SOURCES SOUGHT
65 -- Orthopedic Soft Goods - Lower Back / Abdomen
- Notice Date
- 5/29/2008
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 423450
— Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Command, European Regional Contracting Office, European Regional Contracting Office, ATTN:MCAA E, Building 3705, Landstuhl, Germany APO, AE 09180
- ZIP Code
- 09180
- Solicitation Number
- W9114F-08-T-9987
- Response Due
- 7/4/2008
- Archive Date
- 9/2/2008
- Point of Contact
- antonio.t.stewart, 496371868696
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- A. General Information Europe Region is initiating the standardization process for Orthopedic Soft Goods Lower Back/Abdomen for its 55 Army, Navy, and US Air Force medical facilities in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Southwest Asia. Standardization for this product line, Orthopedic Soft Goods Lower Back/Abdomen, represents new or first-time initiative for the Europe Region. This product line includes the following products in the following sizes. 1.Lower Back Brace/Support - Sizes: Small/Short, Small/Tall, Large/Short, Small, Medium, Large, Xlarge. 2.Abdominal Support Binder - Sizes: SM/MED, MED/LG, Universal, Short, Long, 3XLong, 4XLong. Vendors are required to supply all items listed in all or comparable sizes listed. The primary objective of this program is to standardize the quality of care across this region based on a best value determination that represents the clinically preferred product or source(s) at the best possible price. It is also intended that standardized product be obtained through the DoD Prime Vendor Program via USAMMCE. The major facilities in the Region include but are not limited to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, U. S. Army Hospital Heidelberg, 48th Medical Group RAF Lakenheath, 52nd Medical Group Spangdahlem, 86th Medical Group Ramstein, 39th Medical Group Incirlik, 65th Medical Group Azores, U. S. Naval Hospital Naples, U. S. Naval Hospital Rota, U. S. Army Health Center - Vicenza, U. S. Army Medical Activity Bavaria, 31st Medical Group Aviano, U. S. Naval Hospital Sigonella, U. S. Army 30th Medical Brigade, and U. S. Army CENTCOM. This standardization action is part of the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor program executed by the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Directorate of Medical Materiel. In order to participate, your company must have a Distribution and Pricing Agreement (DAPA) and a separate commercial agreement with the Prime Vendors for the program. This is pursuant to the DAPA clause by which DAPA holders agree to the Standardization process and to allow Prime Vendors to distribute their items. This Request for Quotes (RFQ) is a supplement to the Prime Vendor Program, and it is not a contract. For additional information regarding DSCPs Prime vendor program, please access their web site at https://dmmonline.dscp.dla.mil. The resulting Regional Incentive Agreement RIA will be for a base period of two (2) years (24 months) from date of selection with three (3) 12-month option periods for a maximum of 5 years. Anticipated selection date is September 2008. The evaluation will be based on clinical, technical, and pricing factors. The Technical/Company and Clinical/Performance evaluation factors, when combined, are considered significantly more important than cost or price. As the technical and clinical evaluation results become more equal, price will become more important. The selection will be determined utilizing best value/ trade off criteria. The selection of a single vendor is anticipated. However, if no single vendor can meet the total requirement of the region, the Government reserves the right to make two or more selections for RIAs. In this event, selection would be based on a combination of MTF preference and product availability. Point of Contact is Mrs. Marcee Whisenant, phone: 011-49-6221-172109, and e-mail marcee.whisenant@us,.army.mil B.Products & Performance Required The Europe Region is seeking product line items in the category of Orthopedic Soft Goods Lower Back/Abdomen, which at a minimum includes the high volume lines below. Within this region, this product line has an estimated annual dollar requirement of $81,613. This forecast is based on historical prime vendor sales during a recent 12-month period. The top ten high volume usage lines for this project include: Brace Lumbosacral w/Tall SM Side Panels$26,860.14 Support Back or Lumbar LG 36-42in Waist Elastic Posterior Foam Pad Velcro Front Closure$15,178.50 Support Back or Lumbar MED 30-36in Waist Elastic Posterior Foam Pad Velcro Front Closure$12,885.44 Support Back or Lumbar XL 42-50in Waist Elastic Posterior Foam Pad Velcro Front Closure$8,014.42 Brace Lumbrosacral w/Short LG Side Panels$7,645.78 Brace Lumbrosacral Shoulder Harness w/Short SM Side Panels$2,220.44 Support Lumbro-Sacral MED 32-42in Hip Elastic 9in Front 9in Back w/Stays Thermoplastic Insert Pocket Hook and Loop Closurex2$1,595.88 Support Lumbro-Sacral MED/LG Elastic Tapered Front 10in Back Crisscross Back & Compression Strap w/Stays Hook and Loop Closure$1,472.80 Support Lumbro-Sacral SM 32in Hip Elastic Tapered Front 11in Back 3-Buckle Cinch Straps w/Stays Posterior Pad Hook and Loop Closurex3$1,448.40 Support Abdominal Binder 4-Panel 12in 4XLong 82-94in Elastic Hook and Loop Closure$1,184.84 At the request of the Europe Region MTFs, vendors will provide on-site support and in-servicing during implementation, educational resources and tools for clinical use of the product, conversion information, prime vendor order numbers, MSDS information, and itemization of the brands, types and packaging information of the products supplied by the vendor. C.Instructions to Vendors DAPA holders interested in participating in this standardization initiative should email their (1) Company name and address, (2) POC (Name and Phone Number, Fax Number, and E-mail address), and (3) all answers to the technical/company criteria to marcee.whisenant@us.army.mil. All e-mail communication between vendors and the region must be digitally signed. All communications of significant acquisition milestones (such as invitations to participate, or notices of disqualification) must be digitally signed as well. Submissions must be received by 4:00 PM EST on the specified closing date of this RFQ. Vendors that fail to meet this submittal deadline will be disqualified from participating. This process will include vendor requirements for providing electronic responses to technical criteria, no charge samples for clinical evaluation, and submission of electronic best price quotes. Due to the potential for e-mail to be lost in transmission from network security, etc., vendors are strongly encouraged to confirm with the Regional POC stated above their initial submission, best price submissions, and literature or other requested information has actually arrived at the Europe Regional Tri-Service Business Office (TRBO) via e-mail. All email communications between vendors and the Europe Region must be digitally signed by the issuer. All communications of significant acquisition milestones (such as invitations to participate, or notices of disqualification) must be digitally signed. Each submitting vendor is advised to confirm receipt, allowing adequate time for resubmission before the due date/time, should a problem occur with the first submission. D. Evaluation Criteria The Tri-Service Product Review Board (TPRB) is the governing board of the standardization process. This board includes clinicians and logisticians from the Military Treatment Facilities within the Europe Region. They are the deciding officials for this initiative. The Europe Region intends to evaluate price quotes and select a vendor or vendors, without discussions. Vendor quotes should contain the vendors best product matches for the products or product lines requested in this announcement. Vendor quotes should contain the vendors best responses to all technical and/or company questions listed in this announcement. Vendor quotes should contain the vendors best tiered-pricing discounts off of the vendors DAPA pricing (based on committed volume of 80% of the total requirements of the MTFs in the Region). Additionally, the Europe Region reserves the right to conduct discussions and request revised quotes, if it is determined to be necessary. If a down selection is made during the evaluation process, the Europe Region may limit the number of quotes to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among vendors. Phase I - Technical/Company Evaluation Process. Interested vendors are to respond to this FBO announcement by emailing their intent to participate to the above POC by the required response date. Based on vendor responses, the TRBO POC will request detailed responses to the technical/company criteria from each vendor. Vendors are required to meet/provide responses to the technical/company criteria stated below. All technical/company criteria are weighted equally. The responses will be reviewed under the purview of the TPRB and the Clinical Product Team (CPT) to determine acceptability of each vendor. After review of the technical/company criteria, those vendors who meet these criteria will be qualified/invited to participate in the clinical/performance evaluation. 1. In general, acceptability for purposes of evaluation of technical/company criteria is defined as follows: a. Based on the vendors responses, the evaluators have reasonable confidence that the line or products and/or services submitted meet the medical standards of care of the community applicable to such products or services. b. The vendors information provided is factually correct. Any misrepresentation of information will disqualify the vendor from further consideration. 2. Each technical/company criteria below require additional, more specific definition of technical acceptability. The specific standard for technical acceptability will be set forth with the individual criterion. The following Technical/Company Evaluation Criteria have been established for the standardization initiative: 1.Vendors must provide a complete line of Orthopedic Soft Goods Lower Back/Abdomen products for single use. A complete line of product is defined as the MTFs requirements for usage items in the product line. Usage items are defined for this report as items used in the Europe Theater within a twelve month period at a minimum, a complete product line includes: a. Usage Items: 1)Lower Back Brace/Support - Sizes: Small/Short, Small/Tall, Large/Short, Small, Medium, Large, XLarge 2)Abdominal Support Binder - Sizes: SM/MED, MED/LG, Universal, Short, Long, 3XLong, 4XLong b. Vendors must provide a complete list of items supplied (catalog, etc.) and product literature in response to this RFQ. Vendors are required to supply all items listed in all sizes (some of the sizes above within each product line may be similar or not applicable due to the item being available as a universal (one size fits all) category) and styles listed. Vendors who do not have a complete product line as above will be disqualified in Phase I. 2.Vendors must have a DAPA or be in the process of applying for a DAPA number for the Orthopedic Soft Goods - Lower Back/Abdomen product line. Provide the DAPA number or proof of the application process in response to this RFQ. (Note that vendors that fail to have a DAPA or show a lack of progress in obtaining a DAPA will be disqualified.) Your DAPA number is: __________________. 3.Vendors must have a separate agreement with the PV Owens & Minor for distribution in the Europe Region. (Note a vendor whose products are not available through the regional PV will be disqualified.) 4.Vendors must provide contact information (Name, phone number, and e-mail address) for a local vendor representative in the Europe Region in response to this RFQ. 5.Vendors must submit discounts off DAPA for all products included in this standardization initiative. Note: vendors that fail to submit a discount from DAPA will be disqualified. Where lower uncommitted Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) prices are available, DAPA holders are required by previous agreement to provide the uncommitted FSS price as the DAPA price. Vendors shall NOT quote uncommitted FSS prices as the discounted price for purposes of this standardization initiative. Vendors who do not provide discounts off DAPA for ALL products in Phase III will be disqualified. 6.Vendors must provide electronic and hard copy proposed pricing and a competitive product cross-reference in electronic Microsoft Excel format upon request. 7.Vendors must provide a statement confirming their products meet the industry production and safety standards (i.e. meets OSHA Standard Industrial Classification {SIC} description for 3842: Orthopedic, Prosthetic, and Surgical Appliances and Supplies) used in manufacturing Orthopedic Soft Goods - Lower Back/Abdomen products in response to this RFQ. 8.Vendors must provide any history of back orders and/or recalls that occurred during the most recent 24-month period for the Orthopedic Soft Goods - Lower Back/Abdomen products including dates, duration, cause, and resolution in response to this RFQ. Vendors will not have the opportunity to provide additional information on back orders and recalls during any subsequent stage in this evaluation. Vendors are encouraged to submit all information deemed relevant (i.e., positive resolutions, etc.) in response to this RFQ. The Government will not contact any points of contact provided in response to this question. Vendors should not provide point of contact information in response to this question. 9.Vendors, in response to this RFQ, must provide statement revealing all products containing synthesized polymer (plastic/rubber) are clearly labeled as latex free/safe. 10.Vendors must provide documentation of what type of securement devices your company uses for your Lower Back/Abdomen orthopedic soft goods in response to this RFQ. 11.Vendors must provide, in response to this RFQ, documentation of what type of lining your company uses for your Lower Back/Abdomen orthopedic soft goods product items. 12.Vendors must provide, in response to this RFQ, documentation that your products are designed to be worn over or under clothing. 13.Vendors must be able to ship samples necessary for evaluation via United States Parcel Service eliminating delays that occur with Europes Custom Offices. Provide acknowledgement of this issue in response to this RFQ. Samples required for this evaluation will be furnished by the vendors at no charge. Phase II - Clinical/Performance Evaluation Process. The multi-disciplinary CPT formed by the TPRB will request samples (no charge) from the product line to be clinically evaluated at select Military Treatment facilities. The CPT will evaluate the product line using hands on evaluation of samples in a non-clinical (non-patient) setting. As mentioned in the technical/company criteria above, vendors are required to ship samples to the Europe Tri-Service Regional Business Office (TRBO) via United States Parcel Service (USPS) to the following APO address: Commander, Europe Regional Medical Command Attn: G-4 TriService Standardization Mr. Rob Halliday, (011-49-6221-172108) CMR 442 APO AE 09042 Vendors will be given 14 calendar days to ship samples. Samples must be shipped to the TRBO by COB, 5:00PM EST on the 14th calendar day after the notice to ship. Vendors failing to deliver by the deadline will be disqualified from further consideration in the standardization process. Vendors must forward verification (e-mail) of shipment to the TRBO. Specific MTFs will evaluate the clinical/performance criteria using a Likert scale, with a one to five rating. One (1) is equal to not acceptable, two (2) is equal to minimally acceptable, three (3) is equal to acceptable, four (4) is equal to more acceptable, and five (5) is equal to highly acceptable. All clinical/performance criteria are equally weighted. The CPT has established a target threshold of 3.00 for the clinically acceptability of products for standardization. The CPT will analyze this acceptability as being at or near 3.00 depending on the break in the average scores and how closely scores are clustered near the Acceptability Target Threshold of 3.00. Vendors scoring below the actual acceptability threshold will be determined to be clinically unacceptable, and be disqualified from further consideration for this standardization initiative. To determine acceptability, a CPT comprised of medical professionals from multiple disciplines will evaluate the products based on the evaluation criteria below. The CPT intends clinical evaluations be conducted in a non-clinical (non-patient) setting. The following Clinical/Performance Evaluation Criteria have been established for this standardization initiative: 1. Patient Safety - Product is durable. a. A splint or brace for the lower extremity needs to be durable due to the forces incurred with weight bearing and patient mobility. b. Each criterion will be evaluated 2 times by each participating MTF using each product sample by clinical personnel in a non-clinical setting. c. Evaluator will visually inspect the product, confirming the quality of the material used to construct the item is acceptable. 2. Patient Comfort - Product is lightweight. a. The weight of the splint or brace is important for patient comfort due to the length of time the device will need to be applied. b. Each criterion will be evaluated 2 times by each participating MTF using each product sample by clinical personnel in a non-clinical setting. c. Evaluator will visually inspect and don the product, confirming the weight of the item is acceptable. 3. Proper Fit - Product has adjustable securement devices. a. This feature will allow proper fit to stabilize injured or diseased body part. b. Each criterion will be evaluated 2 times by each participating MTF using each product sample by clinical personnel in a non-clinical setting. c. Evaluator will visually inspect and don the product, confirming the adjustable closure device of the item is acceptable. 4. Patient Comfort - Product has features to provide comfort to user. a. The CPT will be looking for the different kinds of padding offered to allow for patient comfort. b. Each criterion will be evaluated 2 times by each participating MTF using each product sample by clinical personnel in a non-clinical setting. c. Evaluator will don the product, confirming the comfort of the item is acceptable. 5. Patient Safety - Product provides stability. a. This feature allows the stabilization of the body part protecting the body part from further injury. b. Each criterion will be evaluated 2 times by each participating MTF using each product sample by clinical personnel in a non-clinical setting. c. Evaluator will visually inspect and don the product, confirming the stability/function of the item is acceptable. Phase III - Pricing Analysis Process. After the clinical/performance evaluations is completed and analyzed, all vendors in the clinical evaluation group who met the minimum 3.00 clinical threshold (depending on the break in the average scores and how closely scores are clustered near the Acceptability Target Threshold as determined by the CPT) will be contacted to submit their lowest pricing quotes as well as product cross-reference data based on a committed volume of 80% of the total Europe Regional requirement. Vendors will be provided fourteen (14) calendar days to submit their price quotes in the prescribed format as above via email. Price quotes must be received by 4:00 PM EST on the 14th calendar day. Failure to respond within this timeframe or failure to submit incentive discounts from their DAPA prices will result in the vendor being disqualified from further participation in this RIA initiative. The Europe Region intends to evaluate quotes and select a vendor or vendors, without discussions as noted above. However, the Europe Region reserves the right to conduct discussions and request revised pricing, if determined to be necessary. Clinical/performance and technical/company factors will be weighted more heavily than price. As the technical and clinical evaluation results become more equal, price will become more important. Pricing will be evaluated based on best value to the government and will be based on a committed volume for a two year period with possible one-year option periods (not to exceed 5 years). The following elements will be considered in the pricing analysis: 1.The impact of RIA prices on the Region (Post-Standardization Costs) is considered more important than the other pricing elements. 2.Impact of Unmatched Lines. 3.Consideration of stock keeping units (SKUs) by each vendor. The Europe Region intends to reduce the number of SKUs that must be handled per period. Vendors that can supply the complete range of clinically required product, without unnecessary numbers of SKUs for minimally differentiated products, will be more likely to provide the best value solution for the government in this standardization initiative.
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- Place of Performance
- Address: European Regional Contracting Office ATTN:MCAA E, Building 3705 Landstuhl, Germany APO AE
- Zip Code: 09180
- Zip Code: 09180
- Record
- SN01583255-W 20080531/080529222506-306888a7265308ad6fb504267efa30e1 (fbodaily.com)
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