Attachment G - PCS OET Vendor Guide.pdf

Submitted to:

DLA Energy

J-6FSA

8725 John J. Kingman Rd.

Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060

Attn: Ruby Pezos Ruby.Pezos@dla.mil

Submitted by:

Nelson & Associates 150 Howie Road Big Timber, MT 59011

USER MANUAL

Version 5.1

Posts, Camps & Stations

Offer Entry Tool

(PCS OET)

Release Version 2020.07.10.01

September 2023

QUICK START GUIDE

mailto:Ruby.Pezos@dla.mil

PCS OET User Manual Version 5.1 09/06/23

Table of Contents

Section 1 Quick Start Guide Section 2 Scope of the User Manual

2.1 Document Overview

2.1.1 Document Navigations Conventions

2.2 Application Overview

2.2.1 Application Navigation Conventions

Section 3 Step-By-Step Instructions for Using the PCS Offer Entry Tool

3.1 Accessing PCS OET

3.2 Menu Overview

3.2.1 Main Screen Drop-Down Options

3.3 Offer Entry

3.3.1 Invitation to Bid

3.3.2 Select a Solicitation

3.3.3 Enter Offers

3.3.4 Bid Package Document(s)

3.3.5 Submit Bids

3.3.6 Bid Summary Report

3.4 Vendor Registration Details

3.5 Logging On Details

3.6 Logging Out

APPENDIX A Terms and Abbreviations APPENDIX B Application Release History

SECTION 1 QUICK START GUIDE

The following diagram depicts the offer entry and submission steps in a PCS OET initial (Standard) offer round from the point where a registered user has logged on.

Detailed descriptions of these steps, as well as vendor registration, logon and subsequent offer rounds, are provided in Section 3.

Figure 1 Quick Start Guide

Verify your Company information and Purchase Program selection(s).

If you do not see the Solicitation you want, verify that the associated Purchase Program is selected under Settings

Provides an Excel spreadsheet of your offer data.

Standard offer rounds: certify / sign using your PCS OET Password.

Standard offer round: Upload supporting .PDF documents to be included with Submit Bids

Check box(es) to select lineitems to bid.

- Select non-consecutive using CTRL+click box;

- Select consecutive lineitems using SHIFT+click box.

- Select/deselect all lineitems using checkbox in column header.

Note: additional data columns are displayed in subsequent bid rounds.

Displayed after the initial bid round.

Displayed in Reverse Auction bid rounds

NOTE: Submit Bids is NOT performed in a Reverse Auction offer round;

offers are submitted automatically at the end of the reverse auction.

Enter Offer Data: Certain fields invoke underlying data entry screens.

Apply/Remove Taxes By Product/State: If tax entry is enabled by the Buyer, allows for entry of taxes (included in your Price) on all of your lineitems that match a selected Product category and/or State.

SECTION 2 SCOPE OF THE USER MANUAL

This document, the Posts, Camps & Stations (PCS) Offer Entry Tool (OET) User Manual (UM) describes the various steps taken to use this application from an end-user’s perspective. This UM is applicable to the latest version of the PCS OET application, as found in Appendix B.

2.1 Document Overview

This User Manual (UM) for the PCS OET application is written to provide:

♦ Quick Start Guide (Section 1) ♦ Application Overview (Section 2.2) o Application Navigation Conventions (Section 2.2.1) ♦ Step By Step Instructions (Section 3) o Accessing PCS OET (Section 3.1) o Menu Overview (Section 3.2)

Main Screen Drop-Down Options (Section 3.2.1) o Offer Entry Process (Section 3.3)

Invitation to Bid (Section 3.3.1) Select a Solicitation (Section 3.3.2) Enter Offer Data (Section 3.3.3) Bid Package Document(s) (Section 3.3.4) Submit Bids (Section 3.3.5) Bid Summary Report (Section 3.3.6)

2.1.1 Document Navigations Conventions

This document contains many hyperlinks. To navigate back to your original position after clicking on a hyperlink within this document, use Alt+left arrow.

A navigation pane is provided, on the left side of the document, containing heading links which you can use to easily get to a specific section containing the information you want. The heading links displaying an arrow to the left are expandable, by clicking the arrow, to display related sub-sections.

*NOTE: If the Navigation Pane is not displayed upon opening the .pdf, the following steps will display it: In the Browser window, click File > Properties; on the Properties screen, on the Initial View tab, select Bookmark Panel and Page in the Navigation tab drop-down, and click the OK button. Save and close the .pdf.

The Navigation Pane will be displayed upon re-opening the .pdf.

2.2 Application Overview

PCS OET is an external web application which allows registered prospective Posts, Camps & Stations / ground fuel vendors to securely enter/submit offer(s) on a DLA Energy fuel Solicitation. DLA Buyers establish offer round(s) where Vendors enter and submit Offer data, by lineitem, for a selected Solicitation. Specifically, PCS OET allows registered prospective vendors to:

1) Enter offer data by lineitem for the currently OPEN offer round.

2) View data from previous offer round(s).

3) Submit offer(s) to the PCS Bid Evaluation Model (BEM) for evaluation and/or award.

4) Upload supporting documentation creating a complete offer submission.

5) Participate in the Reverse Auction process, including a Real-Time

Reverse Auction option.

6) Produce a Bid Summary Report.

*NOTE: This PCS OET application replaces the submission of paper offers.

**NOTE: A Bid Summary Report can be run anytime during the offer entry process to get a snapshot in time of the current round's offer entry.

2.2.1 Application Navigation Conventions

Throughout the various PCS OET steps and screens, the following navigation conventions are used to assist the user:

• Menus o A Menu located on the left of the Main Menu screen, is used to navigate the application.

• Context Sensitive Help (CSH) o CSH is available on the screens of the PCS OET application indicated by a question mark icon (Figure 2). Clicking this icon displays a pop-up with information specific to the associated field and/or process. An Index link is available on the pop-up which identifies all of the CSH for the displayed screen.

Figure 2 CSH Icon Example

• Column sorting.

o An arrow in the column title indicates the data is sortable by that column. Clicking the title / arrow reorders data alphabetically / numerically. The up or down direction of the arrow indicates which direction the data are sorted (ascending or descending).

• Search o A Search field allows for dynamic filtering of data displayed on the screen (filter searches all data fields). As character / digits are entered into the Search field, the data displayed are filtered based on the specified character(s) / digit(s).

• Privacy and Security Notice Hyperlinks o At the bottom of every webpage and window of the PCS OET is a link to the DoD Privacy Security Policy Statement. This page can be accessed by clicking the Click Here link. Some screenshots displayed in this document may not include this link for the current version of this document. They will be replaced as needed when the screens change for other reasons.

• Session timer

Figure 3 Session Expiration Warning

SECTION 3 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE

PCS OFFER ENTRY TOOL

*NOTE to YOU, the USER: This document is intended to be a living and breathing document and should therefore reflect how you use the PCS OET application within the current and relevant Post, Camps & Stations environment. If there is ever anything that you would like to add, note, edit, emphasize, remove etc within this User Manual please contact me (Carole Bennett – CNA Documentation Manager) at cbennett@cnelsonassociates.com .

3.1 Accessing PCS OET

PCS OET is available to registered users via the EPST OET web entry point. See Section 3.4 for details on becoming a registered user and Section 3.5 for details on logging on. Logging out details are shown in Section 3.6.

EPST OET can be accessed by entering the web address into a DLA Energy approved web browser or by clicking the link in the Invitation to Bid email notification (Figure 4). When a DLA Energy Ground Fuels Buyer establishes a round of bidding via PCS BEM, an Invitation to Bid email notification can be sent to registered Vendors based on the Vendor's Purchase Program selection and bid history.

Figure 4 Invitation To Bid Email Example

3.2 Menu Overview

Upon logging in, the PCS OET Main Screen (Figure 5) is displayed. From this screen you select Enter Offers to select a solicitation/enter/submit offer(s). You can also view information About the system and access additional options via the drop-down arrow next to your user icon. These options are detailed in subsections below.

Figure 5 PCS OET Main Screen mailto:cbennett@cnelsonassociates.com

3.2.1 Main Screen Drop-Down Options

Click the drop-down arrow next to your user icon on the Main Screen to display a list of additional options (Figure 6) which may include: Frequently Asked Questions, Settings (formerly My Account), Change Cage Code Selection and Log Out. Each of these options is detailed in sub-sections below.

Figure 6 PC&S OET Main Screen, Additional Options

3.2.1.a Frequently Asked Questions If a FAQ document is available for PC&S OET, a Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQ) option is displayed in the additional options drop-down list,. Select this option to display the Frequently Asked Questions Documents screen (Figure 7) with a list of available documents.

Figure 7 Frequently Asked Questions Documents Screen

Click the View link to display the associated document (Figure 8).

Figure 8 FAQ Example

*NOTE: If there are no FAQ documents are available, the Frequently Asked Questions option is not displayed in the additional options drop-down list (Figure 9).

Figure 9 Additional Options Drop-Down, No FAQ Available

3.2.1.b Settings (formerly My Account) Select the Settings option from the additional options drop-down list (Figure 10) to invoke the User Account Info. screen (Figure 11). The User Account Info. screen is where you (the vendor) supply your company / personal information and select the Purchase Program(s) associated with the Solicitations on which you want to enter/submit offer(s); as well as change your user Password. These data should be maintained to reflect your most current information as they affect the communications between you and the Buyer as well as the Solicitations available to you.

Figure 10 PC&S OET Main Screen - Settings

After modifying any fields on the User Account Info screen, click Save to retain your data and close the screen; Cancel closes the screen without retaining your modifications.

Figure 11 User Account Info. Screen

You fill in the data fields on the User Account Info. screen (Figure 11) in the following manner:

*NOTE: Fields marked with * are required.

Company Name: *

Required: If not pre-populated, enter the name of your company. Any changes / edits made to the Company Name field are applied to all user accounts within this company that correspond to its unique Commercial & Government Entity (CAGE) Code of the Company.

Title:

Enter your job title within the company.

Phone: * Required: Enter your business phone number.

Fax:

Fax number associated with this account (Optional).

Email: * Required: Enter your business email address. This email address will be used for all correspondence emails to / from the PCS OET application and to / from the DLA Energy Buyers who will be evaluating your bid(s).

Using the radio button options below the Email field, you may select whether the Email displayed is associated with only the selected Cage Code or with ALL Cage Codes assigned to your Account.

Company Class: *

Required: If not pre-populated, select a socio-economic business classification for your company. Any changes / edits made to the Company Class are applied to all user accounts within this company that correspond to the Commercial & Government Entity (CAGE) Code of the company.

The bid evaluation process that evaluates offers from all Vendors uses the class type of a company in the awarding of fuel contracts. Special awards and/or premiums (price compensations of up to 10%) are given to Small Businesses (SB) and companies located in Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zones.

Purchase Program Selection: * Required: Purchase Program (PP) is the identifier of the geographical area with which a particular Solicitation is associated. Selections determine the Solicitations for which you receive an Invitation to Bid, and the Solicitations displayed to you on the Solicitations For Offer Bid Entry screen. Select http://www.sba.gov/content/hubzone-maps http://www.sba.gov/content/hubzone-maps the PPs for which you want the associated Solicitations displayed. These selections are unique to your user ID.

You will only be notified of / able to view / bid Solicitations for those Purchase Programs which you have selected.

You can move an individual Purchase Program between the Available and Selected columns by highlighting the PP and clicking the single arrow button(s) (>, <) located between the boxes.

You can move ALL PPs by clicking the double arrow button(s) (>>, <<).

You MUST select at least one Purchase Program in order to Enter Offers.

Figure 12 At Least 1 Purchase Program Must Be Selected Warning

If there are any errors in the data you input on the User Account Info. screen (Figure 11) and you attempt to Save the data, the error will be displayed at the top of the screen and the data field in question will be shaded in red, as illustrated in Figure 13.

Figure 13 User Account Info. Screen Error

The User Account Info. screen also provides you with the means to change your log-on password. Click the Change Password button to display the Password Change screen (Figure 14). On the Password Change screen enter your current password into the Old Password field, enter a new password following the password constraints into the New Password field, type the new password again into the Confirm New Password field.

Figure 14 Password Change Screen

Click OK on the completed Password Change screen (Figure 14). Correctly entered data produces a Password Success (Figure 15) screen where clicking OK returns you to the User Account Info. screen (Figure 11); Cancel returns you to the User Account Info. screen without changing your password.

Figure 15 Password Success Screen

Upon clicking OK on the Password Change screen (Figure 14), if your entries do not adhere to the password constraints the applicable message in Figure 16 or Figure 17 is displayed.

Figure 16 Password Length Message

Figure 17 Password Change Requirement Message

If you attempt to change your password within 12 hours since your last password change, you will get the message shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18 Password Change Not Allowed Message

3.2.1.c Change Cage Code Selection

Your selected Cage Code is displayed in the browser tab as show in Figure 19.

Figure 19 Currently Selected Cage Code

If you have multiple Cage Codes, a Change Cage Code Selection is displayed in the additional options drop-down list. If you wish to change your currently selected Cage Code, select this option to display the Select A Cage Code screen (Figure 20), highlight the Cage Code you want from the selection list and click Select.

Figure 20 Select A Cage Code Screen

The selected Cage Code is now displayed in the browser tab (Figure 21).

Figure 21 Selected Cage Code – Changed

*NOTE: If you have only a single Cage Code associated with your account, the Change Cage Code Selection option will not be displayed in the additional options drop-down list.

3.3 Offer Entry

DLA Buyers establish offer round(s) and invite vendors to enter and submit Offer data via PCS OET, by lineitem, for a selected Solicitation.

The process works as follows:

1) A prospective vendor must be registered in order to enter/submit offers in the PCS OET application. Contact the DLA Business Process owner to register.

2) Prospective fuel Vendors view DLA Energy Solicitations from Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps.gov - https://www.fbo.gov/), as indicated on the DLA Homepage and/or may be notified by an Invitation to Bid.

https://www.fbo.gov/

3) Vendor logs on through the EPST OET web entry point, selects the business unit Post, Camps & Stations (PCS) and selects a Solicitation and OPEN offer round on which to enter/submit offers.

4) Vendor selects lineitem(s) to be included in offer and enters the prices / offer data for each until all data have been entered.

5) Vendor uploads pertinent offer submission documentation in support of offer, creating a complete offer submission.

6) Vendor submits offer response.

7) Vendor repeats the offer entry process for all offer rounds (Standard

Initial / Interim / Final, etc.…and Reverse Auction) that the DLA Buyer opens, via BEM, for a Solicitation. The offer submission process is required on all Standard offer rounds; offer submission is not required on Reverse Auction rounds.

8) For each offer round, the Vendor is shown his previous bid for each lineitem. In a Reverse Auction round (either static or real-time), the Vendor is also shown the current winning bid for each lineitem.

Your (the vendor’s) Purchase Program (PP) Selection under Settings should be maintained to reflect your most current information as the selected PPs determine the Solicitations for which you receive an Invitation to Bid, and the available Solicitations that are displayed on the Solicitations For Offer Bid Entry screen (Figure 26). The Solicitations displayed on the Solicitations For Offer Bid Entry screen, in turn, determine the lineitems available for offers.

3.3.1 Invitation to Bid

For each offer round established by the Buyer via PCS BEM, an Invitation to Bid email notification (Figure 22) may be sent to registered vendors based on Purchase Program (PP) selection and offer history. This notification contains the Solicitation number, offer round (e.g., Round: 1(Initial Offer)), offer round open and close date / time and a link to the EPST OET application.

ALL vendors who have selected the PP, under Settings, that is associated with a Solicitation will get the INITIAL Invitation to Bid email notifying them that an Initial offer round is open.

Figure 22 Invitation to Bid Email Example, Standard Initial Round

ONLY those vendors who submitted offers on the Initial Standard round will receive Invitation to Bid emails (Figure 23 and Figure 24) notifying them that subsequent offer rounds have been opened. For each Standard offer round established, even if you have not made changes to your offer(s), you must execute the Submit process.

Figure 23 Invitation to Bid Example, Standard Subsequent Round

Figure 24 Invitation to Bid Email Example, Reverse Auction Round

3.3.2 Select a Solicitation

After Logging On to PCS OET, having verified your Purchase Program selection under Settings, the next step is to select the Solicitation on which you (the vendor) want to enter/submit an offer(s). Click the Enter Offers menu on the PCS OET Main Menu screen (Figure 25) to invoke the Solicitations For Offer Bid Entry screen (Figure 26) displaying the Solicitations associated with the PP(s) you selected under Settings. In addition to the Solicitation Number, associated Purchase Program number and Title, this screen provides you with a count of the line items in the Solicitation, as well as the Open and Close date/time of the current offer round.

Figure 25 PCS OET Main Menu – Offers

Figure 26 Solicitations For Offer…Screen

Search and sort capabilities are available on the Solicitations For Offer Bid Entry screen (Figure 26) to assist in locating specific Solicitation(s) on which you are interested in entering / submitting an offer.

Once the Solicitation is located, click the corresponding View / Edit link to invoke the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 30) where offer data for the selected Solicitation are entered / displayed.

If you modify your Purchase Program selections under Settings, or if you want to remove filters you have applied using the Search function, click the Refresh List button to update the selection(s) displayed on the Solicitations For Offer Bid Entry screen (Figure 26)

If no Solicitations are found that match your Purchase Program selection(s), a notification will be displayed (Figure 27) advising to verify your selections under Settings.

Figure 27 No Active Solicitations Found

3.3.3 Enter Offers

Having selected a Solicitation, the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 28) is displayed with the vendor’s name, Solicitation number, offer Round drop-down and offer round Open and Close date / time identified at the top of the screen. The Round drop-down controls the offer round currently displayed. Selecting a different round will change the data on the screen display.

Offer data are not displayed on the Offer Bid Line screen (Figure 28) prior to the Open Date / Time of the round. If you select View / Edit on a Solicitation / offer round prior to the Open Date / Time, you will be notified that the round is not yet open and provided a Refresh button You will need to Refresh once the Open Date / Time has been reached in order to enter / view offer data.

Figure 28 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Round Not Yet Open

The lineitems displayed in the grid of the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33) can be filtered via the provided Search option and reordered using the sort arrows at the top of each data column.

All offer data does not have to be entered in a single session. Throughout the time that a round is open the offer entering and submission processes can be repeated / updated as you want, within the constraints of the round as described in subsections below. You (the vendor) may enter offer data (which is saved to the database in real-time), exit the Offer Bid Lines screen (Done) and return at another time to edit / complete your current offer.

Depending on the round status, button options displayed below the data grid may include: Apply/Remove Taxes By Product/State, Bid Summary Report, Bid Package Document(s), New Bid, Submit Bids, Recall Previous Bids and Done which are detailed in subsections below.

Once the offer round has closed, indicated by the Offer Bid Lines screen displaying (Closed) text next to the Round drop-down, the screen is in a read-only format, as shown in Figure 29. Offers can no longer be modified or, in standard rounds, submitted for this round.

Figure 29 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Round Closed Example

In addition to viewing your offer data on the Offer Bid Lines screen a Bid Summary Report allows you to create a record of your offer(s) for the currently selected round.

3.3.3.a Offer Rounds The sections below describe the Offer Bid Lines screen in separate sections because the screen display changes slightly based on where you are in the offer round process. The sections are:

♦ Round 1 – Initial Offer (Section 3.3.3.a(1)) ♦ Round N - Interim…Final Offer (Section 3.3.3.a(2)) ♦ Reverse Auction (Section 3.3.3.a(3)) o Static (Section 3.3.3.a(3)i) o Real-Time (Section 3.3.3.a(3)ii)

3.3.3.a(1) Round 1 – Initial Offer

3.3.3.a(1)i New Bid Option - Select Lineitems At the outset of the Initial offer round, the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 30) data grid is blank as lineitems to be included in your offer have yet to be selected.

Figure 30 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Vendor’s First Bid Round Example

Click the New Bid button at the bottom of the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 30) to invoke the New Bid Line Item Selection screen (Figure 31) displaying the available lineitems associated with the selected Solicitation. You would also view / select lineitems that are added to the Solicitation on Amendment in the Initial round via New Bid.

Figure 31 New Bid Line Item Selection Screen

As the example in Figure 32 shows, lineitems can be filtered (individually or in combination) by any of the fields using the drop down box under each column. Each drop down box contains all possible available values for that field according to the data.

Choosing the blank entry at the top of each drop down list clears that filter and replaces any lineitems filtered out by that field.

Modes are displayed by code which are defined in the Lineitem Data section of this document.

Figure 32 New Bid Line Item Selection Screen, Filtered

Select the lineitems from the New Bid Line Item Selection screen (Figure 31/Figure 32) to be included in your offer by clicking the checkbox in the first column of the lineitem. Multiple non-consecutive lineitems are selected by using CTRL+click in the checkbox, and multiple consecutive lineitems are selected using SHIFT+click in the checkbox. Select or Clear all lineitems using the checkbox in the first column header.

Click the Continue button to populate the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33) with the chosen lineitems.

Figure 33 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Line Items Selected Example

You can only Add lineitems during the Initial Standard offer round. The lineitem selection process can be repeated as you want until the offer round has closed. Once the offer round has closed the New Bid button is no longer displayed and lineitems can no longer be added. In subsequent Standard round(s), the New Bid button is not displayed, lineitems to be included in your offer are selected in the Initial Standard round.

The New Bid button is also not displayed in a Reverse Auction round as lineitems in a

Reverse Auction round are based on the last Standard offer round and cannot be added or deleted in OET.

3.3.3.a(1)ii Lineitem Data

Once the lineitems have been selected on the Bid Line Item Selection screen (Figure 31/Figure 32) and are displayed on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33), they can be filtered via the provided Search option and reordered using the sort arrows at the top of each data column.

Certain data fields for each selected lineitem on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33) may be populated by data from the Solicitation; some are Buyer enabled;

others require your input during the offer entry process as described below:

Data Fields Pre-populated from the Solicitation – Read-only:

The data fields pre-populated with data from the Solicitation on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33) include the following:

• Line Item:

Requirement lineitem identifier, which corresponds to the published Solicitation / Amendment.

• Product:

Fuel product to be delivered to the Activity.

• Mode:

Mode of transportation by which product is to be delivered to the Activity.

Modes are displayed by code, which are defined as follows:

AIR = Airplane;

BRG = Barge;

CCARD = Credit Card;

COUP = Italian Coupon;

COUPN = Coupons;

DR = Drums;

FOBBG = FOB Barge;

FOBDR = FOB Drum;

FOBPL = FOB Pipeline;

FOBRL = FOB Railcar;

FOBTT = FOB Tank Truck;

FOBTW = FOB Tank Wagon;

FUEL = Fuel Tanker;

FUELE = Fuel Truck;

INTMO = Inter-Modal;

MSS = Marine Svc;

NG = Hemtt;

PIPE = Pipeline;

RAIL = Railcar;

TC = Tank Car;

TRUCK = Truck;

TT= Tank Truck;

TTR = Tank Trk/Trl;

TTRWP = Trk/Trl W/P;

TTWP = Tank Truck Wagon;

TUG = Tug;

TW = Tank Wagon

• Activity:

Activity (end using location) to which Product is to be delivered.

• State:

Abbreviation of the state in which Activity resides if within the US;

Country abbreviation if overseas.

• Service Code:

Four-character identifying code for the government Service class, e.g.

NAVY, USAF, etc.

• Quantity:

The amount (in gallons) of Product being procured for this lineitem.

• BR Price:

Base Reference Price: Cost per gallon for this product at the time the Solicitation / Amendment was created, exclusive of additional charges.

Buyer Enabled Data Fields:

The DLA Buyer must enable the fields below, via PCS BEM, in order for them to be functional in OET. Once enabled, some of these data fields require your (the vendor’s) input, others are read-only.

• Hub:

Applicable to CONUS / domestic Solicitations only. If HUB Zone preference is allowed for the Solicitation, the Buyer can enable this field on individual lineitem(s) where a HUB Zone offer is acceptable. If enabled, your input is needed for lineitems to be evaluated for Hub Zone preference.

• Spec Msg:

The Buyer can attach Special Message(s) to any lineitem. On a Solicitation Amendment, lineitems that have been deleted and lineitem quantity change(s) are identified in the Spec Msg field. This is a read-only field for communications from the Buyer to the Vendor.

• FOB:

The Buyer can enable a particular Mode to allow (by lineitem) Freight on Board (FOB) offer entry (e.g, Mode = FOBTW, FOBRL),. This is for informational purposes from you, the Vendor, to the Buyer. If enabled, the Buyer wants your input of your shipping information / cost, and an Edit hyperlink is displayed in this field.

• Taxes:

Applicable to CONUS / domestic Solicitations only. The Buyer can enable the Taxes field if, for informational purposes only, they want you to identify any taxes INCLUDED in your offer Price. If enabled, you can input (i.e. call out separately) the tax data INCLUDED in your offer Price for a particular lineitem and/or for a filtered group of lineitems.

User edited/Entered Data Fields:

In the fields listed below, you (the vendor) enter your applicable offer data for each lineitem as follows:

• Price:

Enter your total offer Price for each lineitem for the currently selected offer round inclusive of any and all applicable taxes.

For example, if your offer for a gallon of fuel is $2.00 and taxes total $1.00, your Price is entered as $3.00.

Should the Price entry not be in the correct format, the error in Figure 34 will be displayed.

Figure 34 Invalid Price Message

• Escalator ID:

The default Escalators displayed in OET come from the published Solicitation. The Base Reference Price (BRP) on the Escalator and the Base Reference Date are part of the published Solicitation. If the Escalator ID link is enabled in blue, the displayed Escalator is the default Escalator. If the Escalator ID link is enabled in red, the displayed Escalator is an alternate Escalator.

If you wish to choose an alternate Escalator to the one given, click on the enabled Escalator ID field, for which you want an alternate. Once you click the link, the Alternate Escalator Selection screen (Figure 35) is displayed, on which you will find a selection of alternate Escalators from which you may choose. If you do not see the Escalator you want, you may request one using the Request New Escalator button on the bottom of the Alternate Escalator Selection screen (Figure 35).

Figure 35 Alternate Escalator Selection Screen

The fields on the Alternate Escalator Selection screen (Figure 35) include the following:

o Escalator:

Identification code for the alternate Escalator.

o Description:

Written description of the Escalator.

o BR Price:

Base Reference Price: Cost per gallon for this product at the time the Solicitation/Amendment was created, exclusive of additional charges.

o Select Link:

If you wish to choose an alternate Escalator to the one displayed on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33), click the Select link in the row of the Escalator you want to choose.

If you do not see the Escalator you want, you may request one using the Request New Escalator button at the bottom to bring up an email (Figure 36). Type in your request below the Vendors Request: line. Clicking Close will close the email without sending

it. Clicking Send Request will send the request to the Buyer.

Figure 36 Request New Alternate Escalator Email

When the email has been sent, the following screen appears (Figure 37); click OK to return to the Alternate Escalator Selection screen (Figure 35).

Figure 37 Request Successfully Sent Message

*NOTE: When a request email is sent, a notation is added to the Notes field on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33) as shown in Figure 38.

Figure 38 Note for Lineitem Showing Alternate Escalator Request

• Hub:

If enabled, check the box for the lineitem(s) you want evaluated for Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone preference; otherwise, leave the box unchecked.

• Spec Msg:

The DLA Buyer can apply Special Message(s) to any lineitem.

N/A= Not-available. If View is (red text) displayed, click to view Special Message(s) from the DLA Buyer. This is a read-only field.

Figure 39 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Spec Msg View Link

For your reference, an example of a Bid Line Special Messages screen is provided in Figure 40.

Figure 40 Bid Line Special Messages Screen

• FOB:

This is for informational purposes only. If enabled, the Buyer would like you to identify your transportation information / costs. When a lineitem is selected that utilizes a Mode for which the Buyer has enabled Freight on Board (FOB) offers (e.g, FOBTW, FOBRL), an Edit link (Figure 41) is displayed in this field.

Figure 41 Offer Bid Lines Screen, FOB Edit Link

Click the Edit link to display the FOB Bid Line Data screen (Figure 42) where you can fill in the following transportation information:

o Shipping Information:

Enter the location from which the fuel is being shipped, e.g. the name of a town, the name of a refinery, etc. (up to 25 Characters, capitalized) o State:

Enter the abbreviation of the state from which the fuel is being shipped. (2 Characters, capitalized) o Zip:

Enter the zip code of the area from which the fuel is being shipped. (Number, 11111-1111) o Rate:

Enter the cost per gallon that it will cost (the Vendor) to ship the fuel to its destination. (Number, up to 3 places to the left of the decimal, up to 6 places to the right of the decimal)

When you are finished entering FOB data, click Done to retain your entries and return to the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33); Cancel returns you to the Offer Bid Lines screen without keeping your entries.

Figure 42 FOB Bid Line Data Screen

If the link on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 41) displays as View, the lineitem and, therefore, the FOB Bid Line Data screen is read-only.

• Notes:

Click the Edit link to display the Notes For LineItem screen (Figure 44) where you can enter additional information you want to convey to the Buyer about a particular lineitem. A View link indicates there are notes that have previously been entered. If the link displays as View, then the associated lineitem is read-only.

Figure 43 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Notes Edit Link

When you are finished entering your Notes, click Save to retain your entries and return to the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33); Cancel returns you to the Offer Bid Lines screen without keeping your entries.

Figure 44 Notes For Line Item Screen

• Taxes:

This is for informational purposes only. If enabled, the Buyer would like you to identify the taxes that are INCLUDED in your total Price. For example, if you entered $3.00 as your Price of which Taxes total $1.00, you identify the $1.00 in Taxes on the applicable tax screen.

When tax entry has been enabled by the DLA Buyer, you can select / apply taxes to your lineitem(s) individually and/or to a group of your lineitems filtered to match a Product Category and/or State.

Click the enabled Taxes link displayed in black text in the grid (Figure 45), to select / enter tax information on the Bid Line Taxes screen (Figure 46) individually for the associated lineitem.

If the Taxes link displays in red text (Figure 45), tax information has been provided for the associated lineitem. If tax entry has not been enabled N/A displays in this field.

Figure 45 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Taxes Link

Figure 46 Bid Line Taxes Screen

To provide tax information applicable to ALL lineitems in a Product Category and/or State, click the Apply/Remove Taxes By Product/State button on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33). Using the drop-down selection lists on the Product/State Tax Selection screen (Figure 47), select the applicable Product Category and/or State to dynamically filter the Available Taxes . As stated on the screen, the Tax and Tax Price data you select / enter in the Selected Taxes column will be applied to the Taxes field on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33) for ALL of your lineitems matching the filtered Product Category and/or State. The Taxes link for the associated lineitems will be displayed in red text.

Figure 47 Product/State Tax Selection Screen

On either the Bid Line Taxes screen (Figure 46) or the Product/State Tax Selection screen (Figure 47), select the tax(es) included in your offer Price, from the Available Taxes column, by clicking on the desired tax item to move it to the Selected Taxes box. Clicking the magnifying glass icon provides a text box which allows you to Search for a particular tax. Click the arrow at the top of the column to select ALL displayed taxes.

For each selected tax item, enter the value of the tax (in dollars). When you are finished with your tax items, click the applicable Save (Figure

46) or Apply/Remove (Figure 47) to retain your entries and return to the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33); Cancel/Close returns you to the Offer Bid Lines screen without keeping your entries.

Remove a Selected Taxes item from an individual lineitem via the Taxes link by clicking the arrow next to an individual Selected Taxes item you want to remove or click the arrow at the top of the column to remove ALL Selected Taxes for the associated lineitem. Click Save to retain your entry.

To remove tax information applicable to ALL lineitems in a Product Category and/or State, click the Apply/Remove Taxes By Product/State button on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 33). Filter and select the desired tax(es), then enter $0.00 in the Tax Price field(s).

Click the Apply/Remove button to remove the tax(es) from ALL of your lineitems matching the filtered Product Category and/or State .

• Delete:

Click the red circled X on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 48) to delete the associated lineitem, after confirming (Yes) the desired action on the Are You Sure….Warning screen (Figure 49). If the Delete icon is not displayed, i.e., field is empty (Figure 48), the lineitem is read-only.

Figure 48 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Delete Link

Figure 49 Delete This Record Warning

An example of a populated Offer Bid Lines screen, after selecting your lineitems, and making your offer entries (including offer Price and applicable Escalator ID, HUB, FOB, Notes and Tax data) is shown in Figure 50. Note the WARNING at the top of the screen advising that Unsubmitted bids exist…indicating that these offers have not yet been submitted.

Figure 50 Populated Offer Bid Lines Screen Example (Round 1, Initial Offer)

Click Done on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 50) to return to the Solicitations For Offers screen (Figure 26). Clicking Done does NOT submit your offer. Offers are conveyed to the Buyer via the Submit Bids process which is described in Section 3.3.5.

During the Initial Standard round (e.g., Initial / Interim / Final, etc…), you can update Price(s) as well as add / delete lineitems, view/edit Escalators, view/edit Taxes, enter Notes and attach Bid Package Document(s). In Reverse Auction rounds Price(s) and certain associated data can be updated; lineitems cannot be added or deleted.

3.3.3.a(2) Round N – Interim…Final Offer

Subsequent Standard offer rounds are identified as those rounds after the first offer round through the last Standard round, prior to any Reverse Auction round(s). As in the Round 1 – Initial Offer round, certain data fields for each lineitem on the Offer Bid Lines Screen (Figure 51) were populated by data from the Solicitation; some are Buyer enabled; others require your input during the offer entry process.

In creating a subsequent offer round, the buyer can specify which lineitems will be included in a subsequent offer round; you can edit your offer only on those selected lineitems. After selecting a solicitation, the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 51) displays with the lineitems on which you (the vendor) submitted offer(s) in the previous round.

Lineitems in your offer that the buyer has not included in a subsequent round will appear in read-only format (e.g., Lineitems 0050 and 0055 in Figure 51). Any lineitems that have already been awarded in the PC&S BEM will be marked with a red * (e.g., Lineitem 0024 in Figure 51). Your offer Price from the previous round now displays in the Prev Bid column as well as the Price column. (The Prev Bid column is NOT displayed in the initial offer round). The Price field is editable to modify your offer for the current round.

Figure 51 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Round N (Interim…Final Offer) Example

Interim rounds also display a Recall Previous Bids button which allows you to reinstate lineitems that you have previously deleted. Click the Recall Previous Bids button to invoke the New Bid Line Item Selection screen (Figure 52) displaying any lineitems you previously deleted from your offer. (If you have not previously deleted any lineitems, the screen will display with a “No data available…” message; click Cancel to return to the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 51)).

Figure 52 Recall Previous Bids, New Bid Line Item Selection Screen

Click the checkbox in the first column of the New Bid Line Item Selection screen to mark the lineitem(s) you wish to recall into your offer (e.g., Lineitem 0012 in Figure 53). Clicking the checkbox in the column header selects or unselects all line-items

Figure 53 New Bid Line Item Selection - Recall Bids Selected

Click Continue to re-populate the Offer Bid Lines screen with the recalled line-item(s) (Line Item 0012 in Figure 54).

Figure 54 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Recall Bid Populated

During Standard Interim rounds (e.g., Initial / Interim / Final, etc…), you can update Price(s) as well as reinstate lineitems you previously deleted, delete lineitems, view/edit Escalators, view/edit Taxes, enter Notes and attach Bid Package Document(s).

Click Done on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 51) to return to the Solicitations For Offers screen (Figure 26). Clicking Done does NOT submit your offer. You MUST Submit Bids on each Standard round established, whether or not you make any change to your offer(s).

An example of the Offer Bid Lines screen once the interim offer round has closed is provided in Figure 55

Figure 55 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Round Closed Example

(Round N – Interim…Final Offer)

3.3.3.a(3) Reverse Auction Offer Rounds

A Buyer may choose to open either a static or real-time Reverse Auction round for any Solicitation. The Buyer may also specify which line-items are to be included in the Reverse Auction offer round(s). You cannot add or delete lineitems from your offer in a Reverse Auction round, and the Price you enter cannot exceed the final Price you offered in the previous round. Offer submission is automatic in a reverse auction round, so you will not perform the Submit Bids process or the uploading of offer package documents in a reverse auction round.

3.3.3.a(3)i Static

Static Reverse Auction offer rounds take place in a format similar to a standard offer round. After selecting a solicitation, the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 56) displays with the lineitems in your offer submission from the previous round that the Buyer has included in the current Reverse Auction round. These are the only lineitems you may modify (i.e., reduce your offer Price) in the Reverse Auction round.

A Win Bid field now displays showing the winning low offer from the previous round for each lineitem. Your last round offer is displayed in both the Prev Bid and Price fields, with the Price, Notes and Taxes fields editable to modify your offer for the Reverse Auction round. A Price column highlighted in green indicates you had the winning offer for that lineitem in the previous round.

The lineitems displayed in the grid can be filtered (Search) and / or reordered (sort).

Figure 56 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Reverse Auction Round Example

The Submit Bids process is not applicable to Reverse Auction rounds as all offers are automatically submitted at the end of the round as part of the static Reverse Auction process. Clicking Done on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 56) returns you to the Solicitations For Offers screen (Figure 26).

Throughout the time that a round is open, the enter offers process can be repeated / updated as you want. Once the offer round has closed (Figure 57) offers can no longer be modified for this round.

Figure 57 Offer Bid Lines Screen, Round Closed Example

(Static Reverse Auction Round)

3.3.3.a(3)ii Real-Time A real-time reverse auction enables you to compete in a live, interactive offer round. Throughout the round as Price is updated you can immediately see, on the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 58), the effect on the winning offer. The Winning Price field displays the current winning offer, updated in real-time, for each lineitem; if you have the winning offer, your Price will be highlighted in green. The time period for a real-time reverse auction round is generally much shorter than other types of offer rounds, and allows only for a reduction of your offered Price.

After selecting a solicitation, once the round is open, the Offer Bid Lines screen (Figure 58) displays with the lineitems in your offer submission from the previous round that the Buyer has included in this Real-Time Reverse Auction round. The lineitems displayed in the grid can be filtered (Search) and / or reordered (sort).

Figure 58 Real Time Reverse Auction Offer Bid Lines Screen

Click the lineitem on which you want to revise your offer. The New Bid screen (Figure 59) will be displayed where you can enter a new price in the Bid Price field. The Bid Price is automatically set to 0.0001 less than the current Winning Price, but you may directly edit the field. Click the Submit Bid button to submit the offer and the New Bid screen (Figure 59) will close.

Figure 59 New Bid Screen

Entering a Price greater than your final Price for the previous round will display the message shown in Figure 60.

Figure 60 New Bid Price Warning

The example in Figure 61 shows the Offer Bid Lines screen updated in real-time, as compared to Figure 58, specifically, the example vendor now having the Winning Price for lineitem 0003 as indicated by the green highlighted Price.

*NOTE: All users in the round will see price data change accordingly.

Figure 61 Offer Bid Lines Screen Updated in Real-Time

Once the time allocated for the auction expires, the offer round is closed (Figure 62). Click the Done button and log out.

Figure 62 Real Time Reverse Auction Offer Bid Lines Screen, Closed

3.3.3.b Solicitation Amendments Solicitations may be amended throughout Standard offer rounds. If the Solicitation is amended while the Standard Round 1: Initial Offer is still open then ALL vendors associated with the PP (under Settings) will get an email notification that the Solicitation has been amended (example Figure 63). If the Solicitation is amended in subsequent rounds, ONLY those vendors who submitted offers in the Initial Standard round will receive email notification that the Solicitation has been amended.

Figure 63 Solicitation Amendment Notification Example

You can identify cancelled lineitem(s) and lineitem quantity change(s) that occur on amendment by looking at the Special Message (Spec Msg) field. Additionally, if a lineitem that has offers gets cancelled on amendment, the lineitem will turn to read-only (i.e., the Delete function will not be available) on the Offer Bid Lines screen.

Lineitems that are added on amendment may be identified in the Solicitation Amendment email notification, and/or will be available via the New Bids (Initial Standard round) or Recall Previous Bids (Subsequent Standard rounds) button on the Offer Bid Lines screen.

If an Amendment has been published / applied to the Solicitation, you should check FedBizOps (https://www.fbo.gov/) prior to submitting your offer to confirm that you have the latest contracting and accounting requirements (i.e., FARs, certificates, clauses, etc…) as these potentially could have changed on the Amendment.

As with any other Standard round, in an amended Solicitation round, throughout the time that a round is open, you may repeat / update the offer entering and submission processes as you want. You may enter offer data (which is saved to the database in real-time), exit the Offer Bid Lines screen (Done) and return at another time to modify / complete your offer(s) entry. You can update Price(s), as well as add / reinstate lineitems (depending on the round), delete lineitems, view/edit Escalators, view/edit Taxes, enter Notes and attach Bid Package Document(s).

3.3.4 Bid Package Document(s)

In a Standard round bid package documents, in support of your offer submission, are uploaded by clicking the Bid Package Document(s) button on the Offer Bid Lines…screen (Figure 64) to create a complete offer submission.

*NOTE: The Bid Package Document(s) process is not applicable to Reverse Auction rounds as all offers are automatically submitted at the end of the round as part of the Reverse Auction process.

Figure 64 Offer Bid Line Screen - Bid Package Document(s) Example

Clicking the Bid Package Document(s) button may invoke a Please Wait… message (Figure 65), then the Upload Bid Package Documents screen (Figure 66) is displayed.

Figure 65 Please Wait…Message

Figure 66 Upload Bid Package Documents Screen

If document(s) have not been uploaded for this offer (e.g. Initial Offer Round), the data table on the Upload Bid Package Documents screen displays a No data available in table message (Figure 66).

Clicking the Add Document(s) button invokes a File Upload message (Figure 67) with a notification that if you select a file with the same name as a previously uploaded file, the existing file will be replaced with the new file. This message also informs you that the only type of file allowed for upload is a PDF.

Figure 67 File Upload Message

Click OK on the File Upload message (Figure 67) to open a file explorer window where you can browse your system to locate and select the .PDF file(s) to upload.

*NOTE: Multiple files can be added by using CTRL+click for non-consecutive files, while multiple consecutive files can be selected using SHIFT+click.

Figure 68 File Selection Window Example

After selecting files, clicking the Open button on the explorer window (Figure 68), may present the Please Wait…message (Figure 69), as the upload processes and ultimately displays the Upload Successful message (Figure 70)

Figure 69 Please Wait….Message

Figure 70 Upload Successful Message

Uploaded files are displayed in the data table on the Upload Bid Package Documents screen (Figure 71) with the following file information:

• File Name:

Name of the file which you have…