Attachment 11 - RMW PreProposal Conference QandA.pdf

Rocky Mountain/Mountain/West Coast/Offshore (RMW) Pre-Proposal Conference Question and Answer Session

January 23, 2023, 12:00 p.m. – 16:00 p.m. EST

1. The current contract shows that 21.87% of this contract is set aside for small business. At this moment, you require all suppliers to manufacture their own products. Many small businesses do not manufacture their own goods and if they did, they would not be able to do so at the scale required by this contract. If you truly wanted small business participation, why would the manufacturing rule exist? Can you waive this rule for future contracts?

A. DLA Energy does look into adding small business. That's one of the things that we do when we do our market research prior to building our solicitation. DLA Energy conducts market research each year. The small business set-aside is specific to the results of our market research for that year. We treat each solicitation separately. A waiver was approved last year in accordance with the laws that are set out in the FAR. Please know that any kind of waiver that is approved for these manufacturer or non manufacturer rule is under the purview of the Small Business Administration. It is not a DLA decision.

Information on the Non-Manufacture rule and on obtaining waivers is provided on SBA’s website. This website also includes contact information on waivers to the Non-Manufacturer Rule. Please refer below for a link.

Nonmanufacturer rule (sba.gov)

2. Can we have the numbers email ect. for all that are on this webinair? Also can the webinair with voice an video be sent. This is based on the voice supplement instructions.

A. Link to voice: https://www.zoomgov.com/rec/share/d-RLgn4rHb1SC-WPFgcBum7bmUDVuSy- 3lv0gGCqL_NOnNa7zD5W2375z1XQJu_S.Dfk1Jh8FAAnGGfTu?startTime=1674506335000

Passcode: n5$f*8Jf

3. Do they have an interested vendor list printed?

A. List of attendees enclosed.

4. Pipeline only, please explain how the LDC comes into play. Example paper or OET bids, FOB Origin. One pipline can service many bases. How exactly does this work. Please explain each stage for example : contractor get approved at the Motiva for testing and get paid after it goes up to the Megellean.

A. Please read the schedule in the solicitation. The schedule dictates the FOB points.

5. Clarifications: For pipeline only, who can explain how the contractor gets paid, and at what stage. For example the contractor works with Motiva. For the Refinery to the pipeline up to certain military installations. LDC is where a… https://www.sba.gov/partners/contracting-officials/small-business-procurement/nonmanufacturer-rule https://www.zoomgov.com/rec/share/d-RLgn4rHb1SC-WPFgcBum7bmUDVuSy-3lv0gGCqL_NOnNa7zD5W2375z1XQJu_S.Dfk1Jh8FAAnGGfTu?startTime=1674506335000 https://www.zoomgov.com/rec/share/d-RLgn4rHb1SC-WPFgcBum7bmUDVuSy-3lv0gGCqL_NOnNa7zD5W2375z1XQJu_S.Dfk1Jh8FAAnGGfTu?startTime=1674506335000

A. Only so depending on where you enter your pipeline where your entry point is. There's going to be a transportation cost that is associated with that and evaluating it to all the different locations where the fuel is entering the pipeline.

6. The items in Section B reconciles to the summary of products being procured, with the exception of the Txxxxx items. Please explain the significance of the "Txxxx Throughput" items to Section B. contractor can work with the DLA, where each installation for example the army brings their equipment and trucks where the government get this portion of the cost per gallon.

A. Please refer to the schedule for all throughputs. The throughputs or DSFPs are terminals that feed demand user locations. For example, DSFP North Pole feeds Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson. The quantity of JA1 solicited for DSFP North Pole is the same quantity solicited for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. To offer quantity to any demand location on the schedule (as in to a certain line item), please refer to the delivery notes for that line item to determine if the quantity and product you want to offer must be offered to a DSFP. In addition, each line item includes the receipt mode that is allowable to a location for deliveries. If offering by truck, please refer to the schedule if your offered product and mode are solicited for that line item.

7. Will HUBZone price preference be applied in the Unrestricted Items in the RFP?

A. Yes, SB/HUBZone vendors are able to win the full quantity (restricted and unrestricted) on line items they are being evaluated to in the schedule as long as the price is within 10% of the otherwise winning LB vendor. Please note that to be evaluated as a HUBZone small business, the offeror must be registered as a HubZone in SAM.gov. Also, please note that our Bid Evaluation Model does not allow a HubZone to take quantity from a small business. Specifically, the BEM will only evaluate you as a SB or a HubZone. The vendor can decide how they want to be evaluated (either as a HubZone or SB) during negotiations.

8. My only question is as a small business am I permitted to bid on the entire project if my supplier has capability or am I limited to 20%? Thanks in advance.

A. As a SB vendor, you are able to offer the entire quantity of a location in the schedule, but during the SB Set Aside run, you will only be evaluated on the SB quantity. Remember, you can always have the lowest laid down price during the base run and keep that quantity throughout the procurement.

9. Who controls the implementation of Manufacturing rule if DLA does not?

A. The Small Business Administration (SBA). The non-manufacture rule is under the purview of the SBA. Only the SBA can approve individual or class waivers to the non-manufacturer rule.

10. Will interested vendors be posted on sam .gov?

A. List of attendees enclosed.

11. Was an answer provided regarding the Txxxx Throughput" in Section B question?

A. Yes, see number five above.

12. Should we need help while preparing the OET where should we go? how long does it take do complete ?

A. It is the vendors responsibility to prepare their proposal for submission. It depends on your experience. Please refer to the OET guide in Attachment 7 of the solicitation for instructions on using OET and for entering in your offer to OET.

13. How long will it take to complete the OET for the offer?

A. That depends on how many bids you want to enter, how many modes, and how many products and shipping points, etc. Vendors who have entered bids into OET in prior solicitations can use their prior bid from a previous solicitation to input their (offers) for the current solicitation. If this is your first time using OET and entering bid(s) in OET, please do not wait until the last minute. Please refer to Attachment 7 for the OET guide.

14. Is it 30 days terms from the date of invoice ? or are there any other options available?

A. The payment terms of our solicitation is NET 30. Any exception to our solicitation requirements should be submitted as an exception in OET.

15. Are you able to provide a contact for me to reach out to at the SBA regarding the non-manufacturing rule?

A. Provided is the link to the SBA website re: the non-manufacturer rule.

https://www.sba.gov/partners/contracting-officials/small-business-procurement/nonmanufacturer-rule

16. How much time for a new vendor to bid from A-Z in the OET?

A. Depends on your experience. We recommend set aside 8 full hours for the first time to ensure accuracy. We also highly recommend using Attachment 7 – OET Guide when inputting your offer. Please do not wait until the last minute to enter your offers.

17. Are there default price escalators available to factor in to pricing in the drop down menu on

OET?

A. All escalators are listed in Section B19 of the RFP and are all available in a drop-down menu in OET under the Additional Bid Line data button in the offer screens.

https://www.sba.gov/partners/contracting-officials/small-business-procurement/nonmanufacturer-rule https://www.sba.gov/partners/contracting-officials/small-business-procurement/nonmanufacturer-rule