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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF MAY 17, 2017 FBO #5654
DOCUMENT

U -- ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor Training for VA QMS Consultative Division Combined Synopsis/ Solicitation (Amendment A00003) Questions and Answers (Q&A) - Attachment

Notice Date

5/15/2017
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

611430 — Professional and Management Development Training
 

Contracting Office

Strategic Acquisition Center - Frederick;Department of Veterans Affairs;321 Ballenger Center Drive, Suite 125;Frederick MD 21703
 

ZIP Code

21703
 

Solicitation Number

VA119A17Q0226
 

Response Due

5/19/2017
 

Archive Date

5/29/2017
 

Point of Contact

William Milline
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

CONTINUATION PAGE Questions and Answers (Q&A) If the Government is requesting that the trainings be held at the Contractor s location(s), is there a requirement for the maximum number of miles that the trainings would be held from the employees location in Frederick, MD? (Submitted by One Federal Solutions) The training is not intended for the employees located in Frederick, MD (this is the Contracting Officer s location). The training is for employees scattered throughout the United States. There is no maximum number of miles the training must be conducted within according to a specific location, although venue should be located in lower 48 states. The contractor is responsible for securing a location/venue and the Government will be responsible for making sure its employees make it to the selected location/venue. Course must be instructor led and offered face-to-face. To ensure high quality training, the course must be accredited through Exemplar Global, the American Board of Accredited Certifications, or other recognized verifiable accreditation organization/board. The competency based training for the course isn t certified, the examination is. So you desire competency but you want a certified course. They don t go together. Please clarify. Please refer to the link below about the Training Provider and Examiner Certification Scheme. http://exemplarglobal.org/documents/tpecs/latest/tcd15-tpecs-certification-requirements.pdf In reviewing the RFP is appears that a Training Course Certification is more in line with the objective you are looking for. Would you consider changing the requirement from TPECS to TCC or either one? Please refer to the link below.   http://exemplarglobal.org/certification/training-certification/training-course-certification-tcc/ The Government desires a course congruent with those offered to private industry. By providing such a course, it believes it can produce the best quality education to its employees. The Government believes that courses are certified. Exemplar Global, for example, states, Our training certification process looks at the design, development, and delivery of your course framework and, if applicable, certifies the course or assessment outcomes against our range of popular ISO management system schemes, such as quality, food safety, and occupational health and safety. To meet this obligation, vendors may elect to consider the Exemplify method of evaluation instead of the TPECS or TCC methods. The course must be accredited through Exemplar Global, the American Board of Accredited Certifications, or other recognized verifiable accreditation organization/board.         The Contractor instructor shall have at least 5 years experience in ISO 9001 Quality Management. and be a certified Lead Auditor through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO doesn t certify auditors so No one can comply with this requirement. Please clarify. Can you modify the requirements to show successful completion of the ISO 9001 Lead Auditor course by a recognized instructional organization with a combination of number of audits conducted as a Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor? Suggest 2 audits as Lead and 10 audits as Principal.   ISO is not involved in Auditor certification, and does not issue certificates. This is performed by external certification bodies. Requirement: The Contractor s instructor shall have at least 5 years experience in ISO 9001 Quality Management, have completed and passed a certified Lead Auditor course from external sources that are certified through Exemplar Global, the American Board of Accredited Certifications, or other recognized verifiable accreditation organization/board and have completed at least 5 audits as Lead. The Contractor shall provide an ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor course to staff. Course must be a competency-based course which teaches a general understanding of the ISO 9001:2015 standard and the principles and practices of quality management systems.   Competency based systems require evaluations of personnel over time that this RFP does not address. Qualifications based approach is less subjective and more objective over time leading to qualifications based on real world experience in Quality Auditing. Please refer to the information below. All Personnel Certification schemes designed with Exemplar Global can be based on a competency-based approach, involving the measurement and examination of: Certificate of Attainment of competencies specific to the scheme Personal attributes Skills-based competencies specific to the scheme; plus Additional qualification-based options of assessment A qualification-based approach, involving: Recognition of education/qualifications Completion of an Exemplar Global certified training course Recognition of industry work experience Recognition of specific scheme work experience (e.g. audit logs, on-site hours, face to face time) Attendance at directed professional development activities. Would you consider modifying the RFP to say either approach would be acceptable?   The government requires a competency based course, but does not require its course participants to complete the number of follow-up hours or audits to complete their certification. However, completing their hours and audits are an option for the participants, so a competency based course must be provided. Will you consider modifying the RFP to have the classes conducted in appropriate VA facilities to cut the cost of a hotel conference room? This way a VA Hospital or Medical Center central to the country can be used. If this is not preferable then will the RFP be modified to cover the cost of a hotel conference room for the 4-5 day training period? The Government intends to place its course participants in the vendors classes. The vendor is responsible for costs of the venue. Also, see question 17. Will you modify the RFP to cover the cost of instructor travel, lodging, and M&IE at the GSA per diem rate? The Government does not intend to include travel as a reimbursable or separate fixed line item. With the "unaccredited"/ non-IRCA courses, instructors can be very flexible on the way they present the course materials in these sessions, i.e. tailor their presentation to the needs of the group, what they want to focus on, etc., as opposed to the IRCA Lead Auditor courses, which are very proscribed and do not allow any deviation. Course types could include: A 2-day 9001:2015 Transition course (meant for experienced internal auditors for the ISO 9001:2008 standard, as it skips the background and basics of ISO and goes right into how to perform internal audits for the new revision of the standard); A 3-day 9001:2015 Internal auditor course (provides all the basic skills training and information for new internal auditors or a refresher for experienced internal auditors on how to audit, how to create an audit checklist for the 2015 revision of the standard, etc.); or  A 5-day IRCA accredited ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor course (meant for experienced internal auditor in the ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 9001:2015 standards as an advanced auditor training course or to provide them with the credential/training certificate that they can use to become a professional, 3rd party auditor and work for a registrar). Which level(s) of training would best fit your needs? The minimum requirement is that the course must be accredited through Exemplar Global, the American Board of Accredited Certifications, or other recognized verifiable accreditation organization/board. Can the Government provide a Pricing Matrix in Excel format for use in calculating price with this opportunity? See attached excel spreadsheet which may be used for the price quote. How many of the proposed attendees are already trained or certified in other ISO Standards? All staff attending has taken a certified course on ISO 9001:2008 standards and have completed phase 1 of Lead Auditor certification. How many of the proposed attendees are known to have some experience with ISO 9001 Requirements? All employees have at least 3 years experience with the ISO 9001:2008 standards. Is VA QMS Consultative Division the end-user of the contracted services? Yes. What is the most recent quality management training VA QMS has received? ISO 9001:2008 is the latest ISO Lead Auditor Training that has been completed to the proposed employees. Has VA QMS or the SAC contracted for any ISO training before? If so, please provide details. Yes. ISO Consultation for Healthcare (ICH) provided the VA QMS Consultative Division their ISO 9001:2008 Lead Auditor Course. What are the proposed levels of the attendees? Will staff be integrated with management? Would like the ability for honest and open dialogue. The employees will range from mid-level management to supervisors. Understanding the government is seeking organizational transformation which provides better services to the veteran, is the government seeking as a short term goal 1) certification to build momentum or 2) process improvement for incremental improvement? The Government is looking to educate their employees in the new ISO standards so they can become more productive and efficient with their work as well as educate and consult fellow VA employees on the ISO 9001:2015 changes and Lead Auditing skills. What relatively recent event has led to the release of this solicitation? New ISO standards were released for ISO 9001 training on September 23, 2015. The ISO standards switched from 9001:2008 to 9001:2015. Will the government make available its own facilities for place of performance as an option? See 3.2 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE -Work may be performed at locations designated by the vendor in relation to normally scheduled auditor courses open to the public. Contractor must provide a list of available class dates/locations for QCD staff to attend by the end of the performance period and 5.4 FACILITY/RESOURCE PROVISIONS - The contractor will provide the training venue and all necessary requirements for the ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor Course.   The Government does not intend using its own facilities. Is this a new initiative, follow-on to an existing contract or a re-bid/re-write of a previous contract, an incumbent or preferred contractor? This is a new initiative. Although the VA has received previous ISO 9001:2008 Lead Auditor Training before, the new standards are ISO 9001:2015 and the Government employees need trained under the newest standards. If there is an incumbent, please identify the contractor and their relationship to VA, and previous contract information and dollar value of that contract. There is no incumbent to this exact requirement. See A13 for Contractor providing similar training in the past. Do you have a preferred class size limit? If not, would you accept limiting the class size to 10-15 individuals to allow for optimal class participation and interaction? The Government does not have a preference to size class but must conform to no more than 20 students per class, per accrediting standards. For the classes, will the contractor need to provide food and beverages? If so, is that cost to be incorporated into the firm fixed price, or listed separately as an Other Direct Cost, to be reimbursed by VA? Contractor will be required to provide for their own instructor s food and beverage, but is not required to provide food or beverage to our attendees unless the contractor is providing the same to other attendees at the same price. Will this training be utilized on a recurring basis? Is it expected that the government will seek contractor support for ISO 9001:2015 implementation? The Government does not see this requirement being utilized on a recurring basis; however, this requirement may have to be fulfilled in the future based on the needs of the Government. Would the Gov t please clarify what the first (non-cover) page of the quote is?   Is the Gov t referring to a non-cover page as the title page, or is the Gov t referring to a non-cover page as the cover letter? Most responses include a cover page with images/ title/ Point of Contact information/ etc. First non-cover page is intended to mean the first page following the cover sheet. If a Quoter wishes to include a cover letter, First non-cover page will mean first page following the cover sheet and cover letter (if applicable). Is there a timeframe in which all 24 staff members need to be trained? All 24 staff members must be trained by August 1, 2017. Are all 24 attendees to be taught together? For accreditation purposes, any lead auditor training class shall be no more than 20 students at a time. The Government predicts that this requirement should require no more than 3 separate classes. Are there any restrictions to teaming? As the requirement is an SDVOSB set-aside, limitations on subcontracting apply to this acquisition. A service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern agrees that in the performance of the contract, the concern will comply with the limitation on subcontracting requirements in 13 CFR §125.6. Can the Government provide hard or digital copies of the ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor Training books? No. The Vendor will provide all materials associated with the course. The due date for this solicitation is near and with the questions still yet to be answered, the time remaining to construct a quality and accurate response bid to this solicitation will be extremely challenging. Can the due date be extended for another two weeks? The Government has granted an extension. The new due date/ time for quotes is May 19, 2017 at 3:00PM ET. ******************END OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS****************** Please note that changes resulting from all responses above are considered to be incorporated into a conformed version of the PWS (will be reflected at time of award).
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/AFMLOVASS/VASSMD/VA119A17Q0226/listing.html)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA119A-17-Q-0226 A00003 VA119A-17-Q-0226 A00003_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3497809&FileName=VA119A-17-Q-0226-A00003000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3497809&FileName=VA119A-17-Q-0226-A00003000.docx

 

File Name: VA119A-17-Q-0226 A00003 Price Quote Spreadsheet- ISO9001-2015 Lead Auditor.xlsx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3497810&FileName=VA119A-17-Q-0226-A00003001.xlsx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3497810&FileName=VA119A-17-Q-0226-A00003001.xlsx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Place of Performance

Address: Contractor site TBD

Zip Code: TBD
 

Record

SN04508982-W 20170517/170515235140-8e4d0a0b80cc66600a810878b946deb0 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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