Final - CALL 004 - NdFeB_2019.12.06.pdf

As of 6 December 2019

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) # FA8650-19-S-5010

DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT (DPA) TITLE III EXPANSION OF

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION CAPABILITY AND CAPACITY

MATERIALS & MANUFACTURING DIRECTORATE

CALL 004

“Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB

Permanent Magnets Supply Chain Study and Inventory Demonstration”

Overview Information

NAICS Code: The NAICS Code for this acquisition is 339999 (All Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing), and the small business size standard is 1,500 employees.

Federal Agency Name: Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/RXKMT

CALL Title: Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnets Supply Chain Study and Inventory Demonstration

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Type: This is CALL 004

Funding Opportunity Agency Announcement Number: FA8650-19-S-5010

THIS WILL BE A ONE-STEP SOLICITATION: FOA with Calls - Refer to Funding Opportunity Announcement FA8650-19-S-5010 Section VII. FOA with Calls for more information regarding proposal submission information and proposal content and form. Please note that any Roman Numeral Sections shown within this call references back to the FOA Announcement Section of same Roman Numeral.

Project Topic Area: Sustainment of Critical Production (Efforts to create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore industrial base capabilities essential for national defense.)

THE GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS WHITE PAPER SUBMISSIONS RELATED TO

NEODYMIUM IRON BORON (NdFeB) SINTERED MATERIALS AND/OR NdFeB

PERMANENT MAGNETS EFFECTIVE ON THE DATE AND TIME THAT THIS

CALL IS POSTED. WHITE PAPER SUBMISSIONS TIED TO NEODYMIUM IRON

BORON (NdFeB) SINTERED MATERIALS AND/OR NdFeB PERMANENT

MAGNETS WILL NOT BE REVIEWED. THE GOVERNMENT WILL PROVIDE

NOTIFICATION WHEN SUSPENSION PERIOD IS LIFTED.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: 22 January 2020, received prior to 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

PROPOSAL Submission: Proposals must be submitted to the Contracting Point of Contact (POC): Sherrod D. Williams, AFRL/RXKMT, 2130 8th St., Bldg. 45, Wright- Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7541.

Note: Any proposal, modification or revision received at the Government Office designated in this FOA after the exact date and time specified for receipt of offers is “late” and will not be considered except at the Agreement Officer’s (AO) discretion.

It should be noted that this installation observes strict security procedures to enter the facility. These security procedures are NOT considered an interruption of normal Government processes, and proposals received after the stated date and time as a result of security delays will be considered “late.” Furthermore, note that if offerors utilize commercial carriers in the delivery of proposals, they may not honor time-of-day delivery guarantees on military installations. Be advised, if the U.S. Postal Service is used, this building only receives U.S. Postal Mail twice a week and delivery by such means may not meet the proposal due date and time. Early proposal submission is encouraged. Proposals should be addressed to the Contracting Point of Contact (POC) stated in the Submission section.

Type of Contract/Instrument: The Government intends to utilize the Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs)-based Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) for any awards made off of this Call.

However, the Government may consider award of a Cooperative Agreement in rare situations if it is a better fit for the requirement.

Estimated Program Cost: Total program cost $20 million ($10 million Government funding plus $10 million recipient(s) cost share). Program budget is subject to funding availability.

Anticipated Number of Awards: The Government anticipates making one or more award(s) estimated at approximately $2.0 - $3.0 million each in Government Share with matching Recipient Cost Share for this Call. However, the Government reserves the right to make multiple awards, a single award, or no award based on technical solutions proposed and funding availability.

Communication Between Prospective Offerors and Government Representatives: All exchanges with offerors after the Call is issued shall go through the Agreements Officer. After Call release, questions and answers may be posted if warranted.

Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting/Grants/Agreements Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.

The primary POCs throughout the acquisition process will be:

Agreements Negotiator – Mr. Sherrod Williams (AFRL/RXKMT) Agreements Officer – Ms. Sheila Titer (AFRL/RXKMT)

Address technical questions to the Technical POC:

Ms. Kerry Bennington, Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnets Supply Chain Study and Inventory Demonstration, DPA Title III Program Manager, 2977 Hobson Way, Bldg. 653, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433, 937-904-4393, kerry.bennington.1@us.af.mil.

Address contracting questions to the Agreements/Contracting POCs:

Agreements Negotiator – Mr. Sherrod Williams, AFRL/RXKMT, 2130 8th St., Bldg.

45, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7541, (937) 713-9886, sherrod.williams.1@us.af.mil.

Agreements Officer – Ms. Sheila Titer, AFRL/RXKMT, 2130 8th St., Bldg. 45, Wright- Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7541, (937) 713-9893, sheila.titer@us.af.mil.

CALL FULL TEXT ANNOUNCEMENT:

I. Program Description:

1. Project Topic Areas:

The DPA Title III Program has derived three broad Topic Areas for potential projects. The Topic Areas are: Sustainment of Critical Production, Commercialization of Research and Development Investments, and Scaling of Emerging Technologies. This Call fits within the Topic Area expanded on below:

a. Sustainment of Critical Production: Efforts to create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore industrial base capabilities essential for national defense.

Brief Project Summary: The objective of this effort is to execute a supply chain study and inventory demonstration where one or more awardees will research and develop a viable supply chain capable of establishing and maintaining a secure, domestic source of qualified NdFeB sintered materials and/or NdFeB permanent magnets. The Awardees will demonstrate the supply chain by establishing, managing, maintaining, selling, distributing and replenishing a target of a six month inventory of qualified NdFeB sintered materials, NdFeB permanent magnets or some combination of the two. All materials and magnets for support of the supply chain study and inventory demonstration shall be from qualified sources. Qualified sources are those business concerns approved to sell NdFeB sintered materials and/or NdFeB permanent magnets for use in DoD and other U. S. Federal Government applications.

Overview: This project will demonstrate the supply chain for NdFeB sintered materials and/or permanent magnets by establishing, managing, maintaining, selling, distributing and replenishing an inventory. This supply stock shall be a target of a six month inventory of either NdFeB sintered materials, NdFeB permanent magnets, or some combination of the two and subject to funding availability and negotiations. Per Congressional action via 10 U.S.C. 2533c, all products and materials for support of this supply chain expansion shall be from a domestic source as defined in the Defense Production Act, or U.S. allied trade partner. If a qualified domestic source or qualified U.S. allied trade partner source does not exist, the Awardee(s) shall obtain the product/material from a qualified source and identify the product/material as non-compliant.

a. Should a Non-Availability Determination (i.e., a finding by a USG component that NdFeB sintered material and/or NdFeB permanent magnets are not available from domestic sources and thereby qualify for an exemption to 10 U.S.C. 2533c) be made prior to or following award, it will be identified to all interested parties, and Awardee(s) will subsequently identify how they plan to meet the project requirements under this new market condition.

b. If the vendor is providing NdFeB sintered material and/or NdFeB permanent magnets that are not available from a domestic source, the vendor shall provide a report on the expected cost to requalify the NdFeB sintered material and/or NdFeB permanent magnets from a domestic source.

- Purchase an inventory of qualified NdFeB sintered materials, NdFeB permanent magnets or some combination of the two equivalent to the agreed upon levels at award. The Awardee(s) will have 120 days to meet the required level. The Awardee(s) is expected to own, sell and replenish this inventory for DoD and U.S. Federal Government end users.

Government funds may not be used to purchase inventory; however, Government funds may be used for other project components. Examples of other project components may include, but are not limited to: labor hours, overheads, equipment, holding and storage cost (as these things relate to the planning for, management of, and storage of said inventory), outside consulting, travel, and other direct costs.

- Maintain, sell, and restock the NdFeB sintered material and/or NdFeB permanent magnet inventory. Awardee(s) will restock the inventory as expediently as possible so as to not disrupt USG supply needs.

- Manage, maintain, sell, distribute and replenish the inventory for a period of 30 months.

- Offeror will, if applicable, demonstrate current verified sales to DoD and U.

S. Federal Government end users (identifying end use programs if known), and anticipated future customers.

- Offeror will, if applicable, describe existing supply chain operations (to include sub-tier relationships).

- Offeror will purchase a target of a six month revolving inventory (quantity and grade) of NdFeB sintered material and/or permanent magnets for use in DoD and/or U. S. Federal Government applications, plus any variance of the next six month rotation of inventory.

2. Within Scope Modifications: See FOA.

3. Deliverable Items: The following reporting requirements are applicable to this Call as defined in the FOA Appendix II Sample TIA:

Deliverable Item Submittal Requirement Supply Chain Study and Inventory Quarterly Demonstration Report Copy of Recipient’s Billing Voucher As Required

7.040 Final Report Draft Final Report due 30

days after completion of the Technical phase, Final Report due 90 days after completion of the Technical phase

7.050 Funds & Man-hour Expenditure Report Quarterly

7.052 Recipient’s Progress, Status & Mgt Report Quarterly

7.054 Strategic Business Plan 6 months ARA*/ Updated

Annually

7.055 Property Control List Quarterly / As Required

7.057 Presentation Material As Required

7.060 Marketing Plan 6 months ARA*/ Updated

Annually

* After Receipt of Agreement or Award (ARA)

4. Schedule/Period of Performance: The Government estimates a Total

Period of performance (POP) of 37 months for this Call. This timeframe consists of an estimated Technical Period of Performance (TPOP) of 34 months with three months allotted for generating the final report.

5. Other Requirements:

a. Program Security classification: Unclassified.

b. OPSEC: Standard requirement is included in the SOO for this Call

c. Export Control: Information involved in this project will not be subject to Export Control.

6. Other Information:

a. Government Furnished Property (GFP): Not anticipated

b. Government Furnished Information and/or Software: Not

Anticipated

c. Base Support/Network Access: Not anticipated

d. Data Rights Desired:

(1) Technical Data: Government Purpose Rights desired. Recipients may bring IP to the individual projects

(2) Non-Commercial Software (NCS): Not Applicable (N/A)

(3) NCS Documentation: N/A

(4) Commercial Computer Software Rights: N/A

e. Human or Animal Subject Use: Not anticipated

f. Hazardous Materials: Not anticipated

g. Radioactive Materials: Not anticipated

h. Ozone Depleting Substances: Not anticipated

i. On-base Testing: Not anticipated

j. Military Equipment Valuation: N/A

k. Recipient Acquired Property: Anticipated – Acquired plant equipment will be tagged and maintained by the recipient with the expectation that the government may transfer the equipment to the recipient at some point during a potential no-cost monitoring phase.

l. Option(s): No options are anticipated.

m. No Cost Monitoring Phase: A No Cost Monitoring Phase (NCMP) may be added after the end of the technical effort. A NCMP allows a continued partnership that provides the government with additional business, marketing, and business viability insight with the Recipient. At the end of a NCMP, if applicable, an equipment disposition strategy for any GFP and/or CAP will be developed and implemented. In this arrangement the Government may choose to transfer any, all, or no equipment for this effort, as needed to continue Recipient’s viability as a Merchant Supplier.

These aspects are described in Agreement Property Article 3.041, provided as FOA Appendix II Sample TIA.

II. Award Information

1. Anticipated Award Date: The entire acquisition process will take approximately 165 calendar days, but the actual duration may vary.

2. Anticipated funding: Funding is an estimate only and not a contractual obligation for funding. All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. Potential offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice.

3. Award: The Government intends to award a DoDGARs agreement known as a TIA. TIAs are governed by the DoDGARs and 2 CFR 200. A sample TIA, along with other sample documents, is attached to the FOA. See Appendix II for the sample TIA. Any clarifications/exceptions to the TIA articles, as presented in the sample TIA, must be stated at the time of proposal submission. However, the Government may consider award of a Cooperative Agreement in rare situations if it is a better fit for the requirement.

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Offeror: See FOA.

2. Proposed Cost Sharing or Matching: See FOA.

3. Other:

a. Foreign participation: Per Defense Production Act of 1950, execution of the project requires a domestic source as lead.

Foreign Nationals (FNs) (including individuals from countries other than the United States who are working for a company considered a “domestic source” as defined in the Defense Production Act of 1950) can be employed by the Prime Recipient or Sub-awardee; however, FNs will be limited to Public Domain information unless the Recipient has obtained the proper License of Technical Assistance Agreement that authorizes disclosure of Classified Military Information (CMI) and/or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) to foreign entities pursuant to the Department of State’s ITAR or Department of Commerce’s EAR.

Public Domain information is defined as information that is releasable to the general public and sometimes referred to as open source material. Examples include but are not limited to newspapers, magazines and information posted on the internet.

b. Offerors may be ineligible for award if all requirements of the FOA and this Call are not met by proposal due date.

IV, V. and VI Sections: Not Applicable to Calls

VII. FOA with Calls (One-Step Process)

1. Call Announcement Information (Also referred to as a Call):

a. Overview: See FOA.

b. Requirements:

Domestic Source Requirement: The proposal submitter must provide proof of meeting the Domestic Source requirement IAW DPA Law or the proposal will not be reviewed.

2. FOA with Calls (One-Step Process) Proposal Submission

Information:

a. General Instructions:

(1) Offerors shall submit a technical and cost proposal within timeframe shown in Proposal Due Date and Time Section (Overview Information, page 1). After receipt, proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the award criteria stated below. Proposals will be categorized and potentially selected for negotiations. The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award some, all or none of the proposals received without negotiation/discussion;

however, the Government reserves the right to negotiate with those offeror(s) whose proposal is selected for funding.

(2) Proposals must reference the announcement number FA8650-19-S- 5010; the Call, the relevant Topic Area shown in Project Topic Area Section (Overview Information, page 1); and, if applicable, the project title.

3. FOA with Calls (One-Step Process) Proposal Content & Form:

Note: Refer to Funding Opportunity Announcement FA8650-19-S-5010 Section VII. FOA with Calls for more information regarding proposal submission information and proposal content and form.

a, b, d thru f: See FOA for Guidance

c. Domestic Source Proof: Include proof of domestic source. This will not count toward the page limit.

g. Technical/Management Proposal:

(1). Page Limitations: The following describes the page limitations on the proposal submittal for this Call:

i. Technical Discussion: up to 35 pages

ii. Summary Business Plan: up to 25 pages

iii. Statement of Work: up to 10 pages

iv. Tech Proposal Total: up to 70 pages

(2) thru (6), (8) & (9): See FOA

(7) Summary Business Plan: See FOA

Note: The table of contents, cover page, and Domestic Source Proof will not be included in the page count referenced above.

Note: The Government will check the proposal and SOW for conformance to the stated requirements. Any pages in excess of the stated page limitation after the format check will not be considered.

h. Cost/Business Proposal: See FOA

(3) Cost proposals Page Limitations: See FOA

i. Proposal Content Summary: You may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this solicitation are not met on the proposal due date.

VIII. FOA with Calls (One-Step Process) Proposal Review Information

Note: Offeror must provide proof of meeting the Domestic Source requirement IAW DPA Law or the proposal will not be reviewed.

1. Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

a. See FOA.

b. The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of the recipient’s technical and cost proposals to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the Call, SOO and funding availability.

c. The evaluation criteria are comprised of five factors ranked in descending order of importance:

(1) Manufacturing Capability and Experience

(2) Quality of Technical Approach

(3) Business Viability

(4) Merchant Supplier Orientation

(5) Cost/Price

d. These criteria will be used to evaluate the proposal once it is determined that the offeror has met all of the FOA Project Requirements.

e. See FOA.

f. Risk is to be assessed as part of each of the above criteria.

g. See FOA.

h. The offeror must provide proof of meeting the domestic source requirement IAW DPA Law or the proposal will not be evaluated.

i. The evaluation criteria are expanded upon below:

(1) Manufacturing Capability and Experience – Proposals will be evaluated on the recipient's degree of capability and experience in the rare earth industry, with a more focused emphasis on Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnet products Supply Chain and Inventory functions.

Evidence may include, but is not limited to, intellectual property, documented supply chain and inventory capability and experience, technical specifications, and dossiers of key personnel.

a. Preference will be given to Offerors who have demonstrated current verified sales to DoD and U. S. Federal Government end users (identifying end use programs if known), and anticipated future customers.

b. Preference will be given to Offerors who have existing supply chain operations (to include sub-tier relationships).

c. Preference will be given to Offerors who clearly identify the financial wherewithal to purchase and immediately restock a target of a six month revolving inventory (quantity and grade) of NdFeB sintered material and/or permanent magnets for use in DOD and/or U. S. Federal Government applications, plus any variance of the next six month rotation of inventory.

(2) Quality of Technical Approach – Proposals will be evaluated on the recipient’s credibility and how reasonable their approach is for a Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnet Supply Chain study and Inventory demonstration, also to include whether the proposed approach identifies major technical risks and clearly defines feasible mitigation efforts.

(3) Business Viability – Proposals will be evaluated on the recipient’s business, technical and financial credibility, demonstrated experience, willingness and a credible business plan to become or remain a competitive, economically viable, responsive, supplier of Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnet products for government and commercial markets.

(4) Merchant Supplier Orientation – Proposals will be evaluated on the extent to which the recipient demonstrates a commitment to being, or explanation of resources to be employed in establishing acceptance as, a merchant supplier for Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnet products for government and commercial markets.

(5) Cost/Price – Proposals will be evaluated on the realism of the proposed cost, amount of recipient cost share, and consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles. Cost sharing, unless waived, will be viewed favorably by the US Government in the proposal evaluation process (which will indicate a strong commitment to and self-interest in the success of the project).

IX. FOA with Calls (One-Step Process) Proposal Selection Information

1. Categories: Based on the evaluation, proposals will be categorized as Selectable or Not Selectable (see definitions below). The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on the evaluation, as well as importance to agency programs and funding availability.

(1) Selectable: Proposals are recommended for acceptance if sufficient funding is available.

(2) Not Selectable: Even if sufficient funding existed, the proposal should not be funded.

Note: The Government reserves the right to award some, all or none of the proposals. When the Government elects to award only a part of a proposal, the selected part may be categorized as Selectable, though the proposal as a whole may not merit such a categorization.

Note: Prior to award of a potentially successful offer, the Agreements Officer will make a determination regarding budget reasonableness.

X. Award Administration Information (FOA with Calls)

1 thru 8: See FOA.

9. Ombudsman: The Ombudsman article 5.020 entitled “Ombudsman” shall be contained in any Agreement resulting from this Solicitation.

Please note the following Ombudsman information.

The AFRL Ombudsman is AFRL/PK Director Alternate Ombudsman is AFRL/PK Deputy Director

1864 Fourth St.

Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7130

(937) 904-9700 email: AFRL.PK.OfficeAccount@us.af.mil

10. Proposal Reminders: a. thru c, and e thru j - see FOA

d. Completed Title III Certifications and Representations are due with the proposal. Certifications & Representations can be found at Appendix I of FOA.

FOA Appendices: See FOA for Appendices I thru V

Attached for this CALL:

Appendix VI: Statement of Objectives (SOO), Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III – Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnets Supply Chain Study and Inventory Demonstration, dated 6 December

Appendix II Addendum: TIA Attachment