SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Establishing & Applying Formal Metrics to Evaluate PLM Standardization Frameworks
- Notice Date
- 8/21/2012
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1640, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20899-1640
- Solicitation Number
- SB1341-12-RQ-0709
- Archive Date
- 9/15/2012
- Point of Contact
- Joshua D. Holliday, Phone: 3019758497, Chon S. Son, Phone: 301-975-8567
- E-Mail Address
-
joshua.holliday@nist.gov, chon.son@nist.gov
(joshua.holliday@nist.gov, chon.son@nist.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation is being issued using Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-60. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541990 with a small business size standard of $14M. This requirement is 100% set-aside for small business. All interested Contractors may provide a quote for the following: Background Information: We live in the information age. Data has become an essential asset for most every-day situations and business interactions. The need to share data, to generate information, and create new knowledge from that data is common to all fields of research and all economic activity whether it is financial data, product data, health data, or disaster data, managing that data is a critical, and sometimes costly, process. To manage data well, we must understand that it has a life cycle composed of several steps including definition, instantiation, transformation, validation and archival. When not properly defined, data might become incomplete, inconsistent or, even worse, unusable. Requirements for data evolve and we must define new data or update existing data over the entire data life cycle. This has become an important issue and a technological challenge, as it is hardly possible to define, in advance, information structures that meet requirements you do not yet know. This is particularly true in domains such as manufacturing where information exchange involves many actors and data are shared across multiple functions and software applications. In these situations, each function has its own needs and each application has its own input/output requirements. As a result, it becomes hard to find a common information structure for representing data. The challenge is even bigger when a temporal aspect has to be considered since it requires the ability to extend the information structure dynamically over time. One area within the manufacturing domain that we have identified with these characteristics is Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). PLM involves many global actors using a myriad of software applications that perform a series of product management functions that can last from weeks to decades. In order to support the evolutive aspect of PLM information, it is crucial for PLM frameworks to provide mechanisms enabling dynamic representation of information. This project will evaluate representative PLM frameworks on their support for dynamic representation of information, within different scenarios. To perform this evaluation, formal metrics will be developed in adequacy to the requirements identified within the different scenarios. Objectives: The objective of this contract is to provide the Government with an analysis of current standardization frameworks, how they compare, and their relative suitability for specific application contexts. The results of this project will build the foundation for the improvement of current frameworks and for the definition of new ones. Scope of Work: In the scope of this contract, the contractor shall investigate, define and use formal metrics for the evaluation of PLM standardization frameworks. The investigation shall focus on the frameworks and on their application contexts. The definition shall focus on the factors that affect the application of the frameworks within the contexts and on the identification of the metrics to evaluate those factors. The usage shall focus on the assessment of the metrics for each framework and for each context. Tasks: The Contractor shall perform the following tasks: Task 1: Context Identification Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is performed with a tremendous number of frameworks corresponding to diverse contexts. For the purpose of this project, the Contractor shall identify relevant contexts for evaluation. The contexts identified shall be aligned with on-going NIST efforts, and shall be selected with consultation of NIST SIMCA Program manager and staff. Task 2: PLM Standardization Framework Selection The Contractor shall identify current and under-development standards that enable interoperability among heterogeneous and proprietary application systems used to manage and store product data along the product life cycle. The standards will be aligned with the previously identified contexts. The Contractor shall consider both file-based and web services-based interoperability. The Contractor shall consider both normative and de-facto standards, in-use and novel approaches. For each standard, the Contractor shall identify its standardization framework, i.e., its content and its structure. For the purpose of this project, the Contractor shall select the standardization frameworks that are sufficiently different in terms of technology, scope, domain, and architecture. Examples of the frameworks include Future STEP, PLCSLib, and ISO 15926. Task 3: Metrics Development The Contractor shall identify which factors affect the usage and adoption of the frameworks within the contexts recognized in Task 1. Examples of the factors include coverage, extensibility, exchange effectiveness, support for long-term data retention and implementation barriers. The Contractor shall develop metrics to evaluate the frameworks with respect to the factors identified. The metrics shall also be, as much as possible, independent from each other, so that they can be aggregated without taking into account a factor twice. Metrics shall be in the form of yes/no criteria, quantities, or classes. Other types of metrics shall be introduced by the contractor. For each metric the Contractor shall provide the metric's rationale, definition, statements of objectivity and ease of measurement. Task 4: Metrics Aggregation The Contractor shall establish an approach to aggregate the metrics for each context. The approach shall facilitate assigning a single score for the suitability of each framework for each context. The single score shall account for the relative weight of each metric with respect to a particular context. Task 5: Metrics Application The Contractor shall assess the metrics for each framework and shall apply the approach defined in Task 4 to measure the suitability of the frameworks in the selected contexts. Deliverables: Task Description Due Date Task 1.a A presentation to the project leader containing the list of identified contexts and the motivation behind their selection. 1 month after award Task 1.b A brief written report documenting the choice of the contexts and their description. 1 month after award Task 2.a A presentation to the project leader containing the list of selected frameworks and the motivation behind their selection. 2 months after award Task 2.b A brief written report documenting the selection of the frameworks and their description. 3 months after award Task 3.a A brief written report documenting the definition of the metrics and the rationale behind their selection. 5 months after award Task 3.b A paper, co-authored with NIST, describing the contexts of evaluation, the standardization frameworks and the metrics that have been defined. The paper shall be of high quality, suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed conference. 8 months after award Task 3.c A presentation to the project members summarizing the contexts of evaluation, the standardization frameworks and the metrics that have been defined. 4 months after award Task 4.a A presentation to the project leader describing the approach defined to aggregate the metrics for each context. 6 months after award Task 4.b A brief written report documenting the approach. 7 months after award Task 5.a A brief written report documenting the assessment of the metrics for the selected frameworks in the identified contexts. The report shall also contain recommendations for the improvement of current frameworks and for the definition of new ones. 9 months after award Task 5.b A paper, co-authored with NIST, describing the application of formal metrics to evaluate PLM standardization frameworks. The paper shall be of high quality, suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. 12 months after award Task5.c A presentation at a relevant standard implementers meeting in which the final results of the Statement of Work are demonstrated. 11 months after award Task5.d A seminar to the NIST staff, reviewed with project members in advance, in which the final results of the Statement of Work are demonstrated. 10 months after award Reporting Requirements: This work crosses standards-making body boundaries and therefore coordination between this project and several other organizations is required. The Contractor shall work with the Engineering Laboratory, Systems Integration Division, Systems Engineering Group to identify specific coordination points with the following stakeholders as needed, such as: • ISO TC184 SC4 Industrial Data Future Architecture project and ISO 15926 standard • OASIS PLCS TC. Input shall be gathered from these stakeholders and project status, reports and demonstrations shall be made available to them. Contractor Minimum Qualifications: The Contractor shall have at least a PhD degree in computer science, engineering, or related field or four (4) years of experience as a PhD candidate in computer science, engineering, or related field. The Contractor shall also have: • At least three (3) years of experience in STEP standards usage • Three (3) years of experience implementing and documenting PLCS software toolkit • Experience in creating and querying OWL ontologies using SPIN and semantic web technologies • Three (3) years of experience in the application of metrics to evaluate PLM standards • Three (3) years of experience in information modeling for product data representation • Prior publications in the area of PLCS, PLM, and STEP. Period of Performance: The period of performance shall be from October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013. Place of Performance: All work, with the exception of travel, shall be performed on-site at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD. Work shall be performed the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, with the exception of Federal holidays or other official closures. Travel: The Contractor shall plan to travel to the following during the performance of this contract: • Travel to relevant conference to present research: One (1) trip, 2 to 3 days • Travel to standards committee meetings, such as PDES, Inc. or TC 184-SC4: Two (2) trips, 8 days total. Government Responsibilities: The Government will be responsible for review and approval of reports, standards committee submissions, software tools and similar matter generated under this contract. Government Furnished Property: The Government will provide the Contractor with office space, computing resources, and access to NIST facilities for the contractor. All property, data and information provided by the Government in the performance of this contract remains the property of the Government and shall be surrendered to the government upon completion or termination of this requirement. Likewise, all deliverables generated under this requirement remain the property of the Government. References: The Contractor shall use as basis of its work the most recent versions of the selected frameworks. A list of potential references is given below. This list is not intended to be complete or mandatory: • FutureSTEP • PLCSLib o PLCS Web Services report - Eurostep and Boeing • ISO 15926 - Industrial automation systems and integration-Integration of life-cycle data for process plants including oil and gas production facilities o "An Upper Ontology based on ISO 15926" Rafael Batres, Matthew West, David Leal, David Price, Yuji Naka • OAGIS o Open Application Group Integration Specification o http://www.oagi.org/dnn2/ • Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration - OSLC o http://open-services.net/ • OMG Product Lifecycle Management Services o http://www.omg.org/spec/PLM/ • "DEXML: A FIRST STEP TOWARD A UML BASED IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK FOR PLCS" Sylvere Krima, Joshua Lubell, Roch Bertucat, Sudarsan Rachuri, Sebti Foufou o http://www.nist.gov/el/msid/dexml.cfm Provisions and Clauses: The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference. All FAR clauses may be viewed at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html. Provisions: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items 52.213-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items Offerors shall complete annual representations and certifications on-line at http://orca.bpn.gov in accordance with FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items. If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required. Clauses: 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items including subparagraphs: 52.204-10 Reporting Subcontracting Awards 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set Aside 52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation 52.222-3 Convict Labor 52.222-19 Child Labor - Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities 52.223-18 Contractor Policy to Ban Text Messaging While Driving 52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer - Central Contractor Registration. 52.233-4 Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim 1352.201-70 Contracting Officers Authority 1352.201-72 Contracting Officers Representative (COR) 1352.208-70 Restrictions on Printing and Duplicating 1352.209-73 Compliance with the Laws 1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest 1352.233-70 Agency Protests 1352.233-71 GAO and Court of Federal Claims Protests 1352.245-70 Government Furnished Property 1352.246.70 Place of Acceptance 1352.270-70 Period of Performance Instructions to Offerors: Central Contractor Registration: In accordance with FAR 52.204-7, the awardee must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (www.ccr.gov) prior to award. Refusal to register shall forfeit award. Due Date for Quotations: Offerors shall submit their quotations so that NIST receives them not later than 03:00PM Eastern Time on Friday, August 31, 2012. Fax quotations shall not be accepted. E-mail quotations shall be accepted at joshua.holliday@nist.gov. Offerors' quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered into the e-mail address inbox set forth above. Quotations shall be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition Management Division, Attn: Joshua Holliday, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640. All offerors should ensure the RFQ number is visible on the outermost packaging. Because of heightened security, FED-EX, UPS, or similar delivery methods are the preferred method of delivery of quotes. If quotes are hand delivered, delivery shall be made on the actual due date through Gate A, and a 48 hour (excluding weekends and holidays) prior notice shall be provided to Joshua Holliday, Contract Specialist on 301-975-8497. Quotation Instructions: The offeror shall submit the following: A. Technical Approach (No page limit): The offeror shall provide a written, detailed technical approach for how it proposes to satisfy the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW). The offeror's technical approach shall demonstrate a thorough understanding of the work requirements and a detailed plan for achieving the objectives of the scope of the SOW. The technical approach shall include information on the techniques and procedures to be employed in achieving the proposed end results in compliance with the requirements of the SOW. B. Contractor Minimum Qualifications (No page limit): The offeror shall demonstrate that they meet the stated contractor minimum qualifications. The Contractor shall have at least a PhD degree or four (4) years of experience as a PhD candidate in computer science, engineering, or related field. The Contractor shall also have: • At least three (3) years of experience in STEP standards usage • Three (3) years of experience implementing and documenting PLCS software toolkit • Experience in creating and querying OWL ontologies using SPIN and semantic web technologies • Three (3) years of experience in the application of metrics to evaluate PLM standards • Three (3) years of experience in information modeling for product data representation • Prior publications in the area of PLCS, PLM, and STEP. C. Past Performance (No page limit): The offeror shall provide at least two (2) past performance references for similar contracts/orders for which the offeror has performed as a prime Contractor or as a first-tier subcontractor on similarly scoped contracts/orders awarded to them in the past three (3) years by governmental entities (federal, state, or local) or by non-governmental entities. D. Price Quotation: The offeror shall submit a separate firm-fixed price quotation. Basis for Award Determination/Evaluation Criteria: A contract will be issued to the contractor whose quotation is determined to offer the best value to the Government after consideration of all evaluation factors. Best value is defined as the procurement process that results in the most advantageous acquisition decision for the Government and is performed through an integrated assessment and trade-off analysis among price and non-price factors. The basis for the award will be a detailed, integrated evaluation by the Government on the basis of how well the quotations satisfy the evaluation criteria specified herein. Accordingly, the Government may award any resulting contract to other than the lowest priced Offeror or other than the Offeror with the highest technical merit rating. The Government has the right to determine whether two or more technical quotations are ‘substantially equal' or whether any differences in technical weighting are "significant" for the purposes of evaluating the overall merit of quotations. Between quotations of substantially equal technical merit, price will become a more significant factor. Between competing quotations, the Government is not willing to pay significantly more for a minor technical difference, nor is the Government willing to forego a significant technical difference in exchange for a small price differential. Each quotation will be evaluated against the factors described below. An Offeror's failure to address any factor may be considered indicative of the offeror's lack of understanding of the Government's requirements and may result in the quotation being determined unacceptable. Non-cost/Price factors A through C are listed in descending order of importance. Non-cost factors A through C, when combined, are considered more important than Factor D (Price). A. Technical Approach: The technical approach shall be the most important item in the evaluation of the offeror's capability to perform the desired services. The Government will evaluate the offeror's proposed technical approach to determine if it presents sufficient information to reflect a thorough understanding of the work requirements and a detailed plan for achieving the objectives of the scope of the contract. The Government will evaluate the techniques and procedures to be employed in achieving the proposed end results in compliance with the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW). The offeror must demonstrate complete understanding of the SOW by providing an original and clear statement of the purpose, intent, and requirements of the project. B. Contractor Minimum Qualifications: The Government will evaluate the offeror's contractor minimum qualifications on whether or not their qualifications/experience will provide the necessary skills to complete the tasks as detailed in the SOW. As detailed in the instructions to offerors, the Contractor shall have at least a PhD degree or four (4) years of experience as a PhD candidate in computer science, engineering, or related field. The Contractor shall also have: • At least three (3) years of experience in STEP standards usage • Three (3) years of experience implementing and documenting PLCS software toolkit • Experience in creating and querying OWL ontologies using SPIN and semantic web technologies • Three (3) years of experience in the application of metrics to evaluate PLM standards • Three (3) years of experience in information modeling for product data representation • Prior publications in the area of PLCS, PLM, and STEP. C. Past Performance: The Government will evaluate the offeror's past performance information and, if appropriate, its proposed subcontractors' past performance to determine its relevance to the current requirement and the extent to which it demonstrates that the offeror has successfully completed relevant contracts in the past three (3) years. In assessing the offeror's past performance information, NIST will evaluate the quality, timeliness, and ability to control cost and schedule of the past work. Evaluation of this factor will be based on information contained in the technical approach portion of the quotation and information provided by references. The Government will evaluate past performance information by contacting appropriate references, including NIST references, if applicable. The Government may also consider other available information in evaluating the offeror's past performance. The Government will assign a neutral rating if the offeror has no relevant past performance information. D. Price: The Government will evaluate whether the quoted price is fair and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements, and consistent with the offeror's proposed Technical Approach. Prices that are determined to be either unreasonably high or unrealistically low in relation to the proposed work may indicate the offeror's lack of understanding of the requirement and may result in the overall quotation being considered unacceptable. Offerors must provide sufficient details to support proposed prices.
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- Place of Performance
- Address: 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, United States
- Zip Code: 20899
- Zip Code: 20899
- Record
- SN02847762-W 20120823/120821235330-389cc62b8ce921126aad69d6c74e5a33 (fbodaily.com)
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