SPE1C121R0056_Questions and Responses V2.pdf

U3PL Solicitation SPE1C121R0056 Questions and Responses Version 2

1. Can the government provide the average weight per KMO? The weight of each KMO will vary depending on the items ordered. However, estimated shipment quantities (and weights for shipments greater than 150 pounds) for a recent 12‐month period are provided beginning on page 103 of the solicitation attachment.

2. What is the maximum number of NSNs per KMO? There is no maximum number of items that can be ordered for a KMO. However, the web site needs to be able to limit the ordering quantity for an individual item to the basis of issue (BOI, or how many of each item can be ordered) established by the customer administrators.

3. Section 2.2, Pre‐bill process, on page 17., Is the contractor using the customers DODAAC’s for document creation or is this information specified after award? If using the ordering units document number, what prevents our system from duplicating a document number created by the customer for say, spare parts. Request more information on what would be required to “create a document number.” The 3PL contractor’s WebOS needs to create unique document numbers when customer units order. Because each program will have its own ordering system, there should be no duplicate document numbers unless the 3PL Contractor duplicates the document number in error.

4. Section 2.2, Pre‐bill process, on page 17. The second paragraph Statement: In the middle of each month, DLA will send pre‐bill information to the 3PL Contractor for the prior month’s orders (i.e., mid‐month to mid‐month). This information includes a pre‐bill summary file that summarizes the monthly billing for each customer organization. This data is compared to the orders shipped by the Contractor to military Service units and individual personnel. The Contractor will separate the pre‐bill information into different levels (e.g., Service Headquarter level, state level, command level, unit level, etc.…) depending on the preferences of each customer organization. The Contractor then creates and sends a list of issues (LOI) file which contains shipments to the customer each month.

a. Is this reporting “based on the preferences of the customer” available for review now? This information is not available at this time.

b. Can the government provide a copy of a prebill report for review and determination of level of effort? A prebill report is not available at this time but will be provided after award.

5. Regarding Section 2.2, Pre‐bill process, on page 17. Is the contractor’s system expected to “facilitate billing” as in processing financial transactions, collecting money and paying bills or is the contractor’s system only required to process supply transactions that contain financial information (e.g., DODAAC, fund code)? Please explain this requirement further. No. The contractor is not expected to collect money or pay bills.

Please refer to section 2.2, Pre‐bill process paragraph 2 for more information.

6. Section 2.6 Web‐Based Ordering System, on page 25. Question regarding the following statement,” The WebOS shall assure financial integrity for all orders. Orders shall not exceed the allowance balance proscribed by the customer.”

a. What format will the contractor receive account balances? Balance information will be provided by DLA Troop Support and/or the ordering customer. The 3PL Contractor needs to ensure that both the ordering customer and the higher‐level command has sufficient funding.

b. How often does this information change (e.g., customers are authorized 3 full uniform sets now instead of 2) and how is it transmitted? This can vary. The BOI is changed as directed by the program administrators and can depend on funding and/or supply position. There is no set time when this information may change.

c. How long will it take the services to provide the contractor with this information after award? Approximately 30 days.

7. Section 2.10 Returns and Exchanges, on page 27. Given this statement: “For exchanges, The Contractor will be required to process exchanges of items for size only – e.g., the item being exchanged is the same but is ill‐fitting and a different size is required. Upon return, the Contractor shall validate that the item(s) being exchanged are unused, free of defects, and in the original packaging.

a. If the customer orders the wrong size and then returns it with the sewn‐on tapes, what policy will be followed when it is returned for an exchange? Most exchanges will occur when/if the 3PL contractor ships the wrong size or there is a quality issue. Other exchanges can be made, but they would be decided on a case‐by‐case basis.

8. Are all name and branch tapes made by the contractor in the provided estimates then sewn to a uniform? Sewing tapes onto a uniform is dependent upon the different customer’s requirement. Some may be sewn on. Some tapes may be placed into the kitted box. Please reference page 6 of the solicitation attachment which states the following under the sewing and embroidery fees section: Pricing for the sewing, and embroidery, of each name tape or branch tape. This includes the cost to produce and embroider name and branch tapes and the cost to sew them onto uniform items as needed. Name tapes require a personalized name to be embroidered onto the tape.

Branch tapes require a military branch name be embroidered on to the tape: for example, “U.S. ARMY” or “U.S. NAVY.”

Please also refer to page 36 under section 5 of the solicitation attachment which states the following: “The Contractor shall be required to 1) make Name tapes and military Branch tapes and 2) sew these name and branch tapes to uniforms as required per military instruction for each branch. Also, the Contractor will sew rank insignia to the Service uniforms, as needed.”

9. Section 5.0 Sewing of Nametapes, Branch Tapes and Rank Insignia, page 36. Regarding this statement: “In addition to sewing, the Contractor will provide embroidery capabilities as designated by customer group(s).” What capabilities does this include, design and the digitizing of organizational patches, unit patches or specialty warfare devices? There is no requirement to design any heraldry. Coordination with the Office of Heraldry will be necessary to ensure that the 3PL contractor has the proper equipment and software to produce the embroidery.

Please also refer to page 36 under Section 5 of the solicitation attachment which states the following: “The Contractor shall be required to 1) make Name tapes and military

Branch tapes and 2) sew these name and branch tapes to uniforms as required per military instruction for each branch. Also, the Contractor will sew rank insignia to the

Service uniforms, as needed. The Contractor shall provide all materials, equipment and machinery such as sewing machines, fabric, hook and loop fastener, needles and thread to make the tapes and/or to sew the rank insignia to the uniform. Note: DLA will provide the rank insignia to the Contractor.”

10. Section 2.2, Pre‐bill process, on page 17., Given this statement: “Multiple orders are consolidated into a single C0A transaction should the orders share the same billing DODAAC, NSN, and fund code.” Does this mean if two different customers (i.e., Service members) from the same unit order the same item (e.g., shirt), that a single COA transaction for the shirt should be bundled together? Please explain this requirement further. This is correct. This limits the number of transactions sent to the Governments EBS system. The 3PL contractor will still need to maintain the data to identify which individual service member(s) ordered the items that were shipped.

11. Regarding shipping pricing for the AE (Armed Forces Europe) transportation on page 13, how is the government going to evaluate offerors pricing given the limited information provided regarding the AE section? AE Transportation pricing, along with pricing for other regions, will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation instructions set forth beginning on page 106 of the solicitation attachment. Can DLA provide shipping estimates to Europe, Africa, Middle East and Canada? Estimated shipping quantities for this entire region as a whole are provided on page 105 of the solicitation attachment.

Please note that such orders are generally fulfilled via shipments to Army Post Office (APO) to ship‐to locations in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Canada.

12. Is the 3PL contractor sewing the name and branch tape directly onto the piece of clothing or are we to sew on hook to the back of the tape to attach to the loop that is sewn onto the right and left sides of combat coats? This can be either or both depending on the customer. For instance, Army OCP is name/Service tape sewn to the hook. The Navy branch tape is sewn on the uniform.

13. Is the contractor sewing the rank insignia directly onto the piece of clothing? Yes, rank

Sewing requires the Contractor to sew military service rank insignia onto a jacket or shirt. Such rank insignia will be provided to the Contractor by DLA.

14. Are you targeting this warehouse/embroidery opportunity in a specific area of the country?

No, there is no requirement to locate the 3PL warehouse in a particular region of the

United States.

15. Is there an incumbent for this contract? If not, is there a similar engagement that we can use as a model for making our projections? This is a new contract opportunity.

Current support for the U3PL program is operating under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the State of Kentucky.

16. Page 16 indicates that 300,000 square feet of space will be required to fulfill the terms of the contract. Is there a limit to the number of pallets that we can stack for this engagement? There is no limit, however the contractor must take safety and possible damage to the items into consideration when stacking pallets.

17. Is there a cubic foot target in terms of space recommended to fulfill the obligations of the contract? No. However, the estimated square footage required for inventory storage in order to effectively support this program is 300,000 square feet.

18. Is there a page limit for the response for this solicitation? No, there is no page limit.

19. Is there a preferred FAR or DFAR that we should use for the style that we will use for this proposal? Is FAR 52.215‐1 acceptable? There is no preferred style for the submission of proposals. Please see the Special Instructions for the Submission of Technical/Past Performance Proposal Information beginning at the bottom of page 87 for information regarding proposals. Failure to follow the instructions contained within the solicitation and to submit all required information could be cause for rejection of an offer.

20. Page 88 refers to a soft copy for submission. What is a soft copy? Is it a word document, instead of a pdf? A soft copy means electronic versus a physical hard copy. A pdf or Word document is acceptable for submission.