Draft SOW (693JJ921RQ000095).pdf

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION, SPECIFICATION,

WORK STATEMENT

STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 BACKGROUND

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has comprehensive programs to evaluate proposed and existing motor vehicle safety regulations to determine their effectiveness, benefits, and costs. These programs include (1) estimation of the incremental weights and initial costs of safety features that have been proposed in Agency initiatives to enhance motor vehicle safety in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 as amended, and lead time and/or effects on manufacturers and suppliers and (2) evaluation of the weight and initial consumer cost of components that have been modified or added to motor vehicles in order to comply with the performance requirements of existing regulations.

C.2 PURPOSE

The purpose of this procurement is to conduct cost studies of motor vehicle equipment and perform detailed engineering “teardown” analyses to provide definitive cost and weight estimates of this equipment. The results will serve as the basis for NHTSA’s evaluation of the costs, weights, and lead time impacts of proposed initiatives, and compliance with the performance requirements of existing regulations.

C.3 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall be required to identify, isolate, and analyze the systems and subsystems of the motor vehicle equipment under study for cost and weight analysis.

The contractor may also be required to analyze lead time and/or effects on manufacturers and supplier for selected equipment that is yet not required in all new vehicles.

C.4 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Task orders will be awarded under this contract to analyze specific equipment or systems.

As general guidance, requirements of individual task orders shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

C.4.1 Conduct Initial Project Briefing. The Contractor shall be required to meet in person or by teleconference with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and other interested NHTSA personnel in Washington, DC at the Headquarters of the Department of Transportation/NHTSA within fourteen (14) calendar days. This meeting will ensure the Contractor and the COTR have a common understanding of the project.

In addition, they will discuss the project’s objectives, planned course of action, milestones/deliverables and resolve any differences between the Government’s technical approach and the Contractor’s approach.

C.4.2 Conduct Vehicle Systems Analysis. The Contractor shall be required to research and select the make-model vehicles that may be addressed in task orders. Vehicles could include passenger cars, light trucks and vans (pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, minivans, and full-size vans with GVWR<10,000 pounds) medium and heavy trucks, truck tractors, truck trailers, motorcycles, school buses, motor coaches or low speed vehicles that represent high volume models within each market class. Analysis of separate safety systems associated with motor vehicles such as child restraints or motorcycle helmets are also covered by this contrat

C.4.3 Determine Sampling Plan for Teardown Cost Analysis. The Contractor shall be required to develop a sampling plan of motor vehicles that have equipment related to the motor vehicle regulation being studied in order to determine the cost and weight attributed to that regulation. The sample shall be developed based on task order specifications but will generally provide a variety of designs, manufacturers (both foreign and domestic), vehicle market classes, and vehicle sizes. In addition, instances may occur where a regulation affects more than one vehicle type; therefore, a separate sampling plan shall be developed for each vehicle type. Furthermore, where motor vehicle models have equipment in place before the establishment of a regulatory requirement and are then modified in subsequent model years to meet the requirements, the sampling plan shall be made up of matched pre- and post-regulation models. The sampling plan shall also include motor vehicle make/models that may be used as substitutes.

The COR shall review the recommended sample of motor vehicles and proposed substitutes and shall notify the Contractor in writing as to the sample selected for study.

The sample must be approved by the COR before the Contractor can proceed.

The Contractor shall acquire the motor vehicle equipment from a variety of sources:

vehicles being tested by NHTSA or one of its contractors, motor vehicle dealers, OEM manufacturers, Tier-1, 2, and 3 level suppliers, testing labs, salvage yards, or other sources. In all instances, the equipment must be in the same condition as the original equipment at the time the motor vehicles were manufactured.

C.4.4 Conduct Motor Vehicle Equipment Teardown Cost and Weight Analysis. The Contractor shall be required to acquire and perform a physical teardown of the motor vehicle equipment under study in the sampling plan into its most elemental parts. This is necessary so that the Contractor can identify the process operation by which each elemental part is made in terms of:

• Labor minutes

• Direct materials and scrap

• Machine occupancy hours or stations times

• Machinery, equipment, and tooling utilized.

Using prevailing labor and material costs, the Contractor shall be required to determine the variable manufacturing costs and total manufacturing costs for each elemental part, component, subassembly, and complete assemblies that constitute each system under study. The Activity Based Costing methodology shall be used to assign variable and fixed burden costs to each unit of an end product. Specific cost elements that the Contractor shall be required to isolate and identify include the following:

• Direct labor dollars per unit (rates, union shops)

• Direct material costs and scrap allowance per unit

• Variable burden cost per unit, including indirect labor and other costs that vary with production volume

• Fixed burden per unit

• Capital investments required at prevailing annual sales volumes – property, plant, equipment, and tooling

• Depreciation schedules for property, plant, and equipment

• Amortization schedules for special tooling

The Contractor shall be required to accumulate and reconcile variable manufacturing costs, fixed burden, capital investment, and weight data on the motor vehicle equipment under study. For those components provided by outside suppliers, the Contractor shall be required to determine the price paid by the manufacturer where possible. In the absence of supplier pricing data, the Contractor shall be required to determine the variable manufacturing cost for each purchased part by manufacturing process analysis and assume internal sourcing in the establishment of the manufacturer’s variable manufacturing costs. The Contractor shall be required to determine the markup on variable manufacturing costs to supplier selling price.

The Contractor shall be required to provide detailed manufacturing process operation worksheets and/or computer printouts that clearly show how variable manufacturing costs, fixed burden, and weights are accumulated and reconciled from each part to its parts group and from parts groups to the total system.

The Contractor shall identify and isolate all cost components in a manner that will enable determination of consumer costs, which reflect all indirect costs such as administrative overhead, selling costs, profit, etc. This may entail identifying costed components already included in outside markup factors such as the Retail Price Equivalent markup used by NHTSA.

The Contractor shall be required to weigh and tag each component after teardown. After determining material content and the manufacturing process and costs, the Contractor shall be required to appropriately identify and lay out the components and photograph them in such a manner that the component size in inches and/or centimeters can be determined from the photograph.

C.4.5 Analysis of Effects on Manufacturers and Suppliers. The Contractor may be required to conduct studies to investigate and document the impacts of voluntary initiatives and new or modified safety regulations on the automobile manufacturers and their suppliers. These analyses may include impact studies on the prime manufacturers, finished component and/or part suppliers, (e.g. computer modules or chips) and raw material suppliers (steel, aluminum, plastics, etc). The scope of the studies may involve estimates of the changes to the manufacturing facilities, tooling, machinery, and equipment as well as identification of industry-wide changes including the development of new industries. The studies may also require assessment of lead time requirements and factors affecting lead times.

C.4.6 Lead Time Analysis – The contractor may be required to lead time estimates for implementation of changes for the manufacturers affected. These studies may include the assessment of current and future manufacturing processes and technologies.

C.4.7 Conduct Midterm Review. The Contractor may be required to conduct a briefing, webinar or teleconference for NHTSA personnel describing the progress of the project.

The systems and subsystems dismantled for cost and weight analysis will be reviewed, along with the manufacturing processes developed for these units. In support of the briefing, the Contractor shall be required to provide visual aids such as photographs, transparencies, display boards, and videos. Therefore, the Contractor should have access to these capabilities, either in house or through a subcontractor/consultant.

C.4.8 Prepare Monthly Progress Report. The Contractor shall be required to furnish monthly progress reports electronically to the NHTSA COR and/or TOM. In addition, the Contractor shall be required to provide one original (hard copy) to the NHTSA Contract Specialist. The monthly progress report shall be in Microsoft Word format and may be delivered via email. At a minimum, the progress report shall include a narrative description of the following items:

• Accomplishments made during the reporting period.

• Funds status by major cost element, month’s obligations, cumulative obligations, estimated cost to complete, and percent of cost expended versus percent of completion.

• Plans for accomplishments in next reporting period.

• Preliminary or interim results, conclusions, trends or other items of information that the Contractor believes are of interest to NHTSA.

• Problems or delays that the Contractor has experienced in the conduct of his/her services.

• Specific action that the Contractor would like NHTSA to undertake to alleviate a problem.

C.4.7 Submit Draft Final Report. The Contractor shall be required to submit a Draft Final Report to the NHTSA COTR for review and comment. The report shall be developed to document the findings, including appropriate photographs, drawings, tables, and other exhibits. The Contractor shall be required to provide definitive cost and weight data for the identified systems in the report in accordance with the following format:

• The Abstract shall consist of a brief one-page description of the project and results.

• The Summary of Findings shall present narrative and tables in summary form for each system. This means that costs and weight data shall be aggregated at the parts grouping level, e.g., hydraulic modulator, pump motor, sensors, etc.

• The Engineering Analysis shall provide a detailed description of each system and how each subsystem (parts group) works. The objective here is to educate the decision maker as to the operating principles of each subsystem and the system as a whole. If a task order requires analysis of effects on manufacturers and suppliers and/or lead time analysis, the findings shall be presented here.

• The Cost and Weight Analysis shall provide a highly detailed analysis of the costs and weights required to manufacture and install each system in a high sales-volume vehicle (e.g. 250,000 units per year in the case of passenger cars). All tables shall be developed by the Contractor and approved by the COR.

• Appendices shall be provided as required.

• Illustrations and photographs of the different components of each parts group to support the cost and weight analysis shall be included in the report. All costs and weights of each part must be traceable to an illustration of the applicable subsystem (parts group). Parts, components, subassemblies, and completed assemblies must be labeled by placing the variable manufacturing costs and weights, above, below, or alongside the specific item being illustrated.

The NHTSA COTR and other NHTSA staff shall review the Draft Final Report, provide comments, and return it to the Contractor for correction.

C.4.8 Submit Final Report. The Contractor shall be required to provide a Final draft Report which will discuss all significant outcomes under this contract and incorporate the NHTSA COR comments under the Draft Final Report. The Contractor shall be required to provide the Final Report electronically to the NHTSA COR, in addition to one original (hard copy) to the NHTSA Contract Specialist and one original (hard copy), two bound reproductions, and one USB to the NHTSA COR via regular mail.