FY2021 RDT&E Super Dialer Prototype Development

4 Nov 2020: Organizations that previously submitted a response to this opportunity prior to 4 Nov 2020 are requested to resubmit. The organizational email was being migrated to the cloud, so no responses were received. The migration is now complete. Please resubmit to NAVFAC_CI8_BAA_Submissions@navy.mil and william.hepler@navy.mil 16 Oct 2020: Question and Answers published as an attachment. This announcement constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NEXWC) under FAR 6.102(d)(2) and 35.106. FAR Part 35 restricts the use of BAAs, such as this, to the acquisition of basic and applied research and that portion of advanced technology development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. Contracts made under BAAs are for scientific study and experimentation directed towards advancing the state of the art and increasing knowledge or understanding. This announcement is not for the acquisition of technical, engineering, or other types of support services. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, through the DoD Lock Program, is soliciting pre-proposals for efforts related to the need topic listed below. If invited, the offeror will be asked to submit a full proposal. Background: The DoD lock Program supports the General Services Administration with the testing and approval of security equipment for the storage of classified information, weapons and information processing systems. These security containers and vault doors include both mechanical and electromechanical combination locks that must be tested to at least 10,000 cycles of operation. The operational testing of these combination locks requires an automated combination dialing machine that can successfully dial the locks through the opening sequence repeatedly 10,000 times per test. The DoD Lock Program requires three (3) prototype automatic dialers (super dialers) be designed and built for proprietary use to test new combination lock submissions and verify the continued quality and security of previously approved locks and components. Super dialers shall be built to test combination locks in accordance with the testing sections found in federal specifications FF-L-2740B and FF-L-2937. A copy of these publications are available on the NAVFAC EXWC, DoD Lock Program website: https://navfac.navy.mil/go/locks Each prototype super dialer shall have identical construction and will feature commonly available commercial off the shelf (COTS) mechanical and electronic parts and materials. Consideration of parts and materials should include durability to withstand years (millions of cycles) of demanding lock cycle testing. Super dialers shall be designed with a mechanical structure that will allow secure mounting of electromechanical and mechanical locks to perform testing in various positions, including vertical up, vertical down, left hand and right hand configurations, without interfering with wiring and electronic components. The super dialer's controller/user interface shall provide a user-friendly interface to enter user defined testing parameters (individual lock operational parameters), display user defined and system testing data, and record video of testing data in accordance with the requirements of FF-L-2740B and FF-L-2937. Super dialers controller/user interface must use a commercially available software program designed for controlling equipment operation that has been specifically tailored to automatically perform the testing of mechanical (FF-L-2937) and electromechanical combination locks (FF-L-2740) without engaging any of the locks internal security features. The software shall also be designed to provide change parameters for the operation of the super dialers in a complete testing sequence to accommodate future lock designs and potential changes to security features. The super dialer mechanical structure will be designed for durability and ease of use. Lock mounting surfaces and fittings shall be easily accessible and adjustable by the end user. Areas requiring frequent attention or adjustment, such as switching locks frequently for testing or attaching custom fittings, will use durable parts that do not require special or custom tools. Structure will sense position of the bolt and have ability to adjust to allow for different sized bolts and bolt extensions. The super dialer drive motor/drive shaft connection to the lock dial should provide dampening isolation from the super dialer drive motor and should also be able to be connected, unconnected, and adjusted easily for years of service. The DoD Lock Program requests pre-proposal submittal outlining the expected costs associated with optimization of a fully test-validated super dialer. Specific instructions and data requests will be provided at a later date if selected for further consideration. SUBMISSION PROCESS: The pre-proposal submittal process is an email-based submission. Pre-proposals shall be submitted via email to: NAVFAC_CI8_BAA_Submissions@navy.mil. There is no specific format required for the pre-proposal, however, the pre-proposal should be consolidated into one single file and not exceed 5 pages in length. All pre-proposal submissions must be received before the deadline. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: To be considered for funding in FY 2021, pre-proposals must be received no later than 11:59 pm, Pacific Standard Time on 16 November 2020. Respondents to this BAA will receive a confirmation email message within one business day acknowledging successful submission. It is the responsibility of responding parties to confirm receipt of their submission. If invited to submit a full proposal, these will be due 30 days after notification. EVALUATION PROCESS: Following an evaluation and selection process, successful pre-proposal offerors will receive an email inviting submission of a full proposal. Unsuccessful pre-proposal offerors will receive an email with a brief description of the reasons for preproposal rejection. Awards to non-government entities (academic institutions, not-for-profit organizations, industry) will be in the form of contracts. The nominal duration of this work is expected to be several months of work spread over the course of 1-2 years. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use realism of cost for the proposed effort as their metric, as this will be a critical element in the review process. Otherwise, meritorious pre-proposals and full proposals will be rejected if cost does not accurately reflect the proposed scope of work. EVALUATION CRITERIA: The pre-proposals and full proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria, of approximately equal weight. TECHNICAL APPROACH: The scientific/technical merits and objectives in terms of meeting the stated need topic, as well as evidence that the science/technology is mature enough for applied research funding, and the performance criteria to measure success of the research effort. OFFEROR'S EXPERIENCE: For the pre-proposal phase, the offeror should clearly provide evidence showing experience related to the proposed solution. This includes the proposing organization's capabilities related to experience, techniques, or a unique combination of these that are integral factors in achieving the contractor's proposed objectives. This equates to past performance, and will be assessed based on both relevance and confidence. If invited to submit a full proposal, NAVFAC also requires the offeror to provide their EMR and DART ratings. Safety is an integral and important aspect in all NAVFAC work. If the offeror does not have an EMR/DART rating, they should state this and provide a narrative rationale. See NFAS 15.304. In addition, we are looking for groups that have developed and validated aircraft security containers. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS AND KEY MEMBERS RELATED EXPERIENCE: For the pre-proposal phase, the offeror should provide the name, highest degree earned, organization/affiliation, location, and years of experience for the Principal Investigator and key personnel who are critical in achieving the objectives of the proposal. Principal Investigators and key personnel should be identified in the pre-proposal as such. If invited to submit a full proposal, the offeror will need to submit CVs for the Principal Investigator and key personnel. COST/PRICE: The cost relative to the proposed scientific/technical approach. For the pre-proposal phase, this information may be limited to a total cost estimate by calendar year (Jan 1 - December 31). Assume for Year 1 of your project that effort will begin in approximately December 2020. If invited to submit a full proposal, additional guidance on cost/price information will be provided. PROJECT BENEFITS: Expected benefits of the proposed work, key issues the proposed solution addresses, potential application of the results, and advantages over current approaches. PRODUCT IMPLEMENTATION: Describe the intended product(s) and all associated deliverables, the requirements for implementing the proposed products of this effort, and the potential technical risks that may pose a challenge to successful implementation. All offerors are required to be U.S. Citizens and U.S. owned companies. Contractors shall be able to view, store and handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Although this work is unclassified, all offerors are required to provide a copy of their cage code with their pre-proposal and identify if they have a Facility Clearance. NOTES: An eligible pre-proposal or full proposal does not guarantee a contract. Multiple contracts may result. An offeror is required to register with the system for award management (SAM). No contract award will be made to any offeror that is not registered. Registration may take up to three weeks. SAM may be accessed at https://www.sam.gov. Registration is not required for proposal submission, but must be completed prior to initiation of award negotiation. To avoid delays in the award process, applicants are encouraged to initiate SAM registration early in the submission and review process. Non-government awardees will also need to provide a DUNS (Dunn & Bradstreet) number (http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.doc) and CAGE (Commercial and Government Entity) code (http://govwin.com/knowledge/ccr-registration) before an award can be made. The preceding data should be sufficient for completing a pre-proposal. There are no solicitation documents applying to this BAA. Request for a solicitation package will not be acknowledged. Those interested in participating in the BAA must follow the instructions to submit a pre-proposal. There is no commitment by the Navy either to make any contract awards or to be responsible for any money expended by the contractor before a contract award. Funding has been reserved in advance for this contract. Some Federal Government activities may employ civilian contractors to determine the applicability of an offered technology to specific projects. Technical and cost pre-proposals and full proposals submitted under this BAA will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 3.104-4 and 15.207. The cognizant Program Manager and other scientific experts will perform the evaluation of technical proposals. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, one or more support contractors may be utilized as subject-matter-expert technical consultants in accordance with FAR 37.204. However, pre-proposal and full proposal selection and award decisions are solely the responsibility of Government personnel. Each support contractor's employee having access to technical and cost pre-proposals and full proposals submitted in response to this BAA will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement prior to receipt of any pre-proposal or full proposal submissions. An offeror may require the non-government personnel to execute a supplemental non-disclosure agreement by including a copy of their institutional NDA with their proposal. However, note that a failure to come to an agreement may impact the ability to make an award. Please review FAR 37.204 and NFAS 15.303(d)(4). Eligibility notification will be sent to all contractors who have submitted a pre-proposal, after the Review Committee reviewed all pre-proposals submitted by the solicitation cut-off date. For questions regarding this BAA, contact NAVFAC EXWC at (805) 982-1567 (or via this email address: NAVFAC_CI8_BAA_Submissions@navy.mil. Correspondents are advised not to include Personally Identifiable Information (PII), business proprietary or competition-sensitive information via email. The offeror will receive an automated email message acknowledging successful submission. If the contractor does not receive a notification of pre-proposal receipt, the contractor should call or e-mail NEXWC by using the phone number or e-mail address provided in this section. Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) will be recognized according to DFARS 226.3. All responsible sources from academia and industry may submit proposals. No portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation, due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable items of this research for exclusive competition among the entities. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal bidders are allowed so long as they are permitted under the sponsoring agreement between the Government and the specific FFRDC. DFARS 235.017-1 allows DOD FFRDCs which function primarily as research laboratories to apply. Naval laboratories and Warfare Centers as well as other DOD and civilian agency laboratories are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA and should not directly submit proposals in response to this BAA. If any such organization is interested in one or more of these program areas, they should contact the NEXWC program office to discuss its interest. As with the FFRDCs, these organizations may team with other responsible sources from industry and academia that are submitting proposals under the BAA. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC) are eligible to submit proposals under this BAA unless precluded from doing so by their DOD UARC contract or an organizational conflict of interest. Do not call the Contracting Office for verification. The pre-proposal is not received by the Contracting Office.