Attachment_1_-Responses_to_Questions_from_Industry-W91B4N-19-R-5005.pdf

Responses to Industry Questions for Postal RFP

W91B4N-19-R-5005

1) Question- The attachments listed appear to be embedded documents, and are not included. Could the Government please provide these documents separately?

Answer- The attachments have been uploaded separately in FBO-Amendment 1- on 28 Oct 18

2) Question- In accordance with (IAW) the paragraph 1.6.15.1 it states, “The Contractor shall…provide a mobilization plan within 15 days of contract award with proposal…” Could the Government please clarify when the Mobilization Plan is due—15 days after award or with the proposal?

Answer- See revised 1.6.15.1 - The wording “with proposal” has been removed. It is due 15 days after contract award.

3) Question- IAW PWS 1.6.2, the paragraph states the Contractor’s performance will be evaluated in accordance with the Government’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP); could the Government please provide the QASP or indicate where in the solicitation the QASP is located?

Answer- See revised paragraph 1.6.2 - Performance Requirements Summary (PRS): The Government shall evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) IAW Part 7. The PRS is used to define the performance objectives, standards and performance thresholds required for satisfactory contract performance and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

4) Question- IAW 1.6.11.1 What do the asterisks (*) next to the Key Personnel labor categories indicate?

Answer- See revised paragraph 1.6.11.1 -Paragraph was restructured and asterisks have been removed

5) Question- IAW PWS 3.1 -What do the asterisks (*) next to the various bulleted items indicate?

Answer- See revised paragraph 3.1 – Paragraph was restructured and asterisks have been removed

6) Question- IAW PWS 3.1 Could the Government please specify what is included in “Facilities w/ amenities (10)”? Is this for billeting, office space, work space, etc.? What are the amenities?

Answer- See revised paragraph 3.1 - Updated to read: Amenities - Include, Office/Work Space, air conditioning/heating, electricity.

Billeting will be covered in Government Furnished Life Support (GFLS).

7) Question- PWS 4.2.1 states the Contractor “shall provide GPS/ITV tracking devices in all vehicles…” Does this include the MHE listed in the same paragraph or is this requirement intended only for the trucks used for mail transportation to and from BAF/KAF?

Answer – See revised paragraph 4.2.1 – The Contractor shall provide Global Positioning Systems (GPS)/In-Transit Vehicle (ITV) tracking devices in trucks used in providing ground transportation from Bagram –Kabul Cluster as identified in the PWS

8) Question- Are clearances required to be Final at the time of proposal submission, or will the Government accept Interim clearances?

Answer- See revised paragraph 1.6.7 - The Contractors Key Personnel performing services under this contract shall have a final secret clearance prior to start of contract performance in theatre and shall maintain this level of security clearance throughout the life of the contract. The security requirements are in accordance with the attached DD254.

9) Question- IAW PWS 5.11.5 it does not identify government process required per HSPD-12 for requesting investigations/adjudication for US hired persons for positions that do not require current security clearance eligibility. Could the government please clarify this process? According to the National Background Investigation Bureau, these background requests are submitted through the government agencies security office and the contractors cannot initiate the request. Will the government authorize the Contractor to initiate these checks? Please advise.

Answer – The Contractor is responsible for submitting an Entrance National Agency Check (ENTNAC) or National Agency Check (NAC) background for the Governments review.

10) Question - CLIN 4014 Demobilization. If all options are not exercised, will the Contracting Office add a demobilization CLIN to the last option exercised?

Answer - Yes, if the Government does not exercise all the options the Demobilization CLIN will be exercised for the last Period of Performance.

11) Question - PWS 5.8 states “In the event of future DoD restructuring in Afghanistan resulting in opening or closing of an MPO, the contractor shall be notified of the event as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days prior to the MPO Closure or opening. The Government will provide expected mail volume, required positions and security requirements at the time of notification.” Please clarify that the Government will request a price quote for opening and staffing any additional MPOs.

Answer- See revised paragraph 5.8 – In the event of future DoD restructuring in Afghanistan resulting in opening or closing of an MPO, the contractor shall be notified of the event as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days prior to MPO closure or opening. The U.S. Government will provide expected mail volume, required positions and security requirements at time of notification. If and when a restructure event occurs the Government will request a price proposal for the additional location(s). Once the price is negotiated, if needed, and accepted by the Government, a modification will be executed adding the additional location(s) at the agreed upon price.

12) Question - PWS 5.14.1 states “the contractor shall operate a postal claims and inquires section at MPO to assist patrons in filing postal claims and inquires.” Does the Government want a separate section with staffing for this requirement? USPS requires postal claims to be filed electronically by the patron. If a separate section is required, please provide historical claim data in order to properly staff this section.

Answer – See revised paragraph 5.14.1 - The Contractor shall ensure the claim and inquiry SOP located at each postal facility is on hand and utilized by the employees. The Contractor shall assist patrons in filing postal claims and inquiries on letters, parcels, and money orders which have been lost, damaged, rifled, and/or stolen during the shipment.

13) Question - PWS 5.26.1 states “The contractor shall provide local distribution and transportation of prograde and retrograde mail, to include Registered mail, between the flight line, Helicopter Landing Zone(s), Regional Mail Distribution Center (RMDC), Post Office and Mail Movement Terminal, MPO for mail distribution at all service locations.

Does the government expect the distribution and transportation services to be performed at all locations or only at the Air Stops? If it is for all locations, was this requirement considered when determining the equipment to be provided that is listed in PWS Para 4.2?

Answer – Yes it is for all locations and any vehicles and MHE that may be required for this is already included under Attachment D.

See revised paragraph 5.26.1 - The Contractor shall provide the local distribution and transportation of prograde and retrograde mail, to include Registered Mail to all locations to include, between the Flight Line, Helicopter Landing Zone(s), Regional Mail Distribution Center (RMDC), Post Office and Mail Movement Terminal and MPO for mail distribution at all services location.

14) Question- PWS 5.26.3 last sentence states: “The vehicle and equipment must be delivered to the location(s) as identified in Attachment D and must have as a minimum, the following serviceable and operating safety features: Those serviceable and operating safety features were left out of this paragraph. Could the Government please provide this information?

Answer – See revised paragraph 5.26.3 - Added the chart with safety features

15) Question – IAW PWS 3.6, The paragraph states “The Government shall provide Common Access Cards for all required Contractor personnel, including OCNs to allow NIPR network access…” OCNs are not authorized to obtain CAC cards or have NIPR access, could the Government please clarify how it will ensure OCNs have the required access to perform postal duties requiring CAC or NIPR access?

Answer – See revised paragraph 3.6 - The Government shall provide Common Access Cards (CAC) for Contractor personnel, as required by job/duties and in accordance with security restrictions, to allow NIPR network access for performing postal functions

16) Would it be possible for you to send the bonding form that is included in the RFP as an attachment contained in the document? I am unable to access it through the solicitation files.

Answer - Attachments were uploaded individually in FBO 28 Oct 2018

17) Question - Please confirm that the intent of the RFP is for us to submit ALL proposed key personnel at the time of proposal submission, for a total of at least 20. With 15 days before submittal deadline, it is impossible for anyone except the incumbent to identify and vet that number of personnel.

Answer – See revised Instructions to Offerors, Paragraph C-Organization, Volume II Technical Capability, (b) Sub-factor 2 Management Approach (5th bullet) – Updated to read:

The Offeror shall identify key personnel who have the experience in postal requirements as stated in solicitation. Clearances shall be active prior to start of performance in theatre.

18) Question - IAW FAR 5.203(c), “agencies shall allow at least a 30-day response time for receipt of bids or proposals from the date of issuance of a solicitation…”

As currently stated (with the assumption that the reference to 2016 is a typo), Offerors have been provided only 1 business day to review the solicitation and provide questions. This is not a realistic timeframe to be able to provide meaningful feedback for a solicitation of this size and scope. Given the potential size of this opportunity and the various requirements included within the solicitation, could the Government please consider extending both the Question & Answer deadline as well as the solicitation due date, at a minimum to the timeline defined in the FAR?

Answer- IAW FAR 5.203 (c) it states: Except for the acquisition of commercial items, agencies shall allow at least a 30-day response time for receipt of bids or proposals from the date of issuance of a solicitation, if the proposed contract action is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. It also states: The contracting officer should consider the circumstances of the individual acquisition, such as the complexity, commerciality, availability, and urgency, when establishing the solicitation response time.

The year on FBO was a typo and should have been 2018 not 2016

The Government feels the posted closing date in the Request for Proposal submitted is sufficient due to the fact industry has been informed of this requirement by posting in FBO as shown below:

18 Jul 18 – Draft PWS for Postal Services Posted (Sources Sought) – W91B4N-18-R-5002

27 Aug 18 – Draft Request for Proposal- Postal Services posted –W91B4N-18-R-5002

15 Oct 18 – Posted Notice of Request for Proposal number change:

From W91B4N-18-R-5002 to W91B4N-19-R-5005

25 Oct 18 – Posted- Request for Proposal for Postal Services – W91B4N-19-R-5005

The Government has made the determination it will extend the proposal due date by 7 days.

19) Question- IAW Instructions to Offerors, para (4) Table A-1 & para (11) - There is a discrepancy in page limitations for Volume II Technical Capability. Table A-1 states 15 pages, while paragraph 11 states 50 pages. Could the Government confirm that Table A-1 is intended to state 50 pages?

Answer- See revised Volume II Technical Capability - Table A-1 - The table has been updated to reflect read 50 pages

20) Question - Instructions to Offerors, Should all volumes be submitted in PDF format?

Answer- See revised Instruction to Offerors, paragraph B under: Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions: All volumes must be submitted in PDF format except, Attachment D shall be submitted in excel spreadsheet provided

21) Question – IAW Instructions to Offerors, Volume II para (3) (a) Subfactor 1 – Post Office and Mail Handling Operations –

The first subfactor bullet references “understanding of each functional area in the PWS”. The second subfactor bullet requires an “overarching description of specific functional areas” listed in the instructions on page 93; however, the list in on page 93 does not include several functional areas such as: Security (5.20), Maintenance (5.21), Mail Distribution and Movement (5.22), and Transportation (5.26).

Could the Government please provide the list of functional areas to be addressed by the first subfactor bullet, and also confirm that the list as currently stated in the second subfactor bullet (on page 93) is correct, and should not include PWS paragraphs 5.20 through 5.26?

Answer- See revised Instructions to Offerors, Volume II para (3) (a) Subfactor 1 – Post Office and Mail Handling Operations – Subfactor 1 has been updated to add the functional areas as shown below:

Workload/Labor

Finance responsibilities

Parcel Inspection Section

Postal Claims and Inquiries

Operations Section

Directory Service

Accountable Mail

Postal Supply

Security

Maintenance

Mail Distribution and Movement

Transportation

Safety

See revised Subfactor bullet 2: The following was added:

Security

Maintenance

Mail Distribution and Movement

Transportation

Safety

22) Question - IAW Instructions to Offerors, Volume II para (3) (c) Subfactor 3 – Ground Transportation and PWS 5.22.24.1

PWS 5.22.24.1 states the contractor “shall provide an appropriate number of clean closed-body vehicles”; however, Instructions to Offerors state that offerors shall submit a plan addressing “their ability to have/maintain a minimum of five (5) covered box trucks...” Could the Government please clarify if the “appropriate number” referenced in 5.22.24.1 is supposed to be five (5)?

Answer- See revised paragraph 5.22.24.1 - The contractor shall provide five (5) clean closed-body vehicles (IAW attachment D) equipped with lockable doors to transport mail between postal activities or carrier facilities on or off the installation. In addition the trucks going from Bagram to Kabul Cluster shall be GPS-equipped enabled with In-Transit Visibility (ITV). In order to maintain Total Asset Visibility (TAV) and ensure mail security, the Contractor’s GPS solution shall fully integrate with the government’s current asset visibility system. In addition the trucks shall be GPS-equipped. The GPS system shall include receiver that can track the trucks anywhere in Afghanistan. Contractor shall install transponders in the trucks and receive pings of the trucks location every 10 minutes as the trucks transport mails. Transponders shall be battery powered and operate under the temperature and weather conditions that prevail in the country of Afghanistan including, but not limited to, extreme variances in temperature, dirt, rain, snow, windblown dust, and corrosion. The Contractor shall ensure to turn-on the transponders in each vehicle on-hour before mission and turn-off transponder upon mission complete at the end of each day. Once transponders are in place and Contractor on mission, the Contractor shall be responsible for reporting any interference, malfunction, or any changes of GPS systems to USG by submitting a Situation Report.

23) Question- Instructions to Offerors, Volume II para (3) (c) Subfactor 3 – Ground Transportation The paragraph references “maintenance and recovery of vehicles on and off base and Communications in transit IAW paragraph 5.26”, however 5.26 references local distribution and transportation. Could the Government please confirm the correct reference is to paragraph 5.22.24?

Answer- See revised Instructions to Offerors, Volume II para (3) (c) Subfactor 3 – Ground Transportation, Updated to read: The Offeror shall submit a plan addressing how it will recover vehicles in case of any incidents on the road. Plan must cover maintenance and recovery of vehicles on and off base and Communications in transit IAW paragraph 5.22.24

24) Question - TE Factor 1 Sub factor 1, “The Offer shall provide an overarching description of each functional area below, including any associated risk and identify at least on risk per area and how the risk could be mitigated.”

How does the Government expect a thorough Risk Assessment and mitigation strategy if past performance is not included as a requirement in the proposal submission?

Answer – The Government does not require past performance information in order to assess the offerors functional area descriptions.

25) Question – IAW TE 1 PRS, Most of the Government’s performance thresholds require 100% compliance. This does not appear to be reasonable. Performance thresholds requiring 100% perfection are required for life or death situations and most other thresholds are given a percentage less than 100 for all other performance tasks. Please reconsider these thresholds.

Answer – Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) has been updated and is included in the revised

PWS