Airworthiness Verification Program (Formerly Known as Conformance Inspection Program (CIP) of Aircraft Components)

The Government hereby requests information regarding the technical and financial capabilities of Small Business Administration (SBA) certified small businesses, to perform Airworthiness Verification Program support requirements as outlined below. There is no commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, make an award, or be responsible for any costs expended by any interested parties in responding to this notice. Information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to solicit or award a contract. This is a sources sought notice only and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). Background. For informational purposes only. The U.S. Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) anticipates a requirement for a support contract to provide labor, materials, and facilities to support the Airworthiness Verification Program managed by the Quality Engineering Division (RDMT-SEU). RDMR-SEU is currently supported by Constellation Technology Corporation, Inc. under contract W58RGZ-11-D-0288. The five (5) year basic Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, with a ceiling of $45,379,443.00, was awarded 29 September 2011. Total contract value to date is approximately $13 Million. Listed below are the tasks currently being performed under contract W58RGZ-11-D-0288 to which technical capabilities are being sought: The Contractor shall provide the equipment, instrumentation, manpower, and resources to support the Production Lot Test (PLT) program for a period not to exceed 36 months. The Contractor shall have the capability to evaluate manufacturing processes, including machining operations (such as cutting, grinding, hobbing, forming, boring and honing), metal forming techniques (such as casting and forging), assembling and joining techniques (such as welding, brazing, and soldering), heat treatments, surface treatments (such as shotpeening, carburizing, and nitriding), and platings, non-destructive testing, coatings and finishes. The contractor shall have the capability to quantitatively determine the chemical composition of aerospace alloys. The contractor shall obtain Government approval prior to outsourcing any element of the inspection. The Contractor shall, upon request, allow the Government and the part's manufacturer to witness the PLT. The Government shall provide GFE, technical data and a Government-developed inspection plan as a part of a Technical Directive Order (TDO) for each exhibit. The Contractor shall perform visual, nondestructive test, dimensional, compositional and destructive metallurgical testing in accordance with the Government Inspection Plan. The Contractor shall use industry standard non-destructive and destructive inspection methods as specified. The required/actual measurements (with corresponding tolerances) shall be presented and all discrepancies from the drawing package noted. The requirements of the inspection plan shall be the governing document. All aspects of the PLT shall be subject to Government verification. A minimum of a working knowledge of DoD Critical Safety Item (CSI) program and the Army Aviation Air Worthiness Release (AWR) process is required. History has shown that it is imperative that the prime contractor have (or be capable of developing) an extensive network of subcontractors and material vendors to address the broad scope of work, and rapidly evolving task order requirements. The prime must be structured in a manner to be flexible to the Government's requirements, increasing support during periods of growth and reducing support during periods of decreased workload. Desired Response: Interested parties possessing the requisite skills, resources, and capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirement are invited to respond to this marketing research survey/sources sought announcement via an electronic submission of an executive summary, no more than three (3) 8.5-inch by 11-inch pages in length, single-sided, with one-inch margins on all sides, and a minimum of 1.5x line text spacing. Font size should be no smaller than 12pt Times New Roman. Microsoft Word (.docx) and/or Adobe (.pdf) files are required. Interested parties are asked to answer and respond to the following questions and requests in addition to their 3-page executive summary. Please limit your responses to three (3) 8.5-inch by 11-inch pages in length, single-sided, with one-inch margins on all sides, and a minimum of 1.5x line text spacing. Font size should be no smaller than 12pt Times New Roman. In both the 3-page executive summary and the 3-page response to the questions below, company proprietary information should be marked accordingly. Please note that submission of a company brochure will not satisfy this requirement. 1. Please provide your company name, address, point of contact with corresponding phone number, e-mail address, CAGE code and small business size under NAICS 541380. 2. Please provide a summary of your approach to meeting the stated requirement (i.e., your company's facilities, team members and their roles). 3. Please provide relevant corporate experience references. You may cite company and related web addresses as additional sources of information. Relevant corporate experience information should identify the applicable contract number; the total contract dollar amount; contract period of performance; a brief description of the services performed; and customer point of contact with corresponding telephone number and e-mail address. 4. Does your company currently provide comprehensive program management, research and development, engineering, fabrication, subsystem/system integration, qualification testing, logistical and support to DoD hardware as described in this RFI? If so, what types of systems does your company support? 5. If your company is not currently providing this support, has your company had experience in the last 5 years providing these types of services? 6. What does your company specialize in? 7. The Government is contemplating the use of a Single Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contract. a. What experience does your company have with Government contracts? b. Is your company familiar with the Government processes of contracting, billing, payment, etc.? c. Do you have any experience with IDIQ type contracts? d. If you have previous IDIQ contracts with the Government, what types of pricing arrangements were used [i.e. firm fixed price (FFP), FFP level of effort (LOE), time and material (T&M), cost plus fixed fee (CPFF), cost plus incentive fee (CPIF), etc...]? e. What type of pricing arrangement would you recommend for this contract? 8. Does your company have an Earned Value Management System (EVMS)? Have you used it on your government contracts under DFARS 252.234-7002? 9. The Government is contemplating using an EVMS, or tailored EVMS approach, for efforts below $20 Million. a. Have you had experience using EVMS on projects less than $20 Million? b. Do you have any concerns about this approach? 10. The Government is contemplating a Period of Performance of approximately three (3) years. In this scenario, offerors would propose Not-to-Exceed Fixed Price (FP) or Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) labor and overhead rates for each year of performance. a. Can you accurately reflect your costs within Not-to-Exceed rates for this period of performance? b. What are your concerns regarding this period of performance? 11. Would the length of the period of performance impact whether you would participate in a future competition? If so, explain your response. 12. What do you believe is the optimal period of performance and why? 13. What is the minimum information required for your organization to accurately propose Not-to- Exceed Fixed Price or Cost Plus Fixed Fee labor and overhead rates under a potential contract? 14. Provide any other recommendations, comments, or concerns you have about this potential acquisition. Place of Contract Performance: Primarily at Redstone Arsenal, AL, and at the Contractor's CONUS facility regardless of geographical location. All interested parties are requested to send the three-page executive summary, and three page responses to the questions/requests, including web-based links to company and/or descriptive literature along with any comments to Pamela N. Meenen, Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL via email: pamela.n.meenen.civ@mail.mil.