Germany Aerial Mail Terminal (GAMT) for Air Mail Handling and Distribution Services

Please see the following answers to the questions that were received in response to the draft RFP: 1. SF-1449 - CLINX002 states that "the Contractor shall bill monthly for the kilograms handled each month." The proposal instructions, however, indicate that a firm fixed price should be provided for each CLIN. Please confirm the Government's intent based on the estimated quantities. Response: For the mail processing CLIN X002, it is the Government's intent for the contractor to submit monthly invoices based on the firm fixed price per kilogram and the kilograms actually processed. 2. The use of Fixed Unit Price seems appropriate for the variable nature of the effort provided. However, the government is requesting the contractor to take on significant fixed costs, both in facilities and personnel, to accomplish the requirements of the solicitation. Without a guaranteed minimum value each month, the contractor will have to increase the costs to account for the risk. However, with a floor amount, the government could ensure the most competitive pricing from all bidders. Recommend either adding a FP monthly component to cover these fixed costs or providing a minimum monthly volume guarantee. Response: The Government has determined that guaranteeing a minimum monthly volume and or a CLIN to cover fixed costs is not a strategy we would like to pursue. The PWS contains historical records for the past several years to help convey the scope of this effort to industry. One item that will likely change is the labeling of the CLIN quantities in Section B from "Not To Exceed" to "Estimate". The CLIN quantities actually represent the Government's estimate, rather than any kind of ceiling amount, as currently stated in the RFP. 3. Section 5.4 - Are the subcontractors' past performance citations in addition to the required references or considered part of the total count? How many past performances should be submitted for each major subcontractor? Response: The subcontractors' past performance citations are considered part of the total count. 4. Evaluation Criteria - Will the Government consider deviating the evaluation plan from LPTA? While LPTA is a valuable strategy to acquire simple, purely commoditized items, choosing a contractor who only meets the minimum requirements of the solicitation with a past performance that only provides reasonable expectation of success introduces unnecessary risk to the GAMT program. Based on the importance of this contract and the criticality of timely and accurate mail delivery to sustain the morale of our nation's troops, will the Government consider evaluation criteria that ranks technical capability and successful past performance ahead of price? Response: The Government has considered all source selection types and feels that LPTA is the most appropriate for this effort. This requirement is a well-defined, not technically complex, commercial service. The Government has been contracting out this service for 13 years now and feels it is not in the Government's best interest to utilize a tradeoff source selection strategy. 5. In the last years it was a requirement that only US companies could bid on the contract. We cannot find anything on this in the current RFP. Can you let us know, if we as German GMBH could take part. Response: This requirement is not restricted to US companies. 6. here is no mentioning of Registered Mail and the special handling requirements (especially on the Nationality of the Staff handling it and other). Response: There will be no handling of Registered Mail in this requirement.