Baling System Maintenance Services for USDA, AMS, Cotton & Tobacco Program in Memphis, TN   2

SOLICITATION INFORMATION, QUOTATION EVALUATION CRITERIA, INSTRUCTIONS & KEY DATES:

This solicitation is a Request for Quotations (RFQ) to establish a single-award, five (5) year (should all options be exercised) Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Cotton and Tobacco Program (CTP), Grading Division (GD) located in Memphis, TN for two (2) semi-annual preventative maintenance checks and repairs of two bale press systems and all loose conveyor belt lines per year as well as on-call as-needed repairs, modifications, and service to any hydraulic, electrical, mechanical, and programming outside the scheduled preventative maintenance dates during the base year period, and during each option period exercised under the contract.

Semi-Annual Preventative Maintenance (PM) Services will serve as the firm fixed-price minimum guarantee for this contract. PM Services must be firm fixed-priced and will be established for the Base Year and four (4) one-year Option Periods at the time of contract award. The Contractor will be required to perform PM Services semi-annually (two times per contract year) beginning in the Base Period and continuing for each Option Period exercised by USDA.

USDA may order on-call as-needed maintenance and repairs within the general scope of the Contract or parts at its discretion at any time throughout the period of performance. On-call as-needed maintenance and repairs will serve as the indefinite-quantity component of this Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

This solicitation is issued as full and open (no set-aside used) under NAICS code 811310 Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance, with a Size Standard of $12.5 Million in annual sales.

All relevant documents (services requirements, locations, terms and conditions, etc.) are included as an attachment to this notice. Interested vendors should thoroughly read and complete all requested documents to confirm their ability to provide the services as required.

Questions are due Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at Noon Central Time. All questions/inquiries must be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist, Matthew Phillips, at Matthew.Phillips3@usda.gov. Inquiries submitted via telephone will be redirected to an e-mail submission. Questions will be answered by USDA and responses will be distributed to Vendors via amendment of the solicitation posting within SAM.gov prior to the due date for quotations. Late questions will be answered at the discretion of the Contract Specialist.

Vendors must submit their quotation package in its entirety to the Contract Specialist, Matthew Phillips, via e-mail at Matthew.Phillips3@usda.gov. Vendors who fail to complete and submit their quotation in accordance with the requirements of this solicitation may be considered non-responsive. Quotations received prior to the solicitation closing date and time, Friday, August 9, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. Central Time will be considered by USDA. Incomplete quotations will not be considered.

Quotations will be evaluated in accordance with FAR Part 13 procedures, and award will be made to the responsible Vendor whose quotation is determined to provide the best value to the Government, per FAR 52.212-2. Trade-off analysis of price or technical factors will be used in the award determination. After evaluation of quotations is completed, the Government will make an award to the responsible Vendor whose quotation (technical and price) conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Government, price and technical factors identified within this solicitation considered.

For this solicitation, all evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantly more important than price. As quotations become more equal in their technical merit, the evaluation of price becomes more important. The Government will not make an award to any Vendor whose quoted prices are not considered to be fair and reasonable.

A COMPLETE QUOTE MUST INCLUDE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

Factor 1, Technical Approach: This Factor considers the Technical Approach narrative provided by the Vendor. The Contractor must provide a Technical Approach narrative, not-to-exceed five (5) pages in length, to specifically address the scope of services required within this Statement of Work.

Factor 2, Experience: The Vendor must submit a minimum of two (2) but no more than five (5) separate projects within the last 5 years of the closing date of this solicitation that details experience that is similar to the scope and magnitude of this requirement. Vendors shall complete Attachment 2 - Vendor Experience and Past Performance Sheet, and submit a completed sheet for each project referenced.

Factor 3, Past Performance: Past Performance will be evaluated for the projects submitted for the experience factor. The Vendor shall include complete contact information for each customer for each project submitted within the Attachment 2 - Vendor Experience and Past Performance Sheet. The government reserves the right to contact references to verify any information provided.

In the case of a Vendor without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the Vendor's quotation will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.

Factor 4, Price: The Vendor shall submit their price quotation by utilizing the Attachment 1 Vendor Quotation Sheet attached to this solicitation. The Vendor shall only fill in the blue shaded areas of the pricing template for the initial Base Period and all option periods. The total quoted price will consist of the two preventative maintenance services for the base period and all option periods (a total of ten preventative maintenance services)(pre and post cotton season, See Section A.3.2.).

Labor rates proposed for as needed maintenance and repairs (See Section A.3.3.) within line items 0003, 1003, 2003, 3003, and 4003 (base and all option periods) will not be included within the total evaluated price; however, proposed fully burdened rates for the labor disciplines proposed will be evaluated for price reasonableness.

Miscellaneous Documents: This is not an evaluation factor. However, failure to submit completed, required documents may result in the Vendor being considered non-responsive and eliminated from further consideration.

Miscellaneous Documents Quotation Submission Instructions: In addition to submitting a Technical Approach narrative, and completed Attachments 1 and 2 as required for the evaluated factors, the Vendor must submit the following other documents:

• Standard Form (SF) 1449 (Vendor must complete Blocks 17a., 30a., 30b., and 30c. on page 1 of the SF 1449).
• Attachment 3 - Vendor Representations for Federal Acquisition Regulation Provisions.
• Standard Form (SF) 30 (Vendor must acknowledge amendments to the solicitation, if any are issued, by completing Blocks 8., 15A., 15B., and 15C. on page 1 of the SF 30).

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS, EXHIBITS, AND DRAWINGS:

• Standard Form (SF) 1449
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Standard Form (SF) 30 (if the solicitation is amended)
• Attachment 1 Vendor Quotation Sheet
• Attachment 2 Vendor Experience & Past Performance Sheet
• Attachment 3 - Vendor Representations for Federal Acquisition Regulation Provisions
• Exhibit 1 Applicable U.S. Department of Labor Wage Determinations (Shelby County, TN)