Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF AUGUST 20, 2003 FBO #0629
SOLICITATION NOTICE

R -- Foreign Currency Exchange Transactions

Notice Date

8/18/2003
 

Notice Type

Solicitation Notice
 

Contracting Office

Other Defense Agencies, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Acquisition Services, Cleveland, 1240 East 9th Street, Room 1441, Cleveland, OH, 44199
 

ZIP Code

44199
 

Solicitation Number

Reference-Number-DBSCO4RA016
 

Response Due

8/29/2003
 

Archive Date

9/13/2003
 

Point of Contact

Brenda Parks, Contract Specialist, Phone 216-522-6845, Fax 216-522-6352, - Frank Troha, Contracting Officer, Phone 216-522-6600, Fax 216-522-6352,
 

E-Mail Address

brenda.parks@dfas.mil, frank.troha@dfas.mil
 

Description

Quotations needed on providing the services as outlined in the attached Statement of Work (SOW) for the processing of foreign currency payments for the Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Columbus Center. Please read the SOW carefully. It is anticipated that this order will be a base (first) year with four (4) option years. The total anticipated value of this effort is approximately $375,000.00. A firm-fixed price quotation is requested for the effort detailed in the SOW. Anticipated Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) are delineated on the pricing sheet; the base year and subsequent options years should be quoted on the pricing sheet. Should you believe additional costs are necessary, please outline them and explain the reasoning for their requirement. Upon award, effort will be billed/paid monthly in arrears. All quotations will be evaluated according to the factors for selection outlined in the SOW. Please provide a concise summary of the details requested in Paragraph 4A, page 5 of the SOW by close of business (COB) August 29th, 2003. Reply can be made by mail, fax or e-mail to the Contracting Point of Contact (POC). The SOW is below. Frequently asked questions will be provided upon request. ======================STATEMENT OF WORK=================== STATEMENT OF WORK FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS 1. BACKGROUND The Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center (DFAS/CA) performs financial and accounting functions for several governmental agencies conducting various operations throughout the world. The Center currently has a one-year contract, which expires on September 30, 2003. The purpose of this solicitation is to open the bidding to interested parties in establishing a long-term contract for a process that allows the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center to continue paying foreign vendors/contractors in a variety of foreign currencies. 2. SCOPE A. Concept of Operations: 1. Disbursements - The Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center will establish an account(s) with the contract bank. When processing foreign currency payment(s) to foreign vendors/contractors, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center shall notify the contract bank of the impending payment(s). Upon notification, the contract bank shall purchase the amount of foreign currency required for the payment(s) and provide the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center the exchange rate and U.S. Dollar equivalent. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center will process the payment(s) in U.S. Dollars for deposit into an established account for subsequent transfer by the contract bank to the payee in the specified foreign currency. The contract bank should have the capability of transferring foreign currency via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or Check/Draft. The proposed system should eliminate the need for Limited Depository Accounts (LDA¡¦s), as outlined in the DoDFMR, Volume 5, Chapter 14. 2. Erroneous Payments - In the event an erroneous payment is made, it may be necessary for the contract bank to research the payment and provide copies of documents related to that payment. If the payment must be voided and collected back into the account, the contract bank must refund the exact U.S. Dollar amount at the exchange rate quoted for the original disbursement resulting in no gain or loss due to exchange fluctuation. 3. Collections - The contract bank should also have the capability of receiving and forwarding collections from debtors. These would be payments made payable to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center in a foreign currency. The contract bank would receive the foreign currency payments and convert such payments to a U.S. Dollar equivalent for deposit into an account. The contract bank would then forward the U.S. Dollar amount to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center. The contracted process should have no limitations regarding the volume and dollar amount of Collection transactions being processed by the Contract Bank and forwarded to the Columbus Center. 4. Payment Date - The payment date shall be defined as the date on which foreign currency draft or electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments are dated. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center shall establish the payment date in which the foreign currency payment must be made. The contract bank shall be responsible to ensure the payment is made on the established payment date. Coordination will be made between the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ¡V Columbus Center and contract bank to ensure funds are on deposit in the account on the payment date. The Contractor shall be able to lock in a rate for a minimum of ¡§current plus five business days¡¨ for all supported currencies to allow time for transactions to be entered in DoD systems (i.e., entitlement, disbursing, and accounting systems). B. Disbursing Transactions: The average number of foreign currency transactions for the current Fiscal Year has been 135 transactions per month. The dollar amount of each transaction may range between $50 to $3,000,000 per transaction. The contracted process should have no limitations regarding the volume and dollar amount of Disbursement transactions being processed by the Columbus Center. C. Fiduciary Relationship: By definition and according to the terms of the contract, the contract bank shall act as an instrument for the Defense Finance and Accounting ¡V Columbus Center in processing foreign currency transactions. D. Records Retention: All records and data turned over to the Contractor as well as any new records and data created by the Contractor remain the property of the Government. The Contractor shall only use information obtained from direct input by DFAS staff or other data requesters into the Contractor¡¦s stand alone system for the purpose for which the data was provided. The Contractor shall be responsible for retaining the data, as a backup, for a minimum of 6 years and 3 month, as outlined in the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives, and Records Administration. This period will require the contract bank to continue the retention and availability of records beyond the expiration/termination of the contract. The contract bank shall retain transaction records that are consistent with the requirements of the Disbursing Office. E. System Architecture: Any foreign currency related software should be able to accommodate the following computer system architecture: Pentium 3 (900 Megahertz) IBM Compatible Personal Computers 128 Megabyte of RAM 20 Gigabyte Hard Drive. 3.5 Floppy and 32X CD ROM Drive. US Robotics 56K Modems. (Note: Phone line is not dedicated to Modem use only). Windows 2000 (Note: Future plans will change to Windows XP). Office 97 Netscape version 4.75 for web version The Personal Computers are not connected to a Local Area Network (LAN) for the stand-alone versions F. Support/Maintenance: It shall be incumbent upon the contract bank to support the process both administratively and technically. Such support should include material and training to explain the process with direct access to support personnel should questions or situations arise which require an immediate response. The Contractor¡¦s primary representative or alternate(s) shall be available during normal duty hours within 60 minutes, and within 2 hours after normal duty hours to discuss problem areas. G. Type of Contract: Fixed Price Contract: The proposal should be structured in such a way as to provide a fixed price for establishing, maintaining and supporting the proposed process. The offeror shall address the capability to perform and all costs associated with their proposed process, to include: „h Installation of applicable software. „h Training in the use of applicable software. „h Manuals explaining the use of applicable software. „h Upgrades of applicable software. „h Batch processing of files. „h Fully functional Internet version. „h Purchasing and selling foreign currency. „h Disbursing and collecting foreign currency. „h Revising financial reports. „h Designing financial reports. „h Consolidating financial data into one report. „h Overdraft charges. „h Stop payment charges „h Payment aggregation charges „h Researching disbursements and collections. „h Setting up repetitive payment data. „h Expanding data fields in proposed foreign currency system. „h Expanding the number of foreign currencies available. „h Expanding the method of disbursing foreign currency (i.e., draft/wire/cash). „h Monthly maintenance fee on any established account(s). In addition, the Contractor shall use a Treasury General Account, whenever possible, when establishing accounts with DoD. H. Period of Performance: The contracted process shall be maintained and supported for a period of 1 year from October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004, with an optional annual renewal period not to exceed September 30, 2008. I. Transition Period: In the event a different process from the current one is selected under this solicitation, it will be incumbent upon the contract bank to minimize the transitional impact by having its respective process fully operational at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service-Columbus Center no later that October 5, 2003. J. System Requirements: „h The Contractor¡¦s Web based system should allow for importing of a file from an Access database to originate the payment transactions. „h The Contractors system should be able to aggregate multiple invoices for payment. The cost for this type of transaction, if different than normal transactions, must be itemized in the pricing schedule. See Type of Contract above. „h The Web based system should have a Report View Only option. „h The Web based system must provide a paperless confirmation. „h The Web based system must allow for simultaneous multi-user access. „h Describe your payment notification capabilities. „h The system should support the import of a flat file from any DFAS system „h The Web based system should provide for the download of the payment confirmation file with exchange rate and USD equivalent in either text or Excel format. 3. DELIVERABLES Reporting requirements for the contract bank shall consist of: „h A monthly report of activity that shall include at a minimum the number of transactions and the nature of those transactions (i.e. disbursements, collections, stopped payments, etc.). „h A statement of charges for transaction processing and account maintenance. „h A fiscal year end report for all activity on the account shall be prepared at the conclusion of the fiscal year. 4. EVALUATION A. The primary evaluation factors are listed below in ascending order of importance, unless otherwise indicated. 1. Operational Approach The offeror shall provide a concise summary in response to Paragraphs 2.A-D as outlined in this Statement of Work. The offeror shall also address his/her capability of meeting the transitional requirements specified under Paragraph 2.I. This section is limited to eight (8) pages and should address any planned future enhancement to the proposed process. 2. Technical Approach The offeror shall provide a list of all support and maintenance functions related to their proposed process as outlined under Paragraphs 2.E-F. This section is limited to four (4) pages. 3. Cost The offeror shall provide a detailed list of all costs associated with the implementation, maintenance and support of the process. This section should clearly address costs related to items listed under Paragraph 2.G and is limited to three (3) pages. 4. System Requirements The offeror shall provide a concise summary in response to items listed under Paragraph 2.J and is limited to three (3) pages. B. Scoring Method. The following method will be used in assessing each operational, technical and cost proposal as outlined in this Statement of Work: Outstanding-4 Very significantly exceeds most or all of the requirements. Response exceeds a "Better" rating. The Offeror has clearly demonstrated an understanding of all aspects of the requirements to the extent that timely and highest quality performance is anticipated. Better-3 Fully meets all of the requirements and significantly exceeds many of the requirements. Response exceeds an "Acceptable" rating. The areas in which the Offeror exceeds the requirements are anticipated to result in a high level of efficiency or productivity or quality. Acceptable-2 Meets all of the requirements. Complete, comprehensive, and exemplifies an understanding of the scope and depth of the task requirements as well as the Offeror's understanding of the Government's requirements. Marginal-1 Less than "Acceptable." There are some deficiencies in the technical proposal. However, given the opportunity for discussions, the technical proposal has a reasonable chance of becoming at least "Acceptable." (Areas of a technical proposal which remain to be "Marginal" after "Final Revisions" offers shall not be subject to further discussion or revision.) If award is made on initial offers, there will not be an opportunity for discussions, nor a chance to become at least "Acceptable." Unacceptable-0 Technical proposal has many deficiencies and/or gross omissions: Failure to understand much of the scope of work necessary to perform the required tasks; failure to provide a reasonable, logical approach to fulfilling much of the Government's requirements; failure to meet many of the requirements. (When applying this adjective to the technical proposal as a whole, the technical proposal must be so unacceptable in one or more areas that it would have to be completely revised to attempt to make it other than unacceptable.) 5. AWARD - BEST VALUE A. The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with Offerors. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the Offeror's best terms from an operational, technical and cost standpoint. B. Proposals received in response to this solicitation will be evaluated by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Department of Defense Supplement (DFARS). One contractor will be selected for award on the basis of their proposal being the most advantageous to the Government. C. All evaluation factors are significantly important; however, the Government may elect to pay a price premium to select an Offeror whose operational and/or technical evaluation factors are superior. ============END OF SATEMENT OF WORK=======================
 

Web Link

Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/DFAS/Cleveland/Reference-Number-DBSCO4RA016/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: Defense Finance and Accounting Service Columbus Center 3990 East Broad St Columbus, OH 43213

Zip Code: 43213

Country: USA
 

Record

SN00405690-F 20030820/030818224052 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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