SOURCES SOUGHT
79 -- EPA Safer Choice Solid Laundry Products and Services - RFI
- Notice Date
- 5/7/2018
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 325611
— Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Acquisitions Branch, 320 First Street, NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20534
- ZIP Code
- 20534
- Solicitation Number
- 15BNAS18NRFIADM05
- Point of Contact
- Paul G Clark, Phone: 202-353-0382
- E-Mail Address
-
p5clark@bop.gov
(p5clark@bop.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Safer Choice Solid Laundry RFI Request for Information (RFI) and Sources Sought - EPA Safer Choice Solid Laundry Products 15BNAS18NRFIADM05 Background and Scope The Federal Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) is an agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). It consists of 122 institutions throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico; 6 regional offices, a Central Office (headquarters), 2 staff training centers, and 26 Residential Reentry Management offices. More information about the agency can be found on the Bureau's website, www.bop.gov. The National Acquisitions Section (NAS) is responsible for the execution and administration of all national contracts and blanket purchase agreements (BPAs). NAS seeks to adhere to the Presidential Executive Orders for the acquisition process of EPA Safer Choice compliant solid laundry detergent products Bureau wide. A national agreement will aid Bureau wide acquisition personnel by reducing administrative costs, adhering to EPA standards of water and product use and meeting socio-economic goals. Purpose The purpose of this RFI is to seek information regarding the options that are currently, most recently and in the very near future available in the marketplace for EPA Safer Choice Solid Laundry products from Small business sources. Information received from this RFI may be utilized for a future procurement need. Additionally, the Government may conduct one-on-one market research sessions with responders to this RFI to further understand the responders' commercial market capabilities. A. General 1. Provide a description of your company including size, location and contact personnel. 2. Provide a description of the user base using (User Accounts) the proposed solution, including current federal government customers (agency name, count of users (User Accounts), and length of engagement/contract) 3. Describe your customer support model including level and type of support (telephonic, email, web-based knowledge base/customer portal, etc.) and hours of availability. If customer support is offered in tiered levels (e.g. gold, silver, etc.), specify the differences in support levels. 4. If your solution includes services, describe those services (number of personnel, their roles/responsibilities, etc.) 5. What NAICS code is assigned to the equipment identified in the RFI? 6. Does your company qualify as a Small Business per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19? If yes, please clarify under what provision (8a, veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, HUBZone, Small Disadvantaged Business, woman-owned, etc.) Requirements • Bureau will need for responders to address the following EPA Safer Choice compliant Solid Laundry items: 1) Detergent 2) Breaks and Builders 3) Sours and Softeners 4) Stain Removers Questions regarding this RFI must be submitted to p5clark@bop.gov by 3:00 pm (EST) on May 14, 2018. Responses to the RFI questions, shall be emailed, no later than 3:00 pm (EST) on May 23, 2018, to Paul Clark, Contracting Officer, at p5clark@bop.gov. Questions 1. Describe your company's ability to supply the EPA Solid Safer Choice Products listed. *** The BOP's definition of SOLID: the product must be in block or capsule form in clear or translucent containers. A liquid, powder or granular substance will not be considered a solid for the purposes of this request for information action. This requirement is of critical importance due to security, storage, handling and correctional needs of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. *** 2. Provide a description and use of the dispensing equipment. (The expectation is one dispenser per washing machine.) 3. Describe your company's business structure: Do you perform manufacturing, distribution, or do you partner with other businesses for the products listed in the requirements section. 4. Please provide detailed product pricing, dollars per case (may use GSA Schedule price) for each EPA Solid Safer Choice Product listed in the requirements section. 5. Please provide concentrations for all of the EPA Solid Safer Choice Products requested at manufacture recommended rates. 6. Provide detailed information on reporting product capabilities: EPA Solid Safer Choice certifications, SDS sheets. 7. Provide detailed recommended dilution rates for each EPA Solid Safer Choice Product [per cwt = 100 pounds of laundry]. 8. Provide results/validation of effectiveness of dilution rate testing by a non affiliated laboratory. 9. Describe the variety of common problems that customers encounter. How are these problems resolved? 10. What type of support capabilities (including training and preventative maintenance) does your company offer? 11. What are the hours of operation for customer support? Is there after hours/emergency telephone support available? Provide phone number. 12. Can all service technicians obtain and maintain a background check\clearance for work in a federal facility for the duration of the contract? 13. What is the average implementation time for your company's installation (including training)? Please provide a sample time-line for implementation. Please provide sample training document(s). 14. Does your company currently hold a GSA Schedule which covers the EPA Safer Choice Product solution? If so, what is the schedule number(s) and expiration date? 15. Interested parties shall specify the North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code, Commercial and Government Entity Code (CAGE), Federal Supply Classification (FSC) used, and the current business size and SBA type of their company for the EPA Safer Choice Compliant Solid Laundry solution. This procurement is to be set aside for small business. 16. Please provide information on past or current contracts similar in nature to the RFI; please include business/government entities and the contract number(s), contact name(s), email address(es), and phone number(s). Size, scope, and complexity should be addressed. 17. Please provide information on new technology, solid products and solutions that would be included in an EPA Safer Choice certified product as we look to the foreseeable future. Personnel Security and Work Location Requirements Work Location: All work would be performed on-site at a BOP location. Please indicate if vendor has cleared personnel or persons who can obtain required clearances within the available commuting area or other U.S. government office location. All vendors with applicable technology (either a completely or partially-compliant solution) are invited to submit detailed specifications. Please include specification sheets and product literature in the responsive materials. Interested parties shall not be reimbursed for any costs related to the development and submission of information in response to this RFI.. Please include specification sheets and product literature in the responsive materials. DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Bureau is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it may be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website. It is the responsibility of the potential offeror to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. What should be included in your response: •Do submit comments that address the Government's requirements, assumptions, conditions, or contemplated approaches. •Do submit information and suggestions that may encourage new, different or innovative approaches that would result in direct cost savings to the Government. What should not be included in your response: •Do not submit proposals or offers. •Do not submit capability statements, white papers, or other company marketing materials. •Do not submit requests to be considered for award or to be notified of a future solicitation. •Do not submit requests to be added to a mailing or distribution list. •Do not submit questions or comments not related to this RFI. •Do not respond via telephone. Please be advised that providing responses to these questions will not automatically include you in the acquisition process for the upcoming solicitation. In addition, this RFI is intended solely for the use to improve communications between potential contractors and the Bureau. If for some reason, the responses are requested by outside parties (i.e. FOIA request), the information is not protected as source selection information (FAR 2.101 and 3.104). If you intend for the information to be exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 4, please indicate this in your response and on each page you want exempt. Furthermore, indicate that your response is proprietary information that may not be used, reproduced, or disclosed to any other parties for any purpose without expressed written permission. Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. To aid the Bureau, please segregate any proprietary information. Questions regarding this RFI must be emailed in Word format to p5clark@bop.gov by May 14, 2018. Questions and answers will be posted as an amendment tentatively on May 17, 2018. Answers will only be provided through the amendment to this RFI. Responses to this RFI shall be emailed in PDF format, with the subject heading "Response to 15BNAS18NRFIADM05," no later than Friday, May 23, 2018, to the Contracting Officer, at p5clark@bop.gov. Responders should be made aware that the Government email system can only receive documents up to 14 megabytes (MB). Therefore, the email with attachments must be less than 14MB. If the email with attachments exceeds 14MB, offerors must submit their responses using multiple e-mails.
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(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOJ/BPR/PPB/15BNAS18NRFIADM05/listing.html)
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- SN04913671-W 20180509/180507230933-2d2eba67e3206fc1019a6da0782fdf3a (fbodaily.com)
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