RFI_Europium_.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

DLA Strategic Materials

1.0 Description

1.1 The DLA Strategic Materials is seeking information on how a producer, vendor or user could produce, sell or use various types of europium (metal, alloy, oxide or concentrate) at various purity grades.

1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, DLA Strategic Materials is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that DLA Strategic Materials will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

2.0 Background

DLA Strategic Materials is the operational agent of the Stockpile Manager, the Under Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD-AT&L) charged with implementation of the provisions of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. Section 98 et seq., hereafter referred to as the “Act”). Section 2 (b) It is the purpose of this Act to provide for the acquisition and retention of stocks of certain strategic and critical materials and to encourage the conservation and development of sources of such materials within the United States and thereby to decrease and to preclude when possible a dangerous and costly dependence by the United States upon foreign sources or a single point of failure for supplies of such materials in times of national emergency.

2.1 Proposed Buy: 35 metric tons (MT) of europium (metal, alloy, oxide or concentrate)

2.2 Proposed Delivery Period: three/five years – 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022.

2.3 Limitations: none

2.4 Security Requirements: N/A

3.0 Requested Information

http://www.fedbizopps.gov/ http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

3.1 For Materials:

• Please provide specifications of the Eu material (metal, alloy, oxide or concentrate) produced, sold, or required by your company. Specifications can be commercial or company specific. Proprietary specification information submitted to the Government will be held as Business Confidential and not disclosed outside of DLA Strategic Materials or the chain of command responsible for the operation of the National Defense Stockpile. Specification information is important as it helps ensure that the materials potentially acquired for the NDS could be released to industry for the production of end items in the event of a National Emergency.

• In what types (such as metal, alloy, oxide, concentrate), forms (such as powder, ingot, chunk, pebble) and grades (purity and impurity) of europium do you normally produce, deliver, receive or use?

• If you are a purchaser, do you test the material you receive to determine whether it meets the material specifications you request?

• Do you have your own laboratory perform the material testing?

• Are there physical properties (e.g. particle size, density, etc.) that the material must exhibit in order to meet your requirements? In addition to chemical analysis, do you test for physical properties and if so, which physical properties do you test for?

• What do you do if the material does NOT meet the specifications prior to purchase?

• How do you and the company you purchased the material from resolve specification differences after purchase?

• Does your company follow the criteria in the Globally Harmonized System for Hazard Communication for the material(s) (includes labeling and chemical classification)?

• Does the material have any hazardous qualities (e.g. is it harmful to human health or the environment)?

• How do you normally price the material?

• Can you provide informal quotes, for information gathering purposes, on material pricing? Please indicate if that price includes packaging or shipping. Itemize any additional costs that may be required for packaging to increase the shelf-life of the material to 10 years or longer.

• Please provide a copy of a redacted commercial contract that includes your normal terms and conditions.

• Can you provide spot deliveries? If so, typically how much could you provide and how fast could you deliver?

• What is your plant/distribution capacity per year?

• What is the unit of measure that you use to price this material?

• Are there frequent changes in the market price for this material? If yes, how do you address those changes?

• What are your packaging methods for Eu material (metal, alloy, oxide or concentrate)?

Please include any industry standards that relate to how the Eu material (metal, alloy, oxide, concentrate) is packaged.

• If the material does have hazardous qualities, are there special packing requirements that are used in order to ensure the safety of others? Is any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required to handle the material?

• What are the optimal storage conditions for Eu (metal, alloy, oxide or concentrate)? This material will be stored at a Government depot. It is not uncommon for NDS inventory to be stored for periods of time exceeding twenty-five years, so please include information on shelf life, environmental impact, regulations, or material rotation requirements.

• If the material does have hazardous qualities, are there special storage requirements that are used in order to ensure the safety of others?

• What are the normal delivery methods? The material will be delivered to a Government depot for storage.

• What is your typical delivery time for this (material) from the date of receiving a contract/order?

• Do you offer prompt payment discounts?

• Do you have an active iRAPT account for submitting electronic invoices in the Wide Area Workflow system?

• Please include the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for Eu (metal, alloy, oxide, concentrate) products your company sells or distributes.

• If you were requested to provide certified financial statements as part of a proposal, would you comply?

• Please provide sales data identifying the percentage of material you sell to the Government and the percentage of material you sell to the general public. Would you agree to a contract that contains FAR clause 52.216-2 -- Economic Price Adjustment -- Standard Supplies?

• Would you define the material you propose to offer as a commercial item?

• Please submit lessons learned from current or previous contract awards.

• Is your company registered in the System for Award Management (SAM)?

(https://www.sam.gov/)

• Do you typically use subcontractors to produce/provide this material or service?

• Will you be able to obtain a letter from a producer stating that your material has met or exceeded manufacturing requirements in the past?

4.0 Responses

4.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper.

https://www.sam.gov/

4.2 White papers in Microsoft Word for Office compatible format are due no later than December 23, 2016, 16:00 EST. Responses shall be limited to 20 pages for Section 2 and submitted via e-mail only to SMContracting@dla.mil. Proprietary information, if any, MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information.

Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned

4.3. Section 1 of the white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

4.3.1. Name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and e-mail address of designated point of contact.

4.3.2. Recommended contracting strategy.

4.3.3. Either 1) copies of executed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with the contractors supporting DLA Strategic Materials in technical evaluations or 2) “Please provide a statement whether you agree that your submission may be provided to Government support contractors assisting DLA Strategic Materials with the development of this acquisition requirement. In the absence of the foregoing, the Government will assume that the responder does Not agree to the release of its submission to Government support contractors”.

4.3.4. Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUB Zone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 334413 metal ,alloy, oxide or concentrate. “Small business concern” means a concern, including its affiliates that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the criteria and size standards in 13 CFR part 121. A small business concern for the purposes of this procurement is generally defined as a business, including its affiliates, of 1,250 employees. Annual receipts of a concern that has been in business for 3 or more complete fiscal years means the annual average gross revenue of the concern taken for the last 3 fiscal years. Annual receipts of a concern that has been in business for less than 3 complete fiscal years means its total receipts for the period it has been in business, divided by the number of weeks including fractions of a week that it has been in business, and multiplied by 52.

Respondees are cautioned, however, that this is a general description only. Additional standards and conditions apply. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards. The FAR is available at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffara.htm.

The number of pages in Section 1 of the white paper shall not be included in the 20-page limitation, i.e., the 20-page limitation applies only to Section 2 of the white paper.

4.4 Section 2 of the white paper shall answer the issues addressed in Section 3 of this RFI and shall be limited to 20 pages.

5.0 Industry Discussions

mailto:SMContracting@dla.mil http://www.arnet.gov/far/current/html/FARTOCP19.html http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffara.htm

DLA Strategic Materials representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors.

Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks.

6.0 Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the Contracting Office, email address above. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions will be answered by posting answers to Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website;

accordingly, questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after December 23, 2016 16:00 EST will be answered.

7.0 Summary

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY to identify sources that can provide information regarding Eu material (metal, alloy, oxide or concentrate). The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. DLA Strategic Materials has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

http://www.fedbizopps.gov/