Minutes of Pre-Proposal Conference.pdf

Solicitation # SPK33012R5609

Minutes of pre-proposal conference

MINUTES OF PREPROPOSAL CONFERENCE FOR PACKING AND & SHIPPING

SERVICES CONTRACT FOR US MISSION, PAKISTAN

A pre-proposal conference was scheduled to discuss key points of the solicitation #

SPK33012R5609 on March 1, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. in the Embassy Auditorium. It started at

11:30 because several participants were late.

Seven persons participated from Shipping Office Islamabad including Shipping Supervisor from US Consulates of Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. Four persons were present from

GSO/Procurement to include, Deputy General Services Officer and three Purchasing Agents.

Fifty participants from twenty five packing & shipping companies attended the conference, however, twenty seven companies had expressed interest in attending, only two companies were not in attendance.

The Deputy General Services (D/GSO) Officer introduced the Shipping and

GSO/Procurement representatives to the participants. After introduction, D/ GSO delivered a short speech and elaborated following key points of solicitation:

QUESTION & ANSWERS

Per U.S. Government policy, if a question asked by one offeror, the Government will provide the answer in writing to all interested offerors.

We will take all of your questions, but we may be unable to answer all questions completely at this event. We will document all questions and provide responses to each question in writing to all offerors. All questions and answers may be downloaded from same website (FedBizOps) where solicitation package is posted: www.fbo.gov and will send to all firms on mailing list.

Deadline to submit questions in writing is on or before 1500hrs March 3, 2012.

Questions may be submitted to e-mail: latifm@state.gov and khurshidA2@state.gov

CLOSING DATE

The closing date to submit proposals is on or before Friday, 1500 hrs March 16, 2012.

Late offers will not be accepted. No electronic offers will be accepted. Offers will be accepted by courier or general post NOT/NOT by hand, but it must be received in the

Embassy mailroom by this deadline.

The solicitation document is organized as follows:

PROPOSAL PACKAGE

A proposal package should include:

One original set of following documents:

Standard Form (SF) 33 http://www.fbo.gov/ mailto:latifm@state.gov mailto:khurshidA2@state.gov

Price proposal (Section-B)

Completed section – K of the solicitation

Technical proposal

In addition to the original proposal, please provide copies of following documents:

Standard Form (SF) 33 (Two copies)

Completed section – K of the solicitation (Three copies)

Technical proposal (Three copies)

Only complete proposals will be considered.

Mr. Mohammad Latif of Procurement and Contracting office US Embassy, Islamabad elaborated following important points of solicitation:

The solicitation document is organized as follows:

Section A Standard Form 33 (p. 1)

(Fill in block 12 through 18)

Section B Supplies or Services and Prices/costs (p. 2)

(Must be filled-in by offerors)

Section C Description/Specification/Work Statement (p. 29)

(Describes the specifications and details of work to be performed)

Section D Packing and Marking (P. 43)

(Provides packing specifications and prohibited action/items)

Section E Inspection and Acceptance (p. 48)

(Includes inspection clauses, talks about contractor’s facilities and quality assurance plan)

Section F Deliveries or Performance (p. 51)

(Period of Performance and delivery schedules)

Section G Contract Administration Data (p. 53)

(Explains how the contract will be managed)

Section H Special Contract Requirements (p. 55)

(Discusses security, standard of conduct, operation permits and insurance)

Section I Contract Clauses (p. 58)

(FAR/DOSAR clauses, order limitations, options to extend, holidays)

Section J List of Documents, Exhibits and other Attachments (p. 69)

Exhibit A Container Specifications (p. 70)

Exhibit B Contractor Furnished Material (p. 71)

Exhibit C Government Furnished Property (p. 72) RESERVED

Exhibit D Request for shipment (p. 73) from CO to contractor

Exhibit E Declaration of Wood Packing (by contractor) (p. 75)

Exhibit F Request Customs Clearance and Unpacking Services (p.76)

(from CO to contractor)

Exhibit G Vendor’s Evaluation Form (p. 77)

(Client evaluates the services received)

Section K Representations, Certifications, and other Statements of Offerors (p. 78)

(Offerors must submit completed section – K and other certifications required)

Section L Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors (p. 90)

(Explains what documents/information to be submitted (other than section- K) with proposal – (Technical Proposal)

Section M Evaluation Factors for Award (p. 95)

(Explains how proposals will be evaluated for award)

MAIN/KEY POINTS OF THE SOLICITATION

INDEFINITE DELIVERY, INDEFINITE QUANTITY

This is a fixed price Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract (B.2, p.2).

In an IDIQ contract, the unit prices are fixed for the contract period but quantities and deliveries are indefinite (estimated/unknown) and the Government agrees to purchase a guaranteed minimum quantity and may order up to a stated maximum amount.

For each year the contract, the Government guarantees a minimum order of Pak Rs.500,000 and maximum will not exceed Pak Rs.15,000,000 (15 million). This maximum amount does not include reimbursable thresholds of Pak Rs.65,000,000 and Pak Rs.50,000,000 under line item # 6 and 7 respectively.

DUNS Number (FAR clause 52.204-6, p. 91)

The offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of this offer in front of their company name.

DUNS number is required to be awarded this contract. The DUNS number must be included in the proposal.

Offerors interested to submit their proposal must obtain DUNS number by visiting following website: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform.

http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform

MODE AND FREQUENCY OF PAYMENTS (FAR 52.232-25 Prompt Payment, p. 59)

Payment will be made within 30 days upon satisfactory completion of the task and submission of legitimate invoice. For details consult above clause, FAR 52.232-25, available online.

All payments shall be made in Pakistani Rupees. (p. 2 and 68)

FAR Clause 52.232-7 (Payments under a Time and Materials and Labor-Hour

Contract) is only applicable to costs associated with Items 6 (Ports and Airports

Charges) and Item 7 (Sea Freight). Under this clause, the Contractor is entitled to actual costs only for the two relevant items – ports/airports charges and sea freight.

For these two items, the Contractor is not allowed any prime contractor indirect costs, overhead, or profit. (p. 62).

INSTRUCTIONS (Section L, p. 90 – 94)

Section L contains detailed information on preparing and submitting the proposal against this solicitation package. If required information is missing in Section L, the entire proposal may be deemed incomplete and be rejected.

The SF-33 form is very important. Offerors must complete blocks 12 through 18.

Provide a complete and detailed Management plan (how your firm will manage the contract) with your technical proposal. In addition to management plan, the required documents include but not limited to name & qualifications of project manager, evidence of established business, list of clients, evidence that you can provide necessary personnel, equipment and financial resources to perform the services, certification of insurance, evidence of license, Organizational Chart, Compensation plan for items lost or damaged during the packing & shipping process). All these documents are part of technical proposal but not limited to these documents. L.1.2.2, page 90)

Please define in your management plan, how will handle our requirements at different locations (Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta)

Describe your own logistic facilities to be used to accomplish the work under the contract, such as but not limited to:

Warehouse – Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar & Quetta – Large Warehouse

Facilities

Trucks – Long Distance Trucks, model and capacity

Trailers – For carrying and unloading 20' & 40' containers and bulk cargo, vehicles model and capacity

Covered Vans – Model and capacity

Forklifts – Model and capacity

If a company does not possess above listed equipment, facilities and sufficient number of staff/packers on its payroll, it can still submit proposal but describe in your management plan that how you will get these resources, like lease agreement for warehouse, an agreement to hire equipment and mechanism to hire additional workforce.

Please note that, as part of the technically-acceptability review, the Government may physically inspect the contractor's site, equipment, facilities, etc.

Again, if required information is missing in Section L, the entire proposal may be deemed incomplete and be rejected without a technical review.

EVALUATION FACTORS (Section M) (p. 95 – 96)

The Government reserves the right to reject proposals that are unreasonably low or high in price. (p. 95)

Proposals which do not include the price for base year and each option year will not be accepted.

The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). (M.2, p. 96)

Separate charges, in any form, are not solicited. For example, proposals containing any charges for failure of the Government to exercise any options will be rejected.

The Government shall not be obligated to pay any charges other than the contract price, including any exercised options. (M.4, p. 96)

The Government will award the contract to the technically acceptable, responsible offeror with the lowest evaluated price resulting from the solicitation. Offerors are reminded that the Government may award this contract based on initial proposals and without holding discussions. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the offeror’s best terms from both a price and technical standpoint.

After contract award and submission of acceptable insurance certificates, the

Contracting Officer shall issue a Notice to Proceed. The Notice to Proceed will establish a date (a minimum of ten (10) days (though we intend to allow more than 10 days) from date of contract award unless the Contractor agrees to an earlier date) on which performance shall start. (F.2.1, page 51)

TECHNICAL EVALUATION PROCESS

Complete proposals will be evaluated in detail through the Technical Evaluation Panel

(TEP). Submitting company brochures is not adequate – proposals must be specific for this particular solicitation and in the required format.

The Technical Evaluation Panel will:

Perform detailed reviews of complete technical proposals, Conduct full reference checks (Provide a comprehensive list of variety of your clients including contract No. contract value, POC, and brief description of services provided), Review financial documentation, Make site visits to inspect properties, warehouses, and materials. (Refer to 2-page site evaluation form, which contains the details of items to be inspected during site visit)

Offerors must be able to document the source of the required standard material (tri-wall, etc.) when the proposals are submitted and must be able to provide these details during the site visits.

Short Break:

At 12:38 a short break of 15 minutes was taken for light refreshment for all participants.

After break technical requirements were addressed by Shipping Supervisor US Embassy, Islamabad who explained the following parts of the solicitation so that all requirements are met in the proposal.

There are seven major services required under this solicitation.

1. Packing and unpacking (Section B5.1(a)(b), page 3)

2. Fumigation (Section B5.5, page 7)

3. Warehouse Storage (Section B5.3, page 3)

4. Custom clearances (Section B5.2, page 3)

5. Inland transportation (Section B5.4, page 4)

6. Ocean/Sea transportation (Section B5.7, page 7)

7. Port/Airport and Shipping/air line charges (Section B5.6, page 7)

1. Packing Services Charges: (Section B5.1(a)(b), page 3)

(a) Packing Services (includes labor and packing materials)

(1) Packing of HHE Pound _____ 115,000 lbs ___________

(In carton and plywood/lift van)

(2) Packing of UAB

i) In metal footlocker Pound _____ 10,000 lbs ___________

ii) In plywood box Pound _____ 13,000 lbs ___________

iii) In carton Pound _____ 23,000 lbs ___________

(3) Packing of General Effects

i) In carton Pound _____ 2,000 lbs ___________

ii) In plywood box Pound _____ 2,000 lbs ___________

iii) Steel binding lift van _____ 200 lift vans ___________

iv) Steel binding per box _____ 100 boxes ___________

v) Burlapping per box _____ 10 Boxes ___________

(b) Unpacking Services (includes removal of all packing materials)

HHE Pound _____ 250,000 lbs ___________

UAB Pound _____ 90,000 lbs ___________

Pay close attention to the packing material as all types of packing material must be 100% accordance with Embassy specification per the solicitation. Throughout the life of the contract, these quality standards will be checked – a minor deficiency could be treated as breach of contract clauses.

In today’s meeting, we are providing you samples of required packing material. Review the requirements carefully and quote your rates keeping in view the quality required for these materials.

2. Cost of fumigating the empty wooden containers: (Section B5.5, page 7)

Per Lift Van _____ 400 ___________

Per Box/small lift van _____ 200 ___________

Fumigation must be in accordance with the international standard of ISPM-15. Each box, lift van, and each piece of wood that is be used in the packing or lashing must be properly fumigated and stamped. Please note that contractor shall bear all costs incurred, in the case that any shipment is returned from U.S. ports due to non-compliance of fumigation regulations.

3. Daily Storage Charges at Contractor’s Warehouse: (Section B5.3, page 3) per 100 Pound _____ 100,000 lbs ___________

The warehouse storage facilities should be in accordance wtih the international standards.

There must be adequate storage space and it must be clean, in order, free of insects, and equipped with all necessary system requirements, i.e. 24-hour security, cameras, alarms, fire systems, carpenter shop, weight scale, forklifter, etc. The details of these requirements and facilities are given in solicitation. The COR or nominated Embassy/Consulate staff reserves the right to visit and inspect warehouses facilities during the solicitation process as well as the life of the contract in order to verify compliance of contract requirements.

4. Custom Clearances Charges: (Section B5.2, page 3)

a) Export i) Air freight per shipment _____ 95 Shipments ___________

ii) Sea freight LCL/per shipment _____ 35 Shipments ___________

iii) Sea freight 40’ Container ________ 70 Containers ___________

iv) Sea freight 20’ Container ________ 50 Containers ___________

b) Import i) Air freight per shipment _____ 570 Shipments ___________

ii) Sea freight LCL/per shipment _____ 150 Shipments ___________

iii) Sea freight 40’ Container ______ 250 Containers __________

iv) Sea freight 20’ Container ______ 230 Containers __________

Please note that all type of port charges, including wharfage, storage/demurrages, and container detention charges will be reimbursed to the contractor by presentation of actual paid receipts.

Please keep in mind that these receipts may be verified with concerned port authorities and shipping/airlines. Note the maximum amounts for these costs in the solicitation document.

5. Freight Handling/Transportation Charges (includes loading/unloading at the place of pickup and delivery, these rates include the use of crane, forklifter, or any other equipment if required): (Section B5.4, page 4)

Within:

Karachi 40’ container _____ 20 ___________

20’ container _____ 20 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 8,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container. _____ 50 ___________

Vehicle without Container_____ 50 ___________

Peshawar 40’ container _____ 05 ___________

20’ container _____ 05 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container. _____ 02 ___________

Vehicle without Container_____ 01 ___________

Lahore 40’ container _____ 05 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs ___________

Islamabad 40’ container _____ 10 ___________

20’ container _____ 10 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 15,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container. _____ 05 ___________

Vehicle without Container_____ 05 ___________

Quetta 40’ container _____ 05 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs ___________

Between:

Karachi/Peshawar/Karachi

40’ container _____ 20 ___________

20’ container _____ 20 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 8,000 lbs _________

Vehicle in Container _____ 20 ___________

Vehicle without Container _____ 50 ___________

Vehicle on car carrier _____ 100 ___________

Karachi/Islamabad/Karachi

40’ container _____ 150 ___________

20’ container _____ 100 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 75,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 75 ___________

Vehicle without Container _____ 75 ___________

Vehicle on car carrier _____ 25 ___________

Karachi/Lahore/Karachi

40’ container _____ 10 ___________

20’ container _____ 10 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 5,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 08 ___________

Vehicle without Container _____ 08 ___________

Vehicle on car carrier _____ 05 ___________

Karachi/Quetta/Karachi

40’ container _____ 03 ___________

20’ container _____ 05 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 2,000 lbs. _______

Vehicle in Container _____ 02 ___________

Vehicle without Container _____ 02 ___________

Islamabad to Peshawar

40’ container _____ 30 ___________

20’ container _____ 40 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs. _________

Vehicle in Container _____ 02 ___________

Islamabad to Lahore

40’ container _____ 15 ___________

20’ container _____ 10 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 02 ___________

Islamabad to Karachi

40’ container _____ 40 ___________

20’ container _____ 35 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs.___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 10 ___________

Vehicle without Container _____ 10 ___________

Islamabad to Quetta

40’ container _____ 02 ___________

20’ container _____ 05 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 10,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 02 ___________

Vehicle without Container _____ 01 ___________

Peshawar to Islamabad

40’ container _____ 10 ___________

20’ container _____ 15 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 5,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 02 ___________

Vehicle on car carrier _____ 02 ___________

Peshawar to Lahore

20’ container _____ 02 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 3,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 02 ___________

Peshawar to Karachi

40’ container _____ 15 ___________

20’ container _____ 20 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 3,000 lbs. ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 05 ___________

Peshawar to Quetta

20’ container _____ 02 __________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 3,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 01 ___________

Quetta to Peshawar

20’ container _____ 02 __________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 1,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 01 ___________

Quetta to Islamabad

20’ container _____ 02 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 1,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 01 ___________

Quetta to Lahore

20’ container _____ 02 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 1,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 01 ___________

Quetta to Karachi

20’ container _____ 02 ___________

LCL 100 lbs. _____ 1,000 lbs ___________

Vehicle in Container _____ 01 ___________

Please note that embassy will not pay any type of handling charges like loading/unloading or any handling equipments charges like fork lifter, crane charges directly to the contractor for task orders for the services required in this solicitation. Therefore, transportation/service rates should be quoted keeping in view of all such freight handling factors.

The empty containers return cost should be included into your rates when you will quotes rates from Karachi to other destinations. Contractors will not be otherwise compensated for the return of empty containers.

Note: Transportation rates from Lahore were mistakenly omitted from the original RFP. The solicitation will be amended within the week to include these requirements. Please prepare to quote transportation rates from Lahore to other destinations. Note that the solicitation will be amended and re-posted online and re-distributed to include these segments.

6. Ocean/Sea Freight charges (Export Shipping) (costs per contract year not to exceed Rs.

50,000,000): (Section B5.7, page 7)

The contracting officer will solicit quotes from contractors for ocean/sea freight for the below mentioned destinations/ports for every three months:

Antwerp (ELSO)

Baltimore

Seattle

New York

Miami

For other destinations/ports, GSO Shipping will get quotes from contractors on a case to case basis prior to packing. Along with invoice, the contractor will submit the paid receipt for freight charges obtained from the respective shipping line in order to get reimbursed. Export Shipping fees are for cost outside of the control of the contractor and will be treated as material costs in a

Time and Materials arrangement for this contract line item. These fees are “not to exceed” the ceiling amount of Rs. 50,000,000 per contract year per contractor.

7. Handling Charges at the Ports and, Airports (costs per contract year not to exceed Rs.

65,000,000): (Section B5.6, page 7)

Port dues, wharfage, demurrage/storage, shipping line charges, container rentals, or any other charges (excluding crane and forklifter) will be paid at actual cost based upon presentation of an original receipt. These port and airport charges and fees are for costs outside of the control of the contractor and will be treated as material costs in a Time and Materials arrangement for this contract line item. These fees are “not to exceed” the ceiling amount of Rs. 65,000,000 per contract year.

Please note that port/air port, sea/air freight receipts charges will be verified from respective authorities before processing of payments. All receipts should be provided in original. Partial payments will not be made – the full set of original receipts must be submitted at the same time.

List and specification of Packing Material samples presented to all participants and Power point slides were shown, and described the specification of Packing Material as following:

1. Lift Van. Size: L 87” x W 57” x H 87” with height from Surface is 12”. The container must be built according to international standard following the regulations. Detail specification is given in J.2 page 70 of the solicitation package.

2. Tri-Wall Box (7-ply)

3. Tri-Wall Box (5-ply)

4. Bubble wrap sheet

5. Burlap

6. Craft Paper

7. Foam Sheet

8. Jumbo Lawn Wrapping Sheet

9. Liner Sheet

10. Moth Balls

11. Nails

12. Packing Tape

13. Polyethylene ( colored and transparent )

14. Steel and Plastic Binding / Clips

15. Fragile Sticker

16. Thermo Sheet

17. Waterproof Sheet

Services Request and Delivery Timelines

All service requests given to the contractor will be provided with enough time for preparation/ arrangement of all type of material and equipments:

Packout Survey 24 hours before the survey date

Packout One week after survey

Local Move Three working days in advance

Air Clearance Three working days in advance

Sea Clearance One week in advance

However, keeping in view the nature of work the above timeline may change with urgent requirements. The services delivery schedule is listed in section F.3 (page 51

Participants noticed that the sample of Tri-Wall Box (7-ply) is not the exact sample of 7-ply so the Deputy General Services Officer clarified it in detail that how and from where it can be arranged.

Deputy General Services Officer concluded his speech and opened the forum for questions. The questions asked by representatives from the participants are stated in Attachment (Question &

Answers). It was expressed that responses to the questions will be provided in writing after thorough review on or before March 9, 2012, however, if there are any more questions the offerors may send through e-mail (latifm@state.gov and khurshidA2@state.gov ) by COB

March 3, 2012.

Majority of the participants were not satisfied with line items number 4 and 7 the way these were constructed, because it didn’t cover Break-Bulk cargo, container weight limits, LCL. The pointed out that paid receipts for shipping line charges is not feasible because Federal Maritime

Commission (FMC) does not allow to show these receipts.

Most of the participants requested to extend the submission date as they will not left with ample time to prepare and submit their proposals after the posting of Q&A and expected amendment on

March 9, 2012.

The Deputy General Services Officer thanked the participants for their participation, inputs and concluded the event at 1:50 p.m. by announcing the extension of submission date to March 23, 2012 and amendment to the solicitation to accommodate acceptable suggestions given by the participants.

mailto:latifm@state.gov mailto:khurshidA2@state.gov