RFI Supply Chain Risk Management Tool final - Posted 81320.docx

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

DLA Research and Development DLA Supply Chain Risk Management/Market Intelligence Tool THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANY FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION REQUESTS. NO TELELPHONE CALLS OR REQUESTS FOR A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED. COMPANY BROUCHURES ARE NOT DESIRED.

As America’s combat logistics support agency, the Defense Logistics Agency provides the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, other federal agencies and partner nation armed forces with a full spectrum of logistics, acquisition and technical services. DLA sources and provides nearly all the consumable items America’s military forces need to operate – from food, fuel and energy to uniforms, medical supplies and construction material. Please visit us online http://www.dla.mil/.

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Office of Research & Development (R&D), in support of DLA Information Operations is seeking information on how an interested contractor will integrate various sources on internal and external data – to include current Market Intelligence (MI) – to create a Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) tool for predicting, visualizing, and mitigating future supply chain risks. DLA is interested in enhancing and integrating its existing SCRM and MI capabilities using advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML), data visualization tools, and advanced analytic platforms.

(1) Date: August 13, 2020

(2) Product or Service Code: D305, D317, D399

(3) Contracting Office Address DLA Contracting Services Office Philadelphia 700 Robbins Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19111

(4) Subject: DLA Research and Development – Supply Chain Risk Management/Market Intelligence Tool

(5) RFI Number: 20-4004

(6) Closing Response Date: August 27, 2020

(7) Contact Point Responses to this RFI will be in the form of a white paper submitted under Weapons System Sustainment Program (WSSP) – Research and Development (R&D) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) 0002-19. Vendors interested in responding to this RFI should review BAA 0002-19, located at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c7e1122af4fd44ecb85601c12f33381b/view . Please ensure that your response follows the format prescribed in Section 7 – “White Paper Instructions and Format” of the BAA. Responses may result in either the award of a partnership contract or a single short-term project (STP).

White papers will be submitted via email to the Research and Development Office via the following mailboxes: Latoya.Coney@dla.mil and RandD.DCSO@dla.mil. All responses to this RFI must be submitted on or before 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on the closing date.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

1. GENERAL

DLA Research & Development is distributing this request for information (RFI) to the larger AI/ML community, which includes industry, academia, and government. The expectation is that the recipients will forward this RFI notification to predictive AI/ML tool suppliers they know. THIS IS ONLY AN RFI. This RFI is for planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. DLA is not seeking proposals and will not be accepting unsolicited proposals. DLA will discard, without opening, any unsolicited proposals. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be at the expense of the interested party. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If released, DLA will synopsize a solicitation on the SAM (https://beta.SAM.gov/) website. It is the responsibility of potential suppliers to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

DLA is seeking a vendor capable of evaluating DLA’s current data structure and analytical processes and expanding upon existing capabilities a predictive analytics tool(s) using AI/ML or other advanced analytical techniques to provide more timely and accurate supply chain risk management and market intelligence. The proposed solutions must complement DLA’s current SCRM analytics capability and enterprise business system framework, and be able to remove the visibility barrier beyond DLA’s Tier 1 suppliers. All vendors responding to the RFI are required to demonstrate that they can document DLA’s current data sources and processes and provide a tool that meets all the government's minimum requirements listed in Appendix 1.

2. REQUESTED INFORMATION

2.1 Format:

Please refer to WSSP – R&D BAA 0002-19, located at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c7e1122af4fd44ecb85601c12f33381b/view , for details on responding to this RFI. In general, responses should not exceed five pages and will include:

· Title

· BAA number

· Offeror name

· Problem statement or opportunity description

· Expected outcome and benefits

· Technical description of the concepts and plans to accomplish the technical objectives

· Project duration

· Preliminary schedule

· Estimated total cost.

· Identification of risks

· All proprietary claims to results, prototypes, or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the research, results, and/or prototypes. If there are no proprietary claims, this should be stated.

The Government may select white papers that are of interest for further consideration, inviting to submit a full proposal as described in Section 8 – “Proposal Format” of BAA 0002-19.

Appendix 1 – Supply Chain Risk Management/Market Intelligence Tool Functional Requirements The table below describes the minimum functional requirements for a Supply Chain Risk Management/Market Intelligence tool capable of presenting actionable projections of future supply chain risk to enable early corrective actions and timely business decisions. Vendors are encouraged to describe additional capabilities they are able to provide.

(1) Geolocation (i.e., country)

(2) Foreign ownership

(3) Foreign investment

(4) Vulnerabilities to nation-state influence

(5) Dependence on third-party suppliers

(6) Dependence on foreign suppliers

(7) Cybersecurity health.