Enterprise Tinker Commodity Council, Market Research, Reverse Engineering, Request For Information

DISCLAIMERS: The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Request for Information (RFI). As stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers, and shall not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. As stated at FAR 52.215-3, RFI for Planning Purposes; the Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): This RFI is issued for the purpose of collecting market research, solely for informational, planning, identification of capable sources, identification of a recommended strategy and to determine if this effort can be competitive or a Small Business Set-Aside. The information provided in response to this RFI is for discussion purposes and any potential strategy that may be developed from these discussions would be the subject of a separate, future announcement. The information received in response to this RFI may be utilized by the Government in developing an acquisition strategy, and requirements documents (i.e.; Statement of Objectives, Performance Work Statement, or Purchase Description). The Air Force requires that only non-proprietary information be submitted in response to this RFI. The Air Force shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for the use of any proprietary information submitted. The Enterprise Tinker Commodity Council (ETCC) is a multi-functional team chartered to create innovative strategies to drive efficiencies and performance improvements to the USAF supply chain. ETCC is directly responsible for developing logistics support strategies for USAF managed aircraft accessories, instruments, and engine components. The Government has determined that to achieve cost effectiveness for overhaul procedures of high cost driver items, it needs to reverse engineer the processes and procedures required to obtain organic and/or contract overhaul of applicable high cost drivers. PURPOSE: This RFI is intended to identify opportunities to increase efficiencies and effectiveness for the sustainment of components managed by the AFSC and repaired at both government and contractor facilities. No technical data is available beyond the generic information provided. The Government does not own and is unable to obtain the data rights. The Government WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE MANUALS OR DRAWINGS FOR THIS REQUIREMENT. The ETCC is requesting industry input and advice for reverse engineering to develop a technical data package (TDP) to accomplish government depot level or contract repair for the items listed below. The TDP shall provide the repair/overhaul procedures, Acceptance Test Procedures, identify test equipment and applicable diagnostic test software that will enable depot or competitive contract repair/overhaul of these National Stock Numbers (NSNs)/Part Numbers (P/Ns). The ETCC is requesting industry input and advice for the reverse engineering of repair and overhaul processes for: 1. NSN: 4810-01-513-5682, P/N: 3215060-3-1, Nomenclature: F-15 Bleed Air Pressure Regulating and Shutoff Valve, MAX TEMP: 1250 degrees Fahrenheit, MAX PRESSURE: 650 psig, Description: This is an in-line style Butterfly Valve with Servo Assembly open to upstream air pressure through a static port. It functions as a vent of compressed and heated engine bleed air that is delivered to the aircraft ECS. Downstream air is fed through a mounted servo assembly via ductwork. The valve regulates the opening of the butterfly valve by mechanically reading differential pressure via the servo and diaphragm. A solenoid can be energized to force the valve closed. This valve most likely sees maximum inlet temperatures around 1250 degF and maximum pressures 650 psig based on similar items. 2. NSN: 1660-01-445-9556, P/N: 3214806-4-1, Nomenclature: F-16 Bleed Air Pressure Regulating and Shutoff Valve, MAX TEMP: 1250 degrees Fahrenheit, MAX PRESSURE: 650 psig, Description: This is an in-line style Butterfly Valve with Servo Assembly open to upstream air pressure through a static port. It functions as a vent of compressed and heated engine bleed air that is delivered to the aircraft ECS. Downstream air is fed through a mounted servo assembly via ductwork. The valve regulates the opening of the butterfly valve by mechanically reading differential pressure via the servo and diaphragm. A solenoid can be energized to force the valve closed. 3. NSN: 4810-01-548-6045, P/N: 396678-1, Nomenclature: C-130 Differential Pressure Regulating Shutoff Valve, MAX TEMP: 650 degrees Fahrenheit, MAX PRESSURE: 200 psig, MAX FLOW: 145 pounds per minute (lb/min), Description: In-Line Butterfly Style Valve with Regulating Components that sense upstream and downstream pressures and mechanically regulates the valve open and closed based on the differential pressure of the two. There is also an electrical control solenoid which is used to shut off the valve (close) through excitation if the situations warrants. Examples of required documentation are drawings, diagrams, layouts, schematics, descriptive literature, illustrations, descriptions of equipment, tooling, performance information, illustrated parts listing(s), parts specifications, test data, acceptance test procedures, technical orders, and similar materials. The Government shall maintain full rights to use, duplicate, and/or disclose the technical information delivered. All expenses related to this RFI shall be at contractor expense. Questions may be transmitted electronically via e-mail to: Mr. Bruce Giddings Procuring Contracting Officer E-mail: bruce.giddings@us.af.mil Based on responses to this RFI, it is anticipated that, at some future date, a solicitation or series of solicitations may be issued to pursue opportunities for contract award. A pre-solicitation notice may be published in FedBizOpps prior to the release of any solicitation generated from the information gathered in response to this RFI. Not responding to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation. SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION: The Government is interested in all businesses to include, Small Businesses, Small Disadvantage Business, 8(a)s, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Small businesses, Hubzone Businesses, and Women-Owned Small Businesses. The Government requests that interested parties respond to this notice as a prime or subcontractor as applicable and identify your small business status to the identified NAICS code. Additionally, please provide any anticipated teaming arrangements, along with a description of similar services offered to the Government and to commercial customers for the past three years. Any responses involving teaming agreements should delineate between the work that will be accomplished by the prime and the work accomplished by the teaming partners. RESPONSES: Please provide the following information for your company: - Company name/Address - Cage Code - DUNS Number - Point of Contact - Phone/fax Number - Email Address - Web Page URL - Size of Business relative to NAICS Code (Small Business Size Standard employees or less) - U.S. or Foreign Owned Entity Please provide responses to the following: 1. Describe reverse engineering efforts for similar items. 2. Describe the types of items previously reverse engineered. 3. Describe the types of items previously reverse engineered for military applications. 4. Describe the results of previous reverse engineering efforts. 5. Describe the challenges encountered in reverse engineering repair procedures for similar items. 6. Describe your approach to specialized test equipment, tooling, and software development and certification. 7. Describe your past experience writing and/or updating government technical orders (TOs). 8. Provide examples of your past experience and demonstration of past accomplishments with reverse engineering. 9. Provide an estimate of time required to develop data packages. 10. Provide a rough-order-of-magnitude for the cost to develop data packages. 11. Discuss and identify performance criteria and incentive plans that your firm has found particularly effective in this type effort. 12. If your firm has performed under a DoD or commercial contract, provide best practices and lessons learned. For DoD contracts, please provide the DoD agency, contract number, and contact information. For commercial contracts, please provide similar contract information if possible. 13. Identify the number of personnel involved in reverse engineering and their skill levels. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION: Responses to this RFI must be readable by Microsoft Office or Adobe software. Responses to this RFI shall be unclassified and should not exceed 20 pages in length. Prior to the response date, if necessary, potential respondents may request clarifications by email. Significant ETCC responses to a potential respondent's request for clarification will be posted to FedBizOpps under this RFI. TCC may provide feedback to respondents regarding their response to this RFI. Please note: emails containing file types such as: .zip, .xlsx, .docx, or other macro-enabled extensions, may not be delivered to the intended recipient. All responses and questions under this RFI must be transmitted electronically via e-mail to Mr. Bruce Giddings, Procuring Contracting Officer, email: bruce.giddings@us.af.mil