(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) Request for Quote (RFQ) AG-8508-S-13-0017 is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items. This combined synopsis/solicitation is issued as a RFQ. Submit written offers only, oral offers will not be accepted. All firms or individuals responding must be registered with the SAM (System for Award Management) previously known as Central Contractor Registration (CCR). (iii) This combined synopsis/solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-60B. It is the contractor's responsibility to be familiar with applicable clauses and provisions. Clauses and provisions can be found at: www.acquisition.gov/far/ and www.usda.gov/procurment/policy/agar.html. (iv) This procurement is being issued as 100% Small Business Set-Aside. North American Industrial Classification Standard: 238210; Small Business Size Standard: $14.0. (v) Contract Line Items: Item Description 1 - Equipment, installation, and materials as identified below in Items 1 - 6 below. Unit Cost Extended Cost OPTIONAL ITEM: A Backup system as described below in Items A - C below. Unit Cost Extended Cost 1) One Digital Signage System to be placed behind bullet proof glass at the Centennial Visitor Center. This system shall include a commercial NEC LCD 42"monitor with three year parts and labor warranty. It shall also include a Digital Signage Computer that can display high quality 1080P informational pages and video. The USDA Forest Service shall provide a wall capable of holding the above visitor center monitor with the necessary 110v power; provide a RJ 45 jack onsite to test for connectivity before installation occurs. The Forest Service shall provide internet service with a static IP address. 2) This system shall be able to work as a standalone system playing USDA videos, and capable of electronic updates from secure USDA sites via internet connection. This electronic connection shall provide capabilities to stream visitor information from the office in Laramie to the site in an uninterrupted stream; and be disrupted only by a programmer at the visitor center or in Laramie. It is anticipated it will be programmed to provide ongoing weather, avalanche alerts, and facility closures to remote sites for visitors. 3) The system shall also include a UPS back up power supply, programming, cables, connectors and testing. 4) Equipment shall have capabilities to: a. Be monitored from the Laramie office. b. Be Portable (removable if there's a wildfire threat or anything else). c. Have easy options for repair/replacement if necessary. d. Include potential future options for updates as technology improves. 5) Quote shall include: • Labor costs for audio engineering and carpentry work to construct and install mounting platform at the Laramie site; • Install test and train all USDA personnel; and • All equipment including but not limited to: installation, air fare, crating, shipping, all travel expenses and items needed for a complete installation. Shipment shall be made to the USDA Forest Service office at 2468 Jackson St., Laramie, Wyoming 82070. 6) Installation will take place in Centennial, Wyoming. Shipping shall be made to Laramie, Wyoming, where hotels and amenities are also located. Laramie is approximately 30 miles from the Centennial Visitor Center, where installation shall occur. Quote shall include equipment, installation, and materials required for installation. OPTIONAL ITEMS: A. Provide an option for a backup system which is easily obtained and quickly provided in the event the equipment requires service. B. Additional 45" LCD HD Monitor and warranty mounted in the Visitor Center lobby to show interpretive videos. Monitor shall be capable of allowing Forest Service personnel to change out program material that would be playing in a loop format off of a HD player with no moving parts. This monitor requires the ability to turn audio on/off by personnel. C. An external audio speaker hidden within the roof overlay on the exterior of the front to allow for audio if desired. Audio speaker shall have a motion sensor which responds to movement on the porch, but can be switched on and off by Forest Service staff. Contractor Name: Contractor Address: DUNS: Email: Telephone: (vi) FOB-Destination for Delivery to: Supervisor's Office U.S. Forest Service 2468 Jackson Street Laramie, WY 82070 Delivery shall be no later than May 1, 2013 with installation complete by May 15, 2013. Deliveries shall be made on regular working days (Monday through Friday) during working hours (7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), excluding federal government holidays. (vii) The Government will award a firm-fixed price contract resulting from this combined synopsis/solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the synopsis/solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. Award shall be based on Best Value to the Government. Best value can include but is not limited to price, past performance, and ability to meet specifications and time. (viii) The clause at FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. (ix) The clause FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The criteria for evaluation shall be ability to meet delivery time and price. In evaluations delivery time is more important than price. (x) The clause at FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders. (xi) The provision at FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. (xi) The clause at FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. An offeror shall complete only paragraphs (b) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certificates electronically via https://orca.bpn.gov. If an offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at the ORCA website, the offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (o) of this provision. The following clauses are incorporated into this acquisition: FAR 52.204-7 Central Contractor Registration; FAR 52.209-10 Prohibition of Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corp.; FAR 52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards.; FAR 52.209-6 Protecting the Government's Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment.; FAR 52.217-7 Option for Increased Quantity - Separately Price Line Item; FAR 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Aside; FAR 52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation; FAR 52.222-3 Convict Labor; FAR 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies; FAR 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; FAR 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity; FAR 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities; FAR 52.223-15 Energy Efficiency in Energy-Consuming Products; FAR 52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to ban Text Messaging While Driving; FAR 52.225-1; FAR 52.225-3 Buy American Act--Free Trade Agreements--Israeli Trade Act Alternate I.; FAR 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases; FAR 52.232-18 Availability of Funds FAR 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central; Contractor Registration; FAR 52.233-3 Protest After Award; FAR 52.233-4 Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim; FAR 52.247-34; F.O.B.-Destination; FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference; AGAR 452.209-71 (ALT 1) Assurance Regarding Felony Conviction or Delinquent Status for Corporate Applicants Alternate I (Feb 2012); AGAR 452.209-70 (ALT 1)Representation by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction. Alternate I (Feb 2012)-Attachment A-Please fill out Sign and Date and Return with quote. (xii) Quotes must be emailed to Malinda (Mindy) Jiminez at Email:
[email protected], or faxed to (970)295-6699 Quotes are required to be received no later than 4:00 p.m. (1600) on March 25, 2013. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS The Government must receive your proposal no later than the time and date specified in the request for proposal or subsequent amendment(s). Offerors must meet all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions and technical requirements. Failure to follow these instructions may result in an offeror being ineligible for award. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall be furnished in the following format with the numbers of copies as specified below: Email submissions of proposals are preferred and acceptable as long as all required information is submitted, including required signatures. Faxed Responses will NOT be accepted. Technical Proposal MUST be submitted as a separate document from all other proposal documents. 1.1 Proposals shall be submitted in two parts - a Technical proposal and a Price/Business proposal. Each part shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the other. 1.2 Offerors are cautioned that sufficient and detailed information must be provided to enable the Government to evaluate their proposals fully in accordance with the evaluation and award criteria contained herein. The Government is not obligated to ask for additional information and in the absence of appropriate information; the proposal will be rated deficient. 1.3 All Evaluation Factors excepting Relevant Past Performance will be incorporated into the resulting contract by reference at time of award and retain the full force and effect as all of the other contractual terms and conditions hold therein. PROPOSAL DOCUMENTS The following documents shall be submitted by the offeror for evaluation to be considered responsive: 1. Price Proposal, Schedule of Items. Submission of ALL items 2. Representations and Certifications. AGAR 452.209- 70 (Alt 1) and AGAR 452.209-71 (Alt 1) 4. Technical Proposal. Submit 1 electronic copy (PDF or Word) or 2 hard copies of the Technical Proposal Special Notes: 1. The offeror must submit an offer for all items. Round to the nearest cent. 2. In the event of an error in extending the total price, unit prices will govern unless otherwise determined by the Contracting Officer. 52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items. (JAN 1999) (a) The Government will award a contract 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. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1. Past performance with similar installations, including references. 2. Ability to meet specifications 3. Ability to meet time 4. Price Technical and past performance when combined, are significantly more important than price. (b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). (c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. Failure to submit this information will render the offer as non-responsive. • All Offerors who submit a proposal for this project must be registered to the System for Award Management (SAM) in accordance with FAR 52.204-7 and FAR 52.204-8 (Previously CCR and ORCA). • All Offeror's must respond to the required evaluation criteria of the solicitation to be considered for award. Technical Proposal Instructions Technical proposals will be evaluated to determine the ability of the contractor to meet the requirements of the Government. Therefore, the technical proposal must present sufficient information to reflect a thorough understanding of the requirements and a detailed description of the organization, techniques, procedures and program for achieving the objectives of the specifications/statement of work. Proposals that merely paraphrase the requirements of the Government's specifications/statement of work, or use such phrases as "will comply" or "standard techniques will be employed" will be considered unacceptable and will not be considered further. As a minimum, the proposal must clearly provide the following: (1) Technical Capability a. Past Performance: Provide evidence of successful installations in other remote locations similar to this project. b. Ability to meet the above specifications c. Ability to meet timeline. The contractor will meet the Acceptable rating level by demonstrating they have the organization and equipment needed to accomplish the work described in the solicitation in a timely and efficient manner. Additional merit may be awarded to vendors who exceed the standard. (2) Past Performance The technical proposal must address past performance for both the offeror and proposed subcontractors. OFFERORS SHOULD PROVIDE ONLY THE INFORMATION LISTED BELOW. PERFORMANCE INFORMATION WILL BE REQUESTED FROM REFERENCES PROVIDED. Contractors may also discuss past accomplishments that indicate your firm's ability to perform the work required by this solicitation. The government will contact a sample of the vendor's past customers to determine the rating for this factor. The currency and relevance of the information and general trends in contractor's performance shall be considered. The Forest Service considers that current (within the last 3 years), relevant (similar in nature and scope) performance is a better indicator of ability than older or less similar work. Any offeror who does not have a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available will receive a rating of neutral. Factor a, Business Relations, is the most important sub-factor. The other sub-factors are all equal in value. The four sub-factors will be evaluated to determine an overall rating for past performance. a. Business Relations - the standard is met by contractors who have a history of effective working relationships and cooperative behavior toward the employing entity. b. Compliance with Contract Terms and Conditions - the standard is met by contractors who have consistently met contract terms and specifications and demonstrated conformance to standards of good workmanship. c. Timeliness of Performance - the standard is met by contractors who have consistently demonstrated compliance with contract schedules and have completed work on-time. d. Customer Satisfaction - the standard is met by contractors who have consistently satisfied their customer's expectations as evidenced by the willingness to rehire. At a minimum, provide the following information: • Names, telephone and email address of principal officials who were in charge of the project and that are familiar with your performance. • A description of the work performance, • The agency/company or individuals you worked for, • The size (value) and location of the contracts, • Contract numbers. Individuals or businesses without prior contracts as a business entity should list contracts and subcontracts completed by predecessor companies or key personnel. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has authorized Federal agencies to collect past performance information under OMB clearance number 9000-0142. Both the information provided in the proposal and Government records will be used to evaluate the Offeror's past performance; however, references other than those listed may also be contacted. The Contractors will earn the Exceptional rating if all references rate the Contractor as Excellent on all subfactors listed above. The Contractor will meet the Acceptable rating level if a majority of references rate the Contractor as Acceptable or better. (End of provision) RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE EVALUATION FACTORS Since an Offeror's proposal(s) must be compliant in order for it to be eligible for award, compliance of the offer is a mandatory solicitation requirement. In general, the Government considers the non-price factors of past performance, proposed schedule, and experience in similar work to be in descending order of importance. ALL EVALUATION FACTORS OTHER THAN PRICE, WHEN COMBINED, ARE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN COST OR PRICE IN THE AWARD DECISION. The TEB will evaluate each proposal strictly on its content and will not assume that performance will include anything not specified in the proposal. The evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the procedures established herein. The technical evaluation panel will then assign to each evaluation criterion a final adjective consensus rating of exceptional, good, acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable based on the following descriptions: Exceptional An exceptional proposal contains significant strengths and no weaknesses. The proposal exceeds the performance and technical capability requirements defined in the Statement Of Work (SOW). The proposal offers value-added methodologies for improving service that benefits the Government. The evaluator has no doubt that the Offeror can successfully achieve the requirements in the SOW if the technical approach proposed is followed. The Offeror acknowledges risks and develops an approach that proactively identifies and mitigates risks, and looks to reduce or eliminate future risks. Good A good proposal contains significant strengths and only a few minor weaknesses. The Offeror's proposal meets the performance and technical capability requirements as defined in the SOW. The evaluator has a high degree of confidence that the Offeror can successfully achieve the requirements in the SOW if the technical approach proposed is followed. The Offeror acknowledges technical or schedule risk and develops an approach capable of Acceptable An acceptable proposal contains strengths that outweigh any existing weaknesses. The Offeror's proposal meets the performance and technical capability requirements defined in the SOW. The evaluator is confident that the Offeror can successfully achieve the requirements in the SOW if the technical approach proposed is followed. Marginal The proposal meets the bare minimum performance and technical capability requirements defined in the SOW, and also have significant weaknesses. The evaluator is not confident that the Offeror can successfully complete the required tasking without significant Government oversight or participation. The proposal either fails to address risks or the proposed risk mitigation approach is not deemed to be sufficient to manage the risk. Unacceptable An unacceptable proposal that contains one or more significant weaknesses and deficiencies. Proposal fails to meet specified minimum performance and technical capability requirements defined in the SOW. The evaluator is confident that the Offeror will be unable to successfully complete the required tasking. The proposal does not adequately acknowledge or address risk, mitigate risk, or may actually introduce risk. When the adjective ratings for each criterion of each proposal have been finally assigned, the evaluation panel members will jointly discuss each proposal separately and develop an evaluation panel consensus adjective rating for each technical proposal (a single adjective rating for each proposal will be determined). The criteria established on the rating sheet will be used in developing the consensus adjective rating for each proposal. If a consensus rating cannot be reached, the Chairperson of the Evaluation Board will decide which rating is most representative. The final rating assigned to each proposal shall be based on an average of all individual ratings, i.e. If there are three (3) raters and two (2) provide an exceptional rating with the third providing an acceptable rating the overall rating assessed will be an exceptional minus. Standard Definitions Strength A strong attribute or quality of particular worth or utility; an inherent asset. Note: Simple adherence to the requirements or ability to meet a requirement is compliance but should not be listed as strength. Weakness A flaw in the proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance Deficiency A material failure of a proposal to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level. REQUIREMENTS: OFFERORS MUST BE REGISTERED WITH THE SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM) IN ACCORDANCE TO FAR 52.204-7AND FAR 52.204.8. OFFERORS MUST RESPOND TO ALL CRITERIA INCLUDED IN SECTION M OFFERORS WHO FAIL TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR AWARD.