SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- NSRP ASE Pre-Solicitation Notice for Research Announcement
- Notice Date
- 8/6/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 519190
— All Other Information Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Navy, Advanced Technology Institute, Contracts, 5300 International Blvd., North Charleston, SC, 29418
- ZIP Code
- 29418
- Solicitation Number
- NSRP0401
- Response Due
- 10/5/2004
- Archive Date
- 10/20/2004
- Point of Contact
- Melissa Henry, Subcontracts Administrator, Phone 843-760-3366, Fax 843-760-4098, - Melissa Henry, Subcontracts Administrator, Phone 843-760-3366, Fax 843-760-4098,
- E-Mail Address
-
henry@aticorp.org, henry@aticorp.org
- Description
- INTRODUCTION This is a pre-solicitation notice for the NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program. Upon execution of an updated agreement between NSRP and the Navy, the NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program will issue a formal Research Announcement on the research effort described below. The NSRP ASE program goal is to reduce the cost of building and maintaining U.S. Navy warships. To accomplish this, NSRP ASE is focused on industry-wide implementation of solutions to common cost drivers ? solutions to consensus priority issues that exhibit a compelling business case to improve the efficiency of the U.S. Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry. Solutions include both leverage of best commercial practices and creation of industry-specific initiatives. Aggressive technology transfer to, and buy-in by, multiple U.S. shipyards is a requirement of all funded efforts. Successful projects are those that clearly reduce total ownership costs, benefits that can be delivered by varied combinations of cost reductions in acquisition and fleet life-cycle costs. Identification of specific cost reduction manifestation is an important element of NSRP program. The complete Research Announcement (RA) will be posted at www.nsrp.org. This announcement is issued as a pre-solicitation notice to potential proposers. The formal Research Announcement will solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices across the following major initiative areas in U.S. shipyards: Shipyard Production Process Technologies; Business Process Technologies; Product Design and Material Technologies; Systems Technologies; Facilities and Tooling; and Crosscut Initiatives. These major initiatives are described in detail in the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) located on the Web at www.nsrp.org. Offerors are strongly advised to read the SIP in order to gain a greater understanding of the sub-initiative areas detailed below. Because the program major initiatives are closely tied to each other, proposals may be submitted with a scope that represents integrated efforts across several major initiative and/or sub-initiative areas. The Research Announcement will be modified as necessary to reflect changes in industry and/or government priorities. Teaming Teaming arrangements are encouraged. At least one U.S. shipyard should be substantially involved in each project, normally in a leadership role. Exceptions to this may be considered on a case-by-case basis where there is compelling justification that the program mission is best served by the proposed deviation. Awards Due to limited funding, the NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to limit awards under any topic, and only proposals considered to be of superior quality will be funded. The NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. Awards will be made using a Technology Investment Agreement. These assistance instruments are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). A copy of the NSRP ASE Program Technology Investment Agreement will be available on the NSRP Web site (www.nsrp.org) under R&D Programs. For those proposals that are approved for award by the Executive Control Board (ECB), a letter contract will be executed immediately after the selection meeting. This letter contract is expected to be for a period of 30 days with sufficient funding to conduct project kickoff activities. All proposers, unless exceptions are authorized by the ECB for unusual circumstances (e.g., significant changes to the SOW directed by NSRP), will be expected to sign the final agreement within 30 days of selection. The amount of funding available will be dependent upon receipt of Government Fiscal Year 2005 funds. The NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to terminate awards if the offeror is not able to conclude a formal, signed Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) within 30 calendar days of selection notification. Proposal Preparation and Submittal Offerors should obtain a copy of the latest NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise Proposal Preparation Kit (version 4.4 will be available on the NSRP Web site at www.nsrp.org). This guide is specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the RA proposal process. The proposal format provided in the PPK is mandatory. A link for submitting questions regarding the proposal process will be provided at www.nsrp.org. All questions received and corresponding answers will be posted to this site (publicly accessible). In addition, the NSRP ASE Program is anticipating to host a proposer?s conference at the Advanced Technology Institute, North Charleston, SC, to provide an overview of the program, explain the process, and answer general questions. Once a firm date has been scheduled, additional information will be available by sending an email to nsrp@aticorp.org . Abstracts for the formal Research Announcement will be optional, but if submitted must be in the format described in Attachment 4 of the PPK. Abstracts for this solicitation are anticipated to be due no later than 3:00 PM Eastern time on August 25, 2004. Feedback on the abstracts will be provided to submitters approximately two weeks after receipt. Full Proposals (hard copy, plus electronic versions of both the Technical Proposal and the Cost Proposal) in response to the formal Research Announcement (RA) are anticipated to be required by October 5, 2004, 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern Time. Proposals received after the time and date specified in the formal Research Announcement will be returned to the proposer and will not be evaluated. Acknowledgement of receipt of proposals will be made after the due date. REQUIREMENTS Technical Description A formal Research Announcement is expected to be issued to solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices in U.S. shipyards as described in detail in the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). A synopsis of the six major initiative areas follows. SHIPYARD PRODUCTION PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES Shipyard Production Process Technologies addresses all production processes used to transform raw material, services, components, equipment, and interim products into completed products. Specifically, these processes include steel, aluminum and composites fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly and erection, outfit fabrication, installation and test, surface preparation and coating, joining, process control (accuracy control and process management), and services (transportation and rigging). BUSINESS PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES Business Process Technologies encompass all business processes from initial business strategy development to post-delivery customer service, required to rapidly and effectively respond to the marketplace. PRODUCT DESIGN AND MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES Product Design and Material Technologies include the parametric design rules, metrics, design and material standards, design and analysis tools, and engineering data required to rapidly and efficiently design modern ships in response to market inquiries and to support the follow on contract design, detail design and production phases. This major initiative includes the identification and development of advanced product designs and materials to support development of the next generation of high performance ships. SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES The overall application of information technologies to shipbuilding is categorized as Systems Technologies within the Strategic Investment Plan. The scope of systems technologies includes the underlying information systems infrastructure required to support the other initiatives with emphasis on the tools, environment, and integration required to reduce product realization lead time and provide for tighter coupling between enterprise functions. For the purpose of this initiative, the scope of Systems Technologies can be characterized as an ?Integrated Shipbuilding Environment? (ISE). By integrated, it is meant that the various business processes and their supporting information technology systems are able to accept and disseminate information electronically without manual intervention, passing paper, or off-line translations or reformatting. Information is entered once and reused throughout the ship lifecycle. FACILITIES AND TOOLING Facilities and tooling includes the functions of providing and maintaining a physical plant capable of assembling, modifying and repairing ships in an efficient, safe, controllable and ecologically acceptable manner. This Major Initiative focuses on asset management issues such as facility utilization, facility planning, maintenance, and capital investment strategies. Additionally, included with this Major Initiative are several risk avoidance issues such as environmental, safety, health, and ergonomic practices within the shipyard. CROSSCUT INITIATIVES Crosscut initiatives encompass the key factors related to people and organizations that can impact the successful implementation of technology advancements and changes in the shipbuilding and repair industry. These factors integrate into all of the major initiatives identified in the NSRP ASE program. The formal Research Announcement will seek both separate projects that focus on the crosscut factors in general, as well as proposed crosscut solutions developed as supporting elements of the other major ASE initiatives. SPECIFIC INTEREST AREAS Lean Enterprise Concepts While not a separate major initiative, of particular interest during this solicitation are initiatives directed toward furthering the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industry?s adoption of Lean enterprise practices. Shipyards have begun to realize the benefits of applying Lean enterprise principles across the entire value stream from supplier to the final customer. The principles include specifying value in terms of the customer's needs, identifying the value stream for each product or service, creating continuous flow through the value stream, producing goods or services according to customer demand, and continuing to always improve and seek perfection. There is industry interest in follow-on efforts that will build on the implementation of basic Lean practices by introducing into shipbuilding and ship repair more advanced Lean concepts and the means of integrating Lean with Six Sigma and other process improvement and quality improvement programs. Nationwide Shipyard Integration/Interoperability Concepts The Navy continues to ask NSRP to extend, develop and implement collaborative approaches that support nationwide shipyard integration/interoperability, including but not limited to Common Parts Catalog (CPC) type approaches. The NSRP Strategic Investment Plan and the current Research Announcement are both structured to support these types of projects. Because of this interest, an area of project concentration included in this solicitation is continuing efforts related to Common Part Catalog (CPC) Initiatives, which have developed common processes and procedures for part definition and configuration management across shipyards. This inter-shipyard collaborative concentration supports industry?s Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). The CPC Project supports integrated design/manufacturing initiatives and provides the required data definition to support material control systems. Standardizing part data allows an organization to search and find parts more quickly and accurately, permits re-use of part data, facilitates the ability to share inventory among collaborating organizations, and results in fewer parts to procure, inspect and warehouse. This standardization results in increased demand for standard parts, which allows suppliers to better serve industry and organizations to benefit from volume discounts. Further, the U.S. Navy benefits by needing fewer parts to support ships on-station and through the greater availability of parts across surface ship and submarine inventories. During the 2003 NSRP solicitation, projects were proposed and selected to complete the development and implementation of CPC capabilities at four 1st Tier yards, develop the capability for 2nd Tier yards, and conduct assessments at two other 1st Tier yards. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Deliverable Items The following deliverable data items shall be required: (a) Quarterly Technical Status Report; (b) Quarterly Business Status report (including participant provided funds); (c) Presentation Material, as required; (d) Contractor's Billing Voucher in accordance with milestone payment schedule; (e) Quarterly status report briefings; (f) Software Development Plan (if software development is proposed); (g) Technology Transfer Plan; (h) Project Management Plan; and, (i) Final Technical Report. Appropriate interaction with Ship Production Panels and industry workshops should also be considered. Offerors are expected to also identify other deliverable items that are unique to their project. Security Requirements Classified material is not expected to be used on this effort. Other Special Requirements Proposers are advised that research findings and technology developments arising under this Agreement may constitute a significant enhancement to the national defense, and to the economic vitality of the United States. As such, in the conduct of all work awarded under this agreement, the Recipient will comply strictly with the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (22 CFR 120-130), the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (DoD 5220.22-M) and the Department of Commerce Export Regulation (15 CFR 730-774.). Anticipated Period of Performance: For the anticipated research announcement, projects must be 12 months or less in duration due to uncertainty of future years funding availability. Expected Award Date February 2005 for most, if not all, selected proposals. Funding Estimate: It is anticipated that approximately $6,700,000 over a 12-month period will be available for new NSRP ASE Program awards for this solicitation cycle based on expectations of congressional budget actions. There is no guarantee of this funding level or that awards will be made in any individual topic areas. Multiple awards may be made in a given area depending, in part, on the cost of individual proposals and available funding. Potential funding levels for future years are described in the NSRP ASE Strategic Investment Plan available on the Web site. Some program funding may be used to support other methods of industry technology advancement, such as symposia and industry study groups. Due to the relatively short period of performance for projects (i.e., no longer than 12 months), rapid project startup is expected. Type of Funding Instrument The contractual vehicle used to fund the awards will be a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA). A copy of the TIA may be found on http://www.nsrp.org. Proposals without an affirmative response to the cover page certification of agreement to abide by the terms and conditions of the Technology Investment Agreement (current version will be available on the NSRP web site) will be subject to elimination during screening. Proposers are advised to contact the NSRP Director of Contracts if they have any questions on this requirement. Proposers are advised that terms and conditions are currently being negotiated with NAVSEA for the future NSRP Joint Funding Agreement modification. These new terms and conditions might have an impact on some of the terms and conditions contained in the current TIA that the program has posted on the NSRP web site. Proposers are advised to check the NSRP web site periodically during the proposal preparation period for any new changes to the TIA terms and conditions. Program Furnished Property None contemplated. Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the NSRP ASE Program Office point of contact cited below upon deciding to respond to the formal Research Announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that prior Government approval may be required before their proposals can be considered. Preparation Cost: The cost of preparing proposals in response to any formal Research Announcement is not considered a direct charge to any resulting award or any other contract. BASIS FOR AWARD The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. Details of the evaluation criteria are provided in the Proposal Preparation Kit, and are summarized below: Technical Aspects The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority relative to the other factors (cost share, proprietary content, and cost aspect), shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: 1. Strategic fit and leverage 2. Business case 3. Innovation and technical merit 4. Technology transfer and industry implementation 5. Team strength and management plan The first is the most important technical factor. Proposals that do not meet the strategic fit and leverage criteria will not be recommended for award. The other four technical factors are of equal importance to each other. Each is defined in greater detail in the Proposal Preparation Kit. Other Factors a. Cost share: The proposal shall demonstrate a commitment to share the cost and risk of the proposed effort. The NSRP ASE program goal is 50% cost share (i.e., for every dollar of program funding provided, industry will provide at least one (1) dollar in cost share). While there is no pre-determined cost share ratio requirement for any single project, the following incentives apply: (1) Shipyard-specific proposals are expected to provide significantly higher cost share than collaborative projects, and (2) All projects will compete on, among other factors, the degree to which the proposers will share the cost and thus leverage program funds. Additional information regarding allowable types of cost share can be found in the NSRP ASE Proposal Preparation Kit. b. Shipyard Specific Projects Most of the program funding will be applied toward open, collaborative projects that are widely acceptable with broad applicability. For this reason, most projects will be recommended for award on the basis of sharing results within the U.S. industry. It is anticipated that some projects with limited access, and limited or delayed applicability to the broad industry will be awarded, but these projects will require substantially higher cost share. The estimated fraction of a proposed project's funding that will be used in developing technologies that will be openly shared without delay, such that a higher percentage of the results are shared, will be considered in the evaluation. Proposals with a higher degree of results that are openly shared and readily transferable throughout the industry will be viewed more favorably. Cost Aspects: Cost/Price includes the reasonableness and realism of the proposed cost and consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. POINT OF CONTACT Questions related to this Pre-Solicitation Notice be directed to the NSRP ASE Program Office, Advanced Technology Institute, Attn: Ms. Melissa Henry, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418, (843) 760-3366, E-mail henry@aticorp.org. *****
- Record
- SN00638919-W 20040808/040806212818 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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