Sources Sought_Machine Tool Preventative Maintenance Plan_FA700026Q0041.pdf

Sources Sought Notice for Machine Tool Preventative Maintenance

Title: Preventative Maintenance and Repair Services for Machine Shop Equipment at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA)

Agency: Department of the Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, United States Air Force Academy (USAFA)

Classification Code:

• NAICS Code: 811310 - Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance

• Product Service Code (PSC): J034 - Maintenance, Repair, and Rebuilding of Equipment - Metalworking Machinery

Response Date: 5 May 2026 10:00 AM MDT Contact: Dawson Hopkinson, Contract Specialist, at dawson.hopkinson@us.af.mil and Ron Wilson, Contracting Officer, at ronald.wilson.26@us.af.mil.

1.0. Description & Synopsis

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE for market research purposes only. This is not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources, particularly small businesses, to provide annual preventative maintenance, inspection, and repair services for a mixed fleet of government-owned machine tools located at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado.

The Government is seeking to identify qualified vendors who can provide these services for a Base Year plus four (4) one-year Option Periods. The anticipated performance start date for the base year is July 1, 2025.

2.0. Background

The USAFA Department of Mechanical Engineering (DFME) requires a machine maintenance services contract to support approximately $700,000 in instructional and research machining equipment. This equipment is critical for the hands-on education of roughly 1,500 students annually across multiple engineering disciplines and supports senior capstone design projects and faculty research. Due to internal maintenance staff shortages, DFME has experienced repeated equipment outages and delayed repairs. This contract is considered mission-critical to sustain machine availability for core academic and research requirements.

3.0. Scope of Work

The contractor shall provide all necessary labor, tools, equipment, and expertise to perform annual preventative maintenance, diagnostics, calibration, and inspection services. The scope includes a mechanism for separately ordering on-call reactive repair services as needed.

3.1. Core Equipment Requirement (Base Requirement):

At a minimum, the contractor must be able to service the following eight (8) machines:

1. Kent KGS-63WM1 Surface Grinder

2. Clausing Colchester v350 Lathe

3. Clausing Colchester 8119VSJ Lathe

4. Bridgeport NFPA Mill

5. Bridgeport NFPA Mill

6. Flow Mach M100-3020 Waterjet

7. Haas TL-1 CNC Lathe

8. Haas VF-2 CNC Mill

3.2. Desired Additional Equipment (Optional Scope):

The Government also desires coverage for the following three (3) additional machines. Offerors should indicate their capability to service these machines, which may be included in a final solicitation based on available funding or a best-value determination.

9. FANUC RoboCut C400iC Wire EDM

10. Titan i25s EDM Drill

11. Haas VF-4 CNC Mill

3.3. Key Tasks:

• Perform annual preventative maintenance services in accordance with OEM recommendations.

• Conduct comprehensive inspections of all electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and coolant systems.

• Perform machine leveling, alignment, backlash checks, and geometric verification.

• Conduct advanced diagnostics and calibration, to include Vibration Analysis, Spindle Condition/Drawbar Checks, and Ball Bar Analysis or equivalent.

• Provide detailed written service reports after each visit documenting work performed, deficiencies found, and recommendations for corrective actions.

• Provide a mechanism to quote and perform separately funded, on-call reactive repairs.

• Pricing for the preventative maintenance portion shall be inclusive of all travel and living expenses.

4.0. Requested Information from Interested Parties

Interested parties are requested to submit a capability statement of no more than five (5) pages that addresses the following:

1. Company Information: Company Name, Address, UEI, CAGE Code, and Point of Contact (Name, Title, Phone, Email).

2. Socioeconomic Status: A statement of your company’s socioeconomic status (e.g., Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), 8(a), HUBZone, etc.).

3. Capability & Experience:

o A detailed description of your company's capability to perform the services described in Section 3.0.

o Provide at least two (2) examples of recent (within the past three years) contracts of similar size and scope. Specifically, highlight experience in providing preventative maintenance for a mixed fleet of machine tools from various manufacturers (e.g., CNC mills, manual lathes, grinders, waterjets) under a single contract.

o Confirm your company’s technical expertise and experience in servicing the specific brands listed (Haas, Bridgeport, Clausing, Kent, Flow, FANUC).

4. Contract Vehicles: List any existing Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), GSA Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), or other contract vehicles your company is on that would be appropriate for this type of service.

5.0. Submission Instructions

Please submit your capability statement and all requested information via email to Dawson Hopkinson, Contract Specialist, at dawson.hopkinson@us.af.mil and Ron Wilson, Contracting Officer, at ronald.wilson.26@us.af.mil. no later than 5 May 2026 at 10:00 AM MDT. The email subject line should read: "Sources Sought Response: USAFA Machine Tool Maintenance - [Your Company Name]".

6.0. Disclaimer

This Sources Sought notice is for market research purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. The information provided in this notice is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned.

7.0. OMBUDSMAN

(a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern.

(b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution.

Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions).

(c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the ombudsman, James Anderson

8110 Industrial Drive, Ste 103

USAFA, CO 80840

Telephone number 719-333-3829

FAX 719-333-9018

Email: james.anderson.72@us.af.mil

Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/FLDCOM/DRU ombudsman level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Department of the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy

Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2395, facsimile number (571) 256-2431.

(d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency.

(e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the contracting officer.