Army Intermittent Fault Detection System

The Army Contracting Command - New Jersey is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify potential sources having an interest and industry technologies available to support/provide the Army Intermittent Fault Detection System. This effort will support and enhance/improve the on-going readiness requirements for the fielded weapons platforms and will provide a comprehensive field diagnostic capability to support field level maintenance resulting in more comprehensive and robust on platform diagnostics, reducing electronic Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) No Evidence of Failure (NEOF) situations, and ultimately providing the Soldier with a comprehensive tool set to diagnose faults and potential faults in wiring harnesses and LRUs. The anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NACIS) code assigned to this acquisition is 541330. This request is for informational purposes only to promote exchanges of information with Industry in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement if a requirement materializes. Based on the responses to this sources sought notice/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses (in full or in part) or procured through full and open competition. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions. Proprietary and/or classified information SHALL NOT be submitted. Information and materials submitted in response to this request WILL NOT be returned. DISCLAIMER THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO ENTITLEMENT TO PAYMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF DIRECT AND/OR INDIRECT COSTS AND/OR CHARGES SHALL ARISE AS A RESULT OF SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS REQUEST. THE GOVERNMENT SHALL NOT PAY FOR ANY AND ALL INFORMATION AND/OR MATERIALS RECEIVED IN RESPONSE TO THIS REQUEST AND IS IN NO WAY OBLIGATED BY THE INFORMATION RECEIVED. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS RFI IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. PROGRAM BACKGROUND The Department of Army, as the entire DoD, is challenged by the inability to detect and isolate faults in wiring bundles and LRUs at the platform. These faults include opens and shorts, degraded and intermittent signals, and insulation degradation as well as degradation in LRU connectors, internal wiring harness and backplanes. The magnitude of the challenge is daunting, with the DoD spending approximately $3B annually just removing and replacing LRUs that, when tested, are determined to be NEOF. Additionally, legacy electronic components are experiencing increasingly reduced reliability as a result of component age and usage. The duration of these intermittent events can range from nanoseconds to seconds, may oscillate repeatedly during an event or may just be a single occurrence during a given testing session. The reseating of a degraded connection, solder joint, etc., can temporarily cause the intermittent connection to function properly for days, or even weeks after, and may only manifest as a repeat situation after several months. In order to reduce maintenance and sustainment costs, the Army is planning to field an intermittent fault detection system which will be used to diagnose and detect intermittent faults at the platform. The intent is to utilize existing technologies and adapt them to the Army platforms. The system will be a Soldier portable system designed for field and depot use and will be capable of operation in extreme conditions utilizing available power. It is envisioned that the systems will, at a minimum, diagnose intermittent faults in cable assemblies and LRUs while providing appropriate instructions to the User. SUBMISSION DETAILS If your organization has the potential capacity to provide the required products/systems, please provide the following information: Organization name, address, cage code, base contract number, primary points of contact and their email address, website address, telephone number, and type of ownership for the organization; A tailored capability statements addressing the requirements of this notice, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. The response shall depict how your organization (with any similarly situated subcontractors if you are a small business) can meet the outlined requirements in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. Please provide any questions, comments, and feedback on the attached draft PWS and its contents. Indicate if your organization consider this a Fixed Price (Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP)) or a Cost Reimbursable (Cost-Plus-Fixed-fee (CPFF)) type effort? If CPFF: Do you consider this a completion or term effort? Given your answer to the above: What type of additional data/metrics/etc. if any, would need to be included in the request for proposal package to be proposed as a CPFF (term or completion) or FFP effort? Indicate if your organization would propose on this effort? Yes or No? If yes: indicate if your organization is currently considered a small business. If a small business: Indicate if your organization would be capable and intend for at least 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to be performed by your organization and any similarly situated subcontractors (See FAR Clause 52.219-14). Your response to this Sources Sought/RFI, including any capabilities statement, shall be electronically submitted to the Contract Specialist, Margaret Stroynowski, in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (no more than ten 8.5 X 11 inch pages, font no smaller than 10 point) with a page limit of 5, via email Malgorzata.stroynowski.civ@army.mil.