DESCRIPTION OF INTENT: THIS IS A MARKET SURVEY REQUESTING INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING POTENTIAL REQUIREMENT. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation, nor is it a r equest seeking contractors to be placed on a solicitation mailing list. Response to this survey is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this market survey and any follow-on informat ion requests. Data submitted in response to this market survey will not be returned. No solicitation document exists at this time, and calls requesting a solicitation will not be answered. PROGRAM GOAL: 1. The US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center TARDEC (Warren MI), and the US Army Research Laboratory ARL (Aberdeen Proving rounds MD) are seeking to establish additional sources for a new category of steel alloy, cast, armor plate; and to establish a Qualified Manufacturers List (QML), for current and future procurements. The government proposes to Identify, test, and qualify companies that have a production capability to meet the requirements. Manufacturers are asked to cont act Mr. Tom Furmaniak via email at
contact@example.gov for an opportunity to test their plates for qualification. Future acquisition awards will be made only for such products that have been tested and approved for inclusion in the QML. 2. The anticipated date that the Government will begin awarding contracts is under discussion and subject to the results of the qualification testing, contractor lead times, and final determination of plate demand. 3. The procurement strategy for this cast plate will follow the same strategy which the Army has long used for Cast Armor (MIL A 11356). The Army specifies a chemistry range. The mill will submit samples of plate which have been poured and heat treated fo r ballistic acceptance testing; and foundry / process qualification. Once approved the foundry shall maintain the same process and follow a Q + A process with spot tests for continued ballistic tests. 4. A MIL SPEC is currently being staffed for this cast plate. It incorporates the historic armor strategy for wrought armor plate MIL A 12560 and cast armor MIL A 11356 and for reference ASTM test methods. POTENTIAL REQUIREMENT: The Army is currently finalizing plate demand, sizes and delivery points. The preliminary initial Gov demand for this plate is 10M Lbs. (total) with 2.5 M Lbs. / quarter with deliveries to begin in Dec 2007. This represents the initial demand. It is expec ted that there will be additional demand that follows upon this initial requirement. Any additional demand will likely be front loaded into the base demand NOT delivered after deliveries of the initial demand. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: 1. Plate Chemistry: A detailed chemistry range has been established but for the purposes of this request the nominal chemistry is a 4130 or 4330 alloy steel with reduced sulfur and phosphorus similar to levels attainable with VIM/VAR or ESR grades of steel . 2. This armor plate has slots at angles to the surface (drawing included). The drawing does not include any draft however any business consern is permitted to suggest a draft limit to permit ease of molding and pouring. 3. Plate Hardness: After heat treatment: 302 352 BHN (300kg-load) 4. Plate Sizes: Multiple plate sizes may ultimately be specified. Presently the order will be for plates 36 W x 30 H x 5/8 thk. The foundry may pour larger plates then cut to size. 5. Plate Flatness: Tolerance TBD: NOTE: Flatening in a press may be required after casting. 6. The mill shall be capable of in house chemical analysis and develop a Q + A process that includes pour records to ensure all plates deliveries conform to chemical and hardness requirements. 7. All potenti al bidders shall have full capitalized facility with the exception of tooling. 8. The plates shall be delivered to multiple locations in the US. 9. The GOV has a history of pouring this plate (in house, experimental) in the past with a lost foam / loose bonded sand method; and can share this background with sketches of a gating system as Government Furnished Information. RESPONSE INFO REQUESTED: Business concerns must respond to all the areas indicated below: 1. Indicate pour capability 2. Melt method 3. Heat treat capability 4. Indicate ISO certification 5. Major customers 6. Designs of any prior plate-like, castings (IE When, Quantity) 7. Ability to pour this material 8. Anticipated casting method 9. Molding method, tool lead time, ROM tooling cost 10. ROM production rate RESPONSES DUE: Responses to the Survey are requested no later then 30 calendar days after announcement is posted. RESPONSE FORMAT(S): ELECTRONIC: Electronic responses are preferred and strongly encouraged. It is requested that electronic responses be provided in any of the following formats: Microsoft word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Power Point. The maximum size of each e-mail sh ould be not more than three and one-half (3.5) megabytes. You may use multiple e-mail messages. The subject line must include message 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3 etc., as well as [Organization Name]. Please submit electronic responses and any questions prior to full response to Tom Furmaniak at
contact@example.gov . Please format the subject line of the response email as follows; [Organization Name] response to P900 Plate Sources Sought Notice . GENERAL INFORMATION: The Government appreciates the time and effort taken to respond to this survey. The Government acknowledges its obligations under 18 U.S.C. - 1905 to protect information qualifying as COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL under this statute. Pursuant to this statute, the Government is willing to accept any trade secret or confidential restrictions placed on qualifying data forwarded in response to the survey questions and to protect it from unauthorized disclosure subject to the following: 1. Clearly and conspicuously mark qualifying data as trade secret or confidential with the restrictive legend (all caps) COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL with any explanatory text, so that the Government is clearly notified of what data needs to be appropriat ely protected. 2. In marking such data, please take care to mark only those portions of the data or materials that are truly trade secret or confidential (over breadth in marking inappropriate data as COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL may diminish or eliminate the usefulness of your response - see item 6 below). Use circling, underscoring, highlighting or any other appropriate means to indicate those portions of a single page which are to be protected 3 The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data. Additionally, marked data that is already in the public domain or in the possession of the Government or third parties, or is afterward placed into the public domain by the owner or another p arty through no fault of the Government will not be protected once in the public domain. Data already in the possession of the Government will be protected in accordance with the Government's rights in the data, 4. Company Confidential data transmitted electronically, whether by physical media or not, whether by the respondent or by the government, shall contain any restrictive legend, with any explanatory text, on both the cover of the transmittal e-mail and at the beginning of the file itself. Where appropriate for portions only of an electronic file, use the restrictive legends COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL DATA BEGINS: and COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL PORTION ENDS. 5. In any reproductions of technical data or any portions thereof subject to asserted restrictions, the government shall also reproduce the asserted restrict ion legend and any explanatory text. 6. The Government sometimes uses support contractors in evaluating responses. Consequently, responses that contain confidential information may receive only limited or no consideration since the Respondents marking of data as Company Confidential w ill preclude disclosure of same outside the Government and therefore will preclude disclosure to these support contractors assisting the evaluation effort.
