Presenter’s Biography

1. 20th Annual Transportation Disadvantaged Best Practices & Training Workshop Procurement – RFP101July 31, 2012

2. Presenter’s Biography • President of R.B. Consulting Solutions, LLC • LYNX Manager of Procurement & Contracts 2007-2012 • HART Purchasing Agent III 2001-2007 • USAF Contract Specialist 1978-1995 • Certified Level I and Level II Air Force Acquisition Professional • AA in Contracts Management from the Community College of the Air Force

3. Course Outline • Written Policies & Procedures • Advantages of Proposals • Scope of work • Evaluation criteria • Who should evaluate proposals • Steps in the evaluation process • How the Sunshine law affects the process

4. Written Policies & Procedures • Your agency should have a written policy on how proposals are handled • Who is responsible for the selection of the members of the evaluation committee • Function of the Technical Advisor • Evaluation process • Who is responsible to review the proposals as being responsive • Who has award authority • Debriefing unsuccessful firms

5. Advantages of Proposals • A complete, adequate and realistic specification or purchase description allowing for competition primarily on the basis of price alone may not be available. • The contract award amount, whether a firm‑fixed price or some type of cost reimbursement contract, can only be determined on the basis of costs of the contractor derived from a negotiation process. • Discussions or negotiations may be needed to address technical requirements as well as proposed cost or price aspects of the offerer'sproposal. Discussions may be conducted with one or more offererswho have submitted proposals. • An opportunity may be given to revise proposals and to submit a final proposal at the completion of the discussion phase of the process. • Award is not is not made on cost alone.

6. Scope of Work • The scope of work should provide enough detail as to what is required • Measurable performance standards • Identify any special license requirements • Identify any deliverables required by the Contractor • Is a First Article of Approval required? • Is an acceptance test required? • Identify any local, state or federal regulations the Contractor is required to adhere to.

7. Evaluation Criteria • The RFP should contain the criteria as to how the proposals will be scored • Make sure each criteria is clear and concise • They should be listed in order of importance • You may provide the value of each criteria

8. Samples of Evaluation Criteria • Company Qualifications • Personnel Experience • Methodology and Approach • Financial Capabilities • Resources to include equipment • Ability to complete work on time • Ability to complete work within budget • Cost

9. Evaluating Cost Evaluation of cost can be tricky if you do not define how the points for cost are determined. The simplest way is to use the following formula. The net affect is that the proposal with the lowest cost is given all the points. The cost of other proposal is then divided into the lowest cost. Take the resulting number and multiply it by the total points for cost and the answer is the number of points to be assigned to that proposal.

10. Cost Formula In this example cost is valued at 30 points. Company A offered the lowest cost of 200,000 and is awarded all the points. Company B offered a cost of 275,000. 200,000 275,000 = .73 x 30 = 21.90 Company B is awarded 21.90 points for cost

11. Who Should Evaluate Cost Some agencies let the evaluation committee members evaluate cost. If you use a formula to evaluate cost, my recommendation is for the procurement staff to evaluate cost. One of the problems you may encounter by having the committee score cost, is their evaluations in the other areas my be skewed by seeing cost. I would recommend the procurement staff evaluate cost and each proposal submitted would have cost in a sealed envelope with the original proposal. After the proposals are scored, the procurement staff would then open the sealed envelopes and assign the points for each proposal.

12. The Evaluation Committee It is recommended that an odd number of people serve on the committee. The minimum number should be three. The people selected should have the knowledge and experience to evaluate the proposals. You make want to have people outside your agency who have the knowledge to be on the committee. If at all possible, try not to have all members from the same department on the committee.

13. The Evaluation Process When evaluating proposals, you should follow your agency’s written policy. It is recommended the procurement staff meet with all the committee members to hand out the proposals, score sheets and to explain the process and the agency’s rules. If they are required to sign a non-conflict letter, this would be the time to do it. Remember: It is important to follow the written procedures otherwise anything done can be considered arbitrary in nature

14. Scoring of the Proposals There are two ways to score and rank the proposals. Some agencies use the total gross score and others use ordinal ranking. Ordinal ranking requires each committee member to rank the proposals in the order of first, second, third and so on. The advantage of ordinal ranking is it tends to eliminate any bias or the loading of scores to favor one firm over another.

15. Scoring by Ordinal Ranking

16. Florida Sunshine Law • All Evaluation Committee meetings where the discussion of the proposals is discussed are open to the public. • Negotiations are no longer public. An audio recording must be kept. • Oral presentation are not open to the public. An audio recording must be kept.

17. Contact Information Rich Bannon E-Mail: rich@rbconsultingsolutions.com