Flat Wagon Railcar

INTRODUCTION The Theater Contracting Center, 409th Contracting Support Brigade, Kaiserslautern, Germany 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 a heavy-duty Six-Axle Flat Wagon Railcar design inclusive of engineering, manufacturing of limited/prototype cars, and potential manufacturing of large railcar quantities. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement, if a requirement materializes. Multiple awards may be made. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions. DISCLAIMER THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) 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. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. PROGRAM BACKGROUND The Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe is seeking information related to a heavy-duty Six-Axle Flat Wagon Railcar design inclusive of engineering, manufacturing of limited/prototype cars, and potential manufacturing of large railcar quantities. REQUIRED CAPABILITIES The intent of this Sources Sought is to assess the state-of-the art of the technology available in Flat Wagon Railcar products that could be applied to meet this requirement. The Government envisions a solution for the Flat Wagon Railcar requirement that meets the following operational and program requirements: The Flat Wagon Railcar shall have six axles for the transport of extremely heavy loads, especially those with small areas of settlement. General characteristics of the Flat Wagon Railcar include the following: 1. Built to German Technical Inspection Association (T'V) requirements and International Unions of Railways (UIC) over-sized/over-dimension guidelines for cargo that operates on Standard Gauge rail (1435mm inner rail to inner rail). 2. New, 90 metric tons (MT) capacity, single platform flat wagon railcar with six-axle (three 2-axle trucks) with capability of carrying one M1A2SEPv3 (74 MT) tracked vehicle (with full combat configuration weight of 78.5 MT). Key is that the total weight of the M1A2SEPv3 will increase to 74 MT versus 64 MT. 3. Individual railcar specifications should be approximately 16.4 meters overall length, 15 meters rail car bed length, 3.10 meters railcar bed width, 90 MT maximum load weight, and 31 MT average weight of railcar. a. The current Deutsche Bahn (DB) Cargo single platform heavy-duty flat wagon railcar (Samms) version used to transport the M1A2SEPv2 has a maximum load limit of 89 up to 101 MT. The M1A2SEPv2 brings its entire bearing weight, however, onto a short stretch of the railcar that is only 4580 Millimeters. Therefore, the proposed railcar needs to be designed in such manner that it can hold at a minimum the 78.5 MT on a length of 4580 Millimeters (current Samms cars can only hold max 64 MT on a length of 4580 Millimeters). b. Weight per axle and weight per linear meter shall be under the allowable railway of at least Category C2 railway and the corresponding load limits of the railcar as described in the LOCA explanation guide (available on-line). 4. Deck height above rail at end sills should not exceed 1300 mm nominal. 5. Provisions to reduce the gap distance between cars and support pillars (for roll on/roll off capabilities) to permit the operation of circus-type tracked vehicle loading. This may include a fixed convex/concave deck plate at the car end location or a sliding plate fixture for example. 7. Chain tie-down securement system (four rows of anchor holes per car) in conformance with UIC Open Top Loading Rules and subparts. 8. Deck floor plates should be minimum 0.375 inch thick steel welded to the underframe and in combination with the side-sills shall extend the full width of the railcar. 9. Below deck handholds and safety provisions as required by T'V requirements and UIC regulations. 10. Railcars to be equipped with end-of-car cushioning units 11. Below deck hand brake (one per railcar). 12. T'V requirement and UIC compliant bottom shelf design couplers with manganese steel coupler carrier wear plates, at least 0.5 inch thick. 13. Railcars to be sandblast prepped, primed and painted with appropriate stencils per UIC and reporting marks. 1. Requested information to provide on Flat Wagon Railcar design and engineering: a. A description of the capability to design and engineer railcars in conformance with International Unions of Railways Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices. b. A description of the capability to coordinate with teams/customers such as International Unions of Railways Equipment Engineering Committee, US Government, etc. c. A description of the capability to provide a complete engineering package with sufficient detail to manufacture the railcars; drawings, Bill of Materials, validated mathematical models used to confirm that the as-built cars are within the Limiting Values for all of International Unions of Railways Specification Criteria, and other material required for the execution of the railcar design by the manufacturer/railcar builder. d. A brief description of anticipated costs involved with the development of the Flat Wagon Railcar engineering package. 2. Requested information to provide on Flat Wagon Railcar prototype manufacturing and delivery: a. A description of the capability to manufacture railcar prototypes in an International Unions of Railways certified rail shop. b. A description of the capability to provide prototype railcars utilizing a complete engineering package. c. A description of the capability to coordinate major build milestones, engineering, and design of alternatives with various customers. d. A description of the capability to rework/adjust prototypes after field trials. e. A description of the process and anticipated costs involved with the development and manufacture of Flat Wagon Railcar prototypes. 3. Requested information to provide on full production of the Flat Wagon Railcar: a. A description of the capabilities for the manufacture and delivery of up to 300 new 90 MT UIC-certified railway flatcars. b. A description of the capability to receive staggered payments after delivery at destination and the process of mainline interchange inspections, fees, and commercial warranty. c. A description of the anticipated manufacturing timeframes involved for the production and delivery of the following Flat Wagon Railcar quantities: i. 1 to 50 railcars ii. 1 to 100 railcars iii. 1 to 150 railcars iv. 1 to 200 railcars v. 1 to 250 railcars vi. 1 to 300 railcars The Flat Wagon Railcar should be a non-developmental item to the maximum extent possible. Non-developmental Item in accordance with the definition found in FAR Part 2.101. Qualification. The Flat Wagon Railcar must be qualified and demonstrate compliance to the German Technical Inspection Association (T'V) requirements and International Unions of Railways (UIC) over-sized/over-dimension guidelines for cargo that operates on Standard Gauge rail (1435mm inner rail to inner rail). Proof of qualification should be addressed in the response. Maintenance, Inspection and Repair. The Government desires a product with minimal maintenance and inspection requirements at the organizational level. The product should also be easily repairable for deployed units. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Any resulting contract is anticipated to have a security classification level of Unclassified. Any resulting contract shall be compliant with the specialty metals restriction of the Berry Amendment (10 U.S.C. 2533a and 2533b) in accordance with DFARS Subpart 225.7003, if applicable. ELIGIBILITY The applicable NAICS code for this requirement is 336510. The Product Service Code (PSC) is 2220. SUBMISSION DETAILS In addition to the information requests found above, interested vendors shall submit a capabilities package demonstrating their product(s). Included in the package shall be any literature, specifications, calculations, drawings, etc. related to each product of interest. Additionally, the U.S. Army Europe is interested in a rough order of magnitude for each product of interest. All information sought should be conveyed in no more than ten (10) 8.5 X 11 inch pages, font no smaller than 10 point demonstrating ability to provide the products listed in this Technical Description. Documentation should be in bullet format. No phone or email solicitations with regards to the status of the RFP will be accepted prior to its release. If your organization has the potential capacity to provide the required products, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, primary points of contact (POCs) and their email address, FAX, Web site address, telephone number, and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the requirements of this notice, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. Your response to this Sources Sought, including any capabilities statement, shall be electronically submitted to the Contract Specialist, Ms. Lauri Anton, in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF), via email lauri.d.anton.civ@mail.mil no later than 17:00 p.m. Central European Time on 31 January 2017 and reference this synopsis number in subject line of e-mail and on all enclosed documents. The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the U.S. Government to solicit for or award a competitive acquisition. The U.S. Government WILL NOT pay for any materials provided in response to this notice and submittals WILL NOT be returned. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. For information about the 409th Contracting Support Brigade, please refer to the 409th Contracting Support Brigade website at http://www.409csb.army.mil/. All data received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government.