U -- ACQUISITION TRAINING FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

Notice Date

June 8, 2001

Contracting Office

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Division of Contracts and Property Management, Mail Stop T-7-I-2, Washington, D.C. 20555

ZIP Code

20555

Solicitation Number

RS-HR-01-284

Response Due

June 25, 2001

Point of Contact

Carolyn A. Cooper, (301)415-6737/FAX (301)415-8157

E-Mail Address

Click here to contact the contracting officer via (cac3@NRC.GOV)

Description

This an amendment to the original solicitation which was published in the CBD Net on May 25, 2001. This notice supercedes the original notice and the information provided herein prevails. The purpose of this amendment is to extend the closing date and revise the statement of work (SOW). Offerors are advised that the closing date is being extended to 3:30 p.m. on June 25, 2001. The following subsections of the SOW have been revised and are incorporated herein: Subsections C.2.4(2), C.3.1(1), C.3.1(2), C.4.4.3, C.4.4.4, C.4.4.5, C.5.3, C.5.4, C.5.6 (deleted and subsequent subsections renumbered), original C.5.8, C.6.7, C.6.16, C.7 and Cost Proposal Information. Offerors are also advised that the course materials will be available for review at the NRC upon request. Contact Ms. Carolyn A. Cooper to set up a time and date to review the documents. A firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/performance-based service contract will be negotiated. The period of performance of the contract will be one base year with four option years. THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR PART 12.6, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AT THIS TIME AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. PROPOSALS ARE DUE ON JUNE 25, 2001 NOT LATER THAN 3:30 P.M. AT THE U.S.N.R.C., DIVISION OF CONTRACTS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, M/S T-7-I-2, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555. HAND-CARRIED PROPOSALS SHALL BE DELIVERED TO U.S.N.R.C,, DIVISION OF CONTRACTS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, M/S T-7-I-2, 11545 ROCKVILLE PIKE, ROCKVILLE, MD 20850. Offerors shall submit one original and three copies of the technical and cost proposals, which are to be submitted separately. Offerors shall propose a cost for each workshop, in addition to a unit price per person for each workshop, which will be given twice a year for the base year and four option years. This proposed procurement is full and open competition and proposals may be submitted by all offerors, i.e., small businesses, small-disadvantaged businesses, and large businesses. Notice to large businesses: The subcontracting plan requirements of P.L. 95-507 are applicable to this procurement. Thus, all large businesses determined to be within the competitive range must be prepared to submit a detailed subcontracting plan. The North American Industry Classification System code for these services is 611430. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-24, FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, 52.212-2 Evaluation Commercial Items and 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. Offerors must submit a completed copy of provision at 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, which applies to this acquisition with the following applicable clauses: 52.219-8, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52-216-18, 52.216-21, and 52.217-9. Please note that the Attachment to the solicitation, "Performance Requirements, Standards, Measurements and Incentives" is available upon request. Interested parties should request a copy in writing to Ms. Carolyn A. Cooper, at CAC3@NRC.GOV. Please be sure to denote the solicitation number in your written request. Telephonic requests will not be honored. C.1 BACKGROUND. During the past four years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provided an acquisition training program consisting of eleven workshops to NRC acquisition Project Managers (PM's) and their managers. The acquisition training program consisted of six half-day and five full-day sessions. NRC used contractor support to design and develop the workshop materials, maintain the currency of the materials, and provide Participant Handbooks (PH) and an Instructor's Guide (IG) for each of the eleven workshops. Five of the workshops were required for certification of PM's. NRC's Division of Contracts and Property Management (DCPM) staff members taught six of the eleven workshops and an outside contractor's instructors taught the other five workshops. C.2 CONTRACT OBJECTIVE.C.2.1 The NRC desires to continue this training and is now seeking a contractor who is technically capable of performing the services described herein and to provide qualified instructors, who have demonstrated experience in presenting acquisition training to Federal Government PM's. In this endeavor, the contractor must be able to support, update, and maintain the accuracy and currency of the workshop materials and furnish participant materials for all of the eleven workshops. The contractor shall provide the training materials based on an assumption that the eleven acquisition workshops will be offered at least two times during a fiscal year to at least 10 participants per session. The training materials furnished by the contractor shall be identical to NRC's current workshop materials. (A sample a PH, along with the front and spine covers and excluding the white binder is provided for one of the workshops.) The contractor will be required to instruct five of the workshops. The five workshops to be taught by contractor instructor(s) are: Developing an Independent Government Cost Estimate -half day; Developing Proposal Evaluation Factors -- half day; Negotiation of Project Terms and Conditions -- full day; Contract Administration -- full day; Preparing Statements of Work -- full day. C.2.2 The first objective of the contract is to obtain the services of highly qualified instructor(s) with excellent platform skills that will enable the instructor to: Instruct five workshops of an eleven-part acquisition training program for PM's. The instructors shall be fully cognizant of the nuances of the acquisition process as practiced by the NRC;Impart knowledge to NRC's Project Managers attending the workshops in such a way so that maximum learning takes place and that participants, upon completion of the workshop, are able to articulate in a clear and precise manner their role and the role of others in acquiring the goods and services NRC needs to meet its mission; and Reflect the NRC acquisition environment, its policies, procedures and processes, and highlight the principles embodied in the highest standards for effective and efficient program management. C.2.3 The second objective of the contract is to obtain contractor support to:Provide workshop materials for the eleven acquisition workshops, including an IG and PH for each of the workshops; and Update and maintain the IG and PH for each of the workshop in an accurate and current state, either from the contractor's own knowledge of changes in procurement laws, regulations, rules or through requests from NRC's PM on NRC's policy changes, as provided through NRC's DCPM. C.2.4 To attain the second objective, the contractor shall: Use the current NRC workshop materials as an example for the eleven stand-alone training modules; Use the current slides "as is" and print updated slides on blue vugraph paper; Ensure that workshop materials include practical exercises to illustrate concepts taught; Ensure that the hands-on orientation of the acquisition process addresses the application of established NRC's standards of contracting for both DOE laboratory agreements and commercial contracts; and Ensure that the workshop materials provided by the contractor reflect NRC's current acquisition policies, processes, and procedures. (This will be accomplished by periodic telephone discussions with DCPM subject matter experts.)C.3 DEFINITIONS. Throughout this statement of work, the following words and terms are used as defined in this subpart unless (a) the context in which they are used clearly requires a different meaning or (b) a different definition is prescribed for a particular part or portion: (1) Half-day training means a four-hour training session. (2) Full-day training means an seven-hour training session. (3) Project Manager is the common title for an NRC employee who monitors the work accomplished by others either through contracts, interagency agreements, or DOE laboratory agreements. C.4. SCOPE OF WORK. C.4.1 The contractor shall provide qualified instructor(s), with knowledge of the acquisition process and experience in teaching acquisition workshops to Federal Government employees. The instructors shall possess excellent platform skills and be able to teach each of the five workshops, discussed below, at least two times during a fiscal year. C.4.2 The contractor shall furnish all training materials (which includes the PH's and IG) for each of the workshops. Once the NRC PO establishes the course dates for a calendar year, which is mutually agreed upon between the DCPM instructors and the contractor, the NRC PO will send a copy of that schedule to the contractor. At least ten calendar days prior to each workshop session, the contractor shall contact the PO to obtain the number of participants for a particular workshop. The number of workshop materials specified by the NRC PO, shall be furnished to the NRC PO, at least five working days prior to the scheduled class date. C.4.3 The contractor's instructor(s) shall make every effort to achieve the learning objectives of the workshops being taught. Upon completion of the workshops, as a minimum, Acquisition Project Managers shall be able to use the contract processes and procedures to perform the following:Acquire commercial goods and services; Place orders with the DOE; Evaluate proposals and negotiate reasonable costs; Write clear and concise statements of work; Modify contracts; Describe the specific steps for effective technical and cost monitoring of contracts and DOE Lab agreements; Use basic procurement methods; and Prepare an Independent Government Cost Estimate. C.4.4 The instructor(s) shall present the following five workshops: C.4.4.1 Acquisition Workshop 2 -- Developing an Independent Government Cost Estimate. This half-day module workshop is currently organized under the following topics:Introduction (including thresholds requiring development of an IGCE); Underlying assumptions regarding labor (level of effort, technical skills, and skill mix) required for performing the contract; The process for preparing an IGCE;Estimating the number of hours required for each labor category; Direct labor and indirect labor rates; Application of direct labor and indirect labor rates to direct labor hours; Estimating materials, services, and Information Technology; Technology support; Estimating travel costs; Estimating the amount of subcontracting (including consultants); Estimating other direct costs; Estimating general and administrative (G&A) costs; Determining the commercial contractor's fee or profit or the DOE added factor. Upon completion of this half-day workshop, Project Managers should know what information is needed in order to prepare an IGCE. C.4.4.2 Acquisition Workshop 3 -- Developing Proposal Evaluation Factors tors. This half-day workshop currently covers the following topics: Elements of the Award Decision Process; Purpose of Proposal Evaluation Factors; Function of Proposal Evaluation Factors; Proposal Evaluation Planning; Selecting and Developing Evaluation Factors; Desirable Characteristics of Evaluation Factors; Criteria for Choosing Evaluation factors; Required Evaluation Factors Evaluation Factors for Complex Procurement; Weighting Evaluation Factors; Describing Evaluation Factors and their Relative Importance in the Solicitation; Cost Considerations; IGCE Factors; Contract Types; Cost Considerations in Fixed Price Contracts; Cost Considerations in Cost Reimbursement Contracts; Cost Comparisons; Best Value Continuum;and Summary of Process for Developing Evaluation Factors. Upon completion of this half-day workshop, participants shall be able to more clearly understand the relationship between the SOW and technical evaluation factors and how the SOW and technical evaluation factors influence the source selection decision. C.4.4.3 Acquisition Workshop 5 -- Negotiation of Terms and Conditions. This full-day workshop covers procedures and techniques to successfully negotiate technical approach, project costs, terms and conditions. The following topics are currently covered under this module: Establishing the Government's negotiation position; Reviewing the statement of work, independent government cost estimate, and proposal notes; Developing the Competitive Range Recommendation Report and technical/cost questions for negotiation discussions; Presenting technical/cost questions to commercial offerors and DOE National Laboratories; Determining if responses to questions indicates an understanding of the SOW and includes a viable contractor approach; Pursuing lines of inquiry with follow-up questions when necessary to arrive at a meeting of the minds' regarding project costs, terms and conditions; Documenting the agreement in a Summary of Negotiations statement. Upon completion of the workshop, participants should, at a minimum, be able to develop a supportable agency negotiation position and apply negotiation techniques to assess the offeror's/DOE Laboratory's understanding of the project's statement of work. C.4.4.4 Workshop 6 -- Contract Administration. This full day workshop is organized into eight sections with supporting subsections. Topics in this workshop currently are: Introduction to Contract Administration; Post-award kickoff meeting; Monitoring performance; Spending controls; Modifying contracts and agreements; Common project problems; Dealing with problems; and Documentation. Upon completion of this full-day workshop, participants shall be able to clearly understand proven contract monitoring techniques and how to: Track project costs against the spending plan; Remedy performance based problems; Modify or terminate a contract/agreement; and Properly approve/disapprove vouchers. C4.4.5 Workshop 10 -- Preparing Statements of Work. In this one-day workshop, the instructor shall address the: Contents of an acceptable Performance-Based Service Contract (PBSC) Statement of Work (SOW), and The stages and general principles involved in writing a PBSC SOW, including the proper SOW language. A significant part of the day will be devoted to participants writing and reviewing Statements of Work as a means of improving skills, and obtaining first-hand knowledge in writing clear and complete SOWs. Through practical exercises, participants will evaluate and write a SOW to gain an understanding of the importance to the contracting process of a well written scope of work. Upon completion of this workshop, the participant shall be able to: Describe the essential characteristics of a PBSC SOW; Describe the different stages of writing a PBSC SOW; Recognize how a poorly-written SOW can have an adverse effect on competition and lead to contract administration problems, such as late or unacceptable deliverables; and identify and prepare proper PBSC SOW language. C.5 WORKSHOP MATERIALS. C.5.1 The training materials consist of a PH and an IG for each of the following stand-alone workshops: (1) Acquisition for Project Managers -- Overview -- Full day; (2) Developing an Independent Government Cost Estimate -- Half day; (3) Developing Proposal Evaluation Criteria -- Half day; (4) Source Evaluation Panel Procedures -- Full day; (5) Negotiation of Project Terms and Conditions -- Full day; (6) Contract Administration -- Full day; (7) Property Management -- Half day; (8) Closing Out the Contract -- Half day; (9) Organizational Conflict of Interest -- Half day; (10) Preparing Statements of Work -- Full day; and (11) Acquisition for Supervisors and Managers -- Half day. C.5.2 The contractor shall update and maintain the workshop modules in an accurate and current state. The contractor shall replicate all workshop materials as shown in each of the workshop modules, using PowerPoint software, unless otherwise instructed. Upon award, the NRC will provide the contractor with the following items: A disk for each of the eleven workshops to use for replicating the IG and the PH. Each time the contractor updates any workshop materials, the contractor shall date the Table of Contents page for both the IG and the PH (example: Rev: 021899), and provide three copies of each of the pages updated plus three copies of the disk to the NRC PO. The IG and the PH for each workshop module shall be identical in design and format as the current issue of the training materials. The contractor shall replicate all workshop materials exactly as shown in each of the workshop modules unless otherwise instructed by the NRC PO.The IG and the PH shall be assembled in a white three-ring binder with cover and spine artwork. The title of each workshop shall be printed with white letters on dark blue paper and the NRC logo and IG/PH shall be printed in blue lettering on a white background as illustrated by the sample provided with this SOW. C.5.3 The Contractor shall provide the NRC PO three copies of the updated material for the IG for each workshop. The IG currently consists of the following: (1) A binder spinal and front cover for both IG and PH; (2) A specific objective for the particular workshop, setting forth the outcome expected from each workshop; (3) A table of contents for each workshop. The IG shall have correlating PH page numbers; (4) A daily schedule for each workshop ; (5) A step-by-step approach to the method of instruction, including the time devoted to each topic; (6) Miniaturized versions of all slides used by the instructor with appropriate text providing and explanation of the slide to be discussed; (7) Three-holed punched slides of all vugraphs to be used inserted into the IG after the text under tab entitled "Slides"; (8) Slides printed on blue vugraph paper; (9) Date of update on Table Contents page lower left side of page; (10) Set of applicable tabs for each module; (11) Materials developed using PowerPoint; (12) Appropriate reference materials, i.e., applicable sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, NRC Management Directives 11.1 and 11.7, Department of Energy Laboratory agreements; (13) Interactive student exercises on all "how to" modules; and (14) Three new disks each time workshop(s) is (are) updated, plus updated replacement pages. C.5.4 The Contractor shall provide the NRC PO three copies of updated material for the PH. The PH currently consists of the following: (1) Goals -- Purpose of thetraining; (2) Learning objectives;(3) The actual course materials with Tables of Contents and Topic tabs; (4) Miniaturized versions of all slides used by the instructor with appropriate text provided explaining the slide to be discussed with space provided for note taking; (5) Materials developed using PowerPoint; and (6) Three new disks each time workshop(s) is (are) updated, plus updated replacement pages. C.5.5 The IG and the PH shall correspond with each other so that the instructor will be able to point out to the class participants the topic under discussion and the page number in the PH. C.5.6 The NRC PO will establish mutually agreed upon workshop dates between the contractor and DCPM, and notify the contractor as soon as possible once the schedule has been established. The contractor, upon receiving the workshop schedule, shall establish procedures to ensure that the materials for a particular workshop are furnished to NRC, at least five working days prior to the date of the scheduled workshop. The NRC PO will review the workshop materials for quality, accuracy, and completeness and correct assembly and collation, as well as the number of copies ordered versus the number of copies received. Should any errors be discovered that

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010612/USOL003.HTM (W-159 SN50O455)