83--Law Enforcement Duty Uniform Textile Materials

This Is A Request For Information Announcement For Purposes Of Conducting Market Research Only. There Is No Solicitation Available At This Time. Requests For A Solicitation Will Not Receive A Response. The U. S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) is conducting market research to identify fabric materials with protection capabilities that would be suitable for use in a duty uniform for state and local law enforcement. The National Protection Center (NPC), NSRDEC, is conducting this effort on behalf of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The objective of this program is to identify textile materials that will improve the current level of protection of law enforcement officers while maintaining the current levels of comfort, appearance, and durability. Current law enforcement duty uniforms provide minimum levels of protection. This information will be used by state and local law enforcement to select a uniform material with improved protection capabilities for their specific operational requirements. Candidate materials will be classified by weight per Section I below. Three mandatory categories (comfort, appearance & durability) of material characteristics are defined below in Section II. All material candidates should meet the required criteria for comfort, appearance and durability, however, material candidates that do not meet the required criteria will be considered if technical data for all criteria is provided. Desired protection capabilities are defined below in Section III. A candidate material does not need to provide all of the desired protection capabilities as the specific requirement for material protection capability varies across the spectrum of law enforcement agencies. Consequently, multiple material candidates, with different types or levels of protection capability, may be submitted. I. Candidate materials will be assigned to one of two weight classes, based on weight: 1. Class I: Lightweight - Materials weighing less than 5.75 oz/yd2 2. Class II: Midweight/heavyweight - Materials weighing 5.75 oz/yd2 or more. II. All materials should meet the following levels of comfort, appearance and durability, as determined by the following test methods: 1. Comfort - a. Air permeability, per ASTM D 737-04. Class I - 50.0 ft3/min/ft2, Class II - 10.0 ft3/min/ft2 2. Appearance a. Material appearance, per AATCC 143-2006 b. Colorfastness, per AATCC 8-2005, 16-2004, 61-2006, and 15-2002 3. Durability a. Abrasion resistance, per ASTM D 3884-07. Class I - 300 cycles without failure, Class II - 500 cycles without failure. b. Burst strength, per ASTM D 3787-07 (applies to knit materials only). Class I & II - 50 lbf. c. Tear strength, per ASTM D 1424-07a (applies to woven & non-woven only). Class I - Warp: 6 lbf (woven & non-woven), Fill: 4 lbf (woven only). Class II - Warp: 9 lbf (woven & non-woven), Fill: 6 lbf (woven only). d. Material breaking strength, per ASTM D 5034-95 (2001) (woven & non-woven only). Class I & II - Warp: 160 lbf (woven), Fill: 80 lbf (woven), 160 lbf (nonwoven only). e. Seam/closure breaking strength, ASTM D 5034-95 (2001). Class I - 45 lbf, Class II - 55 lbf f. Dimensional stability, per AATCC 135-2003 Technical testing data for the above criteria must be included in your response. Data should include the test results, who performed the testing and when it was performed. Complete testing reports are not required. Materials that do not meet some of the above criteria will still be considered, if technical data is supplied identifying the level of the shortcoming. III. A candidate material shall meet one or more of the following protection capabilities. The material protection capabilities will be defined by the following test methods: 1. Blood borne pathogen resistance, per ASTM F 1671-3. 2. Cut resistance, per ASTM F 1790-05. 3. Flame resistance, per ASTM D 6413-99. 4. Puncture resistance, per ASTM F 1342-05. 5. Water repellency, per AATCC 22. 6. Ultra Violet (UV) resistance, per AATCC 183-2004. Responses must identify the protection capability(s) claimed. Technical testing data that validates a protection capability must be included in your response. Materials that do not meet the above criteria for a protection capability will still be considered, if technical data is supplied identifying the level of the protection shortcoming. The information provided in response to this announcement will be evaluated by the program office. Based on the technical data provided by each respondent, the program office will determine which materials may require additional test and evaluation. The testing will characterize and verify the levels of comfort, appearance and durability as well as any protection performance capabilities. The results of this program will be used by law enforcement to make informed decisions regarding the selection of materials for next generation duty uniforms. Because this material is not intended for a Department of Defense or a Department of Homeland Security application nor is the procurement of a law enforcement duty uniform subject to FEMA grant funding, this survey is open to all sources of textile material, both foreign and domestic, to include small businesses. However, local agencies may or may not have procurement rules or regulations pertaining to sourcing of materials. Consequently, sourcing of material will need to be identified in order to meet that possible requirement. Respondents to this request for information shall submit: 1. A physical description of the material, including weight per square yard, and identify which protection capabilities are offered by this material. 2. Test data, in accordance with the criteria mentioned above, to characterize the comfort, durability and appearance of the material. 3. Test data, in accordance with the criteria mentioned above, to characterize the protection performance of the material. 4. Indicate whether additional material is available for purchase and the lead time required for purchase. 5. Identify the sourcing (foreign or domestic) of the material. 6. Identify the cost of the material ($ USD/square yard). 7. Any information of prior use of this material in another uniform application. 8. Any attachments shall be in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. The Government will not reimburse any business concern for any information submitted in response to this sources sought request. Submission of information or samples is voluntary. Any proprietary information will be held confidential. Business concerns submitting responses should indicate whether they are large, small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), HUBZone or service disabled veteran owned small business. Large business concerns are not prohibited from responding to this announcement. This program is a research and development program only. There is no planned procurement action that will accompany this program. Should a procurement of any material evaluated by this program eventually occur, this solicitation will not be conducted by the Army. All interested business concerns are required to respond to this request for information announcement via email no later than Friday, 27 May 2011, 3:00 p.m. EDT. Responses must include company point of contact, email address, telephone and fax numbers. All interested business concerns responding to this announcement shall send their submission to Fred Chan via email at contact@example.gov. All technical questions regarding this sources sought announcement should be directed via email towards Fred Chan at contact@example.gov.