SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Request for Information - SPV Western Africa
- Notice Date
- 3/10/2022 7:50:59 AM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 311999
— All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- TROOP SUPPORT SUBSISTENCE
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- 03-10-22
- Response Due
- 3/18/2022 2:00:00 PM
- Point of Contact
- Michelle Palandro, Phone: 215-737-0606, Neil-Michel Chiaradio, Phone: 2157373668
- E-Mail Address
-
michelle.palandro@dla.mil, neil.michael.chiaradio@dla.mil
(michelle.palandro@dla.mil, neil.michael.chiaradio@dla.mil)
- Description
- This is a request for information (RFI).� DLA Troop Support�s OCONUS Subsistence Prime Vendor (OCONUS SPV) Program is interested in your comments regarding full service food support to our military and authorized customers in Western Africa (from Western Sahara to Chad, all the way down to Namibia).� There is no solicitation available at this time.� The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this RFI, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing the information provided to the Government.� This RFI does not constitute a commitment from the Government and any information provided in response to this market survey will be used for informational purposes only.� Any proprietary information submitted will be protected if appropriately marked as such.� Vendor participation is not a promise for future business with the Government.� The sole purpose of this RFI is to conduct Market Research.�� Please consider the following questions and provide responses to the Government: 1.� Please provide the name of your Company, POC information.� If your company has a Cage Code, please provide that as well. 2.� In what type of business is your company involved � e.g. logistics, food distribution?� Who are your firm�s major customers, e.g. retailers, industrial accounts, commercial accounts?� 3.� What is your firm�s country of origin, and what is your firm�s country of primary operations?� 4.� Is your firm considered a large or small business concern? Small business is generally defined as a firm that employs less than 500 employees.� 5.� Is your business identified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)?� 6.� Do you have any long-term contracts with your customers and/or suppliers?� If yes, please describe. If no, please explain why, e.g., pricing too volatile, no interest, etc. 7.� Historically, sales in Western Africa have been estimated around $36,000,000.00 per year.� Product sales (e.g., trucking; airlifts; transportation officers and other field service personnel) are included in the sales estimate.� Can your firm manage this volume?� What is the revenue generated from product moving through your warehouse on an annual basis? Is revenue generated from any other source associated with the aforementioned warehouse, if so explain? 8.� Subsistence Prime Vendor support includes, but is not limited to: sourcing food items; receiving and consolidating product; warehousing and inventory management; quality control, quality assurance, and inspections; transportation and security of product, personnel management, meeting required delivery dates, and extensive reporting requirements.� DLA Troop Support customers in Western African have been supported by one or more warehouse platforms within Western Africa. Does your firm currently have a warehouse platform in Africa?�� If not, does your firm have the capabilities to stand up a warehouse platform in Western Africa?� Do you feel it would be more feasible to establish more than one warehouse platform in Western Africa to meet customer requirements?� Identify any constraints that may prevent your firm from developing warehouse platforms in Africa.� Note: sales estimates are identified above in question 6. 9.� Transportation from the Continental United States (CONUS) to Western Africa via the Defense Transportation System (DTS) is generally required. The Prime Vendor under a contract from a future solicitation may be required to use contracts established by the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) to move product into Africa.� (See questions below regarding applicability of Berry Amendment).� As a result, the SPV Contractor will be responsible for preparing and requesting bookings and the USTRANSCOM carrier will be responsible for the transportation of the SPV Contractor�s products from the specified CONUS manufacturer or CONUS distribution facility to the SPV Contractor�s OCONUS distribution facilities. The Government will not be responsible for the risk of loss of product transported via DTS.� Would your firm have any issues using the DTS system already established?� Your firm will also be required to enter into agreements with the USTRANSCOM carriers, or carrier agreements, to address issues such as claims processing and dispute resolution for losses and damages to contractor cargo.� DLA Troop Support will not be involved with carrier agreements, negotiations, or disputes between the carriers and proposed vendors.� Would your firm have any issues with this requirement? 10.� The Prime Vendor may be required to execute intra-country airlifts to meet delivery requirements to our customers that cannot be fulfilled by ground means.� Do you have a working arrangement in place with a commercial air source that has the ability to provide this type of support, including the ability to tri-wall and utilize dry ice or other temperature control measures when necessary?� Any suggestion that demonstrates new or creative ways to meet our customer�s requirements would be appreciated. 11.� In addition to an ability to provide domestic products from the United States, a firm may also need to provide Local Market Ready items (LMR) such as fresh eggs from the local economy under any future procurement that may be solicited.� Do you currently have any affiliations with local Western Africa LMR providers? 12.� Operational Rations and/or Government Furnished Material (OPRATS/GFM) would also have to be stored at OCONUS facilities.� Do you see any problems with this requirement? 13.� Many of the customers expect delivery 14 days after placing their orders, which is qualified as being the normal course of delivery. Can you accommodate this delivery schedule and how?� 14.� Would your firm be able to manage emergency deliveries defined as same day deliveries? If so, how? 15.� What is your normal lead time for orders? Under what circumstances do you have the ability to fill orders with shorter than the anticipated lead time of 14 days?� 16.� A Surge Requirement is one that could increase the normal orders by 300% in which you would be required to satisfy requirements for emergency situations (i.e., ramp up to meet early requirements (surge) and/or requirements that may exceed estimated annual quantities).� DLA defines surge as the ability to ramp up quickly to meet early requirements normally needed within the first 30 days of a contingency. Sustainment is defined as the ability to sustain an increased pace throughout the contingency(s) for six months or longer.� A surge situation is defined as an increase in military feeding of 300% of peacetime demand for a period of up to 30 days.� How would you be able to accommodate this increase?� What would be the time period to attain these increased quantities?� Will your company be able to operate at this increased output of products for a period of 6 months or longer? Please review the following procurement language in its entirety prior to responding to question Economic Price Adjustment � Actual Material Costs for Subsistence Product Price Business Model����������� (a) Warranties: For the portion of the schedule that is covered by this economic price adjustment (EPA) clause, the Contractor warrants that -- (1) Contract unit prices covered by this contract do not include allowances for any portion of the contingency covered by this clause; and (2) All price adjustments invoiced under this contract shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of this clause. (b) Definitions: As used throughout this clause, the term (1) �Contract unit price� means the total price per unit charged to DLA Troop Support for a product delivered to DLA Troop Support�s customers. The Contract unit price consists of two components: Product price and distribution price as identified in the schedule of items. The sum of the two component prices shall be rounded to the nearest cent to determine the final Contract unit price. (2) DLA Troop Support �Manufacturer�s Price Agreement� (MPA) means an agreement between DLA Troop Support and manufacturers which identifies a fixed product price for specific items that will be cataloged by the prime vendor. (3) �Product price� is the most recent DLA Troop Support MPA price or the most recent manufacturer, grower or private label holder commercial price per unit to the Contractor, exclusive of standard freight. (i) Exceptions: (A) Fresh fruits and vegetables (FF&V): (1) The product is listed in the distribution category #N/A for prime vendor fresh fruits and vegetables (FF&V)) and (2) It is necessary for the product to be transported into the local market of the importer, as otherwise approved under the contract, from a foreign country because local supply does not exist or it is insufficient to meet demand requirements; and (3) The importer that establishes the product price is the firm that actually performs the FF&V import service, including, but not limited to: procurement, storage, consolidation, pallets, and palletizing as it applies to the importer�s normal commercial sales, and the importer has comparable commercial sales in the market that is the point of import. (B) A contiguous United States (CONUS) based manufacturer, grower or private label holder�s product pricing which is a national price inclusive of transportation costs to a Distribution Point shall be supported by documentation and may be considered by the Government on a case by case basis, upon concurrence of the Contracting Officer. (C) Mandatory source items: The product price shall be limited to the nonprofit agency�s price for product as set in accordance with applicable law. The product price shall be based on f.o.b. origin/nonprofit agency. (Prices set in accordance with applicable law (f.o.b. origin/nonprofit agency.) (D) Prime vendor table displays/decorations only: For products listed in category N/A prime vendor table displays/decorations only, the product price shall be based on f.o.b. origin/point of the manufacturer�s distributor because the manufacturer will not sell directly to the prime vendor. This exception must be approved by the Contracting Officer on a case by case basis. Support documentation is required. (E) A redistributor�s price for a specific manufacturer�s product (also known as a stock keeping unit (SKU)) may be considered by the Government as long as the redistributor�s price for the quantity ordered is equal to or lower than the manufacturer�s published price inclusive of discounts/allowances. This exception must be approved by the Contracting officer on a case by case basis. Support documentation may be required. (4) �Product allowance� is discounts, rebates, and allowances to be passed on to the Government. In accordance with other provisions of the contract, all discounts, rebates, or allowances on particular items which are reflected in the amounts shown on the face of the manufacture�s, grower�s or private label holder�s invoice (referred to as �off-invoice allowances�) or otherwise given to the Contractor by the manufacturer, grower or private label holder, shall be passed by the Contractor to the Government, in the form of an up-front price reduction. The total of these discounts, rebates, and allowances (or product allowance), shall be reflected via a reduced subsistence total order and receipt electronic system (STORES) price, resulting in a lower invoice price to the customer. Any rebates that must be passed to the Government and which cannot be applied as an up-front price reduction must be submitted via check made to the United States (U.S.) Treasury, attached with itemized listing of all customer purchases by line item to include contract number, call number, purchase order number and contract line-item number (CLIN). (5) �Distribution price(s)� means the firm fixed price portion of the Contract unit price, offered as a dollar amount per unit of measure, rounded up or down to the nearest cent. The distribution price is the only method for the Contractor to bill the Government for all aspects of contract performance other than product price, including but not limited to, the performance requirements of this Statement of Work (SOW). Product price is distinct from and not to be included in the distribution price. The distribution price may be further segregated into pricing segments covering discrete, solicitation-specific performance requirements. (6) �Ordering catalog� means the electronic listing of items and their corresponding contract unit prices available for ordering under this contract. (7) �Ordering month� means from Sunday 12:01 AM of the first full week in a calendar month through the last Saturday 11:59 PM that precedes the Sunday of the first full week in the next calendar month (eastern time (ET), standard or daylight as applicable). (8) �United States Defense Transportation System (DTS) Ocean Shipping Costs:� DTS ocean transportation costs (for shipping the product from the Prime Vendor�s CONUS facility(s) to the prime vendor�s OCONUS facility(s), aka �point to point� delivery via DTS), shall be excluded from the distribution price. The Defense Transportation System is responsible for point-to-point delivery. (c) Price adjustments: (1) General: (i) All contract unit prices shall be fixed and remain unchanged until changed pursuant to this clause or other applicable provision of the contract. Only the product price component of the Contract unit price is subject to adjustment under this clause. After the first ordering month, if the Contractor�s product price changes for any or all contract unit prices, the Contract unit price shall be changed in the next month�s ordering catalog upon the Contractor�s request, submitted in accordance with paragraph iii below, by the same dollar amount of the change in the Product price, subject to the limitations in paragraph (d). The price change shall be effective at the beginning of the next ordering month. All ordering catalog unit prices computed in accordance with this clause and in effect when an order is placed shall remain in effect for that order through delivery. DLA Troop Support will be charged the Contract unit price in effect at the time of each order regardless of any changes in the unit price occurring in any subsequent ordering month. (ii) Catalog product prices must be reflective of the prime vendor�s last receipt price (the price of the stock most recently received into the OCONUS inventory). For all distribution categories, when multiple sources are being utilized and more than one manufacturer�s product is receipted prior to a catalog update, the Contractor shall establish the product price based on the mix of invoices received after the previous changes period. The product price would be derived as follows: Supplier A � 40% X $5.70 = $2.28 Supplier B � 30% X $5.90 = $1.77 Supplier C � 30% X $6.30 = $1.89 Product price = $5.94 (iii) Updates to the product price: All notices and requests for new item product prices and price changes shall be submitted monthly, no later than 5:00 PM local Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (U.S.) time one week prior to the first day of the next ordering month, to be effective in the next ordering month�s catalog prices. The product price shall have any and all product allowance subtractions made prior to presenting the product price to DLA Troop Support. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer of its notice/request in the form of an electronic data interchange (EDI) 832 transaction set. The change notice shall include the Contractor�s adjustment in the product price component of the applicable Contract unit price. Upon the Contracting Officer�s acceptance of such electronic data interchange (EDI) 832 price changes in accordance with (v) below, the price change transaction sets will post in the next month�s ordering catalog and each Contract unit price shall be changed by the same dollar amount of the change in the product price in the next month�s ordering catalog. (iv) All price changes, and catalog contract prices, are subject to review by the Government. The Contracting Officer may at any time require the submission of supporting data to substantiate any requested price change or the requested continuation of the pre-existing price for any item, including prices applicable to prior ordering months. Upon notice from the Contracting Officer that supporting data is required, the Contractor shall promptly furnish to the Government all supporting data, including but not limited to, invoices, quotes, price lists, supplier documentation regarding rebates/allowances, and any other substantiating information requested by the Contracting Officer. (v) Price change requests that the Contracting Officer questions or finds to be inconsistent with the requirements of this clause shall not be posted until the Contracting Officer specifically authorizes the posting. If the Contracting Officer does not notify the Contractor by close of business local Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. time on the Friday day immediately following the Monday that a price or a price change request is being questioned or has been found to be erroneous, the price change(s) will post to the ordering catalog effective the beginning of the following ordering month. The posting of updated prices in the ordering catalog, calculated in accordance with this clause, constitutes a modification to this contract. No further contract modification is required to effect this change. (vi) Should the Contracting Officer determine that, or question whether, a price change request contained an erroneous unit price or price change, or cannot otherwise determine the changed price(s) to be fair and reasonable, such as when the changed price(s) is (are) higher than lower product prices for items of comparable quality which are reasonably available to the Government or Contractor from other sources, the Contracting Officer will so advise the Contractor, prior to close of business local Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. time on the Friday immediately following the Monday. If the Contracting Officer cannot determine a price fair and reasonable, and the Contracting Officer and the Contractor cannot negotiate a fair and reasonable price, the Contracting Officer may reject any price change and direct in writing that the item in question be removed from the Contractor�s ordering catalog, without Government liability. The Contracting Officer may subsequently remove any such item from the ordering catalog if the Contractor fails to remove it. The Government has the right to procure such removed items from any alternate source of supply, and the failure of the Contractor to supply such item will be considered a negative instance of performance. (vii) In the event of a price change not posting or an ordering catalog contract unit price not computed in accordance with this clause, resulting in an incorrectly increased or decreased Contract unit price, the prime vendor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer in writing and promptly thereafter correct its ordering catalog and submit a refund for any amounts paid to the Contractor resulting from the erroneous price. In the event of an erroneous price decrease in the ordering catalog, if the Contractor can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Contracting Officer that the error did not result from the fault or negligence of the Contractor, the Contractor may submit a request for equitable adjustment for consideration by the Contracting Officer. (2) Limitations: All adjustments under this clause shall be limited to the effect on contract unit prices of actual increases or decreases in the product prices for material. There shall be no upward adjustment for -- (i) Supplies for which the product price is not affected by such changes; (ii) Changes in the quantities of material; and (iii) Increases in unit prices that the Contracting Officer determines are computed incorrectly (i.e. not adhering to the Contract unit price definition in this clause) and/or increases in unit prices that the Contracting Officer determines are not fair and reasonable. (d) Upward ceiling on economic price adjustment: The aggregate of contract product price increases for each item under this clause during the contract period inclusive of any option period(s) or tiered pricing period(s) shall not exceed 30% (60% for fresh fruits and vegetables (FF&V)) of the initial Contract product price, except as provided below: (1) If at any time the Contractor has reason to believe that within the near future a price adjustment under the provisions of this clause will be required that will exceed the current contract ceiling price for any item, the Contractor shall promptly notify the Contracting Officer in writing of the expected increase. In the event the latest actual market price for an item would result in a Contract unit price that will exceed the allowable ceiling price under the contract, then the Contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer in writing or via its EDI price change request and separate email no later than the time specified in paragraph (c)(1)(iii) above. With either such notification the Contractor shall include a revised ceiling the Contractor believes is sufficient to permit completion of remaining contract performance, along with appropriate explanation and documentation as required by the Contracting Officer. (2) If an actual increase in the reference price would raise a contract unit price for an item above the current ceiling, the Contractor shall have no obligation under this contract to fill future orders for such items, as of the effective date of the increase, unless the Contracting Officer issues a contract modification to raise the ceiling. If the contract ceiling will not be raised, the Contracting Officer shall so promptly notify the Contractor in writing. After evaluation of a requested actual price increase, if the Contracting Officer authorizes the change in the Contract unit price, the Contractor shall submit the EDI 832 price change. The price change shall be posted for the following month�s ordering catalog. (e) Downward limitation on economic price adjustments: There is no downward limitation on the aggregated percentage of decreases that may be made under this clause. (f) Examination of record: The Contracting Officer or designated representative shall have the right to examine the Contractor�s books, records, documents and other data, to include commercial sales data, the Contracting Officer deems necessary to verify Contractor adherence to the provisions of this clause. Such examination may occur during all reasonable times until the end of 3 years after the date of final payment under this contract or the time periods specified in Subpart 4.7 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), whichever is earlier. (g) Final invoice: The Contractor shall include a statement on the final invoice that the amounts invoiced hereunder have applied all decreases required or authorized by this clause. (h) Disputes: Any dispute arising under this clause shall be determined in accordance with the �Disputes� clause of the contract. Note:� The Contracting Officer�s Fair and Reasonable determination for price change items shall be performed once the item is in the vendor�s OCONUS inventory and ready to be added to the catalog via 832 transactions as prescribed in the Economic Price Adjustment (EPA), Economic Price Adjustment � Actual Material Costs for Subsistence Product Price Business Model.� In the definition of Product Price, �exclusive of standard freight� means that no freight costs shall be included in the product price of an item and pricing must be received FOB Origin, i.e. at the place of manufacture, or the private label holder�s manufacturing facility. All freight costs shall be included in the standard distribution price and not in the product price. In the definition of Product Price, Exception, �national price� means an item inclusive of transportation costs to a Distribution Point for which the item is exclusively available with transportation costs included to all its customers; meaning FOB Origin pricing is unavailable for any and all of its customers. 17.� Can your firm comply with all terms and conditions within this Economic Price Adjustment clause and pricing model?� If not, please explain in detail what part(s) of the clause pose any concerns and why. 18.� The terms of the Berry Amendment, 10 U.S.C. 2533a, will likely apply to items under any solicitation that may be issued and the resulting contract.� In general, items that are subject to the Berry Amendment must be grown, reprocessed, or produced in the United States or its possessions, see DFARS Clause 252.225-7012.� Can you provide Berry Amendment compliant/United States domestic products? 19.� All packaging and packing shall be in accordance with best commercial practices.� Labeling shall be in accordance with commercial labeling complying with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq. and regulations promulgated there under. �However, there will be various packaging sizes based on customer needs which include, but are not limited to, different packaging/packing size, marking/labeling, and palletization/containerization.� The Pallets used must be a two way entry wing type pallet.� All Wood Packaging Material (WPM) acquired by DoD must meet requirements of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15, �Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Materials (WPM) in International Trade.�� DoD shipments inside and outside of the United States must meet ISPM 15 whenever WPM is used to ship DoD cargo, or when wood is being acquired by DLA for future use as packaging material.� WPM is defined as wood pallets, skids, load boards, pallet collars, wooden boxes, reels, dunnage, crates, frame and cleats.� Are you able to comply with these varying packaging/packing, marking/labeling and palletization /containerization, as stated? 20.� As far as shelf life of delivered products, the following applies:� All products delivered shall be as fresh as possible and within the manufacturer�s original shelf life (i.e., Best if Used by Date, Expiration Date, or other markings). Chilled products shall not be frozen in an attempt to extend the products� shelf life, unless approved by the Contracting Officer.� For annual pack items, products will be from the latest seasonal pack available, unless approved in advance by the Contracting Officer.� For items produced with shelf life greater than 150 days, no product shall be delivered to customers with less than 30 days manufacturer�s original shelf life remaining unless the customer and Contracting Officer grant prior written approval.� For items produced with shelf life less than 150 days, no product shall be delivered to customers with less than 5 days manufacturer�s original shelf life remaining unless the customer and Contracting Officer grant prior written approval. Would your business be able to comply with these requirements?� Some items such as LMR and FF&V items have shorter shelf life than most cataloged items. Would your company be able to deliver these types of products with the required amount of shelf life mentioned above? 21.� DLA Troop Support is looking for creative ways to access inventory information in real-time.� What information technology systems do you have available to communicate real-time inventory data for items in your supply chain? Do you have any suggestions to provide greater real-time inventory information?� If so, please describe. We encourage, appreciate, and would like to thank you in advance for your participation.� Your responses, comments, suggestions and ideas regarding support for our customers are requested back by the close of business on March 18, 2022.� Your responses may be sent via email to the following email addresses: michelle.palandro@dla.mil and neil.michael.chiaradio@dla.mil. Contracting Office Address: DLA Troop Support Philadelphia Directorate of Subsistence/Prime Vendor OCONUS 700 Robbins Avenue, Building 6 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111-5096 Primary Points of Contact: Michelle Palandro Contracting Officer michelle.palandro@dla.mil Phone:� 215-737-0606 Neil-Michael Chiaradio Contracting Officer neil.michael.chiaradio@dla.mil Phone:� 215-737-3668
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