RFI - General Support Contracting Center Afghanistan The General Support Contracting Center has developed this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit market research information from industry to assist the Government with analysis of a Government requirement and provide commercial insight on performance-based solutions, best practices, possible contractual arrangements, and potential issues. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. It is not a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication that GSCC will contract for the items contained in the RFI. This RFI is part of a Government market research effort to determine the scope of industry capabilities and interest and will be treated as information only. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and the Government will not pay respondents for information provided in response to this RFI. Responses to this RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. If a Solicitation is issued, it will be announced on the Federal Business Opportunities website http://www.fbo.gov and Joint Contracting and Contingency Contracting Services website https://www.jccs.gov at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that Solicitation announcement separately from any response to this announcement. This RFI does not restrict the Government's acquisition approach on a future Solicitation. The Government's requirement is to obtain a non-personnel services contract to provide time focused, specific training, mentoring and technical assistance to all the identified positions in each Provincial Joint Secretariat Team (PJST) and to the Provincial Peace Councils (PPC) Chairman & Secretary in order to improve organizational effectiveness. The provider shall be capable of delivering capacity development skills and knowledge as described in this PWS. Organizational capacity development and training must be closely linked to required functions and processes detailed in the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) and Joint Secretariat (JS) source documents in order to guarantee the success of APRP writ large. The training regimen provided under this contract is intended to not only address core activities identified previously, but also consider their coherence within the broader program context, taking into account external actors, factors and information flows to optimize the sequencing of capacity development activities in order to achieve desired organizational capacity development objective end state. The contractor shall deliver a standardized logical framework approach for the design, development and implementation, and delivery of capacity development training. Capacity development training will be rapidly delivered in a national and semi-regional platform over the duration of the program July 2013 to June 2014. The contractors approach must contain flexibility, adaptability and account for changing opportunities and dynamics typical within Afghanistan. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contractor performing the services herein. A draft performance work statement (PWS) is attached to this announcement. It is anticipated that any resultant contract(s) that might result from this survey would have a period of performance of a base year and 4 option years. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 611430 and the small business size standard is $10M. The Government desires that respondents offer their experience and recommendations on the following questions and issues related to the GSCC Capacity Development Program requirements. We recommend that you first review the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) so that you may have a better insight on the questions below. (1) What are commercial practices for providing these types of services for non-governmental entities? (2) Can a prime contractor provide a system to support Capacity Development Training Services within Afghanistan under one contract? If not, what do you recommend? (3) What type of personnel (i.e., labor category) will the prime contractor use to perform these services? (4) The Government contemplates having the right to conduct on-site inspections of any of the prime contractor's facilities. Is this considered a customary industry practice? (5) Can a contractor maintain a network of trailing facilities, located in areas of Afghanistan, that are considered to be dangerous? (6) What is the most cost effective contract type and payment method (i.e., monthly firm fixed-price, separate price per service (price list), cost reimbursement, or combination, etc.)? (7) Are there normally any special terms or conditions or unique contract structure associated with a contract requiring a contractor to deliver capacity development training as outlined within the Performance Based Work Statement? (10) The capacity development training is required within the country of Afghanistan. What would be the best way for a competing contractor to structure their pricing for these services? Explain why? (11) Is 30 days a sufficient amount of time for a contractor to prepare a proposal given the scenario of a Lowest Price Technical Acceptable Solicitation? If 30 days is not sufficient, please provide a reasonable time frame to prepare a proposal and rationale for your time frame. (12) Please describe your experience or recommended solution for those training services found within the Performance Based Work Statement. (13) Are there standard commercial rates for these types of services? Can prices be standardized across Afghanistan? (14) Do you have a catalog or other published product literature on these services? If so, please provide this information. (15) Are there any innovative approaches used by your company for these types of services? If so, please explain. (16) What makes your company a market leader for this type of service? (17) How relevant is your past performance concerning this requirement? Please give examples with specific contract numbers, dollar values and the magnitude of those similar services currently or previously performed and where they are performed, including the name of your customer. (18) What types of performance assessment methods are commonly used by your company? (19) Respondents to this RFI should describe their interest and ability to perform the requirements summarized within this notice by submitting a capability statement. Capability Statements will include but is not limited to: • A management plan that reflects the quality, completeness, and relevance of the offeror's proposed methods, and/or procedures for effective and efficient management and administration of those requirements within this solicitation. • A management plan that reflects a detailed description of how it proposes to fulfill those basic services and specific task (5, 5.1 and 5.2) within the performance based work statement. • A detailed staffing plan to include staffing estimates, required skills and skill gap plan, staffing assumptions and constraints, project organization and detailed recruitment plan. • A quality assurance approach that is applicable to those requirements within the performance based work statement. • Quality assurance measurements that are applicable to those requirements within the performance based work statement. • A quality assurance improvement process and risk management process approach that is applicable to those requirements within the performance based work statement. Responses should contain their Company Name, Address, Point of Contact, Phone Number, Fax Number, CAGE Code, Size of Business pursuant to NAICS code 611430 (size standard $10,000,000). Please submit all responses through e-mail to the point of contact identified in the section below. Responses should be formatted as either MS Word (.doc) or Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf) and should be limited to a maximum of twenty (20) pages (excluding price lists or catalogs). Proprietary/Competition Sensitive information (appropriately marked) will be protected from disclosure. Responses should be submitted by e-mail to those POCs listed below no later than 9:00 AM Afghanistan Time, Tuesday, 30 April, 2013. No faxes, courier delivered, or telephone inquiries/submissions will be accepted. GSCC POCs Contract Specialist: Benjamin Yeutson, 318-449-7162
[email protected] Acquisition Analyst: Robert Moffett, 318-449-7161
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