Invitation to Bid (ITB) Medical and Dental Supplies. No S ADDENDUM NO. 2. Questions and Answers & ITB Revisions

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1 Invitation to Bid (ITB) Medical and Dental Supplies S ADDENDUM NO. 2 Questions and Answers & ITB Revisions Page 1 of 8

2 Contained herein are the answers to the questions submitted to the Department of Management Services (Department). The Department hereby amends ITB S as noted within this Addendum. In the event of a conflict between previously released information and the information contained herein, the information herein shall control. The information included in this addendum is now made part of this solicitation. FAILURE TO FILE A PROTEST WITHIN THE TIME PRESCRIBED IN (3), FLORIDA STATUTES, OR FAILURE TO POST THE BOND OR OTHER SECURITY REQUIRED BY LAW WITHIN THE TIME ALLOWED FOR FILING A BOND SHALL CONSTITUTE A WAIVER OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER CHAPTER 120, FLORIDA STATUTES. Any protest must be timely filed with the Department's Agency Clerk. Please Note: This Addendum 2 does not need to be returned with the bid submittal. Section Vendor has been revised as outlined below. MSRP An acronym for the Manufacturer s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). It represents the Manufacturer s recommended retail selling price or list price, catalog price, distributor price, published price or other usual and/or customary price that would be paid by the purchaser for specific commodities or equipment models, and contractual services without benefit of a contract resulting from the solicitation, if awarded. MSRPs shall be formally published by the manufacturer or publicly listed and available, and verifiable by the Department. If two or more prices fit this definition for a pertinent commodity, equipment model or contractual service, the Bidder will supply the lowest price as the MSRP. Section Vendor has been revised as outlined below. Vendor An entity that is in the business of providing selling a commodity or service similar to those listed within this solicitation. Also known as manufacturers, dealers, distributors or wholesalers. All bidders must have a current and active registration with the Department of State. Section has been revised as outlined below. Quarterly Sales Report (Attachment M) If awarded a contract, an authorized representative of the Bidder will be required to complete and submit a Quarterly Sales Report to the Department s Contract Manager within ten thirty (30) business calendar days after the close of each State Fiscal quarter (September 30, December 31, March 31, and June 30). Section has been revised as outlined below. Contract Quarterly Sales Reports The Contractor agrees to submit a Quarterly Sales Report, Attachment M to the DMS Contract Manager in the format to be provided by the Contract Manager thirty (30) business calendar days after the close of the State Fiscal quarter (September 30, December 31, March 31, and June 30). Additional changes may be requested and implemented by the DMS Contract Manager after award and during the life of the Contract. Reports must be submitted in MS Excel format. The report will include all sales (orders) from Customers received (associated with this contract) during the period. Initiation and submission of the Sales Report is the responsibility of the Contractor without prompting or notification from the DMS Contract Manager. If no orders are received during the period, the contractor must submit a report stating that there was no activity. to provide quarterly sales reports, within thirty (30) business calendar days following the end of each quarter (January, April, July, and October) may result in the Contractor being found in default and may cause Page 2 of 8

3 termination of the Contract. Quarterly submissions of the Quarterly Sales Form shall be the responsibility of the Contractor without prompting or notification by the Contract Manager. The Contractor shall submit the completed reports and send by to the Contract Manager. Section , after the first two paragraphs has been revised as outlined below. The contractor shall submit reports in accordance with the following schedule: Report Period Covered Due Date(s) MFMP Transaction Report Calendar month 10 business calendar days after close of the period Quarterly Sales Report State Fiscal Quarter 30 business calendar days after close of the period PUR7064-Savings/Reductions Form Required upon contract award, prior to contract execution and if any price adjustments 10 business calendar days after any price adjustment Diversity Report 10 business calendar days after State Fiscal Year close of the period Preferred Pricing Affidavit Annual Upon Contract execution and Contract anniversary date Ad hoc Report As requested Specific and reasonable timeframe Section 3.13 has been revised as outlined below. Deliverables/Financial Consequences The Contractor is required to provide the deliverables listed for each reporting period. to provide the specified deliverable(s) per occurrence will result in financial consequences that the Contractor will pay to the State as shown in the chart below. Deliverables (reports outlined above) First Second Third Fourth Fifth * Each Additional Submission of required reports $0 $500 $500 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 *If the Contractor fails to provide the deliverables five or more times in a 12 month contract period, the State shall have grounds to declare a contract breach and initiate contract termination proceedings. The financial consequences will be paid via check or money order and made out to the Department of Management Services in US Dollars within 30 calendar days after the required report submission date. These consequences are individually assessed for failures over each 12 month period beginning with the first full month of contract performance and every 12 months thereafter. The Department has received the following questions from the vendor community through the MFMP Sourcing Application and answers are provided in the table below: # Question Answer Section 1, Introduction In order to submit questions to the State, bidders must This Terms and Conditions agreement is 1. join the event and therefore are required to click that we for use of the MFMP applications. The accept the agreement. Section iii of the agreement Department does not accept conditional indicates you agree to all terms and conditions specific to bids. By submitting a bid, the Bidder Page 3 of 8

4 2. this solicitation ; however, bidder is not able to agree or commit to the terms and conditions in this solicitation without further responses from the state on the following question. If there are terms and conditions specific to this solicitation that bidder cannot agree to, will the State allow exceptions to be included with our proposal response? The current STC for medical and dental supplies has an estimated annual spend of $14 million dollars." What is the breakdown between medical and dental? How is the spend value distributed among the current awarded vendors? Please, provide as much detail as possible. agrees to all terms and conditions. Bidders may propose suggested language to the Contract and General Contract Conditions for the Department's consideration after award and prior to contract execution. The Department does not have this information. The table below outlines estimated state agency spend by vendor for FY14/ Should the answers to these questions generate further questions, will we be able to appropriately respond with additional questions? According to the Transaction Fee and Reporting document, currently the Transaction Fee is.7%. It also states, The Transaction Fees imposed shall be based upon the date of issuance of the payment. If the Transaction Fee should increase during the term of the contract, will contracted vendors be allowed to increase prices to match the increase of the Transaction Fee? In the last solicitation the state was specific about bids only coming from distributors is this the states wish for this solicitation also? Is the State willing to negotiate the terms & conditions of the resulting contract? Is the State willing to negotiate any insurance terms that we may not be able to agree to? Details are not available for Eligible Users which account for 28.01% of FY14/15 spend. The Department held a pre-bid conference to provide bidder instructions. The Department only intends to have one question and answer period. The Department may accept bids from a vendor as defined in Addendum 2 of section of the solicitation. The Department does not accept conditional bids. By submitting a bid, the Bidder agrees to all terms and conditions. Bidders may propose suggested language to the Contract and General Contract Conditions for the Department's consideration after award and prior to contract execution. By submitting a bid, the Bidder agrees to all terms and conditions. Bidders may propose suggested language to the Contract and General Contract Conditions Page 4 of 8

5 If Vendor submits exceptions to requirements and/or terms and conditions, will Vendor s bid be rejected? Section 1.5 on ITB page 5. Will the renewal option term be in one-year increments? Section , MSRP. a) Does the state agree that Vendor can provide Vendor s internal list price although this may not be a price provided by a manufacturer? b) Is Vendor s list price an acceptable alternative to MSRP? Please note as discussed in the roundtable for a previous version of this same ITB, Vendors have indicated to the state that MSRP and/or List Price is not something all manufacturer s provide. for the Department's consideration after award and prior to contract execution. The Department does not accept conditional bids. The Department will exercise renewal options as deemed in the best interest of the State and could be any combination of up to three years. See definition of MSRP in Addendum 2 of section of the solicitation. The following are considered equivalent to MSRP: the Manufacturer s recommended retail selling price or list price, catalog price, distributor price, published price or other usual and/or customary price that would be paid by the purchaser for specific commodities or equipment models, and contractual services without benefit of a contract resulting from the solicitation, if awarded. MSRPs shall be formally published by the manufacturer or publicly listed and available, and verifiable by the Department. If two or more prices fit this definition for a pertinent commodity, equipment model or contractual service, the Bidder will supply the lowest price as the MSRP. 12. Will the state please extend the question deadline to 5/19? Section 2, Instructions to Bidders Will the FL DMS accept bids from GPOs? Could you please explain the details? Page 12 of the ITB, Section states only one bid per vendor. Is the state willing to accept a joint proposal response from two separate entities that may have two separate tax IDs? Under , you ask that we list the Renewal Term MSRP for Core and Non-Core Items. True MSRP is not known for the Renewal Term as it is over 3 years away. Should we use current MSRP for both Initial and Renewal Terms or should we use industry averages to estimate Renewal MSRP? b) Yes. The Department held a pre-bid conference to provide bidder instructions. The Department only intends to have one question and answer period. The Department seeks to enter into a contract(s) directly with a Bidder for the purchase of medical and dental supplies. See section 1.3, Contract Objective, and 1.17, Contract Formation ( The Department intends to enter into a contract(s) with Bidder(s)... ). The Department will accept one bid, per vendor as defined in Addendum 2 of Section of the ITB. Please refer to Attachment O, section 6.2 for further information. Bidders must submit bids for both initial and renewal terms based on the current list of products provided for core products and the list proposed by bidders for noncore products. Bidders should review the scoring formula in section of the Page 5 of 8

6 Regarding ITB Section ; the Bidder is required to submit current and active registration with the Department of State in.pdf format. Where in the bid submission system is this document to be attached? Are Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) allowed to submit a bid? If GPOs are allowed to bid are there any specific limitations associated with them bidding? If only Distributors are allowed to submit bids, are GPOs considered Distributors? If a GPO submits a bid with the intention of having their GPO contract conditions terms and conditions supersede the State of Florida s contract terms and conditions wherever they conflict, will the GPO s bid be rejected? During the non-mandatory pre-bid conference the question was asked if GPO s could submit a bid response to the ITB. The answer was (paraphrasing here in quotes): Yes, as long as there is no conflict with a GPO s vendor 21. submitting a separate bid; vendors cannot submit 2 bids. Understanding that the statements made during the pre-bid conference are not binding, can you clarify and expand on that response in writing with your response to questions? If a GPO submits a bid utilizing vendors A, B and C and one or more of those vendors (A, B or C) submits a separate bid directly to the State of Florida, will that 22. vendor s bid be rejected or will the GPO s bid be rejected or will both bids be rejected or will none of the bids be rejected for that reason? Section 3, Scope of Work Regarding ITB Section 3.2 Scope; in the event the Bidder offers products that are generally packaged in a different quantity than the quantity named in the product description in Attachment H-1, after providing the price for the number of units named in the state provided Product Description, 23. how should the Bidder indicate the quantity that is packaged in a standard unit of measure? For example the product in the Product Description is generally provided in a Box of Twenty, the substitute product is provided in a Box of Thirty, is it necessary to indicate this anywhere other than the product equivalent/substitution description? solicitation in determining the initial and renewal term pricing when preparing its bid. Either method can be used. A Department of State section will be added to the Sourcing Application for bidders to attach the required information. See answer to Question 13. Not applicable, see answer to Question 13. The Department does not accept conditional bids. By submitting a bid, the Bidder agrees to all terms and conditions. Bidders may propose suggested language to the Contract and General Contract Conditions for the Department's consideration after award and prior to contract execution. See answer to Question 13. See answer to Question 13. The Department will only accept pricing and product equivalent/substitutions that meet the minimum specification listed in the solicitation. It is the bidder s responsibility to conform to the specification requirements requested by the Department. Page 6 of 8

7 In regards to Section 3.2(b) (Price Decreases) of Attachment O, Vendor accepts the first sentence of Section 3.2(b), but requests that the remaining sentences be replaced with the following: Vendor believes that the price of products and services delivered to the State pursuant to this Bid is market competitive for the state government sector throughout the term of this Bid. If, at any time during the Term, the State receives information that indicates Vendor s prices are not market competitive, the State may provide written notice of such information to Vendor. Vendor will work in good faith with the State to attempt to meet specific competitive situations so as to strategically benefit both parties. Regarding Contract Terms 3.7.; please verify the current State of Florida Transaction Fee and indicate any known increases that may occur regarding transaction fees in the next 12 months. Is the State willing to remove the last sentence of Section 3.8 (Warranty) on page 19 of the ITB? Can the Contractor pass on price increases based on manufacturer increases once during the term, if adhering to the 4 percent ceiling? Section 3.11 of the ITB. If the contract is renewed for a period of more than one year, will the state allow more than one increase? Is the State willing to remove Section 3.13 (Deliverables/Financial Consequences) of page 22 of the RFP? Section 4, Attachments Regarding Attachment A; the Bidder is required to submit an Out-of State Preference Letter if applicable. Wherein the bid submission system is this document to be attached? a) Can you clarify the meaning of Sections 4.6 Respect and 4.7 Pride in Attachment O (General Contract Conditions)? b) Are purchases from these entities described a mandatory requirement? Is the State willing to remove Section 11.3 (Financial Consequences of Non-Performance) on page 14 of Attachment O? Is the State willing to remove Section 11.4 (Liquidated Damages) on page 14 of Attachment O? Is the State willing to remove Section 4(b) (Best Price Offering) on page 3 of PUR 1000? If the State is not willing to remove Section 4(b) on page 3 of PUR 1000, would the State agree to the following proposed language in place of the current verbiage: Vendor believes that the price of products and services delivered to the State pursuant to this Bid is market competitive for the state government sector throughout the term of this Bid. If, at any time during the Term, the State The Department does not accept conditional bids. By submitting a bid, the Bidder agrees to all terms and conditions. Bidders may propose suggested language to the Contract and General Contract Conditions for the Department's consideration after award and prior to contract execution. The current MFMP Transaction Fee is.70%. The legislature determines the fee percentage during the annual appropriations process. The Department isn t aware of any changes at this time. Price adjustments can be submitted for Department approval and are based on the Producer Price Index as outlined in section 3.11 of the solicitation. An increase may be approved by the Department only once during any renewal period. An Out-of-State Preference letter section will be added to the MFMP Application for bidders to attach the required information. a) These are State of Florida standard contract conditions as required by law. b) RESPECT and PRIDE are not mandated. The PUR 1000 is not an incorporated document in this solicitation. The PUR 1000 is not an incorporated document in this solicitation. The Department does not accept conditional bids. By submitting a bid, the Bidder agrees to all terms and conditions. Bidders may propose suggested language to the Contract and General Contract Conditions Page 7 of 8

8 receives information that indicates Vendor s prices are not market competitive, the State may provide written notice of such information to Vendor. Vendor will work in good faith with the State to attempt to meet specific competitive situations so as to strategically benefit both parties. Attachment H/Pricing. Will the State/customer only require a vendor to provide MSRP documentation if the MSRP column is filled in on Attachment H? Attachment J: Preferred Pricing Affidavit. This Affidavit references Attachment M, General Contract Conditions. Should the correct reference be Attachment N? We distribute many thousands of items that State agencies may want to purchase. Must all these items we intend to offer under this contract be individually listed by line item in the Non-Core price sheets or can we just provide a flat discount off of MSRP for them? I am ready to start the bidding process, but can t find an attachment stating what the last contract prices for the products were...is this available?? Also, every Excel file I download seems to be the same...am I missing something?? I am a manufacturer of Stationary and Mobile Donor Lounges along with Privacy partitions (See attached). I am curious if you would consider a bid from us just for those items using the non-core bid sheet? Or do you require all bidders to supply all core items? (a) For this bid, do we have to bid on all the core items? (b) Also do we have to bid exact for all core items or can we bid equivalents? for the Department's consideration after award and prior to contract execution. On the price sheet(s), all yellow cells require data entry to be considered responsive. For both medical and dental, Core and Non-core products require the MSRP and discounted price to be listed. Upon completing all yellow cells, the discount percentage will automatically calculate. No, it should be Attachment O. The Department has revised Attachment J and provided a new version to reflect this change. The non-core tab is included to capture all products the bidder intends to offer future customers and products must be individually listed. The price sheet requires line items to be listed and not a flat discount off of MSRP. There are two price sheets that are required with the bid submittal, H.1 Medical and H.2 Dental. Two tabs are on each sheet, core (required items listed) and non-core (required to be proposed by bidder). Previous pricing is not included in the solicitation. Please see section Price Sheets. Bidders shall provide discounted prices for all products listed on the price sheet(s). (a) Yes. Please see section Price Sheets, Bidders shall provide discounted prices for all products listed on the price sheet(s). (b) Bidders are required to propose the exact specification (description) or an equivalent, as defined in section of the solicitation, for each core product using the following columns: distributor, product equivalent/substitution item number and description. Page 8 of 8