SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division

Experimental Hull Treatment (XHT) for U.S. Navy submarine vessels

Market Research is being conducted to assist in making determinations regarding acquisition strategy and identifying potential socioeconomic small businesses and large businesses interested in, and capable of, providing the requirements identified herein. This posting is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10.

It is anticipated that the subject requirement will be assigned and solicited under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 326150 – Urethane and Other Foam Product Manufacturing. For additional information regarding Small Business Size Standards, refer to the SBA Website at http://www.sba.gov.

The Government anticipates that this future requirement will likely be issued as a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Multiple-Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)-type contract.

Background Information & Anticipated Requirements:

References:

(a) MANUFACTURING OF XHT BONDED SHAPES, NAVSEA DRAWING No.

802-8752628

(b) Example Finished Part Drawing

(Available to suppliers authorized for Distribution Statement D data)

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division is currently seeking potential suppliers, including vendors/manufacturers and naval systems integrators, to fabricate and deliver Experimental Hull Treatment (XHT) to meet U.S. Navy requirements in accordance with Reference (a). First Article Testing (FAT) approval is required per reference (a) prior to production of components under any possible future award associated with this Sources Sought. XHT materials will be required in various sizes and quantities as defined in reference (a). The XHT shall meet the requirements of reference (a) and is anticipated to be required on a recurring basis for delivery in quantities sufficient to complete installation to an estimated one or two submarines per year.

The work to be performed will include, but is not limited to, providing a detailed design that meets the Navy specification, manufacturing and testing of FAT units and test results, and delivery of production XHT units upon successful FAT qualification. The supplier(s) shall implement configuration management and engineering changes in all phases of the contract. The Government intends to acquire Government purpose rights to all data delivered under the contract including technical data and product designs. Details of the effort may include:

1) FAT Qualification: First Article Testing (FAT) will be conducted as specified in reference (a). Some testing must be executed by the Government as specified in reference (a) and the associated cost will be covered by the Government. The vendor shall furnish a FAT qualification report for consideration by the Government and will receive written notification indicating approval or disapproval to commence with production of material.

2) XHT Material Manufacturing: XHT is required in several basic forms defined by type or model number as XHT-9 (base variant 4” thick), XHT-9 (tapered variant from 4” to 2”), XHT-9b (2” thick variant), Versathane Standoff Pucks (3/8” thick), and Versathane Perimeter Strips (3/8” thick with embedded COTS hardware and features). All material shall be manufactured according to the requirements specified in reference (a). Reference (a) includes details regarding development of a polymer processing quality assurance program to include review and approval of manufacturing processes and inspection of equipment to be used for such processes.

Historically vendors manufacturing SHT materials have qualified a process and set of manufacturing equipment during the FAT qualification period. As specified in reference (a), changes to that process may require re-qualification against the FAT provisions of the specification.

3) XHT Machining Services: Machining of tiles and bonded shapes to standard sizes shall be completed prior to delivery as part of the tile or bonded shape manufacturing process. An estimated 30% of XHT-9b tiles will have vacuum channels machined in a grid on the concave side of each XHT-9b tile as standard practice. Custom machining of certain tiles or bonded shapes to non-standard shapes and sizes may be required within a delivery order and drawings of final shapes will be provided by the buyer as part of that delivery order. All machining of XHT tiles and bonded shapes shall be accomplished on equipment that is dedicated to machining of polymer parts and utilizes zero cutting oils or other potential contaminants including but not limited to oil, water, metal filings, mold releases, or waxes. The vendor shall provide a machining process plan including details of machine type, tooling materials, cooling process, fixture materials, and other vendor uses for any potentially shared machinery for review and approval by the Government prior to start of machining operations. The Government shall reserve the right to inspect equipment periodically during the life of the contract to ensure machining equipment meets cleanliness standards for the processing of XHT and bonded shapes to final dimensions.

4) XHT Tile Integration Services: The vendor may be required to assemble finished parts manufactured into larger units by integrating multiple tiles and/or bonded shapes into combined deliverables. Detailed fabrication instructions and requirements for seam fillers, adhesives, and surface preparations of integrated parts will be provided by the Government. Typically, the adhesives and seam fillers will be processed in the same manner as the XHT tiles and bonded shapes are manufactured. Integrated units will generally consist of 8 to 16 XHT-9 base and tapered variant tiles merged together as a single larger unit with XHT or XHT-like materials serving as seam fillers. Any required assembly tooling (mandrels, lifting equipment, alignment jigs) shall be the responsibility of the vendor to design and procure.

5) Packaging, Storage, and Shipping: The vendor shall make arrangements to ship material from the their facility to a storage location (TBD), store the material locally, or ship directly to an installing Naval Shipyard. Packaging requirements will be provided by the Government and generally shall meet the following minimum requirements:

a. Each tile shall be individually cleaned and packaged per reference (a) in sealed, opaque plastic bags that shall be free of any transferrable contaminants such as mold releases or residues used in the plastic bag manufacturing process

b. Tiles shall be packaged in a manner that protects them from sunlight, rain, and environmental hazards such as in a wooden crate. Multiple tiles may be packaged together in the same crate and the weight and dimensions of the crate shall not exceed those specified in the delivery order. Crates shall be manufactured in a manner that supports the shape of all packaged tiles, for example if a tile lays on a curved face, the curved face shall be supported by a rigid component of the crate formed to match the tile shape.

c. Crates shall be designed to be handled with powered industrial trucks (forklifts) typically found in industrial facilities and shall be designed to be loaded into and unloaded from standard trailers and ISO containers.

Responses:

Responses to this notice shall be submitted electronically and must be received no later than 6 January 2019. The page limit is 25 pages, however, support documents including certification, drawing, and technical data do not count towards the 25-page limitation. All responses shall be submitted to Mr. Carlos Triay. Responses shall include:

1. Company (primary and subcontract) name, website, and physical address (provide the same information for parent company if responding supplier is a subsidiary company)

2. Point of contact, phone number, and E-mail address

3. Cage number (if applicable) and DUNS number

4. Company business size classification (e.g. small business, large business, or small disadvantaged business)

5. Status of existing Facility Clearance meeting National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual requirements up to Confidential level.

6. Company capability statement to provide XHT and any possible exceptions to the requirements. This statement should include at a minimum the following:

a. Experience providing Special Hull Treatment (SHT) and/or XHT materials and/or ship systems to the defense industry including U.S. and foreign military, provide examples.

b. Experience providing ship system integration services to the defense industry including U.S. and foreign military, provide examples.

c. Description of the supplier XHT materials which shall include model number (type), size (dimensions), weight, procurement cost, and other information that the supplier deems relevant.

d. Provide amplifying information including description of design and approach to meet Navy requirements. Indicate whether the Supplier XHT materials currently meet the “MANUFACTURING OF XHT BONDED SHAPES, NAVSEA DRAWING No. 802-8752628”, reference (a). Supplier(s) may also propose deviations from the Navy requirements.

e. Describe the supplier capability to store materials ordered and package for delivery to Naval Shipyards by road, rail, or ship if required.

Identify the capacity and duration limitations for storage of finished products.

7. If XHT materials have previously been manufactured by the supplier, is supplier willing to provide at no cost to the Government samples of XHT for destructive testing? Samples will not be returned to supplier.

Describe the time anticipated to produce and deliver FAT samples to the Government for FAT qualification process in accordance with reference (a)

8. Describe the anticipated manufacturing throughput capability of the supplier, assumptions.

9. Describe your capability to accurately and precisely machine polyurethane or composite components to finished sizes, including possible tolerances as well as finished part contamination control processes during machining operations, provide examples. Please describe the process, expected duration, tooling required, tooling available, and material handling methods used to machine the example part shown in reference (b)

10. Describe experience designing, fabricating, and filling molds and associated tooling components with reaction-cure polymers, provide examples

11. Describe experience bonding pre-fabricated polymer components together to integrate larger components, provide examples.

Disclaimer:

A solicitation is not currently available. If a solicitation is issued, it will be announced on the Federal Business Opportunities website at http:www.fbo.gov at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to the solicitation announcement separately from this announcement. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

This sources sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this source sought that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. In accordance with FAR 15.201 (e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this request for information (RFI). This sources sought does not represent any obligation of the government for any cost or expenditure associated with submitting a response to this request.

All drawings and documents contain information that is export controlled and are under the constraints of Distribution Statement D. Distribution is authorized to DoD and DoD Contractors only.

Contractors must be properly registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and the Joint Certification Program (JCP) in order to receive the controlled attachments. Offerors may obtain information on SAM registration and annual confirmation requirements by calling 1-866-606-8220 or via the internet at https://www.sam.gov. Information about the JCP is located at https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/PublicHome/jcp/default.a spx . The controlled attachments will be posted to beta.SAM.gov at the same time the sources sought notice is posted. Beta.SAM can be accessed at https://beta.sam.gov/