MRO_SE_PSIS_20Aug2013_-_Q As_-_FINAL.docx

Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Tailored Logistics Support Prime Vendor (TLS PV) Program Southeast Region Pre-Solicitation Information Session Follow-Up

REMINDER: any information presented during the Pre-Solicitation Information Session and in these questions and answers is not binding and may be superseded by information in the solicitation when that is released. The Pre-Solicitation Information Session and these questions and answers are for general informational purposes only.

The following is included in this modification to the synopsis:

1. Questions and answers from the group briefing and individual vendor break-out sessions

a. Questions and answers are organized by topic. There are some questions that have not been addressed, and will be in any forthcoming solicitation. A vendor’s question may not appear in the exact wording or format submitted due to consolidation of questions.

2. A list of vendor attendees willing to be identified

Questions and Answers:

Storefront:

1. Q. How many storefronts are currently in place?

A. Currently, there is only one storefront in the Southeast Region.

2. Q. During the solicitation, are we allowed to visit the storefront in Anniston?

A. There will be no visits during the solicitation stage. Only the successful awardee will visit the storefront to determine the appropriate business course of action.

3. Q. How many employees in the storefront?

A. The solicitation will provide the minimum number of employees needed for the current storefront.

4. Q. Are additional storefronts anticipated?

A. The awardee is welcome to work with the customers in the zone, but storefronts are based on customer requirements. Other regions/zones do have storefronts that have developed during the course of the previous/current contracts.

5. Q. Can an offeror require access to existing facilities?

A. No.

6. Q. Will Storefront items be listed on the Price Evaluation List (PEL)?

A. Yes and those items will be designated.

7. Q. Will fee for storefront be evaluated differently for inventory costs?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

8. Q. Regarding the storefront at Anniston, is it an obligation for Prime Vendor to handle Hazmat?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

9. Q. Are the contractors responsible for disposal of paint? Is there any flexibility to propose hazmat control during contract?

A. If a vendor enters into storefront agreement, there may be ancillary services. These services would have to be approved by the Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer would look at requirements as they evolve.

10. Q. Will storefront labor rates be part of the reverse auction?

A. No.

11. Q. Regarding the storefront at Anniston. How many people are employed there now? What labor categories apply? What are the types of items sold there? Are there facilities available?

A. The analysis in the solicitation will be based on minimum number of employees required. It will identify the minimum number of personnel required, type of experience required, job descriptions, which labor categories apply, etc. It is important to remember that the Southeast Region is estimated at approximately $41 million and the storefront accounts for only $5 million of that. The Anniston storefront currently sells paint and paint related items.

12. Q. What is the requirement for buying back existing inventory from the incumbent?

A. There is no requirement to assume inventory. It is not government inventory. The awardee may be required to provide inventory management and/or provide manpower to issue materials or supplies furnished under storefront operations.

13. Q. Does the storefront have pre-approved items?

A. The storefront at Anniston is primarily paint and paint related items. There is a schedule of supplies as Anniston knows what they are using. The schedule of supplies will be provided post-award. Storefront items are determined by the local need, but are items otherwise available under the MRO program.

14. Q. Can the items vary from time to time?

A. Other storefronts may have various products; however, Anniston currently has paint and paint related items.

15. Q. How do we determine what the storefront should have?

A. There is a general outline for storefronts and then a more specific outline for Anniston.

16. Q. Is DLA requesting a stand-alone store for each zone?

A. It is not required. It is a possibility but there is only one existing storefront in the Southeast Region at Anniston.

17. Q. How do we structure an offer with distribution fee and product?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

18. Q. Is there a consignment fee?

A. No.

19. Q. Is pricing set for the storefront or is it based on competitive quotes?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation. There are currently approximately 75 items stocked in the Anniston storefront.

20. Q. DLA Troop Support wants the contractor to build a relationship with the customer. To what degree do you expect that we can partner with DLA to grow storefronts?

A. The customer requests the storefront. The awardee will have the opportunity to visit the customers in their zone. DLA Troop Support’s Customer Operations team will handle any emerging storefront requirements.

21. Q. Regarding our partnership with customers, how proactive can we be?

A. The awardee can be as proactive as they want in building relations with new customers. Within each installation, there are a variety of potential customers. The awardee has the freedom to market the program. Historically, the awardee meets with the end user, and then the end user expresses interest and notifies the Customer Operations team. DLA Troop Support relies on the awardee to market to different areas.

22. Q. Do DLA & GSA schedule or coordinate storefront locations?

A. The storefront locations are determined by requirements. If the customer determines during the course of the awardee’s contract that a storefront is required, DLA will work with the customer and the awardee to establish a storefront. The customer decides which contracting vehicle to use.

23. Q. For the storefront at Anniston does the Government supply the facilities?

A. Yes, the Customer will supply the facilities, and the awardee then manages the rest of the operations at the storefront.

Incidental Services:

24. Q. Can you provide additional explanation?

A. An example of an incidental service would be a vendor replacing old windows with new windows. Under normal circumstances, it would not constitute an incidental service if a customer wants to install windows where there were no original windows. The service has to truly accompany the material provided. Typically the order breaks down to 25% maximum cost of the order for the service. However, just because an order is made up of 25% service, it is not necessarily incidental. Services cannot be construction. All incidental services are evaluated on a case by case basis.

25. Q. In regards to incidental services, will labor reports be provided in the solicitation?

A. No. Incidental services are very specific to when the customer places an order during contract performance. The awardee will work through it with the customer. If the order includes too much service, the awardee and/or the DLA Contracting Officer can tell the customer that it is not in scope. The awardee will breakdown the material quote and incidental quote and will need competitive quotes as well for both pieces. The Contracting Officer will determine if a service is incidental. The Contracting Officer will also look at the competitiveness of the material and the service.

26. Q. Please explain the installation. How would this affect a distribution margin?

A. The distribution fee is related to the dollar value of the order which may include incidental services. The incidental service needs to be incidental to the product. The cost of the item and installation would be added together for a total order dollar value; however, the product should drive the cost of the order. The total cost of the material and service would make up the total order cost, and thus determine which distribution fee would apply.

27. Q. Will the Service Contract Act or Collective Bargaining Agreements apply?

A. No. This is a supply contract with only incidental services.

Small Business:

28. Q. Will there be an evaluation preference for small businesses?

A. No.

29. Q. Why is this solicitation not Small Business set-aside?

A. The SBA Non-Manufacturing Waiver only applies for those items identified on the PEL. Any new item procured through the program would have to be justified. There is an anticipated three week lag time PER ITEM for utilizing this waiver. This lag time would drastically impact our ability to support our customers as a result of the high volume of items only purchased once during the life of the program.

30. Q. There is a Small Business Utilization requirement for Small Business offers. Please explain.

A. There will be socio-economic goals, which are part of non-price evaluation. Awardee performance on these goals will be entered into CPARS and PPIRS. This information is used in evaluations for future contracts and more information will be provided in the solicitation.

31. Q. If the awardee is a Small Business; would the socio-economic plan still apply?

A. All offerors must submit socio-economic goals as part of their non-price proposal since this is an Unrestricted procurement. There are two socio-economic pieces. Large business offerors will have to submit a subcontracting plan. Large and small business offerors will have to submit socio-economic goals as required by DLAD 15.304(c)(4). Socio-economic goals are separate from the subcontracting plan and are included as an evaluation factor.

32. Q. Does this mean that Small Businesses would have to buy from other Small Businesses?

A. Yes, in order to meet the goals proposed in the Small Business’ proposals.

33. Q. If Small Businesses have to buy from other Small Businesses; doesn’t this discriminate against Small Businesses?

A. The MRO Southeast goals support all Small Businesses, not just one Small Business. This is a DLAD requirement, contained in DLAD 15.504(c)(4). Reasonable goals will be recommended in the solicitation.

34. Q. How does DLA enforce utilization of Small Business? How will the contractor be penalized?

A. Socio-economic goals, and a subcontracting plan if the awardee is a large business, will be part of the proposal. PPIRS. If a contractor is not meeting their goals, DLA will ask for “get well plans.” The Government also has the right to terminate the contract.

35. Q. Small businesses need large businesses for infrastructure to give DLA the service requested. We think a better way is procuring Small Business manufactured products from a large business. Will you consider changing evaluation to Small Business manufacturing sources?

A. No. DLA is required to include socio-economic goals in accordance with DLAD 15.304(c)(4).

36. Q. Does the SBA have legal requirements that caused this procurement to change to unrestricted?

A. SBA is supporting small businesses. DLA Troop Support requested a Waiver of the Non-Manufacturing Rule. Through clarifications, it was determined that this waiver was only approved for the large business items identified out of the 500 items on the PEL for each Zone. This means any item procured, besides the items on the PEL, would need continual market research to determine if there is Small Business availability. The time constraints that would coincide with this research would be unacceptable to our customers. Waivers can be issued as class waivers; however, MRO does not have specific classes.

37. Q. Other logistics organizations have had market baskets approved so why can’t DLA?

A. A finite universe of items goes through the waiver process. The MRO program is different since it does not have a finite list of items. They are constantly changing.

38. Q. GSA has a FSSI – Federal Start Sourcing Initiative. This includes a large business and small business pool of vendors. Why can’t DLA do this?

A. DLA is not GSA. This is TVLS-PV Program. Customers are not picking items off of a schedule. DLA does not know what items customers will require. The MRO program works directly with the customer.

Zones:

39. Q. Does Lajes AFB fall into either zone?

A. It is not yet determined if it will fall into either zone.

40. Q. What if one customer falls into both zones?

A. DLA reconfigured the zones to avoid this.

41. Q. Can a vendor in one zone be asked to back up or support the other zone or region?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

42. Q. How does winning an award affect other zones?

A. The awardee for Zone 2 will be taken out of Zone 1 competition.

Other Regions:

43. Q. Are you the buying team for all regions?

A. No, only the Southeast Region.

44. Q. Can we assume that acquisition strategy will be same for remainder of the OCONUS regions?

A. That is the current intent, though each region will have its own nuances.

45. Q. Will there be a draft RFP for the Southeast Region or other regions?

A. We do not anticipate any draft RFPs. The current intent is that the solicitation for the Southeast Region will mirror the other CONUS regions in many ways.

46. Q. Will there be any other Industry Days?

A. We do not anticipate any Industry Days for the other CONUS regions.

47. Q. Will the other regions have multiple zones?

A. Chart 39 shows which regions contain multiple zones. This breakdown is anticipated; however, nothing is definite at this point.

48. Q. The next MRO region that expires is Hawaii. Is Hawaii going to be solicited in October?

A. We cannot say.

49. Q. Can a company be awarded other regions if they are the awardee of the Southeast?

A. Yes.

50. Q. What does the expiration date mean on chart 39?

A. That is when the current contracts expire.

Solicitation/Request for Proposal (RFP):

51. Q. When will the solicitation be issued?

A. The solicitation is anticipated to be issued in September.

52. Q. Will the solicitation come out through DIBBS?

A. The solicitation will be issued through DIBBS, and the synopsis through FEDBIZOPPS.

53. Q. Will you consider moving the RFP issue date back 30 days due to the change from Small Business set-aside to Unrestricted?

A. We will take it into consideration.

54. Q. Do you require two proposals for each zone?

A. Yes, a Non-Price and Price proposal. If a vendor intends to offer on both zones, separate proposals for each zone are required.

55. Q. What are you looking for in diversity for the solicitation?

A. That is the offeror’s business decision to devise a strategy.

56. Q. Is this a mandatory source of supplies or ultimate source of supplies to the Troops?

A. The customer is not required to use these contracts.

57. Q. Do you require the awardee to have a physical presence in each state?

A. There is no requirement to have presence in every state.

58. Q. Are there warranty requirements or an add/delete clause?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

59. Q. Can the GSA contract be used as a model?

A. No.

60. Q. What is the phase in period?

A. There will be a 60 day phase-in period.

Regulations:

61. Q. Are there any changes in TAA compliance?

A. No. TAA is still applicable.

62. Q. Regarding the Berry Amendment; are there processes in place to audit these requirements or are new processes being created?

A. The Statement of Work (SOW) requires offerors to have a domestic sourcing plan including TAA, Berry, etc. This is subject to random audits.

Current Southeast Contract:

63. Q. What are the customers’ most important requirements on this contract? Are they happy with the current support?

A. We cannot discuss current contractors.

64. Q. Will there be an extension on the current Southeast contract?

A. We cannot answer that.

65. Q. Are the current incumbents large businesses?

A. The current incumbents were both awarded the contracts as small businesses. SAIC was a small business (Strategic Procurement Services (SPS)) when awarded the contract in 2002. SPS was later acquired by SAIC. SupplyCore is still a small business.

66. Q. What is the new period of performance for new contract?

A. Please refer to the expiration date of the original contract. We cannot release the new period of performance dates today, but the new contract will be for a five-year term.

67. Q. Do the incumbents currently have individuals that are staffed to handle incidental services or subcontracting?

A. We cannot answer that.

68. Q. Regarding chart 9, is there an upward trend, a downward trend, or steady?

A. The order trend is steady as the CONUS regions have stayed consistent.

69. Q. In regards to the discussion of contractor integrity, do we not have honesty? Is the current contractor not honest?

A. There is a federal-wide push to address the integrity clause amongst all contractors. There have been issues in the past on contracts in various parts of the Federal Government, so there is a federal push to ensure that we are communicating our expectations and that our vendors are communicating to subcontractors and on down. Every conference will have a legal discussion regarding integrity.

Reverse Auction and Distribution Fees:

70. Q. Could you please explain the process more?

A. There will be a Reverse Auction on the distribution tiers. There are 20 distribution tiers per pricing period and three pricing periods (for each of the two zones). That is a total of 60 distribution tiers for each zone. The reverse auction, if conducted, will only be for the distribution pricing and will be pre-award.

71. Q. Can you further explain the “twenty pricing tiers for the pricing period?”

A. There will be a distribution tier based on the order value. Example, the tier may be for orders with a value from $10.00- $24.99. The dollar value of the tier is the value for the whole ORDER. The distribution price is the ceiling distribution price for each tier. Each distribution price will be a dollar value, not a percentage. The pricing is further explained in the solicitation, but as noted in the presentation at chart 29, is inclusive of all elements of the contract price other than the acquisition price.

72. Q. Will all offerors who submit a proposal be participating in the reverse auction?

A. Offerors that submit proposals and are determined to be in the competitive range will participate in the reverse auction.

73. Q. Will the pricing submitted during the auction be “best and final price?”

A. At conclusion of auction, that will be an offeror’s best and final price. This will close out negotiations for final proposal. If the Contracting Officer wishes to have discussions after the auction, she has that discretion.

74. Q. Will there be 60 reverse auction events?

A. No. There will be reverse auctions for two separate zones, 60 tiers for each zone.

75. Q. The reverse auction is auctioning the fee, not on material price correct?

A. Yes. The reverse auction will auction only the distribution fee.

76. Q. In regards to reverse auction, did you do one on the last solicitation?

A. Not on the last MRO Southeast solicitation, but there is an increasing use of Reverse Auctions throughout DLA.

77. Q. We have specific rate that we bid. Is there a bid distribution fee on specific items?

A. There is no distribution fee on individual items, just a distribution fee for orders. Offerors are bidding against the lowest distribution fee for each tier. During the reverse auction, the screen will say LEAD, so it will be clear if your company is currently the lowest dollar value entered first. Once another vendor outbids your lowest price, LEAD will be replaced with NOT LEAD and you will have the opportunity to bid again up until the auction closes. It will be clear if you are the LEAD or not for a particular tier.

78. Q. Will we have training and when?

A. All offerors in the competitive range will be notified of and participate in a training.

79. Q. Can you provide the distribution fee tiers?

A. Not at this time. It will be addressed in the solicitation.

80. Q. Transportation is part of the fixed distribution fee. Have you considered any exceptions for things like bulky shipments?

A. The distribution fee is supposed to cover all transportation. There is an exception for air freight for emergency deliveries. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

81. Q. Is the distribution fee per item or a flat fee per contract?

A. The distribution fee is a flat fee per order. It is a firm fixed dollar amount per tier with each tier representing a different dollar value order range.

82. Q. Do vendors currently using the Procurex site require training?

A. Yes. Because the set-up of every reverse auction differs, training will be required for all offerors determined to be in the competitive range.

83. Q. What is the minimum fee decrement during the Reverse Auction?

A. This decrement will be decided after a competitive range is determined and will be released to vendors participating in the Reverse Auction.

Price Evaluation List (PEL):

84. Q. Would our initial bid prices for the PEL be ceiling prices?

A. Yes, they are ceiling prices.

85. Q. If there are items on the PEL with Country of Origin (COO) issues, should we submit a notification with an alternate?

A. If there are any items on the PEL with COO issues, please notify the Contracting Officer. The solicitation will provide further guidance on this.

86. Q. Is the PEL a percentage of the entire market basket?

A. The PEL for each zone is only 500 items. There are about 9,000-13,000 unique items ordered in each region annually. The PEL is a representation of MRO categories as well as items ordered most frequently.

87. Q. How much weight will the distribution fee be vs. the PEL in evaluation?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

88. Q. Will offerors have to price all 500 PEL items, or a certain percentage?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation, but generally a certain percentage has been required.

89. Q. For the PEL, will the Unit of Issue be 1 Each?

A. The solicitation will provide the Unit of Issue for each PEL item.

90. Q. Are you providing Manufacturers for the PEL items?

A. Yes.

91. Q. Do we have to compete the PEL items throughout pricing periods?

A. The awardee will still solicit quotes for every order throughout all three pricing periods. The ceiling will still apply.

92. Q. Does the solicitation contain EPAs for PEL items?

A. No, PEL items must be priced out for three different pricing periods.

93. Q. Would you consider covering storage if we bought that material upfront?

A. The PEL is a representation sample of types of items. The awardee will have to hold prices for the items on the PEL, and it is part of the price evaluation. Buying material upfront is a risk vendors have to assess. DLA Troop Support is not requesting or requiring offerors to stock and store items.

94. Q. Are there unique items we do not have to provide pricing for? Is there a general ballpark on the PEL items?

A. The PEL varies with small and large items. Vendors will have to wait for the solicitation to be issued.

95. Q. In regards to historical data, will we receive usage reports regarding materials?

A. No.

96. Q. If possible, can we receive three years of historical data to see what you have bought from the customer by NSN?

A. No. We do not have a lot of repeat items since most of the items are unique. These are part-numbered items, not NSNs.

97. Q. Is the market basket specific to each zone?

A. Yes, but there is some overlap due to the nature of the program.

Other Pricing:

98. Q. What is the procedure for pricing items during contract performance for those items not on the PEL?

A. During contract performance, the awardee is required to adhere to DLAD 52.217-9017 (purchasing clause). The PEL represents a sample of items. The awardee will have to solicit two to three competitive quotes for all PEL and non-PEL items for the customer, and then submit to DLA Troop Support.

99. Q. Will price reasonableness requirements change from those in place right now?

A. Price reasonableness requirements will be in the solicitation. They are similar to those currently in place.

100. Q. We feel as though we could offer better pricing if the contract period was longer. Is this a possibility?

A. The contract period is five years.

101. Q. Can terms of an existing GSA contract be considered for fixed pricing?

A. This contract will be fixed price. You may not submit the terms of an existing GSA contract in lieu of submitting your price and non-price proposals in accordance with the terms of the solicitation and be considered for award.

102. Q. At the initial evaluation stage, you evaluate the PEL and distribution price. How do you determine what the pricing should be during implementation of the contract?

A. The DLAD pricing clause itself will explain the requirement for obtaining quotes. We perform audits and reviews on the orders which will be addressed in the solicitation.

Non-Price Evaluation Factors:

103. Q. This is a Best Value Trade-Off with non-price more important than price. What’s included?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation. Typically, evaluation factors include product sourcing and distribution among others.

104. Q. It’s stated that there is a ‘significant evaluation difference’ between technical and price. What’s significant? Are non-price and price evaluations done at the same time?

A. This is the Contracting Officer’s determination. There are not weights or formal percentages. Pricing is always a factor to the Government. Proposals will be evaluated based on the overall best value for the Government. All evaluations are done at the same time by different evaluation teams (pricing team and non-price team) and compiled into a total evaluation.

105. Q. What are the socio-economic goal percentages?

A. Socio-economic goal percentages will be addressed in the solicitation.

106. Q. What weight does the price hold in terms of the total evaluation?

A. There are no weights.

107. Q. Is the ABVS rating important?

A. Past performance is always important. It is typically an evaluation factor.

108. Q. Most RFPs have weighted criteria. Are you providing guidance?

A. The solicitation will provide evaluation factors in ranked importance. There are no percentages.

109. Q. Do you have non-price factors?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

110. Q. In regards to past performance, the incumbent has experience with the current contract and customers and we have experience with similar contracts but not the specific customers. Is that considered equal?

A. We cannot discuss this. If past performance is evaluated, the solicitation will state exactly what information offerors have to submit and how that information will be evaluated. When evaluating an offeror’s overall past performance, offerors are evaluated against a standard, and not other offerors.

111. Q. We have a number of products that we bid out internally. If we can show innovative pricing, how do you evaluate that price versus the market basket?

A. It is required that you have purchasing system to maintain records of competitive quotes. This information should be readily available for audits. Once the solicitation is issued, you will be able to see if and how your plan fits.

112. Q. Will this contract be awarded to only existing GSA contractors?

A. No.

Post-Award /Delivery:

113. Q. Are there any incentives for early delivery or disincentives for late delivery?

A. The solicitation will explain delivery requirements and evaluation factors.

114. Q. Is there any disincentive for poor performance?

A. The disincentive is customers not using the program. There are no monetary disincentives.

115. Q. What is the definition of in-transit visibility (ITV) and status requirements? Does ITV have value?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

116. Q. Will there be any international shipments?

A. It is not anticipated at this time.

117. Q. Can we offer delivery information with existing GSA deliveries?

A. No. DLA Troop Support has its own requirements which will be addressed in the solicitation.

118. Q. Routine delivery is expected in 3-10 days calendar. Does the clock on the delivery start when we get the order back from DLA?

A. Yes.

Ordering:

119. Q. Is it required to primarily have a shopping cart website?

A. Our customers like to order online, but all methods of ordering are expected (phone, email, fax, etc.)

120. Q. Are we required to have a website with online ordering or cataloging?

A. This will be addressed in the solicitation.

Metrics and Usage Reports:

121. Q. What information is requested during the monthly usage report?

A. The manufacturer’s name, part number, price, delivery, acquisition price, air freight, distribution fee, etc. There will be an attachment with the solicitation explaining the requirements further.

122. Q. Which auditing agency will administer the audits?

A. Audits are internal to DLA.

123. Q. Will DCMA or DCAA administer any audits?

A. We do not anticipate either agency administering audits.

124. Q. What is the frequency of audits? What percentage of files will be audited?

A. This information will be addressed in the solicitation.

125. Q. Is there more information on the Quantity Fill Rate and Delivery Metrics?

A. This information will be addressed in the solicitation.

126. Q. Will Earned Value Management Systems be required?

A. No.

List of Vendor Attendees: