Questions_and_Answers_07_13_15_rs_(3).docx

Questions and Answers 07_13_15 (Please note CLIN/SubCLIN references may have changed due to reordering of items.)

SPREADSHEET QUESTIONS

Question 1: Please provide colors for primers.

Answer 1: Primer colors are different between vendors (e.g. green, blue, buff (or gold)), prime coats colors need to be QPL approved, meet the spec requirement, and prime coat color need to be different from other colors listed per clin/sub-clin ; so, each vendor should list their specific prime coat color. Note: SubCLINs for “MIL-PRF-23236D, TYPE VII, CLASS 9, GRADE C” are for potable water tanks and as such are required to be topcoated white/off white.

Question 2: How do we handle varying kit sizes?

Question 3: How do we bid with the varying sizes?

Answer 2/3: Vendor should list their product & kit size & price in that section of the spreadsheet or another solution could be for vendor to repackage paints, where practical, to meet our needs and include resizing cost in their bid. Note resizing is not required; just a suggestion to resolve kit size comparison issues *Note: Evaluation will be partially based on a price per gal (where there is a difference in kit size between vendors) and the ability for the vendor to meet our needs/requirements (e.g.1 QUART KIT - if vendor requires larger kit size; cost to dispose of larger kit will be included in our evaluation); or some other similar process to compare apples to apples.

Question 4: Please advise if 0005AC and 0005AD are duplicates?

Answer 4: Same product different KIT sizes 1.25 QUART KIT & 1.25 GALLON KIT (Now SubCLINs 0022AA and 0022AB) Question 5: 0006AG and 0006AK. Light gray not an approved color for potable water. Approved colors are buff/blue in the primer and white/light green in the topcoat.

Answer 5: Agree "Light gray not an approved color for potable water," however, in an effort to reduce the amounts of similar coats being submitted and since most of the coatings are qualified to multiple spec. The Light gray would be used for other authorized applications. Note clin descriptions/spec for 0023AB and 0023AE (new SubCLINs) were changed from "FW AND PW TK SPECIALTY COATING" to "SPECIALTY COATING" and MIL-PRF-23236D, TYPE VII, “Added CLASS 7” or 9, GRADE C

* Note: Approved potable water tk colors are (green, blue, buff (or gold)) for the primer and white/off white for the topcoat.

Question 6: 0006BT and 0006BU. 55 gallon drum comes with 50 gallons of coating. Drum not filled to top level for ease of handling. Suggest changing to 55 gallon drum with 50 gallons coating.

Answer 6: Vendor should list their product & kit size & gallons of coating & price in that section of the spreadsheet or another solution could be for vendor to repackage paints, where practical, to meet our needs and include resizing cost in their bid. Note resizing is not required; just a suggestion to resolve kit size comparison issues.

Question 7: Is 0008AE meant to be color 13665? Not the listed 13655?

Answer 7: Not sure were or what color 13665 is; could not find in the FED-STD-595.

FED-STD-595B: 13655 COLOR: LIGHT (SIGNAL) YELLOW, FINISH: HIGH GLOSS is correct.

Note: the online version of FED-STD-595C called 13655 "BLUE ANGLES YELLOW"; however technically the colors in FED-STD-595 have no official names, just numbers. So we will leave the name as-is and just go by the number 13655.

Question 8: From 0008BK to 0008CE there seems to be redundant listings.

Answer 8: Some of the coats are separated by grade B and LSA; so there will be some overlap between these paints but that was intentionally added. Vendor may list the same LSA product for both MIL-PRF-24635E, Type V OR VI, Class 2, Grade B and MIL-PRF-24635E, Type V OR VI, Class 2; CLINS.

Question 9: In our pricing response, does DLA wish to have pricing inserted into the base amendment from pages 3 to 585? Or, does the Excel spreadsheet take the place of pages 3 to 585? Ideally latter to save 585 pages in binders!

Answer 9: Vendors shall utilize the spreadsheet “Final Items List 07_13_15” to enter pricing. Please ensure CLINs and Sub-CLINs on the spreadsheet align with those on Solicitation/Amendment SPMYM1-15-R-0012-P0002. Amendment P0002 clarifies all vendors shall use the attached spreadsheet for pricing.

NOTE: ALL SUBCLINS WITH A ZERO (0) QUANTITY SHALL NOT BE PRICED. THESE SUBCLINS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. ONLY CLINS/SUBCLINS WITH A FORECASTED QUANTITY SHALL BE PRICED.

Solicitation Content Questions

Question 10: It appears that you have limited the bid to businesses less than 500 employees. Did I read this correctly which means it is limited to small businesses?

Answer10: No, the solicitation is not restricted for small business. We clearly have to state the small business size standard for the related NAICS. Please note the procurement is UNRESTRICTED.

Question 11: Also, a maximum of 100 pages with the offer is confusing. If we have to supply a product data sheet, F718 and Safety Data Sheets, this would be about 10 pages each for over 200 items.

Answer 11: Amendment P0002 addresses this topic. The 100 page requirement has been removed.

Question 12: Will our inventory requirements be one quarter of the annual estimate?

Answer 12: Vendor Inventory typically will be based on the quarterly forecast.

Question 13: Is this contract just for shipyard use or will shipments be required directly to ships at different locations?

Answer 13: Maintenance (IMF)s and shipyard facilities will utilize the paint. Paint will be shipped to the “delivery points outlined in the “Place of Delivery” as listed in the solicitation.

Question 14: If the appropriate info is provided on the COA receipt inspection is waived. Wanted to confirm that is what the language on page 36/53 under Government Testing Procedures describes.

Answer 14: Receipt Inspection testing will be accomplished typically as per NAVSEA requirements utilizing NAVSEA letter from Mark Ingles (SEA05) which provided guidance on COA/COC and receipt inspection testing or NAVSEA Standard Items which utilizes the VENDOR COA/COC to waive attributes already tested “SAT.”

Note: Random surveillances of the facilities and the coatings are required by NAVSEA. Also note, If a coating is in question for any reason, or for any missing attributes from the VENDOR COA/COC will/or could be grounds to have the coating fully Receipt Inspected including the full gambit of conformance testing as required by NAVSEA and the paint spec.

Question 15: Regarding the 50% shelf life requirement, will the Government accept full responsibility for whatever is forecasted; meaning whatever is forecasted is ultimately the responsibility of the yards to purchase?

Answer 15: Forecasting, scheduling, and shelf life are all mission critical; therefore we will remain with the solicitation stated terms and conditions. The Vendor should be diligent to ensure that they rotate the oldest stock out first.

Question 16: Section 1.1.3 Target Chemical Minimization on page 47/53 of Amend 1 section a and b.

Is the intent to provide the % of target chemicals listed for every product? As there are over 200 CLINS, and third party analytical testing may be required, this is a significant undertaking and will require significant time and resources.

Or, is the intent to provide a blanket statement, along the lines of section c, in essence stating that we are in compliance with the MIL-Spec which already governs hazardous compounds?

Answer 16: In Addendum P0002, content has been added to the note under Section 1.1.3 Target Chemical Minimization for clarification. The following information has been added:

“For each product delivered, the contractor shall provide percentage (by weight) of the following target chemicals present:

a. Benzene, Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds, Cadmium and Cadmium Compounds, Carbon Tetrachloride, Chromium and Chromium Compounds,

b. Ethylene Glycol, Lead and Lead Compounds, Mercury and Mercury Compounds, Methyl Chloroform (1,1,1-Trichloroethane), N-Butyl Alcohol, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane), Toluene, Trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC-113), Xylene, Zinc Chromate.

c. Proposal content: Provide a narrative description of how the overall suite of products proposed supports and complies with the general objective of minimizing the overall usage of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) targeted chemicals. On 26 November 2008, NAVSEA tasked all Naval Shipyards to reduce or eliminate the use of all chemicals listed in section 1.3(a) above.

NOTE; It is understood that price and performance factors for the products proposed may make the full elimination of all target chemicals infeasible. The purpose of the above required narrative description is to demonstrate that the offeror has carefully considered the available alternatives and proposed products that provide for an overall approach that balances cost, quality/performance, and target chemical minimization objectives.”

BOTH SPREADSHEET AND SOLICITATION QUESTIONS

Question 17: For testing purposes, what are considered critical and non-critical items?

Answer 17: (Added in Amendment P0002) Critical paints/solvents that will require receipt inspection testing, certificate of compliance or conformance test data in accordance with NAVSEA requirements are coatings used in critically coded areas, special use applications (e.g. Special Hull Treatment (SHT)) and coatings used in nuclear cog areas). As an example; coatings that are qualified to MIL-DTL-24441, MIL-DTL-24631, and MIL-PRF-23236 are normally considered Critical and require testing.

The below table is a breakdown of CLINs based on critical vs non-critical items; however, the table is not all inclusive. Coatings which are qualified to multiple specs and/or CLINs (e.g. qualified to MIL-PRF-23236 (critical) and MIL-PRF-24647(non-critical)) will be considered critical if the coating is qualified to a spec/CLIN that is critical and thus it will be required to be tested; even if it is being provided under a non-critical CLIN.

CRITICAL

RECEIPT INSPECTION TESTING/COA/COC REQUIRED

NON-CRITICAL

GENERAL RECEIPT INSPECTIONS REQUIRED

Note: all chemicals (e.g. solvents, paints) require some form of general receipt inspection verification upon entry into the NAVSEA activity.

Question 18: There is no restocking or return CLIN on the spreadsheet, thus, no way to charge the shipyards. Please include a CLIN.

Answer 18: A restocking CLIN has been added to the spreadsheet as well as the Solicitation/Amendment P00002.

Question 19: Under Section 1.6 on page 50/53 of Amend 1 it states Offerors must propose on all sub-CLINs within an individual CLIN. As some of the products are listed by specific manufacturer, this precludes us from bidding an entire CLIN.

For example, CLIN 0009 has vendor specific paint products. Vendor X cannot bid Vendor Y’s coatings as we are competitors. Thus, we are excluded from bidding the entire CLIN 0009. Can you please remove vendor specific paints from a general CLIN?

Answer 19: Vendor specific paints have been removed from their original CLINs and grouped under new CLINs based on their technical characteristics/descriptions. Note: All CLINs and sub-CLINs were reviewed, updated (to elucidate) and / or re-grouped including providing better characteristics/descriptions to allow for a better bidding process for all vendors.