SOLICITATION NOTICE
99 -- VSCS Contract Extension
- Notice Date
- 12/5/2012
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- Contracting Office
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, aaq-320 HQ - FAA Headquarters (Washington, DC)
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- 12537
- Response Due
- 1/4/2013
- Archive Date
- 1/19/2013
- Point of Contact
- todd pennington, 202-493-5960
- E-Mail Address
-
todd.pennington@faa.gov
(todd.pennington@faa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- In accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acquisition Management System (AMS) Policy Paragraph T3.2.2.4 (Single-Source Selection), the FAA proposes to award a single source contract extension of the Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS) contract, DTFAWA-07-C-00014, for the period of January 2015 through December 2018 to the Harris Corporation-USA, Inc., Government Communications Systems Division, P.O. Box 9800, Melbourne, Florida. The purpose of this extension is to assure continued, uninterrupted, state-of-the-art Air-to-Ground (A/G) and Ground-to-Ground (G/G) telecommunication capabilities of all air traffic monitored and/or controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration using VSCS and the VSCS Training and Backup Switch (VTABS) in the En Route environment. This single source contract extension shall include: Maintenance of VSCS/VTABS Lab Systems supporting various aspects of the training, engineering support and depot maintenance support Supply/Support and repair of all Depot items for fielded and lab systems Technical refresh to Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) and sub-systems as required Technical and project support for Second Level Engineering Installation of technical refresh items to the systems located at the 21 FAA ARTCCs, the FAA Training Academy, the William J. Hughes Technical Center, the Disaster Recovery lab and the Depot Support lab The contractor is tasked to furnish engineering, maintenance, software updates, software engineering, testing, and supplemental support services for the VSCS Program, which is inclusive of all systems/subsystems as may be added and/or upgraded by a Service Life Extension and/or Technical Refresh. The incumbent contractor currently has the trained and experienced personnel in-house, who, through prior VSCS/VTABS Field Deployments of upgrades, have gained the knowledge and working relationship with the FAA Site Operations and Personnel. This knowledge is demonstrated daily when assisting the Second Level Engineering organization (located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) in Atlantic City, New Jersey) on understanding complex problems being experienced by the field sites and planned maintenance upgrades to equipment. The VSCS/VTABS Depot maintenance support, proposed in the single-source action, will include the inspection, test, repair and verification of failed items returned to the Depot. There is substantial in-house repair capability required, using a variety of test sets in order to test components used in the switch, controller working position, control subsystem and other VSCS/VTABS subsystems. It includes an understanding of VSCS/VTABS LRU schematics and repair methodologies in order to efficiently repair failed LRUs without performing unnecessary repairs. It includes maintenance of the depot test sets, including the Maintenance Test Set Replacement - Functional At Speed Tester (MTSR-F), VSCS Electronics Module (VEM)/Position Electronics Module (PEM) test set, VSCS Display Module Replacement (VDM-R) test set, and other test tools. It will also include continuation of a close liaison with the VSCS/VTABS Depot support contractors, currently in excess of twenty five (25), who are performing repair services on select repairable items returned from the VSCS and VTABS sites. This effort as the Prime will include procuring the necessary bit and piece part support for the VSCS/VTABS Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) and providing this support to repair service contractors as necessary. This action is to be taken to prevent/stop counterfeit parts from being introduced into the repair process. In addition, the cost of maintaining a viable contractor base with a proven deliverable end product will be assured. The current contractor has a dedicated manufacturing facility that has the capability to manufacture the field site cable requirements which in turn has generated a cable catalog for ease of use in determining/supporting the requirement. The contractor is also charged with the responsibility of being the second source of supply if one of the subcontractors supplying parts for the VSCS/VTABS program goes out of business and no other vendor is available to provide this service/material/component. The current Contractor has Proprietary Data for the VSCS System 20/20 Switch (from the old Harris Digital Telephone Systems Division - HDTS) that is not available to the FAA for use in competing certain functions for manufacturing of required material items, Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), bit and piece material items used in the LRU repair process for the VSCS/VTABS Depot. This data consists of over 600 individual specifications, drawings, manuals and instruction sheets with associated Software Files. In addition to the Proprietary Data, the Harris Corporation maintains a warehouse with many obsolete (no longer available on the open market) VSCS/VTABS Residual Materials (Harris Ownership) that is being maintained as a supply source of bit and piece support items for the repair of LRUs in the VSCS Depot when no other source is available. Pursuant to the current Contract Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS) Basic Contract, the Prime Contractor has in place the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) Program to support the "Lifetime" of VSCS/VTABS. The Program was implemented by a skilled team of diverse Contractor personnel representing a cross section of 14 disciplines. This team, which includes FAA representatives from the Acquisition and Engineering disciplines, is structured to mitigate or prevent VSCS/VTABS obsolescence issues through proactive and reactive elements, using ISO 9001:2008 compliant Contractor (Harris) Command Media as its guide. The DMSMS Proactive Step is achieved through Technical Refresh and Technical Insertion based upon: Keeping VSCS/VTABS maintainable until the end of the contract period, Continuous application of technology to reduce Maintenance costs, and Application of state of the art technology as required to increase supportability and reliability at each of the FAA 21 ARTCCs, the WJHTC and the MMAC (Academy). The DMSMS team is chartered to protect the Contractor Depot Logistics Support (CDLS) VSCS/VTABS Depot function against inability to maintain the VSCS in a state of readiness to support the Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), integral to the FAA Air Traffic mission through the life of the system. As a result of continued FAA requirements, the FAA sanctioned the Contractor to use the End-of-Life (EOL) dates provided therein for future Life-of-Type-Buy (LOTB) calculations. The DMSMS team must analyze component use, failure trends and part availability to ensure sufficient supply of spare parts needed to repair VSCS/VTABS equipment until the EOL for VSCS/VTABS. Any firm that believes they can provide the scheduled Technical Refresh efforts and range of above services (the firm must demonstrate that the appropriate qualified personnel are currently in place with the contractor or the personnel are available in the timeframes to fulfill all of the engineering and support requirements and has submitted a letter of commitment to the Prime Contractor interested in the Program) is invited to submit their qualifications and experience for the VSCS project in writing by December 14, 2012. Based upon the original investment in the FAA VSCS Program and reviewing the requirements in the current environment any potential contractor is advised that there is a large investment/start-up cost associated with this undertaking. In addition to entering into negotiations with the FAA any potential contractor would have to enter into negotiations with the current contractor for the purpose of acquiring that portion of the VSCS/VTABS Laboratory that is owned by the incumbent. To clarify, the FAA owns part of the equipment acquired with government funds and the contractor owns laboratory acquired items of equipment with private funds. All of the equipment, both government owned and contractor owned, is required to have a fully functional VSCS/VTABS Laboratory used in the 24 hour day to day operational support of FAA ARTCCs, the FAA Academy, the WJHTC in New Jersey and the VSCS/VTABS Depot Operations. The FAA does not have ownership now nor have they ever had total ownership of all the equipment that comprises the VSCS/VTABS laboratory operating system located on-site at the current contractor's facility. This laboratory equipment is critical to Depot operations in order to burn-in repaired LRUs or LRUs whose failures could not be verified before returning those assets to stock that is Ready For Issue (RFI) to the field. The proposed contract extension will be for a four year period. The single-source extension (base period) of performance will be January 01, 2015 through December 31, 2018. This single-source extension (base period) is estimated to have a value of $78,330,793 which will include Critical Technical Refresh Services with associated hardware and the corresponding administrative support costs (e.g., program management and documentation updates, training conduct and engineering support). One of the most significant and challenging items included is the total Contractor VSCS/VTABS Depot Logistics Support to maintain the FAA sites described in the above paragraph in a 24/7 continuous state of readiness. Pursuant to the FAA's AMS Policy Guide, Section 3.2.2.4, Single-Source Selection is permitted when "such action is determined to be in the best interest of the FAA and the Rational Basis is documented". Based upon the rationale within this document, procurement through a single source solicitation fulfills the requirement for a rational basis action. This rationale is based upon coordination urgency, the need for standardization, and the Harris Corporation USA being the only source available to satisfy the interim requirements in the required time frame for continued, non-interrupted 24 hour service to US commercial flight operations and select oceanic operations. The FAA has determined that a single source extension to the existing VSCS Contract (which was originally awarded through a competitive four year development contract that required the delivery of an operational system to the FAA prior to award of the production contract) provides the best value and most timely response to the FAA's existing/fielded Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS) requirements based on the following rationale. A competitive bid approach is estimated to be a 48 month solicitation to contract award process (based on the original program) before a new qualified contractor could provide a System Specification and a compliant FAA-tested, approved system for support purposes. This means that after the expiration of the current VSCS Contract (December 31, 2014), no switch upgrades will be available to meet FAA new facility and legacy switch replacement upgrade/repair/extension requirements until March 2019 without the current contract being extended. In addition, the current 24 hour/day, 7 days/week VSCS Depot support would have to be renegotiated into a separate contract operation (estimated to be a 36 month process) and be ready to commence operational support on 01 January 2015. The current VSCS/VTABS Depot support efforts are included in the VSCS Contract for simplicity of operations, ease of management, coordination of day-to-day system requirements, utilization of one Team of Professionals for all aspects of VSCS support to the field sites and upgrades to the multiple packages of Training Syllabus as a result of ongoing and planned complex Technical Refresh efforts for the Program. Any vendor who believes that they can provide the services described in this announcement is requested to provide the government with their plan on how they would perform each of the following activities for VSCS/VTABS: 1)Provide all depot maintenance and supply support for the hundreds of VSCS/VTABS LRUs and thousands of component bit and piece parts required for its upkeep. This includes running a DMSMS program with experienced VSCS/VTABS logistics personnel, and consistent with this notice for VSCS/VTABS. 2)Acquire trained and experienced VSCS personnel with the skill sets and knowledge of VSCS, VTABS and FAA site operations gained through years of VSCS/VTABS Field Deployments, VSCS Depot Operations and VSCS Technical Refresh efforts. 3)Furnish systems engineering, software engineering, software updates and test engineering for the VSCS/VTABS program, including any required technical refresh during the service life of the VSCS/VTABS. 4)Acquire the laboratory resources owned by Harris Corporation necessary to set up a lab in which to test both VSCS/VTABS spares, technical refresh projects and technical issues seen at field sites. 5)Obtain the Proprietary Data for the VSCS System 20/20 Switch that will enable the vendor to manufacture, analyze, troubleshoot and provide DMSMS support for LRUs in the VSCS and VTABS switches as the system ages. 6)Obtain the ability to perform in-house repair of VSCS/VTABS LRUs. This description must include how the vendor will obtain the understanding of VSCS/VTABS LRU schematics and repair methodologies in order to efficiently repair failed LRUs without performing unnecessary repairs (i.e., as part of a learning curve for technicians without adequate VSCS experience). 7)Acquire the proprietary test set algorithms needed to update the software on the MTSR-F and VEM/PEM Test Set as needed to test for new failure modes as the system ages or provide technical refresh on the software. 8)Prevent counterfeit parts from being acquired or used in any VSCS/VTABS repair activity, whether it is performed in-house or at a 3rd party vendor. 9)Detail the dedicated manufacturing capability it has to quickly and efficiently manufacture VSCS/VTABS cables as well as provide a second source of supply for VSCS/VTABS components if the subcontractor responsible for that component goes out of business. Each response received to this announcement will be evaluated using the following criteria: 1)Vendor's plan will be evaluated to determine their ability to provide all depot maintenance and supply support for the hundreds of VSCS/VTABS LRUs and thousands of component bit and piece parts required for its upkeep. The capability of the vendor DMSMS capability will be evaluated both in terms of VSCS/VTABS experience, logistics experience and adherence to the description in this notice. 2)Vendor's capability to acquire trained and experienced VSCS personnel with the skill sets and knowledge of VSCS, VTABS and FAA site operations gained through years of VSCS/VTABS Field Deployments, VSCS Depot Operations and VSCS Technical Refresh efforts. 3)Vendor's capability to furnish systems engineering, software engineering, software updates and test engineering for the VSCS/VTABS program, including any required technical refresh during the service life of the VSCS/VTABS. 4)Vendor's capability to acquire the laboratory resources owned by Harris Corporation necessary to set up a lab in which to test both VSCS/VTABS spares, technical refresh projects and technical issues seen at field sites. 5)Vendor's capability to obtain the Proprietary Data for the VSCS System 20/20 Switch that will enable the vendor to manufacture, analyze, troubleshoot and provide DMSMS support for LRUs in the VSCS and VTABS switches as the system ages. 6)Vendor's capability to obtain the ability to perform in-house repair of VSCS/VTABS LRUs. This description must include how the vendor will obtain the understanding of VSCS/VTABS LRU schematics and repair methodologies in order to efficiently repair failed LRUs without performing unnecessary repairs (i.e., as part of a learning curve for technicians without adequate VSCS experience). 7)Vendor's capability to acquire the proprietary test set algorithms needed to update the software on the MTSR-F and VEM/PEM Test Set as needed to test for new failure modes as the system ages or provide technical refresh on the software. 8)Vendor's capability to prevent counterfeit parts from being acquired or used in any VSCS/VTABS repair activity, whether it is performed in-house or at a 3rd party vendor. 9)Vendor's dedicated manufacturing capability which would allow it to quickly and efficiently manufacture VSCS/VTABS cables as well as provide a second source of supply for VSCS/VTABS components if the subcontractor responsible for that component goes out of business. Prospective vendor's response must address each of the above requirements. Questions concerning this announcement can be submitted to Todd Pennington, E-Mail: Todd.Pennington@faa.gov. Questions must be submitted by 20 December 2012 in order to be considered.
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