B08 W91ZLK-20-R-0004 Questions and Answers.pdf

Q. Can you please provide the incumbent supplier and the last contract dollar award amount?

A. Previously, compressed gas requirements were provided by DLA, who in turn administered all contracting activities. The prior contracts were: SPE60117D1513 for welding gases and SPE60117D1514 for Specialty Gases. USA Spending.gov will provide additional information. Airgas was the incumbent on the two prior contracts.

Q. A 5 day gas turnaround time is listed for all gases.

The average lead time for specialty gases could be up to 45 days and welding gases turnaround time is approximately 10 days but can be reduced to 5 days effective July 1st.

Please confirm expected lead time for spec gases and that Aberdeen can give consideration to an extended lead time for the initial months of the period of performance on the welding gases.

A. The requested lead time for welding gases is 5 working days due to requirements of the users at the weld shop. Specifically, this requirement applies to the following gases: Laser Cutting Gas (5% Carbon Dioxide / 40% Helium / Balance Nitrogen), Oxygen Gas, Shielding Gas - 95/5 (5% Carbon Dioxide / Balance Argon), and Propylene (Industrial Grade, ≥ 99.5% purity). We can accept the extended lead time for the remaining gases, to include: Argon Gas, Nitrogen Gas, and P10 Gas (10% Methane / 90% Argon). Lead times for specialty gases will be variable based upon the individual gases and the required time for analysis, it is understood that this lead time may be up to 45 calendar days. Please provide the lead times for the individual mixtures specified in the PWS.

Q. Please advise when we can perform a site survey / safety inspection well in advance of the due date?

A. The solicitation will be extended to the 16 March 2020 and the site visit will be scheduled for 10 or 11 of March 2020.

Q. The solicitation states that "possible locations of cylinder pickup and delivery will be at either the Building 315, 6350 Gillon Street < Caution-https://www.google.com/maps/search/6350+Gillon+Street?entry=gmail&source=g > , or Building 363, 6901 Lanyard Road APG, MD 21005 < Caution-https://www.google.com/maps/search/Lanyard+Road+APG,+MD+21005?entry=gmail&source=g > "

Can the government please provide all of the possible physical ship to addresses for this contract?

A. The physical addresses are as follows: The Weld Shop is located at 6350 Gillon Street, APG, MD 21005 and the Chemistry Laboratory is located at 6901 Lanyard Road APG, MD 21005. The roads and building numbers were recently changed and some of the old building numbers no longer are used for official purposes.

Q. RFQ notes that all cylinders are government owned but references vendor owned cylinders. Please specify which cylinders/gases/quantities are to be provided in vendor owned cylinders.

A. The gases covered in paragraph 1.4.1 (Compressed Industrial Gas Cylinder Refilling) in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) will utilize government owned cylinders. The gas mixtures covered in paragraph 1.4.2 (Compressed Specialty Gases) of the PWS are to be supplied in vendor owned cylinder. The cylinder size/type and estimated annual quantities for the specialty gas mixtures are provided in Tables 1 and 2 of paragraph 1.4.2.

Q. The RFQ states "Any and all applicable costs you incur to meet the terms of this contract must be factored into the unit price of the gas. We will not pay demurrage on cylinders. The length of time we might keep any given cylinder is indefinite; for instance, cylinders containing specialty (calibration) gas mixtures may be held until their expiration date. All vendor provided cylinders will be returned upon termination of this contract."

If demurrage/rental must be included in the gas price for vendor owned assets that may be on site for the base year and four option years, please confirm that the government understands that the gas prices may need to be increased significantly to account for an asset deployed for up to a 5 year time frame. In addition, we need to respectfully request the government to confirm the gases and estimated quantities that will require contractor owned cylinders (as requested in question 5)

A. This statement pertains to the specialty (i.e. calibration gas mixtures). It is understood that an additional pricing needs to be built in as a "processing fee" of sorts in order to account for the vendor owned cylinders remaining at ATC until the gas is consumed or the expiration of the mixture. Obviously, the length of time that a given cylinder remained at ATC is dependent upon our workload, but on average the majority of gas cylinders are consumed within 1-2 years at most. Again, the cylinder size/type and estimated annual quantities for the specialty gas mixtures are provided in Tables 1 and 2 of paragraph 1.4.2 of the PWS.

Q. Due to the number of questions, the request for a site visit, and the time frame remaining for the government review and post an Amendment, we would like to respectfully ask for your consideration on a due date extension.

A. Due to the questions and the site visit request the closing date for the combined synopsis solicitation will be extended to 16 March 2020.

The date for the site visit will be on 11 of March at 1 p.m. /1300 hrs. Location is 6350 Gilon street, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005.