A -- SHIPBOARD INTERNAL CARGO STRIKE -- UP/ STRIKE -- DOWN

Notice Date

July 20, 2001

Contracting Office

Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660

ZIP Code

22217-5660

Solicitation Number

01-025

Response Due

October 22, 2001

Point of Contact

Technical Point of Contract: Lynn Torres, Office of Naval Research, Code 353, (703) 588-0070 E-mail: torres@onr.navy.mil; Contract Specialist: Toni Cristinzio, Office of Naval Research, Code 253, (703) 696-8448 E-mail: cristit@onr.navy.mil

Description

The Office of Naval Research, as executive agent for the Expeditionary Logistics, Future Naval Capabilities, is seeking White Papers, leading up to full technical and cost proposals, for the development and demonstration of technologies that can improve the cargo, material and weapons handling, tracking, and stowage processes on Navy ships. Proposals are sought from all available sources to include Industry, Institutions of Higher Education (IHE), Non-Profit Organizations, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government Laboratories. Teaming and/or partnering is highly encouraged. Leveraging of previously conducted or on-going initiatives is encouraged. Requirements: Innovative technology concepts must support the future of shipboard internal cargo movement, handling, stowage, and tracking; specifically, the management of pallets, containers and other cargo loads from the deck edge, wet well or VERTREP [Vertical Replenishment] platform to the storeroom or magazine and for reissue and retrograde handling. Current shipboard strike-up/strike-down systems are very manpower intensive. On Combatant type ships, pallets must be broken up into individual loads suitable for manhandling to a storeroom or magazine. Current Naval doctrine dictates significant reduction in manpower. While there are land based material handling and stowage systems, they have not been adapted and proven for shipboard use. In order to be considered suitable for shipboard use, the technologies must be developed to operate in the following conditions: (1) continue to operate in long term exposure to salt fog atmosphere, (2) continuous operation with 15 degrees of roll and ability to maintain stability and load control at 30 degrees of roll, (3) withstand ship motion accelerations through sea state 5 in the operating condition and storm seas for stowage, (4) compensate for ship flexure as it moves in a seaway, and (5) consider watertight integrity and firefighting. In this instance, Sea State 5 is defined as significant wave heights from 2.5 meters to 4 meters with 3.25 meters the most probable with wave periods of 7.7 seconds to 17.8 seconds with the most probable being 9.7 seconds. To further support reduced manning and lower life cycle equipment costs all technologies shall: (1) support minimum space and weight considerations to maximize stowage density and minimize weight impacts on ship draft and stability, (2) support reduced maintenance costs by increased reliability and ease of maintenance, and (3) require the minimum number of operators, the smallest amount of training, and the least operator skill, while maintaining a high level of safety. General Information: Information such as the Technology Interest Areas, Instructions for preparing white papers and full technical and cost proposals, oral presentations, and evaluation criteria for white paper and full technical and cost proposals can be found at http://www.onr.navy.mil/expedlogisfnc/BAA.htm. An Industry Day brief was held on 12 June 2001 and the presentation material can be found at http://www.onr.navy.mil/expedlogisfnc under Product Related Documentation and Presentations. Due Dates: White papers are sought to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror in preparing full technical and cost proposals without an initial assessment of the offeror's innovative technology concepts. Six paper copies and one electronic copy of each white paper are due no later than 2:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, on Thursday, 30 August 2001. Electronic copies shall be submitted in Microsoft Word/Project/Excel/PowerPoint format on either a 3.5" floppy disk or one 100MB Iomega Zip Disk. Each disk shall be labeled clearly with BAA number and title, name of organization, and proposal title (short abbreviated title recommended). Offerors submitting the most promising white papers will be encouraged to submit full technical and cost proposals on all or part of their white paper submission. However, any such encouragement does not assure a subsequent award. Offerors may submit full technical and cost proposals even if they did not submit a white paper or their white paper was not identified as promising. Specific recommendations regarding the white paper and submission of full proposals will be provided to offerors on or about 20 September 2001. Regardless of the white paper recommendations made by ONR, the decision to submit full technical and cost proposals is the responsibility of the offeror. Six paper copies and one electronic copy of the full proposal are due no later than 2:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, thirty (30) days, following sending of the Government's written recommendations of the white papers. The Government will acknowledge the receipt of the white papers and full technical and cost proposals by E-mail. Early submission of white papers and full proposals is encouraged to help facilitate the evaluation and response process. White papers and full technical and cost proposals submitted in response this BAA should be addressed to the Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy Street, Arlington VA 22217-5660, Attention: Ms. Toni Cristinzio, Code 253 Room 720. White papers and full proposals may not be submitted by fax or e-mail transmission. Any white papers and full proposals submitted by fax or e-mail transmission will be discarded without notice. Award Information: Traditional FAR-based contract awards are anticipated. However, the Government reserves the right to award grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions agreements to appropriate parties, should the situation warrant the use of a non-contractual agreement. This acquisition does not meet the requirement for use of a Section 845 other transaction. Proposals submitted by a consortium or team require Articles of Collaboration signed by all members prior to execution of the Agreement. The Articles shall define the interaction and commitment of the proposed partners. Offerors must state in their white papers and full proposals that they are submitted in response to this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The Government reserves the right to make none, one, or more than one award for each technology area of interest. In the event that multiple awards are made in a single technology area of interest, the Government intends to conduct an evaluation to down select to a single performer prior to the planned demonstration phase. White papers and full technical and cost proposals will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 3.104-5 and 15.207. Government personnel will perform the evaluation of the white papers and full technical and cost proposals. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, one or more support contractors may be utilized as subject matter experts and required to handle the white papers and full technical and cost proposals submitted in response to this BAA. The support contractor will not be involved in the technical evaluation or selection of proposals for award. Each support contractor's employee having access to the white papers and full technical and cost proposals submitted in response to this BAA will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement prior to receipt of any white paper/proposal submissions. Oral Presentations: The Government may conduct oral presentations in conjunction with the full proposals. If the Government decides to conduct oral presentations, the presentations will be presented to the ExLog Program Office in the Washington D.C. area at a date and time to be announced. Presentations shall be no more than 30 minutes followed by a question and answer session of no more than 30 minutes. PowerPoint or other computer presentations are not acceptable. Upon request, a standard overhead projector will be supplied. An outline of suggested areas of discussion can be found at http://www.onr.navy.mil/expedlogisfnc/BAA.htm on or about 20 September 2001. Subcontracting Plans: In connection with contract awards, Small Business Subcontracting Plans shall be prepared in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 entitled "Small Business Subcontracting Plan", if required, and submitted with the full technical and cost proposals. Each plan will be evaluated to determine whether it meets or exceeds the Department of the Navy's mandated goals of 21.6% for Small Businesses concerns, 2% for HUBZone concerns, 5% for Small Disadvantaged Business concerns, 5% for Women-Owned Small Business concerns, and 3% for Veteran-Owned Small Business concerns. Offerors not expecting to meet mandated goals shall provide a detailed explanation along with their full proposal. When required, the plan shall be negotiated and made a part of any resultant contract. Failure to submit and negotiate an acceptable plan will make the offeror ineligible for award of a contract. Submission of subcontracting plans does not apply to small business concerns. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code for this solicitation is 541330 (which corresponds with the Standard Industrial Classification code of 8711) with the small business size of standard 500 employees. No portion of this BAA has been set aside for small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, or historically black colleges and universities or minority institutions; however, their participation is encouraged. Other Information: This announcement, in conjunction with the Technology Interest Areas, Instructions for white paper and full technical and cost proposal preparation, oral presentations, evaluation criteria for white paper and full technical and cost proposals, and Industry Day presentation material located on the web, constitutes a BAA as contemplated in FAR 6.102(d)(2)(i). A formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement will not be issued. Request for the same will be disregarded. ONR will not issue paper copies of this announcement. The Government reserves the right to select or award all, some or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. All responsible sources may submit a proposal, which shall be considered under these guidelines by the Office of Naval Research. This BAA provides no funding for direct reimbursement of white paper or proposal development costs. White papers, full technical and cost proposals, and materials presented during oral presentations will not be returned. Questions: Technical and contracting questions pertaining to the white papers, oral presentations, and full technical and cost proposals shall be submitted as follows: Technical questions must be submitted by e-mail no later than 2:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, one week prior to the respective closing date(s) to Lynn Torres at torresl@onr.navy.mil. Contractual questions must be submitted by e-mail no later than 2:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, one week prior to the respective closing date(s) to Toni Cristinzio at cristit@onr.navy.mil. Any questions received after this time will not be addressed. Questions and responses will be made available to all interested parties at http://www.onr.navy.mil/expedlogisfnc/FAQs.htm on a weekly basis. Offerors should periodically check this site for changes and/or revisions. INFORMATION TO BE POSTED AT http://www.onr.navy.mil/expedlogisfnc/ GENERAL INFORMATION: The objective of this effort is to proceed with a deliberate investment in improving the technology base and then applying these technologies to emerging shipboard cargo handling systems. Proposed systems may target Combat Logistics Force or Combatant type ships, or both. The objective of this announcement is the development of technologies to insert into emerging cargo handling systems rather than the delivery of a complete end-to-end system. As such, technologies are to be suitable for integration into other systems; open system architecture and non-proprietary protocols are to be used to the greatest extent practical. Additional information on shortfalls of existing technologies and systems, on target requirements and on cargo interfaces and a partial listing of representative or notional technologies that may be anticipated can be found at http://www.onr.navy.mil/expedlogisfnc/. Selected projects are targeted for funding starting in the first quarter of FY02. TECHNOLOGY INTEREST AREAS: Technologies of interest are: (1) Load Handling and Movement Equipment; (2) Cargo Stowage Systems; and (3) Systems to improve Stowage Density or to provide Selective Offload. Load Handling and Movement Equipment. The intent of this effort is to develop and demonstrate technologies that can be easily integrated into emerging systems to handle and move all standard Naval unit package loads with little or no operator intervention required. All technologies should support reduction in weight and space requirements, support reduction in workload, require minimum operator skill and training, and use shipboard power supplies. Cargo Stowage. The intent of this effort is to develop and demonstrate technologies that can be easily integrated into emerging systems to stow all standard Naval unit package loads in a storeroom or magazine to survive storm sea conditions. All technologies should support reductions in space and weight requirements, support reduction in workload and require the minimum of operator skill and training to operate. Systems to improve Stowage Density or to provide Selective Offload. The intent of this effort is to develop technologies that can: (a) be used to support a shipboard automatic warehouse system, (b) affordably reduce the weight and intrusiveness of stowage structures, packaging and cargo handling, and movement equipment to reduce the weight impact on the ship, (c) reduce the power consumption of handling equipment, (d) provide a higher stowage density in storerooms and magazines, and (e) be used to provide 100% selective offload of storeroom and ordnance cargo and enable future Naval Concepts. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE AND ANTICIPATED AWARD AMOUNTS. Proposed work shall be structured to include a base performance period of nine (9) months or less beginning in FY02 and an option performance period of twelve (12) months. Anticipated total funding for each award is $300,000.00 for the base period and $4,000,000.00 for the option period. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING WHITE PAPERS. Offerors can address one or more of the three Technology Interest Areas; however, each Technology Interest Area shall be submitted independently. The total length of each white paper should not exceed twenty (20) typed pages. Any additional information over the page count limitation will be discarded. The page limitation for white papers includes the technical description, managerial description, and a cost estimate. The cover page is not included in the page count. Some fold out material on larger paper size may be used if required for sketches, illustrations, or graphics with a typeface of 12-point font. White papers shall include a cover page, technical description, managerial description, and a cost estimate. A page is defined as 8 1 2 X 11-inch paper, single sided, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and a typeface of 12-point font. Cover page: The cover page shall be clearly labeled "White Paper" and contain the BAA number and title; the title of the proposed effort; the name(s) of the proposing organization(s); and the names of the administrative and technical points of contacts, along with their telephone numbers, FAX numbers, and electronic mail addresses. Technical Description: The technical description is limited to twelve (12) pages. This section shall consist of a clear discussion of the concept and associated technologies being proposed, development objectives of the proposed effort, major technical issues to be resolved to accomplish objectives and approaches to resolve these issues, and fallback positions if the issues cannot be fully resolved. Managerial Description: The managerial description is limited to seven (7) pages, including resumes. This section shall include partnering arrangements, if any, lists of key personnel and their primary relevant qualifications, specific prior experience of the Offeror in the technology area addressed, facilities, and a plan of action and milestones. Offerors shall also identify proposed processes for program control, risk mitigation, schedule adherence, documentation control, etc. Cost Estimate: The cost estimate is limited to one (1) page. This page shall consist of a rough order of magnitude (cost estimate) broken out by base (9 months) and Option (12 months). Other Information: Offerors should describe their preferred contract type (i.e. Cost-Plus-Fixed Fee, Firm Fixed Price, Cost Sharing). Due to the small size of the program office, no Government Furnished Equipment/Government Furnished Information should be expected. Any required equipment and information shall be the offeror's responsibility to obtain, although the program office may provide coordination/assistance. Offerors proposing technology approaches determined through the white paper process as being of "particular value" to this effort will be encouraged to submit a detailed technical and cost proposal. Full proposal submittees may also be asked to make an oral presentation of their proposal to the ExLog Program Office in the Washington D.C. area at a date and time to be provided. The awards will be based on the results of the full technical and cost proposals and any oral presentations. Offerors submitting full proposals will be notified of the award selections. EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR WHITE PAPERS. White papers will be evaluated in accordance with the 10 criteria stated below. Items 1-7 are of equal importance to each other and of greater importance that Items 8-10, which are of equal importance to each other. 1. Overall technical merits; 2. Technical innovation and feasibility; 3. Risk management to successfully demonstrate the technologies; 4. Potential to enhance the emerging cargo strike-up/strike-down systems; 5. Potential for transition to the operating forces; 6. Suitability for shipboard use in a marine environment; 7. Team qualifications including past performance; 8. Understanding of the problem; 9. Technical approach; and 10. Cost Realism INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING FULL TECHNICAL AND COST PROPOSALS. Technical proposals shall consist of a cover page and two sections -- Technical and Management. The total length of technical proposals should not exceed one hundred (100) typed pages, excluding the cover page. Any additional information over the page count limitation will be discarded. The page limitation for the technical proposal includes the technical and management sections. Some fold out material on larger paper size may be used if required for sketches, illustrations, or graphics with a typeface of 12-point font. A page is defined as 8 1 2 X 11-inch paper, single sided, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and a typeface of 12-point font. Cover Page: The cover page shall be clearly labeled "Technical Proposal" and contain the BAA number and title; the title of the proposed effort; the name(s) of the proposing organization(s); and names of the administrative and technical points of contacts, along with their telephone numbers, FAX numbers, and electronic mail addresses. The cover page is not included in the page count. Technical Section: The Technical section is limited to 70 pages. This section shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) that addresses the Offeror's approach to develop and ability to execute the future Detailed Project Plan, which will be the first deliverable under the resulting contract. The SOW

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010724/ASOL002.HTM (W-201 SN50S5E4)