Statement of Work (SOW).docx

Statement of Work Technical Sensory Training of New Panelists and Calibration of Current Panelists

1. Background: U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command – Soldier Center (DEVCOM SC) requires technical sensory training to induct ten (10) new panel members into an existing sensory team of government personnel panelists, and then to calibrate the entire team through structured training sessions. The purpose of this project is to formally integrate new panel members into the existing team of trained government personnel sensory panelists, and to calibrate the entire team to consistently achieve statistically relevant product reviews of military rations.

2. Requirements:

a. General Requirements. DEVCOM SC requires an experienced sensory professional(s) with extensive training experience within various industry food, beverage and/or packaging companies. Training experience must include at least five (5) years of sensory training experience in training groups using Descriptive Sensory Analysis methods and skills as well as at least a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition, food science, or other related chemical or biological science. The training professional(s) must be able to train a group of ten (10) new panelists at our facility in Natick, MA. The Contractor shall also provide calibration training sessions with the entire panelist group (both current and new panelist groups). Panelists will review, and train to reference standards for odor, flavor, texture, mouthfeels, and consistency of products as well as product off notes including but not limited to rancidity, stale, oxidized, metallic, and musty off notes. The training professional(s) should also be familiar with the sensory characteristics of shelf stable food products and military operational rations. The training professional(s) shall be familiar with the sensory terms contained within the Sensory Bucket Lexicon and shall train both the new panelists and calibrate the entire panelist team to the Combat Feeding Division’s established Sensory Bucket Lexicon of descriptors (see Appendix 1 attached).

The sensory training program shall consist of the following:

A. Initial training sessions; consisting of two (2) full training days, of at least seven (7) hours of training each day.

B. Follow-up training sessions; which will occur 6 to 12 weeks after the initial sessions, with both the current panelist and new panelist groups together. The duration shall be no less than two (2) full training days of at least seven (7) hours each day.

C. Five (5) half-day training sessions of at least four (4) hours each which will occur 6 to 12 weeks after the follow-up session, and every 10 to 12 weeks thereafter.

D. Contractor monitored homework assignments for panelists in between the scheduled training sessions.

E. NOTE: The scheduling provided above is approximate. The Contractor shall schedule training sessions in consultation with, and with approval from the requiring activity. All training sessions and homework shall be completed within fifteen (15) months of the date of contract award.

b. Specific Requirements: The Contractor shall propose a detailed, timed agenda for each session, broken down by topic. The following is the basic outline for each session:

· Introduction to Sensory Science

· Five Basic Tastes

· Introduction to Calibration

· Define appearance, how do we define and describe appearance of products

· Odor and aroma intensity and identification exercises

New Members

· Flavor intensity introduction and overview with exercises

· Texture overview with exercises

· Mouthfeel overview and define with exercises

· Discuss how texture and mouthfeel are different and why they are important

· What does “off” and “off notes” mean, exercises and examples and how to find and define/describe it

New Members

· Define calibration for the entire team and its importance

· Whole team calibration exercises and practice

· Sensory lexicon overview

· Flavor and odor intensity exercises

· Define and differentiate between sour and bitter with exercises

· Discuss and review any challenges in exercises already completed

· Balance overview and exercises

· Calibration exercises and intensities of salt, spicy, sour, bitter, sweet

· Chemical heat intensity

Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

· Lexicon conversation with Texture

· Calibration exercises with reference standards for texture descriptions (mushy, gummy, sticky, pasty, mealy, crispy, crunchy)

· Review homework assignments to be completed during interim between sessions Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

· Mouthfeel reference standards, fatty mouthfeel

· Define and reference standards for stale

· Reference standards for thicknesses of sauces, gravies and other products (slightly thick, moderately thick and very thick)

· Review homework Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

Reference standards and chemical heat calibration

· Rancidity vs oxidation how to determine difference

· Rancidity in processed foods and baked goods with reference standards

· Oxidation in baked goods and processed foods with reference standards

· Review homework Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

· Finding and defining and calibration of metallic

· Finding and defining and calibration of musty

· Musty in baked goods and processed foods

· Reference standards and intensity practice salt

· Review homework

Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

· Define and calibrate sour dairy with reference standards

· Fermented vs sour fruity

· Practice and define bitter and reference standards

· Review homework

Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

Define and calibrate Balance and Harmony

· Team calibration of flavor spikes

· Team calibration odor intensity

· Team calibration and more practice mouthfeel vs texture and crispy vs crunchy

· Review homework

Whole Team (New plus current panelists)

3. Period of Performance: The Period of Performance shall not exceed fifteen (15) months from the date of contract award.

4. Other Direct Costs (ODCs): ODCs are not applicable because this is a firm-fixed price effort.

5. Travel: The Contractor may invoice the Government for reasonable, allowable, and allocable costs incurred for travel, and lodging to perform the training sessions. Such invoices shall be supported with receipts marked to indicate the corresponding training session. NOTE: The Contractor shall only invoice lodging for the sessions that consist of two (2) full training days; the Contractor shall invoice for no more than two (2) nights per stay. Also, the Contractor shall invoice for milage at no more than $0.51 per mile. Since this is a firm fixed price effort, it is the Contractor’s responsibility to forecast the travel expenses attributable to this effort with the final cost not to exceed the forecasted amount.

6. Supplies/Groceries: The Contractor may invoice the Government for reasonable, allowable, and allocable costs incurred for supplies/groceries to perform the training sessions. Such invoices shall be supported with receipts marked to indicate the corresponding training session. NOTE: Since this is a firm fixed price effort, it is the Contractor’s responsibility to forecast the supplies and grocery expenses attributable to this effort with the final cost not to exceed the forecasted amount.

7. Security: No security clearance is required to perform this work.

8. Personnel Qualifications: The Contractor’s training professional(s)’s experience must include at least five (5) years of sensory training experience in training groups using Descriptive Sensory Analysis methods and skills as well as at least a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition, food science, or other related chemical or biological science. It is also essential the Contractor’s training professional(s) has sufficient educational credentials and prior experience in training specifically in the following areas:

· sensory science,

· descriptive analysis,

· calibrating panel groups to specific attributes,

· picking up off notes,

· training to reference standards,

· setting standards to texture, mouthfeel rancidity, and other common sensory defects seen with shelf stable food products.

9. Government Furnished Equipment/Information/Computer Utilization: The Contractor shall use their own computer, and equipment to perform the training sessions. The Contractor will not have access to the DEVCOM SC network. Therefore, the potential vendor should not rely on the Government’s network in conveying their training material to the intended audience.

10. Deliverables: The Contractor’s Deliverables under this contract are as follows:

· Initial Training Session, two (2) full training days, primarily for new panelists - QTY: 1

· Follow-Up Training Session, two (2) full training days, for both current and new panelists - QTY: 1

· Half-Day Training Sessions for both current and new panelists - QTY: 5

· Quarterly Status Reports – QTY: 5

11. Place of Performance: The Place of Performance shall be the following:

Combat Feeding Division DEVCOM Soldier Center 10 General Greene Ave Building 36, Room E136, Sensory Lab Natick, MA 01760

12. Quarterly Status Reports: The Contractor shall provide quarterly status reports to the Government in accordance with the attached Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) DD 1423, Exhibit A, Data Item No. A0001.

These reports shall include the following information in addition to others:

· a summary of work accomplished during the reporting period, including the percent of work complete

· a report of any problem areas, or potential problem areas

· a proposed schedule of planned activities for the next reporting period

This quarterly report is due no later than the following dates: 15 January for the period 1 October to 31 December; 15 April for the period 1 January to 31 March; 15 July for the period 1 April to 30 June; and 15 October for the period 1 July to 30 September.

13. Invoicing: The Contractor shall invoice quarterly. Invoices must include, as a minimum, the following information:

· Time Period Covered (dates)

· Session(s) completed during the specified time period

· Any applicable costs for reimbursement over the prior quarter with supporting receipts marked to indicate the corresponding training session

14. Contractor Installation Access: After contract award and upon receipt of documentation from the Government, the Contractor shall complete all required documents (100% completion required) for installation access and submit them to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) no later than forty-five (45) days prior to the initial training session, unless the COR authorizes a later date.

15. CAC Issuance: If the Government elects to provide Contractor personnel a Common Access Card (CAC) and initiate a background investigation in the Personnel Security Investigation Portal (PSIP), the Contractor will receive a series of automated emails (minimum of 3) from the PSIP system prompting them to complete the application. Upon email notification the Contractor shall take immediate action to complete the PSIP application. After completion of the application, it can take up to two weeks for the PSIP application to show as "open." Once the application shows as "open," the Government will enter the Contractor into the Trusted Associate Sponsorship System (TASS). After being entered into TASS, the Contractor will receive an email from the Government which contains a TASS username and password and a link to the required TASS application. Upon receipt, the Contractor shall log into the TASS system and complete the application. If the application is approved, the Contractor will receive an automated email from the TASS system acknowledging the process has been completed and a Common Access Card (CAC) may be obtained. The Contractor shall coordinate with the COR to book a CAC appointment. Two forms of ID are required in order to obtain a CAC card. After obtaining a CAC, the Contractor will coordinate with the COR to complete the DEVCOM SC internal on-boarding process.

(End of Statement of Work)

Appendix 1 Sensory Bucket Lexicon image1.png image2.svg UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY 20 BUCKET LEXICON Grains Vegetables Eggs Dairy - Cheese Dairy - Milk Fish Poultry Beef Grain Type (corn, white wheat) Vegetable Name Albumen Milky Cooked Milk Sweet Meat Cooked White Meat Cooked Beef - lean Raw Raw Brothy Cooked Dairy Soured Milk Shells Cooked Dark Meat Browned/ Caramelized Cooked Cooked Browned Egg Butterfat Coconut/Lactone Amine Organ Brothy Brown Highly Processed/ Retorted Chicken Soured/ Cheesy Caramelized Organ Fat Cooked Fat Toasted Bean/ Legume Cooked Egg Cultured Fatty/Cream Brine Blood/Serum Serum/bloody/ metallic Masa Green/ Stems Corn Oil Free Fatty Acid Skim Degraded Protein Metallic Tallow Fermented Feathers Butyric Whole Milk Metallic Caramelized Nutty Earthy Iron/Metallic NFDM Muddy/Musty Scorched Pork Caramelized Woody Raw Egg Casein Iodine/Oil Brothy Cooked Pork - lean Painty / Fishy/ Rancid Protein Nutty Cooked Fat Floral Sulfur Yeasty Lard Musty Whey Brothy Feeling Factors Other Citrus Fruity Woody/ Nutty Sweet Aromatics Spice Herbs/ Mint Astringent Phenol Citrus Type Fruit Type Roasted Caramelized Spice Type Total (herb type) Metallic Painty Raw Citrus Raw Dark Roast Vanilla/Vanillin Green Anise Burn Vinyl Cooked Citrus Cooked Hulls/Shells/Skins Brown Sugar Mint Green Heat Cardboard Expressed Oil Skins Raw Bean Ethyl Maltol Woody/Nutty Floral Cool Mercaptan Distilled Peel Oil Dried Earthy Benzaldehyde Hay/ Straw Fermented Grass Prickle Metallic Aromatic Fresh Peel Oil Woody/ Seedy/ Stems Musty Cocoa Floral Hay/Straw Nasal Pungency Plastic Fermented Green Twigs/Hay/Straw Brown Spice Fruity Baking Soda Musty Green Perfume/ Floral Green Herbal Minty Feel based on gums Moldy Floral/Perfume Grassy Burnt Fruity Woody Sulfur Oxidized Caramelized Anise Terpene/Pine Metallic Anethol Raw Albedo Thymol Cooked Albedo