Final RFI.doc

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

463L CARGO PALLET

(NSN 1670-00-820-4896 CT)

This market survey is being conducted to identify potential sources that may possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet the requirements for qualification and production of the 463L Cargo Pallet for use by AFMAJXOMs, Army, Navy, Marines, and DLA. Contractors/Institutions responding to this market research are placed on notice that participation in this survey may not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards. The government will not reimburse participants for any expenses associated with their participation in this survey.

Below is a description of the 463L Cargo Pallet requirement and a Contractor Capability Survey, which allows you to provide your company’s capability. If, after reviewing these documents, you desire to participate in the market research, you should provide documentation that supports your company’s capability in meeting these requirements. As part of this Market Research, the end-item Drawings and the Repair Specifications for the 463L Pallets have been included. A draft PWS is also attached as a guide.

Questions relative to this market research should be addressed to Donna Pallini at (478) 222-1863 or Mandy Mathews at (478) 222-1754.

Purpose/Description:

The 463L cargo pallets have served the United States Logistics (military, domestic, and humanitarian) missions since 1963 with few modifications. The 463L pallet is a single purpose, nuclear/air transport certified asset, measuring 88” x 108”, weighing 300 lbs or less, and composed of an aluminum outer shell with a balsa wood core. The pallets are used for transport throughout the military airlift system which includes cargo loaders, forklifts, and conveyor systems. The cargo aircraft include the C-130, C-5, and C-17.

The purpose of this RFI is two-fold. The first is to determine your company’s capability of repairing the 463L pallets in the current configuration IAW attached drawings/PWS in the required quantities to meet Air Force demand. Projected quantities are estimated to be 2,000 pallets repaired per month. The second is to determine if your company can manufacture the cargo pallet to a new configuration for future requirements with alternate materials including any one or all of the following: core, skin or adhesives.

CONTRACTOR CAPABILITY SURVEY

Business Information:

Please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners:

Company Name:

Address:

Point of Contact:

E-mail Address:

CAGE Code:

Size of business pursuant to North American Industry Classification (NAICS) Code: 314912 (500 Employees)

Based on the above NAICS Code, state whether your company is:

· Large Business

(Yes / No)

· Small Business

· Small Disadvantaged

· Woman-Owned Small Business

· HUB-Zone Certified

· 8(a) Certified

· Service Related Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

· Veteran-Owned Small Business

· Central Contractor Registration (CCR).

· How long have you been in business?

A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership).

Written responses or e-mail responses must be received no later than close of business Thursday, October 13, 2011. If mailing, please mail your response to:

WR-ALC/GRVKBA

Attn: Donna Pallini

460 Richard Ray Blvd Ste 200

Robins AFB GA 31098-1813

463L Pallet Repair Program

To Current Configuration IAW Attached Drawings

General Capability Questions:

1. Describe briefly the capabilities of your facility and the nature of the goods and/or services you provide. Include a description of your staff composition and management structure.

2. Describe briefly the type of repair process and material flow currently used in your facility.

3. Describe your company's past experience on previous projects similar in complexity to this requirement. Include a brief description of the work performed, period of performance, agency/organization supported.

4. What type of experience do you have in bonding wood with metal?

5. What experience do you have in machining metal and how new is your equipment?

6. Describe your company's capabilities and experience in generating technical data and engineering drawings. Identify which software programs are utilized to generate these data products and what formats are available for delivered items.

7. Are there specific requirements in the documentation we provided that would currently preclude you from repairing the 463L Pallets? If so, what are they?

8. What data collection capability do you have and what reports can you generate? Specifically address inventory inspection reports and CAVAF reporting IAW PWS.

9. If a repair is necessary on your pallet, is there a process in place for repair? Does your company recycle materials? For example: If your pallet is made of aluminum, do you recycle the aluminum? Does the recycling of the material provide a credit to the cost of the repair?

10. What measure do you have in place to track repaired pallets for warranty? What is your repair warranty?

11. Reference PWS 4.4.4 – What is an acceptable lot sample size for the test report?

12. What is your estimated production capability in units/month?

13. Do you have any transport agreements that would benefit the movement of pallets?

14. What are your limiting factors, if any?

15. In the event of a surge requirement, how quickly could your company ramp up to meet the requirements? How does your company accommodate surge requirements (move to two or three shifts, open new production lines, or etc)? Is there a maximum number that would prevent you from quoting based on your capacity?

16. What is your lead time associated with delivering a first article unit IAW the current configurations for repairs? What is the lead time/ramp up schedule required for the repair of production quantities IAW the current configuration? If the drawings were revised to include a different adhesive, would this increase or decrease the lead time for first article and production quantities?

17. Is this Contract Line Item Numbering (CLIN) structure advantageous and is it the most cost effective way to show repair breakdown?

000XAA REPAIR METHOD #1 - GENERAL INSPECTION WITHOUT REPAIR

000XAB REPAIR METHOD #2 - REUSE: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS. NEW: COMPLETE CORE

000XAC REPAIR METHOD #2 - REUSE: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS. NEW: COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL 000XAD REPAIR METHOD #2 - REUSE: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS. NEW: COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE LONG RAIL 000XAE REPAIR METHOD #2 - REUSE: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS. NEW: COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO SHORT RAILS

000XAF REPAIR METHOD #2 - REUSE: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS. NEW: COMPLETE CORE PLUS

REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL AND ONE LONG RAIL

000XAG REPAIR METHOD #2 - REUSE: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS. NEW: COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO LONG RAILS

000XAH REPAIR METHOD #3 - REUSE: BOTTOM SKIN. NEW: TOP SKIN & COMPLETE CORE

000XAJ REPAIR METHOD #3 - REUSE: BOTTOM SKIN. NEW: TOP SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL 000XAK REPAIR METHOD #3 - REUSE: BOTTOM SKIN. NEW: TOP SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE LONG RAIL 000XAL REPAIR METHOD #3 - REUSE: BOTTOM SKIN. NEW: TOP SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO SHORT RAILS 000XAM REPAIR METHOD #3 - REUSE: BOTTOM SKIN. NEW: TOP SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL AND ONE LONG RAIL 000XAN REPAIR METHOD #3 - REUSE: BOTTOM SKIN. NEW: TOP SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO LONG RAILS

000XAP REPAIR METHOD #4 - REUSE: TOP SKIN. NEW: BOTTOM SKIN & COMPLETE CORE

000XAQ REPAIR METHOD #4 - REUSE: TOP SKIN. NEW: BOTTOM SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL 000XAR REPAIR METHOD #4 - REUSE: TOP SKIN. NEW: BOTTOM SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE LONG RAIL 000XAS REPAIR METHOD #4 - REUSE: TOP SKIN. NEW: BOTTOM SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO SHORT RAILS 000XAT REPAIR METHOD #4 - REUSE: TOP SKIN. NEW: BOTTOM SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL AND ONE LONG RAIL 000XAU REPAIR METHOD #4 - REUSE: TOP SKIN. NEW: BOTTOM SKIN & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO LONG RAILS

000XAV REPAIR METHOD #5 - NEW: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS & COMPLETE CORE

000XAW REPAIR METHOD #5 - NEW: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL 000XAX REPAIR METHOD #5 - NEW: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE LONG RAIL 000XAY REPAIR METHOD #5 - NEW: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO SHORT RAILS 000XAZ REPAIR METHOD #5 - NEW: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE ONE SHORT RAIL AND ONE LONG RAIL 000XBA REPAIR METHOD #5 - NEW: TOP & BOTTOM SKINS & COMPLETE CORE PLUS REPLACE TWO LONG RAILS

000XBB REPLACEMENT OF RING ASSEMBLIES

000XBC REPLACEMENT OF CORNER STRAPS (BRACKETS)

18. How long of a contract period of performance would you be willing to quote on?

19. We are anticipating awarding a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract. Has the cost of any of the materials (ie: aluminum, balsa, etc) significantly increased/decreased in price over the past three-five years? Would incorporating an Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) clause be necessary to cover economic fluctuations of material costs?

20. If the safety factors were reduced (without causing failure or deformation), at what strength could a cost savings be realized? Also, if these factors were reduced, would you be more likely to submit a proposal?

21. If the drawings were revised to accomplish pallet repairs utilizing an alternate adhesive, would this result in cost savings?

22. Could old and new pallets (using different adhesives) be inducted into the same repair process?

23. We are trying to foster a competitive environment to obtain the best value to fulfill our requirement for safe and serviceable pallets. New ideas are welcome.

Hardware Production Questions:

1. Describe your capability and experiences in the manufacturing/fabrication of components.

2. What quality assurance processes and test qualification practices does your company employ? Please provide a description of your quality program (ISO 9000, QS-9000, EIA-599, or otherwise)? Describe quality assurance record keeping, the defect correction process, the product/process improvement procedures and product tracking process.

3. Describe your capabilities and experiences in performing testing requirements relating to cargo handling equipment (include any experience with tension and dynamic testing). Do you provide a test report to your customer(s)? Is there a practice in your industry for providing prototypes for testing/demonstration after award?

Commerciality Questions:

1. Are there any commercial business practices unique to your industry? If so, please describe.

2. Are there established catalogs or market prices for our requirement? If you offer this service to both U.S. Government and commercial sources, is the same workforce used for both the U.S. Government and general public? Is our requirement offered to both under similar terms and conditions? Briefly describe any differences.

3. Does this service meet the commerciality definition as defined in FAR 2.101 or is it a variant of one? Is your service available commercially? Please describe how your service meets this definition.

4. What are your general terms and conditions for your commercial contracts?

5. In your commercial market for pallets, is there an industry practice for providing prototypes for testing/demonstration after award? What is the extent of the typical testing for this item? How is testing different from common pallet sales?

6. What does your commercial warranty provide? How long is it?

7. How is our requirement for the 463L Pallets different from your commercial product(s)? How do you plan to modify existing commercial practices to meet our requirements and to what extent?

Specification:

MIL-DTL-27443F

Draft PWS dated 27 Sep 2011 Drawings:

7031843 HCU-6E Pallet Assembly, Cargo

7231258 Rail, Short-Cargo, Pallet, HCU-6E

7133042 Extrusion, Pallet Rail – Airborne Cargo

7231256 Rail, Long-Cargo, Pallet, HCU-6E

7133043 Ring Assembly-Pallet

7031839 Clip, Angle, Pallet Corner 463L Cargo Pallet Manufacture Program

To New Configuration General Capability Questions:

1. Describe briefly the capabilities of your facility and the nature of the goods and/or services you provide. Include a description of your staff composition and management structure.

2. What new innovations have you entered into your product line? Could we use it in our product? What new innovations have you entered into your production capability?

3. Describe briefly the type of manufacturing process and material flow currently used in your facility.

4. Describe your company's past experience on previous projects similar in complexity to this requirement. Include a brief description of the work performed, period of performance, agency/organization supported.

5. Describe your company's capabilities and experience in generating technical data and engineering drawings. Identify what software programs are utilized to generate these data products and what formats are available for delivered items.

6. If material requirements were waived, i.e., no requirement for balsa wood and/or aluminum, but equivalent or exceeding strength, weight, dimensions, etc. were still required, is there potential for you to design a newer, more cost effective pallet?

7. Do you have the capability to use other adhesives that would meet or exceed the characteristics of the adhesive called out in paragraph 3.2.3 of the attached specification? Would this result in cost savings?

8. What is your estimated production capability in units/month?

9. Do you have any transport agreements that would benefit the movement of pallets?

10. In the event of a surge requirement, how quickly could your company ramp up to meet the requirements? How does your company accommodate surge requirements (move to two or three shifts, open new production lines, or etc)? Is there a maximum number that would prevent you from quoting based on your capacity?

11. What is your lead time associated with delivering a first article unit? What is your lead time/ramp up time required for delivering production units?

12. How long of a contract period of performance would you be willing to quote on?

13. We are anticipating awarding a FFP contract, would incorporating an EPA clause be necessary to cover economic fluctuations of material cost?

14. If the safety factors were reduced (without causing failure or deformation), at what strength could a cost savings be realized? Also, if these factors were reduced, would you be more likely to submit a proposal?

15. We are trying to foster a competitive environment to obtain the best value to fulfill our requirement for safe and serviceable pallets. New ideas are welcome.

Hardware Production Questions:

1. Describe your capability and experiences in the manufacturing/fabrication of components.

2. What quality assurance processes and test qualification practices does your company employ? Please provide a description of your quality program (ISO 9000, QS-9000, EIA-599, or otherwise)? Describe quality assurance record keeping, the defect correction process, the product/process improvement procedures and product tracking process.

3. Describe your capabilities and experiences in performing testing requirements relating to cargo handling equipment (include any experience with tension and dynamic testing).