Joint Intuitive Multi-Function Kitchen Equipment

Description: THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS BEING ISSUED FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. This is not a solicitation. Responses to this notice are not considered as offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by interested parties responding to this Sources Sought notice. The intent of this notice is to identify businesses, especially small business (SB) concerns, certified 8(a), HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) concerns capable of performing the requirements described below. The Natick Soldier Research, Engineering and Development Center (NSRDEC) located in Natick, Massachusetts is issuing this Sources Sought notice to identify potential sources that have the ability to provide technology that is capable of providing asset monitoring, rapid response, and predictive reliability information to the operator for various field feeding equipment items. Currently, all equipment maintenance and repair efforts are accomplished in most cases after numerous hours of troubleshooting or when a critical failure has occurred. The Joint Intuitive Multi-Function Kitchen Equipment (JIMKE) will aim to reduce the amount of man-hours involved in the maintenance of common field feeding equipment by monitoring all critical parameters involved in the proper operation of this equipment. The JIMKE will accomplish this by providing readings of the critical parameters to the appropriate personnel. Furthermore, there will be intuitive, easy-to-interpret error notifications when the critical parameters are not reading within a normal range. These parameters include, but are not limited to, oven temperature, motor temperature, current/amperage, HACCP data, door openings and product temperatures. This technology will possibly be integrated into all field feeding kitchens for deployment within the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force based on successful integration and testing. The requirements being sought can be found in the - REQUIREMENTS' section of this sources sought, below. REQUIREMENTS: Interested businesses must address ALL of the specific requirements below and clearly indicate if each requirement could be met and how the requirement would be completed. Specific Requirements: 1) Provide details of hardware capable of measuring the required parameters in a given foodservice equipment item. a. The required parameters could include, but are not limited to: temperatures, pressures, humidity levels, voltages, currents, resistances, pH levels, CO2 levels, CO levels, Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) data, door openings and runtimes of particular components. b. The hardware should have the ability to be easily mounted to or embedded within the equipment item being monitored. c. The hardware should have the ability to relay the data being collected wirelessly to the appropriate personnel at the appliance level itself. d. The hardware should be capable of providing the user with a digital readout of the potential problem occurring within the equipment item. This readout must be intuitive (meaning the readout cannot be a code that the foodservice operator must look up to diagnose the problem). This error should also be sent wirelessly to the appropriate personnel. i. If possible, this readout must be integrated into any heads-up display already included on the equipment item. 2) Provide details of software capable of measuring the required parameters for a given equipment item and processing these measurements to indicate when these parameters have fallen out of normal ranges or an error has occurred. 3) Provide foodservice operators the ability to quickly monitor key equipment parameters, track Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) compliance, and the maintenance and repair of equipment assets. 4) Provide simplistic rapid respond and predictive asset reliability and tracking prior to a critical failure. REQUESTED INFORMATION: Interested businesses who believe they are capable of meeting the above requirements are requested to submit a brief (no more than 10 pages total) capabilities statement package, including Company name and address, Web page URL, point of contact with phone number and e-mail address, DUNS number, CAGE Code and a statement regarding any small business size and socioeconomic category (i.e., small/large, HUBZone, etc.) if applicable, by the date and to the address noted below. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334513 and the small business size is 750 employees. Respondents should include: 1. A description of company's background, technology, experience, and any other information that demonstrates value, performance, and capabilities. 2. Tailored Capability Statements addressing the Requirements of this notice, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organization and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capabilities, provide an estimate of anticipated subcontractor efforts. Respondents are requested to provide information by Friday, 29 December 2017/3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Documents are requested to be submitted electronically in Adobe Professional (.PDF) format. No telephonic, facsimile or hardcopy responses to this RFI will be considered. This notice is for information only. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No solicitation document exists. POC for this request is Mrs. Sarah Cheney. Email your questions to the POC at the NSRDEC at the following address: sarah.l.cheney.civ@mail.mil. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: This Sources Sought notice is solely for information purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or the issuance thereof. This notice does not obligate the Government to issue a solicitation and/or award a contract. All information received in response to this notice that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. Any information submitted will not be returned, and no payment will be made by the Government for such information. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for any potential requirement. Input on technical aspects of the responses may be solicited by NSRDEC from non-Government consultants/experts who are bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. By responding to this notice, the Respondent agrees to allow such input from non-Government consultants/experts concerning the information and materials submitted.