Chem_POL_-_RFP__PPC_Questions_-_17_August_V4_2015.docx
DOCX document 55 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Chemicals, Packaged Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants
- Solicitation number
- SPE4A2-15-R-0002
- Issued by
-
Defense Logistics Agency Aviation
About this file
This document contains questions and answers related to a solicitation for chemicals, packaged petroleum, oil, and lubricants. The solicitation requires the contractor to supply over 5,500 stock numbered items to the Defense Logistics Agency and manage associated inventory. Key responsibilities include meeting 90% fill rate requirements, applying semi-annual economic price adjustments, complying with packaging and transportation requirements, and exchanging electronic data interchange transactions with the government. The incumbent contractor is Science Applications International Corporation. The transition period is 12 months, and proposals are due by early October 2015 with contract award anticipated in mid-2016 and full operational capability by mid-2017.
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No.
| Reference |
| Question |
| Answer |
| 1 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002; Att. 14 - Instructions to Offerors |
Page(s): 1; 2 Citation: Due date for proposals.
| The SF 1449 states that proposals are due on 10/30/2015 at 3 PM local time, however Tab 14 states they are due on 10/1/2015. Which is correct? |
| Corrected to October 30, 2015 via Amendment 01. |
| 2 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 13 - Special Contract Requirements; Att. 14 - Instructions to Offerors |
Page(s): 1; 14 Section: H-900 Pricing and Payment; F. Factor 5, Volume 7: Price Proposal Citation: “Throughput Fee: A fixed percentage is established to cover expenses that vary with the volume of business such as the costs of transportation and warehousing. The fee is applied to each NSN unit price and is paid on each delivery order issued. This fee is applicable throughout the entire contract.”
Will the offeror’s proposed throughput fee percentage 1) be multiplied by the offeror’s proposed NSN unit price and converted into a fixed unit price per NSN item that remains fixed for the duration of the contract or, 2) be a fixed percentage that will be multiplied by the NSN unit price on each delivery order to derive the throughput fee payable for the individual order?
If the answer is #2 above the throughput price per NSN will increase and decrease in step with the EPA adjustments for the POL and chemical items. The costs covered by the throughput fee, however, do not bear any relationship with the material prices so the EPA adjustments will cause throughput fee to vary above and below contract costs.
If the answer is #1 above can offerors propose an annual escalation, like management fee is priced?
The Government's intent was to tie the Throughput Fee to a measure that would vary with volume on the contract. As the pricing indices will vary throughout the contract (going both up & down) and the Government can't predict which way indices will travel at any given time, the Government will not be adjusting its Throughput Fee equation.
| 3 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002; Att. 13 - Special Contract Requirements |
Page(s): 12; 1 Section: 52.216-9030 Economic Price Adjustment - Department Of Labor Price Index (Jun 2014) DLAD; H-900 Pricing and Payment Citation: EPA indexes
| The POL EPA indexes for unfinished goods particularly are extremely volatile, substantially more volatile than actual market prices for finished POL goods. All EPA indexes except one (the finished product index) have increased by more than 10 percent in a single month alone. Over the past five years the difference between highest and lowest values of three of the five indexes vary by 100% or more. Due to the volatility of the EPA indexes, can the base index and adjusting index each be based on the arithmetic average of the three most recent monthly EPA indexes published prior to the month in which the base and adjusted prices take effect instead of using a single month’s index? |
| After review and consultation with legal and cost & pricing, the base and adjusting index will be based on the arithmetic average of the 6 months preceding the month in which the base and adjusted price takes effect. |
See fill-in text in Amendment 02.
| 4 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 13 - Special Contract Requirements |
Page(s): 1 Section: H-900 Pricing and Payment Citation: FSC 9150 EPA indexes
| Several EPA indexes – particularly the ones for unfinished or intermediate goods – are extremely volatile. For example, WPU06140197 (Aromatics) decreased by 45% over a 6 month period between July 2014 and January 2015, and within that period decreased by 35% in just three months! The index, PCU324191324191, Petroleum Lubricating Oil and Grease Manufacturing is the only finished product index in the mix. Considering that this index is specifically designed to measure price changes for finished POL products and is historically less volatile compared with any of the other indexes for FSC 9150, can this index be used in place of all of the other indexes for FSC 9150? |
| The EPA indices have been reviewed and approved for use for this acquisition. |
| 5 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 14 - Instructions to Offerors |
Page(s): 13 Section: F. Factor 5, Volume 7: Price Proposal Citation: “Proposed prices for these commodities (NSNs) will apply to orders issued the first six months after contract award (or beginning at FOC as applicable) and will be adjusted semi-annually using the indices specified in the Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) provision of the contract.”
| Based on the volatility of EPA indexes and given the potential for several months to lapse between the date proposal pricing is submitted and contract award, can the Government apply an EPA adjustment upon contract award to all priced NSNs regardless of whether they or active, inactive, or at Full Operational Capability (FOC); and then apply EPA adjustments to all priced items once every six months thereafter? Applying EPA adjustments to all items at once keeps item prices up to date, ensures that item prices are current when items begin FOC or are activated, and simplifies contract administration by not having to sub-divide NSNs and apply economic price adjustments to some items and not to others. Moreover, if you consider FOC possibly not occurring until late in Year 1 of the contract for certain items (per SOW 3.3), under the RFP terms the contractor will have to wait until half way through Year 2 to receive an EPA adjustment, conceivably two years after the items were priced. |
| EPA adjustments will be applied semi-annually beginning at contract award. |
| 6 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 21-22 Section: 252.211-7006 Radio Frequency Identification (Sep 2011) DFARS Citation: “(2) The following are excluded from the requirements of paragraph (b)(1) of this clause:
(i) Shipments of bulk commodities.
(ii) Shipments to locations other than Defense Distribution Depots when the contract includes the clause at FAR 52.213-1, Fast Payment Procedures.”
| Since the contract contains FAR clause 52.213-3, are all shipments excluded from the passive RFID requirement except for shipments of non-bulk commodities to Defense Distribution Depots? Are shipments to Hawaii and Alaska considered “outside the contiguous United States”? |
| Hawaii and Alaska are considered Outside the contiguous United States (OCONUS) |
| 7 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 15 Section: 6.8.2 Transportation Citation: The Contractor shall be responsible for shipment of materials from its facility to the customer within CONUS.
| Does the term “CONUS” mean the contiguous United States, which refers to the 48 adjoining U.S. states on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico, plus the District of Columbia? Does the term “CONUS” exclude the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii, and all off-shore U.S. territories and possessions? |
| CONUS means the contiguous United states which includes the lower 48 adjoining states and the District of Columbia. Hawaii, Alaska and all off-shore U.S. territories and possessions are OCONUS. |
| 8 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 18 Section: 6.9.6 Material Returns Citation: “The Contractor shall indemnify the Government from any and all liability relating to materials returns, spills and non-compliant storage arising under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and any other related or similar federal, state, local, and foreign country laws and regulations.”
The language cited from the SOW is overbroad because neither the FAR nor any other agency supplement requires such an indemnification obligation and the language cited does not exclude liability that arises from the contractor’s compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract. Therefore will the Government, delete the language or substitute it with the following?
“The Contractor shall indemnify the Government against liability, including any and all costs, expenses, judgments, actions, debt, liability costs and attorney’s fees or any other request for monies or any other type of relief arising from third party claims to the extent caused by the Contractor’s negligence or willful misconduct in performing material returns under this Statement of Work.”
The current language has been reviewed and approved by legal and it will stand.
| 9 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 15-16 Section: 6.9.1 Fill Rate Measurement Can the days shown for on-time Fill Rate Metric completion be clarified as meaning business days in order to provide consistency with the TDD completion times, which are business days? This clarification will enable the contractor to meet the Fill Rate metric without having to keep its distribution facilities open on holidays and weekends, and thereby save the Government cost as a result of lower contract prices. Moreover, it will be more difficult to ship orders on holidays and weekends as many carriers do not operate on these days.
For purposes of Fill Rate Metric and TTD measurement is there a cut-off time for receipt of delivery orders, whereby orders received past a certain time of day will be counted as received on the following day or following business day? For example, if an order is received at 6 pm on Friday and the cut-of time is 4 pm, is the order counted as received on the following Monday?
Days shown for Fill Rate Metric are business days.
Business tracking starts the first business day after an order is received, regardless of the time of day it is received
| 10 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 15-16 Section: 6.9.1 Fill Rate Measurement How will the number of days allowed for on-time Fill Rate Metric and TDD completion be extended as a result of the time it takes the Government to complete actions necessary for the contractor to ship each order (e.g. for VSM to provide shipping address information) and the time it takes to resolve any delays in shipment or delivery due to causes that are beyond the reasonable control of the contractor such as inclement weather, DoD facility access delays or closures? For example, if VSM takes 4 business days to provide shipping address information for an IPG 1 delivery order, would these 4 business days be added to the number of days allowed for IPG 1 on-time Fill Rate Metric completion for a total allowed time of 6 business days? Will the number of calendar days counted to fill Backorders for the Backorder Disincentive be reduced by the number of days for these extensions?
The Contractor will not be held accountable for Govt-caused delays.
| 11 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work; |
Att. 13 - Special Contract Requirements Page(s): 16; 2-3 Section: 6.9.1.1 Fill Rate Exceptions; H-902 Backorder
| Can FMS orders be added as Fill Rate exception? The reason is FMS orders occur outside the normal pattern of demand and cannot reasonably be predicted in terms of either items, quantity, or timing. Moreover, they are relatively high in quantity and dollar value compared with DoD orders. Given the severity of the Backorder disincentive and likelihood the contractor will not have enough stock to fill both the high quantity FMS orders and DoD customer orders, the contractor will have to put DoD customer orders on hold in order to fill the large FMS orders and minimize Backorder disincentive, causing significant disruption to the warfighter in the process. |
| FMS orders will be excluded from the Fill Rate calculation & will be added to the list of exclusions currently listed as an attachment to the SOW. See Amendment 02. |
| 12 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work; |
Att. 13 - Special Contract Requirements Page(s): 16; 2-3 Section: 6.9.1.1 Fill Rate Exceptions; H-902 Backorder
| Can orders that exceed a certain quantity be added as Fill Rate exception (e.g. for one order or a series of orders for the same NSN within 10 days that exceed 1/4th of the demand quantity for that NSN for the prior 12 months)? Orders that exceed threshold occur outside the normal pattern of demand and cannot reasonably be predicted. In such a scenario, the contractor will not have sufficient stock on hand to fill the order(s) and may need a full production lead time (PLT) to replenish inventory. For example, a PLT of 120 days for a large quantity, the corresponding backorder penalty would then be 25% of the material value of each extremely large order(s). |
| The Government will exclude "significant spikes" from the |
Fill Rate calculation. A significant spike is defined as any demand spike that is three (3) times or greater than the previous three (3) months demand average. See Amendment 02.
| 13 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work; |
Att. 13 - Special Contract Requirements Page(s): 16; 2-3 Section: 6.9.1.1 Fill Rate Exceptions; H-902 Backorder
| Based on requisition history, the level of demand is extremely variable, particularly for individual NSNs. For example, during the past year $24M of demand was experienced in a single week (approximately one quarter of annual demand), the majority of which was FMS, and 90% of which was IPG 1. This one week’s demand equated to ~400 truckloads of material and constituted a multi-year quantity world-wide demand for many NSNs, some with quantities in excess of 10 years of world-wide demand. Limited capacity for manufacturers to increase production levels led to delivery delays for replenishment orders that lasted for several months. DDC facilities also became overwhelmed with the influx of material shipments from the contractor and imposed delivery restrictions that prevented the contractor from shipping additional material when it was ready to ship causing this material to accumulate at the contractor’s facilities for several weeks. Therefore, will orders that deviate from the normal flow of demand to such a large extent be excluded from the Fill Rate metric and Backorder disincentive? The time to fill inordinately large orders that approach or exceed on-hand inventory levels typically exceed 90 days. |
| See Question 12 above. |
| 14 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 27, 47 Section: Clauses Added to Part 12 by Addendum ; Provisions Added to Part 12 by Addendum Citation: DLAD 52.217-9007, 52.217-9009, and 52.217-9010 DLAD 52.217-9007(a), and these Surge and Sustainment (S&S) clauses in general, require the submittal of a capability assessment plan (CAP) and completion of an electronic CAP (eCAP) using the worldwide web industrial capabilities program (WICAP).
Q1: How should the print copy of the CAP summary be submitted, as part of Volume 1, Completed RFP, or Volume 7, Price Proposal?
Q2: When will the solicitation be loaded into WICAP so that the eCAP can be prepared?
Q3: Will the CAP need to cover all 558 items (by NIIN) listed on the Non-Covered Surge Items tab of the Surge Requirements spreadsheet?
Q1. Include the print copy of the CAP summary as part of Volume I, completed RFP.
Q2. The solicitation has been loaded into WICAP.
Q3. The CAP must cover all 558 NIINs in WICAP.
| 15 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 28 Section: Clauses Added to Part 12 by Addendum Citation: FAR 52.223-03, DFARS 252.223-7001
| In consideration of the requirement to submit safety data sheets and hazard warning labels as Volume 3 of the proposal, are the tables for these clauses required to be completed and submitted with Volume 1? |
| See Amendment 02 |
| 16 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 31-32 Section: Clauses Added to Part 12 by Addendum Citation: FAR 52.247-60, DLAD 52.247-9011
| What is the purpose of the data requested by FAR 52.247-60(a)(1) if the contractor is to pay for all CONUS shipping and the Government is to specify, via VSM, the packaging and mode of transportation for all orders destined OCONUS? |
| This is not applicable at this time as VSM will be utilized. |
| 17 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 14 - Instructions to Offerors |
Page(s): 6 Section: 2.B, Volume 3 Citation: “The appropriate SDS & HWL corresponding to the products information shall be provided in a separate volume for items identified in Attachments 2 and 3, labeled ‘Volume 3 –SDS & HWL’.”
(a) Attachment 2 lists 3,326 active NSNs and Attachment 3 lists 2,325 inactive NSNs for a total of 5,651 NSNs. If the average SDS and HWL occupy 10 pages, then Volume 3 will comprise 56,510 pages – nearly nine full cases of double sided paper.
(b) In lieu of submitting SDS and HWL information printed on paper, can this information be submitted in electronic form via CD-R or DVD-R?
Same as 15
| 18 |
| RFP Doc: 5yr Req Hist.xlsx |
| The DLA website reports that this file is 113 MB. After several attempts from different locations and computers, less than half of the file can be downloaded before the website aborts the transfer. |
Will the Government repost the file in a manner that can be accessed?
Reducing file size. Posted on www.fbo.gov
RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work Page(s): 9 Section: 5.2 Citation: The Contractor shall develop and submit its Property Management Plan as part of its proposal.
(a). In which volume of the proposal are offerors to submit their Property Management Plan?
(b). Is the Property Management Plan to be prepared in accordance with FAR 52.245-1?
(c). Does the Property Management Plan count against page limits specified in Attachment 14 – Instructions to Offerors?
(d). How will the Property Management Plan be evaluated?
a. Volume 2, Technical Proposal
b. Yes.
c. Yes.
d. Property Management Plans will be evaluated under Sub-Factor 2, Product Management.
| 20 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 11 Section: 6.2.1 Citation: Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
| For Volume 3 must offerors also include SDS that comply with the SDS and labeling requirements of European Regulation No 1272/2008? |
| Answer: At this time, European SDS will not be required. |
| 21 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 14 - Instructions to Offerors |
Page(s): 1 Section: A. Preparation and Submittal Citation: “Print should be no smaller than a font size of 12 and should be on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper.”
| May offerors use a font size smaller than 12 point for basic text, or for tables, charts and graphs, provided it is reasonably legible as printed? In order to provide sufficient detail and clarity in diagrams of processes and other illustrations, or for tabular data, we recommend that offerors be permitted to use a font size as small as 8 point for graphics (including figures, tables, illustrations, etc.). |
| 8 point font for graphics, diagrams, tables, illustrations is acceptable. |
| 22 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 15 – Evaluation Procedures |
Page(s): 3 Section: B. Technical Evaluation: Subfactor 1: Quality Control Citation: “Specific compliances to required ISO 9001 or equivalent will be verified by providing certification or appropriate documents demonstrating compliance with required standards for the offeror and all affected subcontractors.”
| In lieu of ISO 9001 certification, please clarify what documents the Government will deem acceptable to demonstrate compliance with required standards and what are the required standards? |
| The Government prefers offerors have ISO 9001 certification but will also accept equivalent quality systems. If an offeror does not have the ISO 9001 certification, the offeror will need to describe in detail how its quality system meets the intent of the ISO 9001 certification. |
| 23 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 32 Section: Clauses Added to Part 12 by Addendum Citation: DLAD 52.247-9011; “(b) Use of VSM is voluntary and is especially beneficial for DLA administered free on board (f.o.b.) origin contracts and for DLA administered contracts where ultimate destination is a location outside of the United States.”
| Per the SOW paragraph 6.8.2 Transportation requirement to obtain a VSM profile, please confirm that use of VSM is not voluntary but mandatory for f.o.b. origin orders and for every order where ultimate delivery destination is a location outside of the United States. |
| VSM is mandatory for |
FOB origin orders and for every order where ultimate delivery destination is a location outside of the United States.
| 24 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 32 Section: Clauses Added to Part 12 by Addendum Citation: DLAD 52.247-9012; “DOD shipments inside and outside of the United States must meet ISPM 15 whenever WPM is used to ship DOD cargo.”
| Please confirm that ISPM 15 requirements only apply to wood packaging materials (WPM) used for shipments for ultimate delivery by DoD (i.e. OCONUS orders) and do not apply to WPM used for shipments conducted by commercial carriers, e.g. for CONUS orders shipped by the contractor’s carriers, for FMS shipments. |
| The Clause is correct as stated. |
| 25 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 15 – Evaluation Procedures |
Page(s): 1 Section: Evaluation Basis for Award; 1. Basis for Contract Award Citation: “Award will be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal conforms to all solicitation requirements, such as terms and conditions, representations and certifications, technical requirements, and also provides the best value to the Government based on the results of the evaluation described in paragraph 2 below.”
| Does the Government intend to incorporate the offeror’s technical proposal – or any portion of it - into the resulting contract award? |
| Yes. Offeror’s proposal will be incorporated into contract award. |
| 26 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
| The Statement of Work refers to the contractor’s responsibilities as ‘supplying’ in lieu of ‘item management’. The Statement of Work for the incumbent contract however, specifically cites item management as being within the scope of the contractor’s responsibilities. Is there a legal/contractual significance with respect to omission of “item management” from this solicitation’s Statement of Work? |
| This is a supply contract. We feel the supply chain management functions in section 1.1.2 are components of item management. |
| 27 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 8 Section: 4.0 System Interface & Integration, Paragraph 4.6 Citation: “The contract may specify the following VMI EDI requirements where VMI is applicable:”
| Must the offeror price all of the EDI transactions shown in paragraph 4.6 (including all related costs for system interface development and testing) or only a sub-set these EDI transactions, which the Government is certain will be used? If only a sub-set what are the transactions specifically? Will the contractor be eligible for an equitable price adjustment if additional EDI transactions (other than the known sub-set) will be used during contract performance? |
| All EDI transactions shown are required. It is at the discretion of the offeror how to price |
| 28 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 8 Section: 5.0 Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Paragraph 5.2 Citation: “The Contractor shall develop and submit its Property Management Plan as part of its proposal. Once the plan is approved by DLA, the plan will be incorporated into the contract and the Contractor shall manage the property in accordance with its approved plan.”
| Since the RFP includes FAR clause 52.245-01 Government Property, is it DLA’s intent that the contractor manage VMI according to the procedures of 52.245-01, and therefore must the Property Management Plan submitted with the offeror’s proposal conform to the procedures of FAR clause 52.245-01 or can alternate procedures be used? |
| FAR clause 52.245-1 must be followed. |
| 29 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 10 Section: 5.0 Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Paragraph 5.4 Citation: “The Contractor must use VMI to satisfy orders until the VMI is depleted; once VMI is depleted, the Contractor shall fill orders from Contractor-owned inventory.”
| Can the Government describe the process by which the ‘last’ VMI order will be processed for a given NSN? By that we mean, the ‘last’ order (unless additional VMI is received at a later date) will most likely exceed the remaining quantity in stock. Will the contractor fill the order partially, will the order be cancelled and reissued for the remaining stock of VMI, or will another method be used? |
| Contractor will fill as much of the order as possible via VMI and will fill the balance of the order utilizing contractor furnished material. |
| 30 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 10 Section: 5.0 Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Paragraph 5.5 Citation: “The Contractor and the Government will jointly inspect, count, and reconcile the incoming inventory. A record of this transfer will be maintained by the Contractor and provided to the cognizant administration office and Contracting Officer.”
| Will Government inspection be performed with the Government inspector physically present at the contractor’s facility or remotely? Will this inspection be performed by DLA-Aviation or DCMA personnel per their property administrator role under FAR clause 52.245-01 Government Property? |
| All Govt inspections will be performed by a Quality Assurance Representative (QAR). |
| 31 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 10 Section: 5.0 Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Paragraph 5.5 Citation: “In each phase, when a quantity of Government inventory is identified, the inventory will be blocked from issue at the depot and physically transferred to the Contractor’s facility at Government expense.”
| As this is not a requirements contract, depots can fill DoD customer requisitions independent of this contract. The RFP reference to the Government blocking inventory from issue at the depot so the inventory can be transferred to the contractor implies that orders from DoD customers are being routed to the depots to be filled using available Government stock, and not being routed to the contractor in the first place. Is this scenario limited to FSL’s, or does the Government envision CONUS orders being routed to the CONUS DDC’s? If so, what is the criteria for when an order will route to the contractor versus be filled by the Government? |
| This scenario is limited to Forward Stock Locations (FSL) which are stocked through purchases against the Chem/POL contract. There is no stock at DLA CONUS distribution centers. |
| 32 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 11 Section: 6.2.1 Safety Data Sheets (SDS) Citation: “SDSs are required for all materials delivered under this contract that meet the definition of hazardous as set forth in the latest version of Federal Standard 313 (including versions or changes adopted during the life of the contract).”
| Neither the contractor nor DLA can control or predict what changes may occur to Federal Standard 313 during the term of the contract and these changes may impact the cost or schedule of contract performance. Therefore, is it correct to assume that the contractor will be eligible for equitable adjustments to the contract price or schedule to the extent that these changes impact the cost or time required to perform the contract? |
| Any transactions outside the scope of the contract would be considered for an equitable adjustment. |
| 33 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 14-15 Section: 6.8.1 OCONUS Sea Containers Citation: “Upon notification from DLA Distribution that an OCONUS order requires a sea container (SEAVAN), the Government will modify the delivery order to reflect FOB Origin and inspection/acceptance at origin terms.”
| Please define the criteria that DLA will use to determine that an order will ship by sea container (SEAVAN). Knowing these criteria is essential to planning and estimating costs of contract performance. |
| Answer from DDC:: |
The current criterion is that any sea van that is over 30,000 lbs. or 1500 cube will be sourced directly at the vendor site. All other orders will flow to the consolidation and containerization points for containerization.
| 34 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 12 - Statement of Work |
Page(s): 10 Section: 10.0 Post Award Conference Citation: “The Contracting officer, in conjunction with the cognizant ACO, may require a post-award conference in accordance with FAR 42.503.”
| What contract administration functions, specifically, will be delegated to an ACO and will the ACO official be from DCMA? |
| The ACO will be the Contracting Officer (currently Tonya Green) resides in the Integrated Supplier Team (IST) at Defense Supply Center Richmond, VA. DCMA will not administer this contract. |
DCMA will only be involved for items with Origin & Inspection.
| 35 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 14 – Instructions to Offerors; Att. 2 – Active NIINs; Schedule of Supplies |
Page(s): 20 Section: F. Factor 5, Volume 7: Price Proposal: ; ChemPol Offeror Spreadsheet Citation: “Propose a single percentage to cover costs that vary with the volume of business to include transportation and warehousing costs.”
| On the ChemPol Offeror Spreadsheet can offerors propose a different throughput fee percentage for each NSN or must the same percentage be used to price all NSNs? |
| No. One fee is required to be utilized across all NSNs. |
| 36 |
| RFP Doc: SF1449_SPE4A215R0002 |
Page(s): 27 Section: : Clauses Added to Part 12 by Addendum Citation: 52.217-09 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract
| The clause stipulates option exercise within 30 days of contract expiration and an advance notification of intent to exercise the option at least 60 days before the contract expires. Due to many items having significantly longer lead times than these time frames, the contractor will run the risk of significant excess or shortfalls of inventory because inventory replenishment purchase decisions will have to be made before the contractor receives the option modification. Also there are significant fixed contract costs that require extended advance notice to cancel. Therefore, recommend the Government specify option exercise no sooner than 180 days prior to contract expiration. |
| The Govt will provide 270 days advance notice that it intends to exercise an Option. See Amendment 02. |
| 37 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 14 – Instructions to Offerors; Att. 8 – FACTS Sheet |
Citation: RFP Attachment 14, Instructions section 2. D (6) states: The answering space on the FACTS Sheet may be expanded so that the filled-in FACTS Sheet for each relevant contract covers no more than both sides of three (3) 8 ½ x 11 inch pages.
RFP Attachment 8, FACTS Sheet section F.1 states:
F. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EFFORT AS: _____ PRIME _____ SUBCONTRACTOR
1. As a part of this narrative description, highlight portions considered most relevant to the current acquisition; addressing how and to what extent the proposed effort relates to the program identified in B. above. To supplement the data provided in response to this paragraph, complete the following regarding relevancy of the effort identified in paragraph B to the proposed effort. This is limited to two pages beyond the page limitation of the FACTS sheet information.
Please confirm that the two pages identified in the last sentence of Attachment 8, section F.1, “This is limited to two pages beyond the page limitation of the FACTS sheet information” are in addition to the 6-page limitation provided in Attachment 14, Instructions section 2.D (6).
Confirmed as stated.
| 38 |
| RFP Doc: Att. 8 – FACTS Sheet |
Citation: RFP Attachment 8, FACTS Sheet Section L states:
L. Additionally, for those efforts where the offeror is cognizant of unfavorable and/or marginal past performance ratings/reports previously assessed by customers or clients, but feel that significant progress has been made but not yet credited or formally documented, provide the program name, contract number, customer location and a narrative explaining “fixes” made to date, or any other information regarding the unfavorable/marginal assessment. This narrative portion is limited to one (1) additional page beyond the FACTS sheet required page limitation. It is not presumed that the offeror’s performance has been perfect. Rather, the proposal should contain evidence of the offeror’s ability to isolate the root causes of problems and should describe programs or actions taken to resolve those causes. Demonstrated corrective actions (not just planned or promised), and the overall work record will be considered. Problems not addressed by the offeror, but found by the Government during the evaluation of the information in this volume, will be assumed to still exist.
Please confirm that the 1-page additional narrative beyond the FACTS sheet- required page limitation can be used to address all of the factors cited in L, including discussion of past performance issues and evidence of the offeror’s ability to isolate the root causes of problems and descriptions of programs or actions taken to resolve those causes.
Confirmed as stated.
| 39 |
| Attachment 2: Active NIIN’s / Schedule of Supplies: ADQ in column F on the first tab |
indicates the same values as the ADF in column H on the second tab.
Will the ADQ in column I on the second tab be used to calculate TEP?
The Spreadsheet has been corrected. See Amendment 01.
| 40 |
| Clause 252.211-7006 RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION: Clause states that |
“Contractor shall affix passive RFID tags, at the case- and palletized unit load packaging levels, for shipments of items that are being shipped to one of the locations listed at http://www.acq.osd.mil/log/rfid/ … or to an OCONUS location when the shipment has been assigned Transportation Priority 1.”
Can DLA provide an estimated number or volume of shipments that will deliver to these locations and will therefore require RFID?
The Govt is unable to provide an estimate of orders requiring RFID as the number varies year over year. Offerors can view the 5-Year Requisition History for an RFID estimate.
| 41 |
| Attachment 12: Statement of Work |
Section #6.8 Distribution
Can DLA specify the packaging & marking requirements for delivery orders? Must each NSN be labeled in accordance with applicable MIL-STD-129, MIL-STD-290, MIL-STD-2073, and NATO requirements? Does palletization in accordance with MIL-STD-147 apply to all shipments?
Packaging and Marking requirements are included in the item description for each NIIN which will determine the packaging and marking requirements for each delivery order.
| 42 |
| Attachment 13: Special Contract Requirements |
Section #H-900 Pricing & Payment, Material Attachment 13, Section H-900 states that “Material priced at time of award of the contract represents the fixed commodity price for a six-month period.” Attachment 14, Instructions to Offerors, Section F (page 13) has different language: “Proposed prices for these commodities (NSNs) will apply to orders issued the first six months after contract award (or beginning at FOC as applicable)”.
Considering that proposals will be submitted in October 2015, contract start date will begin in July 2016, and FOC will take place until July of 2017; it is our understanding that material prices will remain fixed for 22 months after the bid is submitted. Can DLA clarify the timing (month & year) for the first material pricing adjustment and the dates that the base index data will be applied?
EPA adjustments will be applied semi-annually beginning at contract award.
| 43 |
| Section #H-900 Pricing & Payment, Material: |
| Nine (9) of the ten (10) indexes listed are |
provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and historic data are publicly available to all bidders. The ICIS Pricing Index requires separate purchase to access historic data. Can DLA provide the past 10 years of data for the Group II, Motiva G.C.
200/220?
DLA will not be providing. The awardee will be required to buy a subscription to the ICIS Pricing Index.
| 44 |
| Section #H-900 Pricing & Payment, Supply Chain Support, Throughput Fee |
| Will the throughput percentage be applied to the adjusted NSN unit price at the time of each shipment throughout the contract term, or applied to the baseline unit prices established at the time of award? |
| Throughput will be applied to the adjusted NSN unit price at the time of each shipment. |
| 45 |
| MILSPEC Packaging |
| In reference to the above solicitation, is it possible to vary from MIL specs, and if so, how do we submit our preferred packaging? |
| The awardee is held to whatever MILSPEC is in the item description. If the contractor has a recommendation, they may submit the recommendation to the preparing activity or submit to DLA for submission to the preparing activity. |
| 46 |
| Transition |
| If an offeror can transition in 6 months, will the transition period be 6 months vice 12 months? |
| No. The current contract obligation runs until July 2017 and we do not intend to pay duplicate fees. We feel that a full 12 month transition will be necessary regardless of awardee. |
| 47 |
| Fill Rate Disincentive |
| Fill Rate Exception if order volume is really high - Industry concern that 25% disincentive may be viewed as punitive, especially when issue is outside contractors control |
| See Govt’s response to “Spike Exceptions” in Question # 12 |
| 48 |
| EPA adjustments |
| What is DLA's rationale for moving from a quarterly to semi-annual EPA adjustments? |
| DLA shifted to semi-annual to lessen the administrative burden on the Govt; Market Research also indicated Industry is okay with semi-annual adjustments. |
| 49 |
| Spills |
| Define which spills are reportable |
| Any spill that occurs at the contractor's site should be reported. The Govt wants to ensure the contractor is a good steward of the environment. |
| 50 |
| Scenarios |
| What is the timing of the scenarios and proposal due date as proposals are currently due on a Friday? |
| The Govt will provide offerors 3-Business days to respond to the scenarios. Scenario responses would not be due until Weds if the proposal due date remains on a Friday. |
| 51 |
| SDS/HWL |
| If a contractor is not the incumbent (SAIC), acquiring all required SDS will be difficult to pull-off? |
| Noted....The Government is most concerned that a contractor knows the process to acquire the correct SDS. |
See sample set in Amendment 02.
| 52 |
| “Never-Out” Items |
| How should offerors handle risk for "Never-Out" items that have shelf-life issues? |
| With the exception of NRP items (95% FR requirement), the 90% Fill Rate requirement is lower than the current contract so the contractor has some wiggle-room if an item is not on the shelf when needed. Never-out lists are managed internal to DLA and are not part of the SOW. The Govt will elevate shelf-life issues on a case-by-case basis with the ESA. |
| 53 |
| Backorder Disincentive |
| Industry is puzzled by the BO Disincentive regarding the 90% FR goal....Industry believes it will need to "price-in" the BO Disincentive and the disincentive is too harsh. |
| DLA needs to keep the contactor focused on aged BOs when an item has already missed the FR metric. The 90% Fill Rate Metric is DLA's customer’s requirement. DLA wants to ensure "No aged BO is left behind". |
| 54 |
| Pricing |
Transition Fee
| Does the incumbent have a pricing advantage over others on Transition Fee pricing? |
| Even if the incumbent wins again, it will incur substantial transition costs as the new contract is very different than the current contract. Price is also low when compared with Tech and Management Eval Factors so it is very unlikely proposed Transition Fees will be a determining factor in the final contract award (it should not tip the scale). |
| 55 |
| Additional Questions |
| Can Industry submit additional RFP questions? What is the question cut-off date? |
| Offerors are permitted to submit additional questions up to the close of business on Thursday 10 September. Any questions received after 10 |
September will not be addressed.
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .