Standardization Specification Preparer & Food Technologist

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 standardization specification preparation and engineering support services. The standardization specification preparation and food technologist requirements being sought can be found in the - REQUIREMENTS' section of this sources sought, below. REQUIREMENTS: A need exists to provide an experienced specification writer, food technologist to the Combat Ration Engineering and Support Team (CREST), Combat Feeding Directorate (CFD). Preparation of the procurement specifications must be in compliance with DoD Acquisition Reform for transition to Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) - Troop Support and provide pre- and post-award support to procurement throughout the entire life cycle. This requires a broad knowledge of the Operational Ration items as well as DLA's Program Management technical writing format. CREST is tasked to support DLA with developing assembly contract requirement documents (ACRs), product or performance based contract requirement documents (PCRs), military detail (MIL-DTL), military performance (MIL-PRF), and military standard (MIL-STD) documents, and packaging requirements and quality assurance provisions documents (PKG&QAPs) for commercial item descriptions (CIDs) for all military operational rations and components procured. The Government requires technical specifications for all Operational Ration food products procured by the government and military. Capabilities include, the proper understanding of, and experience and background in food science and nutrition as well as technical writing. Capabilities sought are: General Requirements: 1) Proficiency with MS Office Suite including MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint. 2) Knowledge and understanding of Operational Rations and various rations platforms. 3) Understanding of and previous experience with writing specifications using Government Standardization format. a. Previous technical experience with Government Standards including: GSA Federal Standardization Manual, MIL-STD-961E, Defense and Program-Unique Specifications Format and Content and MIL-STD-962D, Defense Standards Format and Content. 4) Understanding of and previous experience with US Government Publications and Specifications including: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Food and Drug (FDA) Food Labeling Requirements, National Institute Standards and Technology (NIST), USDA Standards of Identity (SID) for food products, USDA Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications (IMPS) and North American Meat Processors (NAMP) Meat Buyers Guide. 5) Broad knowledge of Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) International. 6) Broad knowledge of American National Standard for Inspection/Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes (ANSI/ASQ Z1.4). 7) Broad knowledge of American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) standards. 8) Broad knowledge or previous experience with requirements for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans. Specific Requirements: 1) Contractor shall convert raw technical data received from CFD project officers and industry into formal procurement documents using the applicable format for that particular procurement document type (such as an ACR, PCR, MIL-DTL, MIL-PRF, MIL-STD or PKG&QAP). 2) Contractor shall be responsible for developing the document, coordinating with all applicable Government agencies and industry, resolving comments received from Government agencies and industry, and preparing the document for final approval reviews as well as preparing and submitting the monograph for each document assignment. 3) Contractor shall maintain project folders, historical folders and electronic files in accordance with CREST/CFD established procedures. All documents are the property of the United States Government. 4) Contractor shall process Engineering Support (ES) cases including; assisting with the receipt of, coordination of and reply to ES Cases from DLA Troop Support in support of Operational Ration Procurement including, but not limited to, Document changes, CID coordination reviews, technical inquiries, waiver requests and substitution requests. 5) Contractor shall develop Performance based Contract Requirement (PCR) documents, Assembly Contract Requirements (ACR), Military Detail (MIL-DTL) and Military Performance (MIL-PRF) based specifications, and Packaging Requirements and Quality Assurance Provisions (PKG&QAP) for required documents. 6) Contractor shall support various high priority projects - revised Meal Cold Weather/Long Range Patrol (MCW/LRP) components, document revisions to current - Meal Ready-To-Eat (MRE) and Unitized Group Ration (UGR) components, and USDA and DLA Troop Support Commercial Item Description (CID) reviews. These tasks have reduced lead time and development cycle in order to meet a mission need for product demonstration and validation. In addition, there are numerous over age (7 years plus) documents that need to be brought up to current DLA standardization policies. 7) Contractor shall assist with document reviews and other document related actions received from government agencies or industry; review and coordinate replies received from CFD project officers/food technologists that are technically accurate and complete; and email action letters or replies to appropriate government agencies. 8) Contractor shall assist/coordinate with team members in revising/updating CREST Standard Operating Procedures for Project Management guide and Document Related Decisions documentation as necessary. Specific Requirements for Standardization Specification Preparer/Food Technologist Agreements: 1) For all assigned specification projects: a. Receive technical data for new project assignment from the document manager and meet with project officer(s) to review technical data provided prior to preparing draft specification. b. Convert raw technical and packaging requirements received from project officers, food technologists, packaging technologists, analytical chemists, microbiologists, and industry into formal procurement documents (ACR, PCR, MIL-DTL, MIL-PRF, MIL-STD, or PKG&QAP) with 100% accuracy in the current established format using Microsoft Word. c. Set up and maintain electronic project folder, historical folders and electronic files in accordance with CREST established procedures for each document assignment. d. Distribute draft documents to project officer and documents team members and conduct a draft review of the specification. e. Incorporate feedback received from the document team review and prepare Coordination draft document to be sent out to Government and industry. f. Coordinate documents with all applicable Government agencies and industry, receiving comments and/or concurrence from all interested parties. g. Compile all comments received and prepare reply to comments document. Send all comments to appropriate Project officer or in-house POC. Resolve comments received from CREST and CFD project officers, food technologists, and to send out to government and industry. h. Receive Engineering Support (ES), Value Engineering Proposals (VEP) and Value Engineering Change Proposals (VECP) for subsistence case assignments, distribute per CREST procedures and prepare formal reply. Reply to ES Case, VEP or VECP by DLA deadline and ensure all items are closed out and filed appropriately. 2) Receive and review draft specifications from other members of the document team and provide feedback by or before suspense date and review meeting. 3) Receive requests for Cancellation of Military Specifications (MIL-SPECs) and prepare cancellation memo. Upload Cancellation memo to project folder. 4) Prepare Monograph inspection guidance sheet from Performance requirements for each final approved document assignment. a. Prepare and coordinate monograph through project officer to obtain detonative characteristics for item. b. Send approved monograph to DLA Troop Support for distribution. 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 designation (if applicable), by the date and to the address noted below. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541715 and the small business size is 1,000 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, 17 November 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.