The US Coast Guard is conducting market research in order to determine the availability and capability of vendors to perform a web-based reverse auction services

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources relative to NAICS code 454112 with a size standard of $38.5M to perform a potential requirement. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred associated to this request for capability information.

The US Coast Guard is conducting market research in order to determine the availability and capability of vendors to perform a web-based reverse auction services that allow buyers to post specific requirements to obtain offers for commodities and services from different suppliers within the Reverse Auction Service Provider's (RASP) vendor network. Buyers shall have the ability to set a target price, specify that the winning price must be equal to or better than this targeted price, optionally set the criteria for selecting the vendor (s), include terms and conditions, and set a specified start and end date of each auction. Bidders and suppliers shall be able to submit a successively lower bid than the target price or leading bid to anonymously compete for a requirement. Bidders shall not have knowledge of the other bids posted or bidders participating in the auction. At the end of the auction, the contracting professional has the option to select the vendor(s) manually.

The contractor shall provide user-friendly web-enabled capabilities to purchase commodities and services through a reverse auction mechanism that does not require the download or installation of any software.

This web-enabled reverse auctioning interface shall permit contracting professionals to conduct real-time competed auctions for different contract vehicles by posting online reverse auction formatted solicitations, utilize best value award criteria, and establish auction start/end times. The system shall be versatile to allow buyers to have complete control over the bidding process to post auctions, cancel auctions at any time if it is in the best of the Government, and make award to any vendor within the binding pool. In addition, the contractor shall work with the US Coast Guard to develop additional reverse auctioning system capabilities and features as mutually agreed by the parties.

Other support that the contractor is expected to provide in the performance of reverse auction services includes, but is not limited to:

• Train users
• Set up accounts for users
• Provide technical/user support (help desk) to
troubleshoot problems with the system
• Provide a qualified list of suppliers
• Recruit and train new sellers to expand the
supplier pool
• Allow USCG to provide suggested sources
• Notify vendors of any new posting
• Allow suppliers/bidders bid down prices and
submit multiple bids
• Hide the identity of bidders so they are unknown
to each other
• When necessary, the contractor shall serve proxy
to post and cancel bids
• Provide expert reverse auctioning advice when
necessary (i.e. timeframe of bids, cancellation
and reposting of bids, etc.)
• Provide necessary online access to the following
information about each activity/bid
o Summary of all bids submitted per event
o Details of each bid submitted per event
o Vendor's specific information (i.e. company
name, address, point of contact, poc's phone
number & email address, company's tax ID
number, company's DUN number, etc.)
o Allow contracting personnel to utilize
existing multiple-award-contracts (MAC's) or
government-wide-acquisition contracts (GAWC's)
with the system.
• Create and maintain solid relationships with the
Coast Guard user community (Buyers and Sellers)
• If deemed appropriate by both parties,
contractor is expected to employ dedicated
support personnel onsite, whom have been issued
security clearances. These individuals are
expected to work closely with USCG contracting
professionals to provide ongoing buyer support to
ensure successful implementation and ongoing
utilization of the reverse auction tool.

Responses to this announcement must be received no later than Thursday, April 16, at 5:00P.M. Eastern Standard Time. Responses should be emailed to Petrina Nelson, email Petrina.d.Nelson@uscg.mil

Responses should include the following:
1. Reference Sources Sought Number
2. Your DUNS number
3. Size of the business (small or large) and the socioeconomic status of the company (i.e. HUBZone small business, 8 (a) business, etc)
4. Statement of Capability stating your skills experience, knowledge and equipment required to perform the specified type of work. Please provide at least two (2), but no more than four (4) previous projects, in the last 5 years, where you completed work similar to the work described above.
5.  Pricing data.

THIS IS A NOTICE FOR SOURCES SOUGHT. No feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. However, the United States Coast Guard may contact sources to gather additional information as needed.