DLA Emergent IV Research and Development Program

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION DLA Disposition Services Digital Twin THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANY FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION REQUESTS. NO TELELPHONE CALLS OR REQUESTS FOR A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED. COMPANY BROUCHURES ARE NOT DESIRED. As America's combat logistics support agency, the Defense Logistics Agency provides the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, other federal agencies, and partner nation armed forces with a full spectrum of logistics, acquisition, and technical services. DLA sources and provides nearly all the consumable items America's military forces need to operate - from food, fuel and energy to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction material. Please visit us online http://www.dla.mil/. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Office of Research & Development (R&D), in support of DLA Information Operations is seeking information on how an interested contractor will provide software to develop digital twins for Disposition Service Warehouses. DLA Disposition Services warehouse configurations are unique to each site's footprint. Management needs the ability to visualize and manipulate operations (people / production / equipment) in a simulated virtual environment to explore different warehouse automation technologies and configurations to enable improved production accuracy and velocity while reducing the ergonomic strain on personnel. (1) Date: February 21, 2023 (2) Product or Service Code: AC33 (3) Contracting Office Address DLA Contracting Services Office Philadelphia 700 Robbins Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19111 (4) Subject: DLA Research and Development - DLA Disposition Services Supply Chain Digital Twin (5) RFI Number: RFIEMERGENTIV21FEB2023 (6) Closing Response Date: March 7, 2023 (7) Contact Point Responses to this RFI will be in the form of a white paper submission. A white paper submitted under DLA Emergent IV Research and Development Program Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) 0001-22 Topic D.3 (Emergent+IV+Amendment+03+Final.pdf): Building Digital Twin of Organization (DTO) that simulates DLA's business processes such as Acquire to Retire (A2R) and sub-processes such as supply chain (DTSC - Digital Twin of Supply Chain) that incorporates: Human behavior in the business processes; Technologies such as Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), etc.; Real time feedback loops to not only improve routine business processes but also predict abnormal situations such as supply chain disruptions. Vendors interested in responding to this RFI should review BAA 0001-22, Emergent+IV+BAA+Final (1).pdf. Please ensure that your response follows the format prescribed format for the BAA. The white paper should address a pilot study of the vendor's capabilities for a digital twin of the Disposition Services warehouse process. The white papers will be submitted via email to the Research and Development Office via the following mailboxes: Sara.Lobley@dla.mil and RandD.DCSO@dla.mil. All responses to this RFI must be submitted on or before 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on the closing date. *****THE RFI NUMBER - RFIEMERGENTIV21FEB2023 MUST BE IN THE SUBJECT OF THE RFI RESPONSE. ***** DLA will notify Respondents submitting a White Paper in response to this BAA by email message acknowledging receipt and a subsequent email message after review of the White Paper either (1) providing instructions for the submission of a technical proposal or (2) advising that DLA does not wish to receive a technical proposal and providing feedback to the Respondent regarding the rationale for this decision. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 1. GENERAL DLA Research & Development is distributing this request for information (RFI) to the community of supply chain innovators, which includes industry and academia. The expectation is that the recipients will forward this RFI notification to other supply chain management / digital twin vendors they know as appropriate. THIS IS ONLY AN RFI. This RFI is for planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. DLA is not seeking proposals and will not be accepting unsolicited proposals. DLA will discard, without opening, any unsolicited proposals. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be at the expense of the interested party. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. DLA is seeking a vendor with simulation software that would provide a complete digital twin 3D model of the Disposition Services processes to include people, processes, equipment, and operational metrics. The software will provide analytical capabilities to determine the impact of warehouse configuration, staffing models, and operational process changes. The Disposition Services process begins at the point of item off-loading and conveyance to pre-receipt staging area. The item is conveyed onward to a roller platform where the property is verified (Kind-Count-Condition - KCC) and inducted into the inventory system where new barcode labels are attached. Afterwards the property with new bar code labels moves along the roller table to be palletized. The pallets are transported from induction to a new warehouse location for future distribution. Each warehouse has a unique configuration. The current warehouse operations are a combination of manual, automated, and partially automated processes. Data is available through sensors and manual data entry. All vendors responding to the RFI with white papers are required to demonstrate that they can provide a capability that meets the government's minimum requirements above. The white paper should detail a pilot study of the respondent's software for one warehouse location.