MODIFICATION
65 -- Request for Information for the fabrication of eyewear for the Department of Defense
- Notice Date
- 8/19/2002
- Notice Type
- Modification
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Navy, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, NMLC, 1681 Nelson St, FT Detrick, MD, 21702-9203
- ZIP Code
- 21702-9203
- Solicitation Number
- N62645-02-R-0019
- Response Due
- 8/26/2002
- Point of Contact
- Tim Moffatt, Procurement Analyst, Phone (301) 619-7468, Fax (301) 619-2925,
- E-Mail Address
-
tjmoffatt@us.med.navy.mil
- Description
- A. Background 1.0. The Department of Defense is evaluating an optional business strategy that will divest the Government from the fabrication of eyewear for the Department of Defense (DoD) including certain client organizations, the United States Coast Guard, the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, etc. B. Purpose of this Request for Information, RFI 1.0. To evaluate the practicality of this option and to make the best business decision, the DoD requests that the optical fabrication industry provide certain data that the Government will use in a comprehensive business case analysis. The Government believes that these data are commonly available business data. If proprietary information is provided, it is the offerors responsibility to mark that information using the standards contained within the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR 3-104). 2.0. The data required herein will NOT result in the award of contracts for the fabrication of eyewear for the DoD. These data are for information and planning purposes ONLY. If the DoD determines that this strategy has merit, solicitations may be issued in accordance with applicable FAR and DoD implementing regulations and instructions. 3.0. Although the Government will reasonably accept questions from offerors regarding this RFI, no information will be provided regarding divestiture, future planning options or solicitations yet-to-be-issued. 4.0. The Governments cost of optical fabrication data is not available to industry. C. Operational Definitions 1.0. Afloat/deployed. Those operational units of the DoD that are either deployed and at sea or deployed OCONUS. Deployed units may or may not be participating in armed conflicts. 2.0. CONUS. The 48 contiguous Continental United States. 3.0. Customer Return Error Rate: Finished eyewear that does not comply with either the eyewear prescription or fabrication requirements as described herein. Errors may be identified by the end user but will always be validated by the Governments clinical professional. Errors are further defined herein. 4.0. Finished Optical Job. A finished optical job includes the cost of the frames, the cost of the lenses, the cost of fabrication, the cost of quality assurance, mailing costs, software costs, and the cost of a standard hard sided protective case for each pair of spectacles. The offeror shall also include all costs of overhead, profit/fee and any other reasonable expenses to receive requests for eyewear, fabricate that eyewear and return completed eyewear to the requiring medical treatment facility(s) or established eyewear ordering accounts. 5.0. NOSTRA. The Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity, Yorktown, VA. For the purpose of this RFI, the largest central optical fabrication laboratory within the DoD. 6.0. OCONUS. Outside the 48 contiguous Continental United States. 7.0. OFE. The DoDs tri-service Optical Fabrication Enterprise. For the purpose of this RFI, the OFE coordinates all optical fabrication activities for the DoD. The OFE includes all DoD fabrication laboratories world-wide. D. Proposed Process for Fabrication of Eyewear 1.0. The process described below is notional, based on the Governments need for the business and technical information requested herein. It offers a framework within which the offeror can reasonably provide the requested business and technical information and IS NOT BINDING ON EITHER THE GOVERNMENT OR THE OFFEROR. Therefore, in a hypothetical, divested environment operating under firm fixed price contracts with one or more industry source, the Government projects a system as detailed below. 1.1. The Government (at any of the DoD?s medical treatment facilities or established eyewear ordering accounts) will provide the offeror with an eyewear prescription, the type of frame, and the priority. 1.2. Eyewear prescriptions will be transmitted to the Contractor using Contractor provided hardware and/or software. Eyewear prescriptions will be transmitted to the Contractor using a secure strong encrypted digital method using Contractor provided hardware and or software. The Contractor will also have the capability to accept up to10percent of orders via FAX, phone, or standard mail/courier services. 1.3. The Contractor will fabricate the eyewear and produce a finished optical job that meets the Governments quality standards. 1.4. The finished optical job will be returned to the DoD medical treatment facility(s) in accordance with the Governments priorities for turnaround times. 1.5. The Government will check the finished eyewear for accuracy and quality. Upon acceptance, the eyewear will be dispensed to the patient. If rejected, the Government will return the eyewear for re-work. Re-work (including the cost of mailing back to Contractor) will be at no cost to the Government. 1.6. The Contractor will provide a properly executed, itemized summary invoice to the Government not more often than twice each calendar month. E. Quality Standards 1.0. In the spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Pricing Sheet and, specifically on the tab titled, Finished Job (Offeror Quality), the Government requests that the offeror price those line items using the offerors quality standards. The offerors quality standards are those standards that the offeror typically employs to provide finished optical jobs to their existing customer base. 2.0. In the spreadsheet titled, ?DoD Optical Fabrication Pricing Sheet? and, specifically on the tab titled, Finished Job (Govt Quality), the Government requests that the offeror price those line items using the Government?s quality standards provided herein. The Governments quality standards are those standards that it now employs to meet the expectations of the DoD customer. 3.0. Governments Quality Standards 3.1. ANSI quality standards applied. The Governments quality standard strictly adheres to current applicable ANSI (Z80, Z87, Z86) quality standards. All spectacles that meet or exceed these standards will be stamped with the ?Final Inspected by stamp of the individual performing the inspection. 3.2. Customer Return Error Rate. Based on a sample of 432,843 pair of spectacles which match the range and depth of the requirement contained herein, the Government?s customer return rate for the period from 1 July 2001 to 24 July 2002 was 952 pair of spectacles or a 0.2 percent (0.002) lab error rate. This represents the rate of jobs returned by the customer to the lab for rework. This is not the labs internal error rate. This 0.2% customer return error rate is the standard that the offeror shall apply to their pricing to meet the requirements within the spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Pricing Sheet and, specifically on the tab titled, Finished Job (Govt Quality). 3.2.1. To amplify the definition above, an ?error? is further defined to include the discrepancies such as: Rx sent to the wrong account, Aberration of the lens, Wrong axis OD, OS or OU, Bad frame stock (defective), Wrong frame color, Wrong style temple, Wrong add power, Lens(es) are cocked, Requested prism missing, Lenses are scratched or pitted, Frame burnt, Lens(es) are too big for the frame, Lens(es) are too small for the frame, Lens(es) are flaked, Requested prism has the wrong direction or amount, Lens power is wrong, Wrong segment height, Undesired prism, Frame is broken, Wrong frame size, Wrong segment type, Wrong type or style frame, Lenses are reversed, PD is wrong, Requested UV400 missing, Requested tint missing, Poor bevel placement, Requested base curve wrong, Frame alignment poor, and Lenses or frame damaged in shipment. 3.3. Delivery Priorities. The Government?s turnaround times (by priority) are based on historic data. These data indicate that from 2% to 10% of requests for eyewear require 24-hour turnaround (down pilots, recruit training, etc.), 5% to 40% require 3-day turnaround and 50% to 93% require 7-day turnaround. F. Surge Requirements. 1.0. The Government has recent surge experience with Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm (DS/DS), Operation Enduring Freedom and post-September 11th. These surge requirements occur across all categories of frames and lenses but are particularly acute in the specific areas of Protective Mask Inserts (PMI) and Sun Tint (N-15) requirements. As additional detail, the DS/DS data indicates that PMI fabrication increased 379.94% and sun tint workload increased 189.83%. The DS/DS data also indicates that 43% of eyewear was fabricated and shipped within 48 hours of receipt. (NOTE: The Government recognizes that the exact production data may be helpful to the offeror but the actual numbers cannot be released.) However, the Government MUST have a system in place to accomplish this surge given a less than 7 day turnaround requirement for the vast majority of the work and a maximum 14 day turnaround for the remainder even under non-surge conditions. If a divested strategy is chosen, empirical Government data shows that the duration of a surge may be: Long (7-10 months), Moderate (3-6 months), or Short (1-2 months). 2.0. The offeror is free to extrapolate actual surge workload from the FY02 data that has been provided within the Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. However, recognizing that these data are not specific, the Government requests only that offerors provide information on their surge capacity, as detailed in the section herein titled, ?Technical Proposal?. G. Business Rules 1.0. OFFERORS NEED NOT RESPOND TO ALL LINE ITEMS. The offeror is free to respond to any or all of the line item requirements within the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Pricing Sheet on either/both tabs (Finished Job (Offeror Quality) and Finished Job (Govt Quality)). The Government does request that the offeror provide a brief rationale for not responding (i.e. not a typical product line, not cost effective given the volume, etc). This data would be helpful to determine the reasonableness of the Government?s ultimate approach/solution. 2.0. These data are not binding on either the offeror or the Government. 3.0. The Government has no additional information that is available at this time. However, if a solicitation is issued, the Government realizes that additional detail and definitional support will be required. Offerors are free to propose data, technical, definitional, business or other items that would be needed to competently propose on the Governments requirements. 4.0. The Government will retain these data as long as necessary to complete its analyses. 5.0. The Government will make no other use of this data, except for the analyses of the DoDs optical fabrication options. H. Proposal Submission Requirements 1.0. The transmission and receipt of each offerors proposal from/to the Government will be exclusively electronic. Hand written price proposals, brochures, paper price lists, etc. cannot be accepted because the Government will not be able to meet the deadlines established by higher authorities. As this proposal has been sent electronically, the Government requires that the offeror?s proposals be received electronically. They should be submitted to the point of contact below ONLY. Please contact the point of contact below if there are any questions. 1.1. Sales/marketing brochures are specifically discouraged. Do not send samples. Do not send items that need to be returned to the offeror. Offerors should not feel compelled to prove either capacity or competence as these issues will be inherent in formal solicitations, if issued. The Government encourages offerors to present certain sales, marketing or product data during their oral proposals, if they elect that option. 2.0. Proposals are due by 2:00 EDT on 26 August 2002 to the point of contact below. Although late proposals do not have the same implications as if this were a formal solicitation, this date has been chosen to meet deadlines established by the Surgeon General of the Navy, the Department of Defense and other budgetary and executive agencies of the President. Therefore, the Government requests that this deadline be met as reasonably as possible. Please contact the point of contact below if there are any questions. 3.0. To supplement (not supplant) the offeror?s electronic data, the Government is willing to schedule time during the week of 26-29 August 2002 to hold oral discussions with offerors. These oral discussions are completely optional at the discretion of the offeror and, at no cost to the Government. If the offeror desires to provide an oral proposal, please contact the point of contact listed below to establish a mutually convenient time. I. Offerors Proposal 1.0. Offerors should read and completely understand this document before beginning either their business or technical proposals. 2.0. Business Proposal. The Government recommends that offerors: 2.1. Review the standards for interpreting the pricing requirements. These standards are contained within the Microsoft Excel? spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Data on the tabs titled, Frame Data, Lens Data, and Tint Data. 2.1.1. The, FY02 YTD Volume (Oct-Jun) column represents the workload that the offeror shall use for pricing purposes taking into account all expenses and discounts to propose a notional price for a finished optical job. These numbers represent the Government?s workload from October 1, 2001 through Jun 30, 2002. The offerer is reminded that references in the spreadsheets to lens volume indicates the per lens volume and not per pair volume. The Government requests that the offeror indicates their pricing for lenses as per finished and mounted lens pair. 2.1.2. The MIL-SPEC references, color, eyesize, bridge and, temple data have been provided to offerors as a reference of the range and depth of eyewear that are typically produced by the Government. 2.1.3. The Vendor or source data for frames has been provided to give offerors an additional reference that can be used for pricing purposes. The offeror may propose equivalent frame types as long as they meet the standards contained therein. Offerors are neither required to use the same source nor contact these competitors. 2.2. Complete the tab titled, Finished Job (Offeror Quality) within the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Pricing Sheet?. These data should be the offerors notional prices to the Government for each finished optical job (as defined herein) using the offeror?s quality standards. 2.2.1 The data shaded in blue represents the Governments requirement by frame and lens type. The Government believes that the offeror should be able to use the standards within the Microsoft Excel? spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Data? to provide a notional price to the Government. 2.2.2. The offeror shall complete the green shaded cells. 2.3. Complete the tab titled, Finished Job (Govt Quality) within the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Pricing Sheet. These data should be the offeror?s notional prices to the Government for each finished optical job (as defined herein) applying any premium for a finished optical job that meets the Governments quality standards. 2.3.1. The data shaded in brown represents the Governments requirement by frame and lens type. The Government believes that the offeror should be able to use the standards within the Microsoft Excel? spreadsheet titled, DoD Optical Fabrication Data? to provide a notional price to the Government. 2.3.2. The offeror shall complete the yellow shaded cells. 2.4. Provide any supporting financial documentation that the offeror believes that the Government needs to understand the offeror?s prices. Information should be precise, factual and complete, avoiding unnecessary, unrelated, and/or expansive discussions. 3.0. Technical Proposal. The Government requests that offerors: 3.1. Provide a brief and general rationale for not responding to all line items as applicable to the offerors data. 3.2. Provide proposals/ideas of data, technical, definitional, business or other items that would be needed to competently propose on the Government?s requirements if formal solicitations are issued. 3.3. Provide any information regarding mailing costs that explains the timing and barriers of fabricating eyewear for the United States Army Medical Materiel Command Europe (USAMMCE), Pirmasens Germany; Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu HI; and, to the 16th MEDLOG Battalion, Taegu Republic of South Korea. If mailing costs are available, the Government requests that the Contractor provide data for mailing 100 finished optical jobs using both the 24-hour and 3-day priority requirements. 3.4. Provide a brief narrative regarding the offerors capability and/or willingness to manage the surge capability defined herein including capacities, time required to re-tool and, potential barriers to successfully satisfy both the Moderate and Short surge requirements. 3.5. Provide the method that the offeror uses to transmit and receive eyewear requests from customers ONLY IF: 3.5.1. The offeror cannot meet the Governments requirements for using a secure, strong encrypted digital method using Contractor provided hardware and or software or, 3.5.2. The offeror receives more than 10% of orders via FAX, phone, or standard mail/courier services. 3.6. Provide any supporting technical documentation that the offeror believes that the Government may need to understand the offeror?s proposal. Information should be precise, factual and complete, avoiding unnecessary, unrelated, and/or expansive discussions. J. Evaluation Procedures 1.0. To provide fair disclosure of the Governments use of these data, offerors are advised that the Government will make comparisons across like business items and among all offerors submitting a response to this RFI. These data will be compared to the Government?s quality and cost data with particular attention to optical readiness and contingency planning. While certain cost increases may or may not be justifiable, the Government cannot accept any plan that compromises or has the potential to compromise military optical readiness, current quality standards, current delivery standards (i.e. customer expectations) and/or the DoD?s ability to provide surge or contingency response. 2.0. The identification of particular offerors and the content of their offers will be blinded. Only the chairperson of the Technical Evaluation panel and the Contracting Officer will have specific identifying data as to which offeror proposed, the content of their proposal and the identification of questions, issues and/or concerns of offerors (to a practical extent). Offerors suggestions may be made via attribute to follow up prior to any future procurement action. K. The above referenced Excel spreadsheets may be obtained at http://www-nmlc.med.navy.mil/Code02/rfp.asp, N62645-02-R-0019, Attachments 1 & 2. 1.0 Point of Contact. The sole point of contact for this RFI is Mr. Tim Moffatt, the Contracting Officer at the Naval Medical Logistics Command, 1681 Nelson Street, Ft Detrick, MD 21702-9203. Mr. Moffatt can be reached at (301) 619-7468 or mailto:tjmoffatt@us.med.navy.mil. No other contact is authorized. Information provided by anyone except Mr. Moffatt is not binding on the Government.
- Place of Performance
- Address: NA
- Record
- SN00144245-W 20020821/020819213722 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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