RFI DTMB Battery Packs

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT POSTING IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: Background The Library of Congress (Library) requires contract support to provide battery packs for the digital talking book machine (DTBM). The Library is responsible for maintaining over 400,000 DTBMs currently assigned to patrons and this includes periodic replacement of battery packs. A fully charged battery pack can provide over 40 hours of playback time on the DTBM. The Library requires the battery packs to consist of low self-discharge type cells to provide long life for DTBMs that may be infrequently connected to AC power. The Government anticipates a single-award, Firm-Fixed Price IDIQ with a five year ordering period (60 months) as the anticipated period of performance. Sources Sought Instructions This sources sought is a market research tool being used to (a) solicit industry input on the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW) and Specifications document and (b) determine potential sources that are capable of providing the services described herein prior to determining the method of acquisition and issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP). Specifically, the Library wishes industry feedback on the following questions: 1. Are the requirements for production of the battery packs clearly understood? Please list any ambiguity or discrepancies within the specifications. 2. Can the requirements be fulfilled with an existing commercial product without modification? If so please list the manufacturer and part number of the existing commercial product. 3. If there is no existing commercial product available to satisfy the requirements without modification then please give a high level overview of the changes required to an existing commercial product or the process for creation of a custom product in order to satisfy the requirements. Please include the following information in the response: a. Manufacturer and Part Number of the commercial product to be modified or a brief summary of the specific requirement(s) that necessitate creation of a custom product b. Description of the engineering services necessary for production c. Description of the production tooling required for this item d. Estimation of the time required for engineering services and tooling creation e. Estimation of how many long lead components (if any) are required for production of this item 4. How will the vendor fulfill the requirement for certification that the self-discharge characteristic of the battery cells meets specification? 5. Can the battery packs, produced according to the technical specifications, be fully charged at the production facility such that they are delivered to the Library of Congress facility at near full capacity? 6. Are there any concerns regarding the technical specifications or quality assurance requirements for the battery packs? 7. Can you provide an estimated unit cost for the battery pack as defined and an estimated volume cost for quantities of 10,000 units, 25,000 units, 50,000 units, and 100,000 units? 8. Can you provide an assessment of the impact (if any) of market price fluctuations for raw materials required for construction of the battery packs on the cost of the battery pack over the life of this contract? Interested parties are invited to submit a capability statement package, including responses to questions, inputs to the draft SOW, and relevant experience and expertise. All responses must include the following information: Company Name; Company Address; and Point-of-Contact (POC) name, phone number, and e-mail address. There is no page limit to this response. Please send responses by email to Contract Specialist Dora Johnson at dojo@loc.gov and a cc: to Contracting Officer Clint Unger at cunger@loc.gov. Submissions must be received at the office cited no later than 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 25th, 2017. Questions or comments regarding this notice may be addressed to Dora Johnson via email at dojo@loc.gov. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of this sources sought. Attachments 1. DRAFT for RFI SOW-PWS-batteries.rev1.pdf 2. RFI DTMB Battery Specification 605.rev1.pdf