Sources Sought Notice - Basic Electronics Maintenance Trainer II Tech Refresh

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE INTRODUCTION: The U.S. Army Contracting Command - Orlando (ACC-Orlando) is issuing this Sources Sought Notice (SSN) on behalf of the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), Assistant Program Manager (APM), Basic Electronics Maintenance Trainer II(BEMT-II) who has a requirement for a Technical Refresh project and to bring the BEMT-II System to 100% capacity. The focus should be placed on the three key training components: Student Training Console (Nida 130ST), Experiment Cards (EC), and Test, Measurement, and Diagnostics Equipment (TMDE) for delivering basic electronics training to U.S. Army Soldiers across all three components (Active, National Guard and Reserve) in the years 2024 through 2028. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement, if a requirement materializes. Based on the responses to this sources sought notice/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses (in full or in part) or procured through full and open competition. Multiple awards may be made. All small business set-aside categories will be considered. 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. THE GOVERNMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REVISE THE ATTACHMENT 1) BEMT-II TECH REFRESH DRAFT SOW, PRIOR TO THE RFP. PROGRAM BACKGROUND: Electronics maintenance is a critical skill, directly contributing to the overall U.S. Army mission accomplishment. The BEMT-II provides training in basic electronics, while saving institutions significant administrative expenses over live training alternatives. The current BEMT-II is a commercial off the shelf (COTS) product providing highly realistic training using scenarios which require the student to perform basic electronic tasks in a virtual environment including tests, diagnosis, and repair. BEMT-IIs are currently utilized for more than 42 Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs) to include significant portions of basic Ordnance, Military Intelligence, Signal, Aviation, and Engineer electronics maintenance training. Students interface with a hands-on training station which replicates electronic components, to ensure competent skills have been achieved. Performance testing is accomplished during training courses utilizing the BEMT-II trainer at a reduced cost over the use of live components or equipment. Students apply basic electronics maintenance techniques to actual equipment after mastering those techniques with the BEMT-II. BEMT-II consists of an Instructor Operator Station (IOS), Student Training Station(s) (STS), COTS computer, associated test equipment such as Oscilloscope, Function Generator, Digital Multimeter, and Logic Probe (TMDE), electronics training console (Nida 130ST), supporting experiment cards (EC), soldering station, and content server as applicable. BEMT-II will continue to rely on COTS equipment to meet the requirements of the program and stay current with commercial and industrial electronics maintenance training methods and capabilities. Primarily BEMT-II shall provide realistic training using scenarios which require the student to perform basic electronic tasks in a classroom environment including tests, diagnosis, and repair. Focus for the next 5 years, Technical Refresh will include all required Experimental circuit cards to work with the existing Nida 130ST console. All required TMDE, (multimeters, Oscilloscopes, Function Generators, Logic Probes), and a Nida 130ST (1132 Count) serviceability refresh that will repair, align, or replace any assembly or component that would restrict or reduce the Nida 130ST from operating at 100% capacity. This contract will require a Secret Level Facility clearance, Personnel clearance, and FOCI approval before April 2025. ACQUISITION STRATEGY - PLANNING INFORMATION: 1. Contract Vehicle: The determination of Contract Vehicle and Small Business Set Aside or Full and Open Competition will not be established until market research has been completed and the Acquisition Strategy has been approved. 2. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): The applicable NAICS code for this requirement is 541519 (Other Computing Related Service), with a Small Business Size Standard of $34.0M. The applicable Product Service Code (PSC) is J069 (Maint/Repair/Rebuild Of Equipment- Training Aids And Devices). *NOTE 01: The current SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards was updated 17 March 2023; since the beginning of 2022, the SBA has regularly updated the table to account for inflation. Businesses must update their SAM.gov profiles in order to have their small business status reflect the most current small business size standards. Until updated, the SAM profiles will continue to display the small business status under outdated size standards. *NOTE 02: In accordance with 13 C.F.R. 121.104, the current calculation for dollar (monetary) value based NAICS codes is average total receipts over the last five (5) completed fiscal years *NOTE 03: In accordance with 13 C.F.R. 121.106, the current calculation for employee based NAICS codes is average number of employees used for each pay period for the preceding completed 24 calendar months. 3. Contract Type: The determination of Contract Type will not be established until market research has been completed and the Acquisition Strategy has been approved. SUBMISSION DETAILS: Interested businesses shall submit a capability statement (20 pages maximum) that demonstrates their ability to fulfill the functions and tasks described herein. Your response to this Sources Sought Notice shall be electronically submitted to the Contract Specialist via email, michael.c.davis315.civ@army.mil, no later than 2:00 p.m. (EST) on 6 September 2023 and reference SAM notice number and title in the subject line of the e-mail and on all enclosed documents. Responses shall either use Microsoft Office 2013 compatible (.xlsx, .docx or .pptx) or Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro (.pdf) formats and utilize Times New Roman 12 point font size. Responses shall be in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your business possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Information and materials submitted in response to this request WILL NOT be returned. All information/materials received in response to this Sources Sought Notice that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. Written responses to this Sources Sought Notice should consist of the following: 1. Describe your experience in upgrading currently fielded electronic maintenance systems for the U.S. Army. 2. What prior or current experience do you have providing Electronics training to the Department of Defense (DoD) or other Federal, State, or Academic institutions? Please provide contract numbers and the most recent Government point of contact (name, e-mail, phone number) for those contracts. 3. Please provide your cage code and your address. 4. How do your products/services meet the U.S. Army's BEMT-II Technical Refresh needs? How will you manage the current U.S. Army's BEMT-II technical baseline? What metrics dashboards and reports do you use to monitor system performance? Describe your approach for delivering Technical Refresh for BEMT-II II Experimental cards, TMDE equipment, and Serviceability for the training console Nida 130ST. 5. Foreign Ownership, Control, or Interest (FOCI) Status The firm shall provide their FOCI and FCL status as an appendix to their response to this notice utilizing the Sources Sought Notice, Attachment 2) Facility Security Clearance Validation of Contractors. 6.. What certifications and accreditations do you have meeting Risk Management Framework (RMF) and Cybersecurity requirements? How will you maintain cybersecurity compliance to the new ATO Continuous Monitoring process? This contract will require a SECRET Security Clearance. Does your company have a SECRET facility clearance? 7. A statement indicating if your firm is a large or small business under NAICS code 541519; if small business, please indicate any applicable socio-economic status [i.e., 8a, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), HUBZone, Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), or Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB)]. Provide your key personnel information so the Government may contact you. 8. If you plan on subcontracting to other companies in order to deliver technical capability, please provide details on exactly which tasks will be assigned to those subcontractors; in addition, provide the names of those anticipated subcontractors, and list the anticipated percentage of small business subcontracting. 9. This contract will refresh over 1000 Nida 130ST training systems, replace 18,000 Nida electrical experiment cards for those systems and replace several thousand assorted multimeters, Oscilloscopes, Function Generators, Logic Probes (TMDE). How do you plan to accomplish this? Provide any challenges you may have and provide your detailed mitigation plan to resolve them. If you won't have any challenges, state - None under this section on your response. 10. BEMT-II tech refresh will require the system receive annual Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) scans on the fielded Nida systems. What is your plan for achieving this task? Please note, if you don't provide an answer to all the questions above with enough detail, your response will not be considered since Government is unable to determine your ability to fulfill the functions and tasks described herein. *NOTE (LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING): If you are a small business interested in being the prime contractor for this effort, please be advised that FAR clause 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) (DEVIATION 2021-O0008) was updated in September 2021. The current clause adds the definition of - Similarly Situated Entity and the 50% calculation for compliance with the clause. Small business prime contractors may now count - first tier subcontractor work performed by a - Similarly Situated Entity as if it were performed by the prime contractor itself. To assist in our market research and set-aside determination for this effort, if you are a small business interested in priming this effort and plan to utilize a - Similarly Situated Entity to meet the Limitations on Subcontracting requirements, please identify the name & Unique Entity ID/CAGE Code of the specific firm(s) you intend to partner/subcontract with to meet the requirements as well as their SB size status under the NAICS that you as the prime would assign for their workshare. Information regarding any planned - Similarly Situated Entity should be included in answering any questions outlined in the SSN in order to assist the Government's capability determination. Attachments BEMT-II TECH REFRESH DRAFT SOW Facility Security Clearance Validation of Contractors