Touchscreen Leather

To promote early exchange of information with Industry and in accordance with FAR 15.2 Naval Air Systems Command, Aircrew Systems (NAVAIR-4.6.7.2) of Patuxent River, Maryland is issuing this Request for Information (RFI). NAVAIR is requesting information to identify qualified sources to provide commercially available hair sheep or goatskin leather that would provide touchscreen capability. This leather would be an alternative to the current leather used to manufacture the GS/FRP-2 (PD FQ-FD-09-02) Summer Flyer's Glove, which is presently used by Navy and Marine Corps aviators and other personnel throughout the military services. After review and initial physical test evaluation of industry submissions, the most promising product may be down selected and subjected to additional physical testing. The leather shall meet the requirements of MIL-DTL-32067 Leather, Sheepskin, Chrome-Tanned, Type A, Class 2, Subclass A. In addition, the leather shall be struck through from grain to flesh and be gray or black in color. The leather must provide durable conductance and capacitance capability to the user when using touchscreen products such as electronic tablets and other smart technology products. It is desired that the conductance and capacitance durability should last through testing of a minimum of 5 cycles of launderings when conducted in accordance with AATCC 61 "Accelerated Laundering" procedure 3A, specimen size (2"x6"), #of metal balls (100). The leather shall maintain integrity as well as touchscreen capability after extreme cold exposure, and the leather shall not crack or become stiff. It is desired that submissions meet the performance attributes identified below. The leather must be capable of demonstrating the ability to provide touchscreen capability by operating tablet devices including but not limited to IPAD, Android, Microsoft Surface Pro and Kindles. The leather must be able to accomplish a multitude of functions on these aforementioned devices including, but limited to: using map features; fingertip tap-to-select, drag, and multi-touch input such as pinch to zoom, turning pages and operating applications, necessary for completion of military operations. Potential offerors are invited to describe their capabilities as well as provide a sample of the product as described herein. In response to this RFI, please provide specification sheets showing the compliance with the above listed requirements, which will be at no cost to the Government. RFI responses are limited to 25 pages. The product sample as well as product information shall be submitted at no expense to the Government. The sample product and corresponding information will not be returned. It is also requested that pricing be included with the submitted product and information. Proprietary data MUST be marked on a page-by-page basis, and will be kept confidential and protected in accordance with the Uniform Trades Secret Act. Interested sources shall state whether their product is available commercially, made domestically of domestic textiles (must be Berry compliant - manufacturers must list the origin and place of manufacturing operations of all components). In response to this RFI, please provide specification sheets and/or samples showing the compliance with the above listed requirements, which will be at no cost to the Government. Each sample shall demonstrate the ability to meet performance requirements of MIL-DTL-32067 for leather, the touchscreen capability and ability to withstand laundering. The samples will be verified for conformance to the applicable specification. The samples will be tested for touchscreen capability by operating tablet devices including but not limited to IPAD, Android, Microsoft Surface Pro and Kindles. Testing will include using a map feature; actions will include tap-to-select, drag, and multi-touch input such as pinch to zoom, turning pages and operating applications necessary for military operations. The samples will be washed and tested again for touchscreen performance and durability. Selected leathers may be used to fabricate sample GS/FRP-2 gloves. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition are 339920 - Sporting Goods, 339999-other misc, 424320 - Men's and Boys Clothing and Furnishings Merchant Wholesalers, 424330 - Women's, Children's, and Infants Clothing and Accessories Merchant Wholesalers, 315210 - Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors, 315211 Men's and Boys Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors, 315990 - Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing, 315999 - General. Interested companies shall send all questions to the Contract Specialist at the following email address michelle.e.johnson@navy.mil. Please address all technical questions to Tara Capecci, Code 4.6.7.2, (610) 746-3599. Proprietary information MUST be marked as such, on a page-by-page basis. All Companies should indicate whether or not they are a small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), or large business. Respondents must clarify if their firm can provide commercial or non-developmental items that could be modified, or the technology and expertise for development, to meet the Government's needs. These items will be used for preliminary user evaluation and may be subject to further laboratory testing to verify submitted lab results. Samples shall be sent to Naval Air Warfare Center, Code 4.6.7.2, Attn: Tara Capecci, 48110 Shaw Road, Bldg 2187, Suite 1240, Patuxent River, MD 20670. The deadline for responses is 05 January 2015. All correspondence shall reference the synopsis number N00421-15-R-0026 on the mailing container and all enclosed documents. This announcement is NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted in response to this synopsis. This synopsis does not commit the Government to award a contract. This synopsis is for market research only and any procurement resulting from this announcement will be synopsized separately.