for destruction of those FSC Codes, it will give you guidance. The other thing to do when you are awarded the contract is to make sure and coordinate with the DEMIL Verifier and Certifier to make sure their requirements are being met/what they expect. A piece may have to be cut or snipped depending.

Contractor Question 11: Is DLA aware that this comes with the necessary mass laws on the material, whether you cut it or leach it in the process of removing that coating. What are the acceptable mass balance tolerances for this solicitation?

Government Answer 11: A quantitative mass balance tolerance has not been set, particularly because we do not control what the parts are in the first place. And there are aspects of this that will have to walk in to and become satisfied with each other’s procedures.

Contractor Question 12: Where will the DEMIL codes come from for the material that is received?

Government Answer 12: The DEMIL codes are listed on the DEMIL certificate that comes in with the actual part. Each part has a unique DEMIL code, it will depend on each shipment. For planning purposes, based on the material breakdown try to look at parts having the most stringent DEMIL code requirements.

Contractor Question 13: Who will appoint the DEMIL Certifier?

Government Answer 13: This will fall under DLA Disposition Services.

Contractor Question 14: What are the most stringent requirements the Government would like to have the material prepared to?

Government Answer 14: Contractors should demonstrate within their proposal their experience in dealing with the vendors listed in Paragraph B.4.2.2 demonstrating that they have accepted material you have processed would be appropriate to list in the proposal. This would be great information to provide on Attachment B of the solicitation (the Past Performance information) if you want to fill it out, it can be completed at each Contractor’s discretion.

Either listing each project and all of the involved parties, or for each party involved for a given project. This way the Government can verify the experience submitted by each Contractor’s proposal.

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Contractor Question 15: When a proposal is submitted, will this be kept private, in confidence?

These are not public documents subject to the Freedom of Information Act?

Government Answer 15: Yes, it will. This information will only be reviewed by the Contract Specialist and the Contracting Officer. No Sir, they will not be shared or posted anywhere. The only things that will be separated for evaluation purposes are the technical portion of the proposal, which will be evaluated by the Technical team and the Contracting team will review the Past Performance and Pricing portion of the proposal.

Contractor Question 16: In the form DD 1348-1, it states a piece count, are we required do that piece count?

So we have to count them and make sure they match the DD1348-1, and if they don’t match up DCMA will write a report about that; and return it to you (the Government) or will I (the Contractor) do that?

Government Answer 16: You are required to match the piece count. Yes; however, at this moment the Government does not remember that level of detail. Should that situation arise we would be in touch with DCMA.

Contractor Question 17: Will DCMA Verifiers be required to witness the piece counts (however long it takes to do the piece count, say three (3) days)? Or is there some leeway on this or will this be at the discretion of the DCMA Verifier?

Government Answer 17: At this point the Government believes it will be the later, once experience is built, that people develop trust and are more willing to accept, but we must establish trust in the first place. Now while all these are real issues we will also have to speak to DLA Disposition Services and DCMA as to how this will actually function. These are the biggest challenges for the Government to have Contractor run contracts, which is probably the reason why they don’t have more. The regulations on contracts like this are very strict and practice makes some of these thing impractical and more difficult, not impossible, just more difficult. So these are the things we will have to see how they progress and what DLA Disposition Services actually wants to do.

Contractor Question 18: Where would a company go to get certified in aerospace VIM?

Government Answer 18: The Government is expecting that the Contractor has experience and has gone through a process with at least one (1) VIM melter that leads to documented acceptance of their product by the melter.

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Contractor Question 19: Based on hearing the word “certification,” a concern is this solicitation becoming one-sided. Once the word “certification” begins to be used, it leads to associations, which leads to memberships which closes doors.

Which begs the question is this solicitation open to Small Businesses? A lot of these contracts are not open to small business, based on pre-requirements of certain certifications; which are not an issue for large businesses but for smaller businesses, because they do not see these types of contracts on a regular basis, it is.

Government Answer 19: A Contractor has to show documented experience that your product has been accepted and used by a VIM melter. That they consider you a qualified vendor.

Contractor Question 20: Who is “they?”

Government Answer 20: The VIM processor, the people that would process this material into new parts. The key thing that the Government would evaluate technically, is the Contractor experience producing processed alloy scrap that can be accepted by aviation alloy melters.

Contractor Comment 21: This sounds like a closed door; it is not a commercial item.

Government Answer 21: It is a special expertise the Government is seeking. Keeping in mind this material is going into the National Defense Stockpile. The material that the Government ends up keeping (longer term) is specifically being held to make new turbine engines in the event of supply disruption. It has very specific purpose for defense applications. So once it is separated, there aren’t any more processes the Contractor has to do, as it is being turned back into DLA. So the documentation has to accompany it and state that the product can go back to a VIM melter to make a high value alloy for turbine engine or it does the Government no good during commodity crisis.

Contractor Comment 22: So this certification has to come from a small group of companies that are already in place. This sounds like a Contractor is doing all the work and it comes down to these VIM melt companies stating whether or not the processed material is good enough…so this is the certification part. So if the documentation from VIM melt company #1 says it doesn’t work then who is to say they are correct? How does this company they know what it is going to be used for?

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Government Answer 22: The Government knows what it is going to be used for, it is going to be used to make new blades, vanes, and rotors, the same parts. There is an existing industry that does this. For a Contractor’s technical verification, we will verify if you have experience in working in this type of industry. The Small Business Administration did review and approve the Performance Work Statement to have this particular requirement in the solicitation. This material does need to have this particular certification. There is always the possibility of teaming up with another Contractor to obtain that experience.

Contractor Question 23: Any precious metal offtake, is in fact a hazardous material…what are the criteria for submitting that sample? If a Contractor has previous existing data on an identical product stream, or any other single crystal alloys/certified alloys, can this data be submitted or would you like it specifically for this material, for this offtake produced from the Government Furnished Material?

Government Answer 23: The Government believes the way it is written now the Contractor would have to do perform a few batches with this material to generate a working history; but if a Contractor already has a working history then we can reach out to the Precious Metals Program to see if it is acceptable. It may be easier to use an existing working history that states it is hazardous and arrange hazardous material documentation than it would be to use existing working history to show the opposite.

Contractor Question 24: On the recovery of the platinum, this can take many days to complete this process, and depending on the amount of material received, getting the platinum recovered then getting it prepared for VIM, getting it all done in 30 days is cutting it pretty close. Is there going to be some leeway or extended timeframe depending on the amount of poundage of material received?

Government Answer 24: This will depend on a case by case basis, by maintaining open lines of communication. It can be discussed during contract performance. All we can say the expected norm is the reasonable amount of time needed to complete this process. The Government’s goal is to have good performance; but there are remedies available to the Contractor should this come up. But we believe the 30 days is enough time but the Contractor should apply their own risk factors when putting their proposals together.

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The call next progressed by highlighting a couple of key points listed in the Synopsis/Combined Solicitation document posted in FBO:

1. Paragraph 6: Guidelines for Submitting Proposals

• Make a package for this specific solicitation

• Address all the items listed on this document

• Do not exceed 20 pages in length

• Submitted in three (3) different parts—Technical, Past Performance and Price

• Each part shall be separate and complete—each part has to be a pull away, separate package/stand-alone, where the Government does not do anything to it.

• Sometimes when many offers are submitted, a way that a Government organization will decide to move forward is to look at which Contractor submitted the package correctly.

So please make sure you follow these instructions. The Government is not saying that will be the case here but you never want to have a protest because someone else submitted their technical and price portion together and you lose the protest because of that. Please do not put the Government in that position, make sure each part is separate packages/sections.

• Complete and Submit Attachment A, this is the pricing structure.

• Complete and Submit Attachment B, this is the past performance questionnaire. This will come from Attachment D, the references provided, and these references are identified on Attachment D, the evaluation criteria.

• Complete and Submit Attachment C, are the provision and clauses. Some of them require a fill in and some of them require a signature. If there are any questions we would be glad to explain them.

• Review and understand the evaluation criteria. There isn’t anything to submit.

• Submit everything to the email address identified in the solicitation. This address is separate from our regular email addresses, the Government does not have the ability to see if a proposal is received, so return receipt required. If you ask us we will try to verify but we do not have complete verification and would not rely on that.

• Submit a copy of your current SAM (System for Award Management) registration.

• Everything is due to SMContracting@dla.mil by October 6, 2016 at 2 p.m. EST.

Contractor Question 25: Regarding the 20 pages, is this for all 3 parts (technical, past performance and price)?

Government Answer 25: Yes, it is.

mailto:SMContracting@dla.mil