SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Development and Recommendation of a Grain Sorghum Pricing Methodology - INstutions of Higher Education
- Notice Date
- 9/9/2008
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Interior, National Business Center, AQD - Herndon, NBC - Acquisition Services Directorate 381 Elden Street, Suite 4000 Herndon VA 20170
- ZIP Code
- 20170
- Solicitation Number
- 14060408CS20974
- Response Due
- 9/15/2008
- Archive Date
- 9/9/2009
- Point of Contact
- Donald Abamonte Contracting Officer 7039643645 donald.abamonte@aqd.nbc.gov;<br />
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in the notice. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTES ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-26. The US Department of Interior, through its Franchise Fund activity, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), is issuing this solicitation, Number 1406-04-08-CS-20974 as a Request for Quote (RFQ) on behalf of the US Department of Agriculture, Risk Management Agency (RMA). This Order will procure services to provide USDA, Risk Management Agency with a grain sorghum pricing methodology that is transparent and replicable. The resultant awards shall be Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP). THE GOVERNMENT IS REQUESTING QUOTES AND INTENDS TO AWARD A TASK ORDER TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING THAT CAN PERFORM THE WORK WITHIN THE STATEMENT OF WORK. NAICS Code 524298 entitled, "All Other Insurance Related Activities" Product Service Code B599 entitled, "Other Special Study & Analyses" CLOSING DUE DATE: 15 September 2008TIME:11:00 A.M. EASTERN TIME (ET) PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: FAR 52.202-1 "Definitions" (July 2004)FAR 52.204-4 "Printed or Copied Double-Sided on Recycled Paper" (Aug 2000) FAR 52.212-1 "Instructions to Offerors" (Provision). See addendum, attached.FAR 52.212-3 "Offeror-Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (June 2008)FAR 52.212-4 "Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items" (Feb 2007)FAR 52.212-5 "Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues Or Executive Orders-Commercial Item" (June 2008)FAR 52.227-17 "Rights in Data-Special Works" (Dec 2007) EVALUATION OF QUOTES: (a) The Government will award an Order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. In accordance with the procedures in FAR 13.106-2, all offers will be evaluated based upon the criteria included in this solicitation. Although not required, the Contracting Officer reserves the right to conduct discussions with only those Offeror's whose quotes have been determined to be the most highly rated. For those offers deemed the most highly rated, the Government may request revised quotes. It should also be noted that if the Contracting Officer determines that the number of acceptable quotes exceeds the number at which an efficient evaluation can be conducted, the Contracting Officer reserves the right to limit the number of quotes to the greatest number that will permit adequate competition among the most highly rated quotes. The technical quote will be evaluated against the Statement of Work and the stated evaluation criteria. The Government shall use a Tradeoff Evaluation Method using Adjectival Ratings to evaluate the Technical Approach and Past Performance. Adjectival ratings shall be assigned to each evaluation criteria. A final consensus adjective rating will be generated as the evaluations are near completion. In the event quotations are evaluated as technically equal, price will become a major consideration in selecting the successful Offeror. The evaluation rating and standards that shall be used in evaluating the technical quote are included with the solicitation attachment titled "Past / Present Performance Questionnaire." Evaluation will be conducted by the Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP), consisting of RMA officials and the Contracting Office. The TEP will make a final recommendation to the Contracting Officer; who will have the final determination on the award. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers (in descending order of importance): Technical Approach: This factor evaluates the Offeror's Technical Approach on how the offeror would develop and recommend a pricing methodology for grain sorghum that better reflected the actual price at time of harvest that would be transparent and replicable. Past Performance: On this factor the Government will evaluate the quality of previous work products the Offeror and its key personnel have produced. Offerors that combine greater professional competence with a demonstrated ability to deliver consistently high quality products will receive a higher evaluation. Aspects to be considered include the customer's perspective on: Usefulness and value of the services and products delivered (e.g., recommendations in previous work products were generally adopted); The key objectives and initial intent of the contracts were met (customer expectations); Previous work products contained relatively few substantial deficiencies, and the requested corrections were quickly and correctly made or satisfactorily explained; and Previous work products contained detailed, logical, and insightful analysis and recommendation, use of appropriate statistical methods, insight into potential program vulnerabilities, etc.In the event the Offeror does not have any past performance evaluations, they will be assigned a neutral rating for this section.Price Evaluation: Overall, the Government considers price less important than the above technical factors on this solicitation. But as technical quotes approach parity, price will become more important. Notwithstanding this, the realism of quoted prices will be evaluated as a reflection of the offeror's understanding of the requirements. The quoted prices will be evaluated separately but in conjunction with the technical quoted elements. A quoted price that is considered by the Government to be too low to accomplish the proposed technical approach may constitute a potential performance risk to the Government in terms of quality and ability to meet delivery schedules. The following additional provisions, clauses, and documents apply to this acquisition and are included in documents applicable to this solicitation, which are available to view at: http://www.aqd.nbc.gov/Solic/openmarket.asp A. Complete Copy of the Full FBO AnnouncementB.. Statement of WorkC. FAR 52.217-08 "Option to Extend Services" (Nov 1999)D. P05-05 GovPay E-InvoicingE. Organizational Conflict of Interest Certification The full text of the FAR provisions and clauses are available at: http://www.arnet.gov/far/ or http://farsite.hill.af.mil. Offerors must submit Technical, Past Performance and Price Quotes in separate volumes, via email to the Contracting Officer by the closing date and time specified within this solicitation. Offerors are advised that failure to submit a response by this date and time may result in their quotation not being considered. Offerors are advised that they are responsible for reviewing all provisions and clauses and fully reading this solicitation prior to submitting their quotes. NOTE: Due to email server and pipeline limitations, please limit the size of each email with attachments to 3MB. If the Offeror does not have access to email, offers must be mailed to: Attn: Donald Abamonte/Melissa OnyszkoNBC/Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD)381 Elden Street, Mail Stop Suite 4000Herndon, VA 20170 Please be advised that Acquisition Services Directorate is located in a secure building. If offers are hand delivered, please ensure the courier is instructed to use the courtesy phone in the rear of the lobby (to the right of the elevators) to call the Point of Contact listed above on phone no. (703) 964-3645. A staff member will meet the courier to receive the submittal. If you have questions regarding this solicitation, please submit your inquiries immediately via email but not later than 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time 11 September 2008 to Donald.abamonte@aqd.nbc.gov. Please be advised that the Government reserves the right to transmit those questions and answers of a common interest to all prospective Offerors. 52.212-1 Addendum INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS Offerors may submit multiple quotes in response to the solicitation. Each quote will be evaluated on its own merit and contents. Quotations shall consist of written Technical and Price quote. Offers must include the following: 1.Tax Identification Number (TIN)2.Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS)3.North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Code4.Product Service Code (PSC) Offeror's must also ensure that their firm is registered with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). For information, refer to http://www.ccr.gov. All Offeror's quotation shall cite the RFQ Order Number and project description. The quotation shall also list the Offeror's point of contact for this project including name, title, address, phone number, and email address on the title page of each volume. All Offeror's must submit with their quotes, a completed Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (FAR 52-212-3) form. If the Offeror's Representations and Certifications are registered on the ORCA website, it must be indicated in the offer. The Offeror's written quotation shall be submitted in three (3) separate volumes: Technical, Past Performance, and Pricing. The Offeror shall only include pricing information in the Pricing volume. In response to this solicitation, offerors shall submit a technical quote that contains their proposed solution(s) to the SOW objectives. The technical quote shall include:Technical Approach, containing a technical discussion covering the following points: An explanation how the offeror would develop and recommend a pricing methodology for grain sorghum that better reflected the actual price at time of harvest that would be transparent and replicable.Past Performance: The offeror will submit the following information with regards to past performance for similar work performed: A list of three (3) references for contracts performed within the last three (3) years for the Federal Government and/or commercial customers that demonstrate recent and relevant past performance for the type of work described in this Statement of Work."Include the following information: Project title and description; Contract number, type of contract, and amount; Government agency or organization; COTR's name, address and telephone number; Current status; (e.g. completed and/or if in progress, start and estimated completion dates.) Key personnel; and (please highlight those individuals who worked on the relevant project(s) and are also being proposed for this effort.) A brief narrative of why you deem the reference to be relevant to this effort and the SOW paragraph to which the reference applies; Discussion of any problems encountered and how these problems were resolved. Note: The government may also consider information obtained through other sources, including the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). Past performance information will be utilized to determine the quality of the contractor's past performance as it relates to the probability of success of the required effort. Offerors must send Client Authorization Letters to all sources of past performance referenced in their quotes. A copy of this Client Authorization Letter must be submitted in the Past Performance volume.Technical Quote Format: Technical quotes are limited to 20 pages, on standard letter-size paper. All pages shall have a minimum of a 1-inch margin on the top, bottom, left, and right. Page numbering, offeror identification, and disclaimers may be placed in the 1-inch margin. Font size shall be no smaller than 10-point. The 1-inch margin required for text pages is not required for foldouts. Electronic versions of the quote shall be submitted in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Project, as appropriate. The number of copies to be submitted, to which location, and in what form shall be as directed by the Request for Quote (RFQ). The Government will not count the following documents toward the 20-page limit: Charts, Tables and Graphs (when on separate pages); Examples of existing reports on climate change of insurance, and climate change models on insurance agreements; Letter of Transmittal (cover letter); Title Pages; Divider Pages; Table of Contents; and List of Exhibits No Price or Cost data should be in the Technical Quote.Price Quote: The Price and Cost (Business) Quote shall be separate from the technical quote and must include a price breakdown which includes not only the total contract price but also shows the labor categories and charges, other direct costs, travel expenses and miscellaneous or material costs for deliverables in order to facilitate the Government's assessment of cost realism and performance risk. The price/cost quote must include the following: Prices for all work identified in this solicitation, along with labor categories and charges, other direct charges, travel expenses and methodology for determining travel costs, and other direct costs shall be shown for the deliverables in order to facilitate the Government's assessment of cost realism and performance risk. Subcontractors, Consultants, and Subject Matter Experts (SME's): Each offeror's written price/cost quote shall contain the following information for each subcontractor, consultant, and SME that will provide work under this quote: oName of the company or individual; oType of work, hourly rate, and number of hours; oTotal cost to the Government ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST a)It is the intent of this Agency to avoid awarding Contracts that could create potential conflicts of interest. Such a situation could occur in the execution of this Contract when the Contractor or any subcontractors are involved with adjusting claims or selling policies of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) crop insurance programs related to this Contract or receives other funding or benefits from insurance providers that currently conduct crop loss adjustment or sales of this program; or, if the Contractor or any subcontractors participated substantially in the development or maintenance of the crop insurance program related to this Contract. Such interests bias a Contractor's judgment, either negatively or positively and thus impede the Government's objective of obtaining an unbiased, technically sound performance of the work. b)Potential conflicts of interest could also occur in the execution of this Contract when the Contractor or any subcontractors have an agreement or employment arrangement in effect with another Offeror under this solicitation or another Contractor having an active contract with the Risk Management Agency. Such interests bias a Contractor's judgment, either negatively or positively or result in an unfair advantage and thus impede the Government's objective of obtaining an unbiased, technically sound performance of the work. c)Prior to the commencement of any work, the Contractor agrees to notify the Contracting Officer that to the best of its knowledge and belief, no actual or potential conflict of interest exists or to identify to the Contracting Officer any actual or potential conflict of interest the Contractor may have. d)The Contractor agrees that if an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest is identified during performance, the Contractor will immediately make a full disclosure, in writing to the Contracting Officer. This disclosure shall include a description of actions which the Contractor has taken or quoted to take, after consultation with the Contracting Officer to avoid, mitigate, or neutralize the actual or potential conflict of interest. e)Remedies- Acquisition Services Directorate may terminate this Contract for convenience, in whole or in part, if it deems such termination necessary to avoid an organizational conflict of interest. If the Contractor was aware of a potential organizational conflict of interest prior to award or discovered an actual or potential conflict after award and did not disclose it; or misrepresented relevant information to the Contracting Officer, the Government may terminate the Contract for default, debar the Contractor from Government contracting or pursue such other remedies as may be permitted by law or this Contract. f)The Contractor shall include this clause, including this paragraph in all subcontracts and consultant agreements provisions which shall conform substantially to the language of this clause, including this paragraph, unless otherwise authorized by the Contracting Officer. g)The Contracting Officer's decision as to the existence or nonexistence of an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest shall be final.
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- Address: USDA RMA, Kansas CIty, MO and Contractors Ofices<br />
- Zip Code: 64113<br />
- Zip Code: 64113<br />
- Record
- SN01664823-W 20080911/080909222806-b2cde7a125463f16fb69335cd92f5e24 (fbodaily.com)
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