Request for Technical Proposals08-0001

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# SURPLUS USEABLE PROPERTY

**DEFENSE REUTILIZATION AND MARKETING SERVICE**

**Request For Technical Proposals**

**Number 08-0001**

**STEP ONE OF TWO - STEP SOLICITATION**

**February 2008**

**(Updated with Amendments 1-4)**

**Surplus Useable Property**

**Requirements and Criteria for Technical Proposals**

**EXECUTIVE SUMMARY**

          The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) is planning to offer future generations of certain useable surplus property located at multiple Department of Defense (DOD) locations under a sales contract.  Useable assets determined by DRMS to be safe to sell and not required to satisfy a DOD mission, and previously screened for reutilization by a DOD activity, transfer to another Federal agency, and not required for donation by an authorized donee will become available to the Contractor for resale.   The contract will provide this material for a minimum of thirty-six (36) months, subject to both DRMS and the Contractor’s option to cancel the contract earlier.   In addition, DRMS may unilaterally elect to offer the Contractor up to two (2) one year contract extension options.   

          Under the sales contract that results from the attached draft Invitation for Bid (IFB), DRMS will provide the Contractor surplus property.  This sale will be conducted using a Two-Step sealed bid process consisting of two distinct steps: (1) solicitation, submission, and evaluation of technical proposals to determine acceptability; and (2) issuance of an IFB only to those firms that submitted acceptable technical proposals under Step One. 

          Accordingly, you are invited to submit a technical proposal **WITHOUT BID PRICES OR BID DEPOSIT**in accordance with the Requirements and Criteria for Technical Proposal contained in the Request for Technical Proposal (RFTP) No 08-0001, for the line items described in the attached draft IFB.  The draft IFB is provided for information only and is not to be completed or submitted with the technical proposal.  The RFTP identifies how the technical proposal is to be organized, evaluation factors, and specifics on the Business Plan and Operational Plan that are required to be included in the proposal.  

          Firms are advised to submit a complete technical proposal that responds to the requirements of the RFTP.   The Government may make a final determination whether a proposal is acceptable or unacceptable solely on the basis of the proposal as submitted and proceed directly with the second step of this sale without requesting or permitting the submission of further information from any bidder. 

          The RFTP is not binding on the part of the Government and does not in anyway commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of the requested technical proposal.  The RFTP does not commit the Government to contract for the property described in the draft IFB.  Proposed contractual requirements (e.g. terms and conditions) will be contained in the IFB actually issued under Step Two and are provided in the attached draft IFB for information purposes only.

          Each firm shall submit two copies of their technical proposal to:

                     Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS)

                     Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center

         ATTN:   Mr. Neil Watters, J-362

                     74 North Washington

                     Battle Creek, MI 49037

**Your technical proposal must be received no later than April 17, 2008.**

**Requirements and Criteria for Technical Proposals**

**FORMAT**:

          To maximize efficiency and minimize the proposal evaluation process, firms shall submit their technical proposal in accordance with the format provided below.   It is believed that sufficient latitude is provided such as not to prejudice or limit the comprehensiveness of the proposal. 

          Each firm shall submit only one technical proposal (two copies) with a maximum length of 75 pages in response to this solicitation subject to the following requirements and limitations (NOTE:  the maximum length of 75 pages does not include the requirements as stated in the Appendices section (Page 8) of this RFTP.   Contractor is not limited to a particular page length with regard to the financial statements or resume input relating to the  Appendices requirements):  

· Title page, Un-priced Technical Proposal - The title page of the technical proposal shall include (1) the solicitation number of the Request for Technical Proposal; (2) the company name of the firm; (3) the firm shall identify those portions of its technical proposal that contain copyrighted or proprietary or similar proposal data with a restrictive legend indicating the protected type of data contained therein.

· A table of contents, identifying the major sections of the total proposal as set forth below, by volume (if applicable) and by page, shall be placed in the front of each volume.

· The un-priced technical proposal shall be bound in a notebook(s) to permit removal of sections for the purpose of separate evaluation.  The company name of the bidder shall appear at the top of the first page.  Each page of the proposal that contains company proprietary data shall be so stated. 

          The technical proposal is the primary basis for the evaluation of: (a) the degree to which a firm’s claim of performance capacity is supported, and (b) the ability of the firm to perform in accordance with the requirements. The technical factors to be considered are those discussed herein.

          Firms are cautioned to pay particular attention to when preparing their technical proposal to ensure they provide sufficient detail to demonstrate their complete understanding of the scope of the work involved, including the requirement to comply with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations; and the Federal Asset Sales initiative policies.

          The technical proposal shall be detailed, specific, and complete to enable Government personnel to make a thorough evaluation of the proposal and a sound determination that the proposal will have a reasonable likelihood of meeting the requirements and objectives set forth by the Government.  These objectives are to ensure that the firms understand property assurance, safeguarding property, reporting requirements while complying with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  General statements to the effect that the firm understands and can or will comply with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations, phrases such as “standard procedures will be used,” or “well-known techniques will be utilized,” and generalities of textbook theories and techniques, will not constitute compliance with these requirements concerning the content of the technical proposal.   Part of the purpose of this requirement is to ascertain the level of the firm’s knowledge pertaining to these laws and regulations.

          The following technical proposal organization is required to facilitate the technical evaluation:

I. Title Page

II. Table of Contents

III. Executive Summary

IV. Operational Plan

V. Business Plan

VI. List of Appendices

VII. Identification of Marketing Consultants/Advisors

**EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:**

          The executive summary should highlight the firm’s approach, and should summarize the key capabilities and general features of the firm’s resources, financial capacity, experience and understanding of the business and the operational efforts required by this solicitation.

**OPERATIONAL PLAN:**

          Provide a description of your technical approach that will demonstrate the capability to transport property, safely store property, ensure property assurance practices are in place, track property resold to buyers, have a satisfactory property recovery process, ensure reporting requirements are met, and ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  Make explicit the assumptions upon which the plan is based.  The technical approach should additionally address the following:

1) Accountability - Provide a plan for maintaining accountability of property to meet the requirements of the contract, including but not limited to:

a) Tracking by DTID (Disposal Turn-In Document), and specifically when:

1) DTIDs are bundled for sale into larger lots

2) DTIDs are broken down for sale into smaller lots

3) DTIDs are improved for sale with capital expenditures

4) DTIDs are physically altered for sale into more than one separate lot (e.g., certain parts removed and marketed separately with the remains sold as scrap or otherwise).  

5) DTIDs are required to be returned to the Government. 

b)  Tracking DTIDs by location, sales status, returns status, and any physical alterations or modifications, identification of the resale purchaser, and proceeds received.

c) CPU tracking requirements.

2)  Procedures Demonstrating Government Interaction - Describe how the firm plans

to work and interact with DRMS personnel at individual DRMOs, and how the firm intends to comply with the record keeping and audit requirements of this contract.  The procedures should be described in sufficient detail to demonstrate the firm’s ability to meet the timeframes in the contract and to demonstrate the firm’s understanding of the scope of the work effort required and the degree of the difficulty involved.

3) Facilities/Storage - Provide a plan showing how the bidder proposes

to handle the removal and storage of property.  No storage in Government provided facilities will be provided.   The plan should provide sufficient detail to meet the timeframes in the contract.  Describe the planned arrangement of facilities to accommodate the flow of property.  Include sufficient information to provide a detailed understanding of how the logistical inventory flow will be incorporated into the proposed facilities (i.e., when property will be stored, where and for how long), and how property covered under this contract will be readily identifiable as formerly Government surplus property.   Provide a plan that describes the physical security measures that will be taken for Contractor facilities.  

4) Safety Procedures, Licenses, Permits - Provide a plan for compliance to meet

the safety procedures required by appropriate OSHA standards.  Describe how the firm intends to obtain necessary licenses and permits and address how you intend to comply with any environmental requirements.  Firm’s should note that a host installation my require safety procedures that exceed OSHA requirements and that they are expected to comply.

5)  Hardware/Software - Identify the particular software package(s) that you expect to

use or that you are considering using to meet applicable inventory management, accounting, and reporting obligations, and provide a plan for an interim system to use for these purposes until the permanent system is in place.  Provide answers or descriptions for the following aspects of your system:

a) Describe the hardware configuration including descriptions of servers, networking hardware, and backup devices of the proposed system.

b) What communication protocols are supported?(e.g., Secure File Transfer Protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)

c) Describe the operating system(s) under which the proposed system will operate.

d) Is your proposed system Web-based or client/server?

e) Describe your backup policies and procedures.

f) Describe your proposed disaster recovery plan.

g) What is the range and average for system downtime (scheduled and unscheduled)?

h) Name and describe the database management program utilized by the proposed system.

i) Describe your system’s database import/export capabilities.

j) Describe the online data storage capacity of the database management program of the proposed system.

k) Describe the file purging/archiving methodology used by the proposed system, and how soon archived data can be made available after a request is made.

l) What programming language(s) was/will be used to develop the system?

m) What user interface standards will the proposed system use?

n) Describe your company’s policy regarding source code

o) Will software upgrades be provided as part of your software support contract?

p) Describe your support process for evaluating and fixing defects or problems in your software.

q) How will requests for enhancements or customizations be handled?

r) What will the methods be for contacting technical support for items covered under the contract?

s) Describe how the proposed system would transmit all active sales information for each property to the eFAS/GovSales.gov portal using one of the following methods:

· Property Listings in CSV format transmitted via SFTP

· Property Listings in XML format transmitted via web service/SOAP

6)  Internal Controls/Security - Provide a plan for quality control regarding property removal, accountability, transport of property, financial flows, and other applicable parts of your technical proposal and the requirements of this contract.  Describe in detail the plan for complying with DRMS requests for property retrievals and a plan to assist DRMS with customer service.  The plan for property retrievals should demonstrate a willingness to work with the Government and DRMS Representatives.  The plan should reflect Contractor capabilities to ensure seamless property accountability.  It should be noted that, depending on the sensitivity of the item being retrieved (most significantly related to National Security), DRMS may require Contractor to concentrate all efforts in recovering and accounting for the property. ****** Describe your approach to data/information security, especially with regard to Internet technologies.  Include the supported log-on capabilities, and what methodology would be used to prevent unauthorized access to potential successful bidder information.  Describe in detail how the system will provide a complete audit trail of the specific user, function accessed, date/time, and data change.  Provide details on access controls to the audit logs and safe retention of that data.  Describe methods for mitigation in the event of a breach of security.

7) Post Award Period and Phase-In Period - Provide a plan for the steps that you will 

take, including hiring personnel, acquisition of facilities, equipment and software and other steps, during the period between award and the beginning of the Phase-In Period, and for handling the Phase-In Period that begins with the initial delivery of property.  Include any logistical issues that you anticipate with respect to establishing procedures and working relationships with field personnel and adapting procedures to the initial property flow. Your plan should be based upon an expectation that you will need to cooperate with the Government personnel or other contractors at each DRMS facility, that your staff must arrange for delivery of all items on a Delivery Order on a timely basis, and that your activities should not hinder the DRMO from performing its duties.     

**BUSINESS PLAN**

          1)   Management and Organization - The proposal shall demonstrate that the corporate and project organizations support the level of effort required to meet the terms and conditions of the contract.   Make explicit the assumptions upon which the plan is based.

2) Project Organization - The firm shall describe its organization plan, to include 

quality control processes, to manage the contract, including any services to be provided by subcontractors.   If the firm is newly formed for the purpose of performing this contract, provide a copy of the joint venture agreement or other organizing documents in the appendices to the technical proposal.

3) Key Personnel and Staffing - Supply name and resume of the proposed Chief 

Executive Officer (CEO) and the Chief of Information Technology.  Include experience on similar projects. Provide the number of personnel required, by function, in your plan estimates.   Contractor is free to provide additional resumes of key personnel.   All resumes do not apply to the 75 page limit placed on the RFTP submission.   

4) Risk Factors - Discuss risk factors that are involved in successfully completing this 

contract as related to requirements, scheduling, logistics and financial capacity.

5) Financial Plan – Contractor should demonstrate an understanding of the scope of 

work and the financial requirements of the contract.   Firms should state all assumptions underlying the financial plan clearly, however, no implications or inference as to the firm’s ultimate bid will be associated with the Contractor’s purchase price assumption in the financial plan.   Demonstration should be sufficiently detailed to show clearly that the prospective Contractor has a sufficient financial capacity to meet all financial requirements and contingencies associated with performing the contract to include documentation to support the availability of the Bid Deposit ($100,000), Payment Deposit ($500,000) and Financial Guarantee Bond ($4,500,000)  as stated in Article Three of this contract.  

6) Experience - Provide the name, address, phone numbers, contract number 

(if applicable) and a description of the services, of either commercial clients or Government agencies, for which prior comparable services have been rendered within at least the last three (3) years.  Bidder must provide evidence of demonstrable experience in business arrangements involving the removal, property assurance and reporting requirements of large and varied quantities of used and surplus property (such as that covered by the draft IFB).  The experience of the bidder and all key persons should be submitted.  The bidder should be able to demonstrate it has recent experience in transporting, storing, maintaining property accountability and assurance, and selling hundreds of thousands of different types of items, whether unused or used and ranging in size from small nuts/bolts to large trucks and equipment, with a total market value of over $10M a year.  The bidder should also be able to demonstrate it has provided these services at multiple sites concurrently and can manage multiple locations, and be able to otherwise fulfill the requirements of the IFB.

**APPENDICES:**

          Prove at minimum a five (5) year financial history (annual income statements and balance sheets), and any other supplemental or supporting technical or financial information deemed necessary by the firm.  If your business structure is such that additional financial information is necessary to establish the requisite financial capacity, such as financial statements of general partners or joint venturers, you must include that information.

**IDENTIFICATION OF MARKETING CONSULTANTS/ADVISORS**

          To assist DRMS in screening for potential organizational conflicts of interest, including conflicts of interest with any non-Governmental employee who may provide review, analysis, or verification of data in connection with the evaluation of technical proposals, all firms must identify any marketing consultant or advisor used in the preparation of its proposal, as addressed below. All firms submitting technical proposals are required to complete the certification below.  This information will not be used in the process of evaluating technical proposals.

           Marketing consultant and advisor are used interchangeably to mean any independent contractor who furnishes advice, information, direction, or assistance to a firm in support of the preparation or submission of a proposal, bid, or offer for a Government contract by that firm.  An independent contractor is not a marketing consultant/advisor when rendering routine engineering and technical services such as installation, operation, or maintenance of systems, equipment, software, components, or facilities; or routine legal, actuarial, auditing, and accounting services; or training services.

                  A firm or individual is not an independent contractor within the context of this provision if the advice, information, direction, or assistance rendered is offered within the context of its/his own independent analysis and due diligence regarding whether to extend credit, financial services or support, or bonding to the firm.

                  Organizational conflict of interest means that because of other activities or relationships with other persons, a person is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance of advice to the Government, or the person’s objectivity in performing the contract work is or might be otherwise impaired, or a person has an unfair competitive advantage.

                  The term solicitation as used in this provision includes use of the RFTP and IFB to solicit firms for the sale of surplus useable property proposed by this RFTP.

            Any individual or firm that contractually employs, retains, or engages one or more marketing consultants or advisors in connection with a solicitation or contract, shall provide the Sales Contracting Officer (SCO) the information below with respect to this RFTP: 

a) Name(s) of marketing consultant/advisor.  If none, so designate; if more than

one, use a separate sheet, if necessary.

b) Taxpayer Identification Number of the marketing advisor/consultant.

c) Name, address, and telephone number of a responsible officer or employee of

the marketing consultant who has personal knowledge of the marketing consultant or advisor’s involvement in the contract.

d) A description of the nature of the services rendered or to be rendered by the 

marketing consultant or advisor.

e) The name, address, and telephone number of the client or clients, and the name

of a responsible officer or employee of the marketing consultant/advisor who is knowledgeable about the services provided to such client(s), and a description of the nature of the services rendered to such clients, if, based on information provided to the firm by the marketing consultant, any marketing consultant is rendering, or has in the twelve months preceding the closing date of this RFTP, rendered services respecting the same subject matter of the instant solicitation, or directly relating to such subject matter, to the Government or any other client (besides the firm).         

                        In the event that it is determined that a conflict of interest may exist, the SCO may require the apparent successful bidder to provide a certificate signed by the marketing consultant stating that marketing consultant has made inquiry, and to the best of the consultant’s knowledge and belief, the consultant has provided no unfair competitive advantage to the firm with respect to the services rendered in connection with the solicitation, or that any unfair competitive advantage that, to the best of the consultant’s knowledge and belief, does or may exist, has been disclosed.  *NOTE: Although this RFTP and IFB will result in a sales contract and is not subject to the FAR, the guidance of FAR 9.5 is relevant to a consideration of any potential conflicts of interest as addressed in this clause and will be considered by DRMS in evaluating any potential conflicts of interest.*

**Submission of Proposals, Late Submissions and Modifications**

**To Technical Proposals For Two-Step Formal Advertising**

          Technical proposals and modifications must be delivered by 4:30 p.m. EDST on April 17, 2008 to:  

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS)

Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center

ATTN:  Mr. Neil Watters

74 North Washington

Battle Creek, MI 49037-3092

Any technical proposals or modifications received after 4:30 p.m. EST on April 17, 2008 will not be considered. **Technical proposals and modifications sent by facsimile are not acceptable.**

          The only acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt by the Government is the time/date stamp at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service.

**Evaluation Criteria**

          The evaluation of the operational and business plans will consider completeness and clarity, degree of compliance with the RFTP, and the likelihood that the approach will meet the Government’s objectives. The operational and business plans are considered to be of equal importance. Each factor will be rated as acceptable, reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable, or unacceptable.  The introduction and any supplemental information provided will be evaluated only in conjunction with the whole technical proposal and only to the extent that they support the individual plans discussed above.  A technical proposal will not be technically acceptable unless it is determined technically acceptable for each plan.  If a proposal contains a significant deficiency for a plan, it will not be considered technically acceptable for that specific plan.  A deficiency is defined as that part of a firm’s proposal that would not meet the Government’s objectives on this contract.  Acceptability of each technical proposal will be based upon (1) compliance with the requirements of the foregoing paragraphs concerning content of the technical proposal including, at a minimum, information satisfying the elements in each paragraph or subparagraph of the operational and business plans, and (2) the technical proposal, clearly demonstrating that the firm understands the scope and nature of the draft IFB requirements, as well as applicable laws and regulations. 

**Clarifications**

          The Government may request clarifying or supplemental information from firms whose technical proposals are rated reasonable susceptible of being made acceptable.  The Government may, however, make a final determination whether a proposal is acceptable or unacceptable solely on the basis of the proposal as submitted and proceed directly to the second step of this sale without requesting or permitting the submission of further information from any firm. Therefore, each initial technical proposal submission should contain the firm’s best terms from a technical standpoint.

**Notice of Unacceptable Proposals**

          When a technical proposal is rated unacceptable (either initially or after clarification/discussions), the SCO will notify the firm of the basis of the determination and that a revision of the proposal will not be considered.  Upon written request and as soon as practical after award, the SCO will debrief unsuccessful firms. 

**Attachment: IFB (Provided for information only)**

          Attached is the proposed Invitation for Bid (IFB) to be issued under Step Two. Your technical proposal should comply with the requirements set forth therein. The proposed IFB is provided for information only. You are not to complete any forms herein nor are you to provide any actual bid price with submission of your Step One technical proposal. 

          The Government fully intends to offer the proposed solicitation as contained herein. However, the Government reserves the right to make changes to the proposed solicitation if such changes are deemed in the best interest of the Government.  Any such changes from the proposed IFB will be highlighted in the final IFB.  Should any such changes make an otherwise acceptable technical proposal unacceptable that firm will be contacted for further clarifying information.

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