Wet and Cold Weather Fabrics - RFI

Request for Information Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility Wet and Cold Weather Fabrics Background: The Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility (NCTRF) is conducting a market survey to determine the availability of Berry Compliant, Commercial-off-the-shelf, cold and wet weather fabrics for use in the United States Postal Service (USPS) Uniform Program. The most promising fabrics will be down selected and subjected to physical property testing. Successful fabrics may be used in future uniform procurements for the USPS Uniform Program. Description: NCTRF seeks to identify material to be used in men's and women's USPS Letter Carrier Wet and Cold Weather Ensembles. Fabrics submitted are not limited to specific structures i.e. knits, laminates, fleeces and/or woven structures. The material should be capable of meeting or exceeding the physical and performance characteristics outlined in Table I. Submission fabrics must be machine washable and be able to be cut and sewn without any workmanship issues. Yardage submitted should be as close to the approved Wet and Cold Weather Postal color Blue 5060. Interested Parties: To respond to this RFI, interested parties are REQUIRED to submit the following to enable NCTRF to conduct physical property testing and determine acceptability for end use: A minimum of 5 yards full width material. A material description, to include; identification of fiber (fiber percentage), yarn structure (yarns per inch and ply), material structure, performance characteristics, production lead time, production locations (fiber, yarn, weaving and finishing). Complete disclosure of chemical treatment for topical finishes, applicable Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and documentation for Berry Amendment, 10 USC 2533a, and compliance is required. An estimated unit cost per linear yard (specify width of material), which may be broken down by quantity reflecting economies of scale. Information which certifies that the finished product is composed of materials which have been safely used commercially or provide sufficient toxicity data to show compatibility with prolonged, direct skin contact. The finished cloth shall not present a dermal health hazard when used as intended. Submissions are limited to two (2) materials per interested parties. Required documentation and fabric samples are due by COB 31 JULY 2020 at NCTRF. Information will be handled as proprietary and samples will not be returned. Contact Information: Please submit responses to this notice and/or requests for information to Kelly Fratelli, Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility, 10 General Greene Ave, Bldg. 86, Natick, MA 01760-5019, 508-206-2762, kelly.a.fratelli.civ@mail.mil. This notice is for market survey only. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. No solicitation document exists.