Attachment_0016_Contract_Quality_Requirements.docx

CONTRACT QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

1.) GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT QA ACTIONS: INSPECTION

Government Procurement Quality Assurance (PQA) actions will be accomplished by the Government Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) at: Contractor's Plant

2.) GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT QA ACTIONS: ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance of supplies will be at: Contractor's Plant

The Government's acceptance of FATR (if required) will be at: Contractor's Plant

3.) ALTERNATIVES TO LOT ACCEPTANCE SAMPLING –

INCLUDING STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL (SPC)

(a) Offerors are encouraged to propose a defect prevention strategy in lieu of lot acceptance inspection and testing requirements cited in the technical data package. The Government recognizes that industry has developed numerous prevention based strategies which result in reduced process variation and promote continuous process improvement initiatives. Use of alternatives to lot acceptance sampling can provide offerors the latitude of implementing prevention based programs that are suitable to their particular mode of operation. Offerors are encouraged to submit their alternative proposals prior to award. Although the Government will entertain post award requests, there is no guarantee such requests will be accepted.

(b) Requests to use alternatives to lot acceptance sampling shall be provided to the Contracting Officer for review and approval or disapproval. Such requests shall include:

(1) Identification of the specific inspections and tests to be reduced or eliminated.

(2) A description of your prevention based program. This should include such topics as a training program and the performance of audits.

(3) A description of the tools used to monitor and control the specific processes being evaluated. This should include such topics as criteria for determining out of control conditions and procedures to be used when an out of control condition is detected.

(4) The results of a process performance study, and if available, the results of a process capability study.

(5) For SPC data to be used as an alternative to lot acceptance sampling, the following conditions shall be met:

(i) The process is in a state of statistical control using SPC control chart methods.

(ii) Variable data: for Critical characteristics a CPK =/> 2.00 (or equivalent capability) is achieved; for Major characteristics a CPK =/> 1.33 (or equivalent capability) is achieved.

(iii) Attribute data: for Critical Characteristics a process average of 100% of the product conforming to the specification; for Major Characteristics a process average of 99.9937% of the product conforming to the specification.

(c) Proposals offered after award. The Contracting Officer is responsible for accepting or rejecting the alternate lot acceptance procedure submitted by the contractor. The contractor may submit an alternate lot acceptance procedure at any time during the performance of this contract. The Contracting Officer is responsible for accepting or rejecting the alternate procedure within 30 days of receipt. If the Government needs more time to evaluate the alternate procedure, the Contracting Officer shall notify the contractor in writing, giving the reasons and the anticipated decision date. The contractor may withdraw its proposal at any time prior to its incorporation by contract modification. Because offerors may withdraw their proposal at any time, the Contracting Officer's failure to timely accept or reject the proposal shall not constitute grounds for claim against the Government. Any proposed and accepted procedure must be incorporated by contract modification. If the alternate procedure is not accepted, the Contracting Officer shall provide the contractor with written notification, explaining the reasons for rejection.

(d) Any equitable adjustment resulting from approval of an alternate lot acceptance procedure described in paragraph (c) above will be handled in accordance with the Changes clause of this contract.

(e) Until notification is received, the contractor is required to perform under this contract in accordance with the requirements herein, including lot acceptance inspection and testing.

4.) REWORK AND REPAIR OF NONCONFORMING MATERIAL

a. Rework and Repair are defined as follows:

(1) Rework - The reprocessing of nonconforming material to make it conform completely to the drawings, specifications or contract requirements.

(2) Repair - The reprocessing of nonconforming material in accordance with approved written procedures and operations to reduce, but not completely eliminate, the nonconformance. The purpose of repair is to bring nonconforming material into a usable condition. Repair is distinguished from rework in that the item after repair still does not completely conform to all of the applicable drawings, specifications or contract requirements.

b. Rework procedures along with the associated inspection procedures shall be documented by the Contractor and submitted to the Government Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) for review prior to implementation. Rework procedures are subject to the QAR's disapproval.

c. Repair procedures shall be documented by the Contractor and submitted on a Request for Variance, DD Form 1694, to the Contracting Officer for review and written approval prior to implementation.

d. Whenever the Contractor submits a repair or rework procedure for Government review, the submission shall also include a description of the cause for the nonconformances and a description of the action taken or to be taken to prevent recurrence.

e. The rework or repair procedure shall also contain a provision for reinspection which will take precedence over the Technical Data Package requirements and shall in addition, provide the Government assurance that the reworked or repaired items have met reprocessing requirements.

5.) QUALITY POST AWARD CONFERENCE

Post Award Conference (definition) - A first meeting of key Contractor/Government players. This conference is to assure a clear and mutual understanding of the contract between the Government and contractor. The Post Award conference includes discussions on contract terms, conditions and requirements, line items and sequence of events needed for successful execution of the subject contract effort.

The contractor shall host a post award conference/meeting at the contractor’s facility to include contractor and government contracting, management, quality assurance and technical personnel no later than 30 calendar days after contract award. The contractor shall participate with the government to arrange a schedule and agenda for the post award conference prior to the meeting. The contractor shall provide the government with minutes of the post award meeting (DI-ADMN-81505 tailored).

6.) GOVERNMENT FURNISHED AMMUNITION

a. Ammunition has been programmed to support contractual test requirements as follows:

(1) Rounds: TBD quantity

(2) Cartridges: M855A1

(3) National Stock Number: 1305-01-559-3335

(4) Department of Defense Identification Code: AB57

b. Requests for all ammunition shall be submitted electronically to the contract specialist on DD Form 1348 no later than 90 days prior to desired delivery dates. The completed request may be submitted via electronic mail to the Contracting Officer, and usarmy.detroit.tacom.mbx.ilsc-mca@mail.mil.

c. The contractor shall be responsible for reporting on the status of ammunition expenditures throughout the life of the contract as follows:

(1) Every 90 days after the initial receipt of government furnished ammunition, the contractor shall provide an ammunition consumption report in accordance with (IAW) DID OT-16-10003 attached in Section J, attachment title “Government Furnished Ammunition Request” to the Contracting Officer.

(2) No later than 30 days after completion of the contract, the contractor shall report to the Contracting Officer on the remaining ammunition IAW DID OT-16-10003. The contractor shall request disposition instructions for the remaining ammunition. The contractor shall execute the disposition instructions and provide confirmation to the Contracting Officer.

d. The contractor shall furnish a copy of the above ammunition reports and disposition requests to the cognizant Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) and to the Government Furnished Material/Management Control Activity (GFM/MCA), at usarmy.detroit.tacom.mbx.ilsc-mca@mail.mil.

7.) FIRST ARTICLE TEST (CONTRACTOR TESTING)

a. The first article shall be examined and tested in accordance with contract requirements, the item specification(s), Quality Assurance Provisions (QAPs) and all drawings listed in the Technical Data Package.

b. The first article shall be representative of items to be manufactured using the same processes and procedures and at the same facility as contract production. All parts and materials, including packaging and packing, shall be obtained from the same source of supply as will be used during regular production. All components, subassemblies, and assemblies in the first article sample shall have been produced by the Contractor (including subcontractors) using the technical data package applicable to this procurement.

c. The first article shall be inspected and tested by the contractor for all requirements of the drawing(s), the QAPs, and specification(s) referenced thereon, except for:

(1) Inspections and tests contained in material specifications provided that the required inspection and tests have been performed previously and certificates of conformance are submitted with the First Article Test Report.

(2) Inspections and tests for Military Standard (MS) components and parts provided that inspection and tests have been performed previously and certifications for the components and parts are submitted with the First Article Test Report.

(3) Corrosion resistance tests over 10 days in length provided that a test specimen or sample representing the same process has successfully passed the same test within 30 days prior to processing the first article, and results of the tests are submitted with the First Article Test Report.

(4) Life cycle tests over 10 days in length provided that the same or similar items manufactured using the same processes have successfully passed the same test within 1 year prior to processing the first article and results of the tests are submitted with the First Article Test Report.

(5) Onetime qualification tests, which are defined as a one-time on the drawing(s), provided that the same or similar item manufactured using the same processes has successfully passed the tests, and results of the test are on file at the contractor's facility and certifications are submitted with the First Article Test Report.

d. Those inspections which are of a destructive nature shall be performed upon additional sample parts selected from the same lot(s) or batch(es) from which the first article was selected.

e. A First Article Test Report shall be compiled by the contractor documenting the results of all inspections and tests (including supplier's and vendor's inspection records and certifications, when applicable). The First Article Test Report shall include actual inspection and test results to include all measurements, recorded test data, and certifications (if applicable) keyed to each drawing, specification and QAP requirement and identified by each individual QAP characteristic, drawing/specification characteristic and unlisted characteristic. Evidence of the QAR's verification will be provided. One copy of the First Article Test Report will be copy furnished to RDAR-EIQ-PC.

f. Notwithstanding the provisions for waiver of first article, an additional first article sample or portion thereof, may be ordered by the Contracting Officer in writing when (i) a major change is made to the technical data, (ii) whenever there is a lapse in production for a period in excess of 90 days, or (iii) whenever a change occurs in place of performance, manufacturing process, material used, drawing, specification or source of supply. When conditions (i), (ii), or (iii) above occurs, the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer so that a determination can be made concerning the need for the additional first article sample or portion thereof, and instructions provided concerning the submission, inspection, and notification of results. Costs of the additional first article testing resulting from any of the causes listed herein that were instituted by the contractor and not due to changes directed by the Government shall be borne by the Contractor.

8.) USE OF MIL-STD 1916, DoD PREFERRED METHODS OF ACCEPTANCE

a. The Government will not accept lots whose samples submitted for acceptance contain nonconformances unless appropriately documented and approved by the contracting officer. The contractor shall use MIL-STD 1916, DOD Preferred Methods of Acceptance of Product. The Verification Level (VL) shall be:

VL per MIL-STD-1916 and drawing 12993884 for major characteristics and

VL per MIL-STD-1916 and drawing 12993884 for minor characteristics.

b. MIL-STD HDBK-1916 provides guidance on the use of MIL-STD 1916. This handbook is not contractually binding.

9.) CRITICAL CHARACTERISTICS (SIX SIGMA)

a. The contractor’s processes shall be designed with the objective of preventing the creation or occurrence of nonconforming critical characteristics (see paragraphs d & e). The contractor shall establish, document and maintain a product specific, critical characteristics control (CCC) plan that shall be submitted to and approved by the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) IAW DD Form 1423 and DI-MGMT-80004.

The CCC plan shall include or reference all procedures, work and handling instructions and process controls relating to any critical characteristics. Mistake Proofing techniques of the material handling and inspection systems shall be a part of the CCC Plan. Guidance for developing this plan and submitting Critical Plans of Action (CPOA) (paragraph g) can be found at http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/orgchart/quality.html.

b. The contractor shall assure its critical processes are robust in design, capable and under control, with the objective of not generating any critical non-conformances. The contractor shall calculate, document, clearly identify, and have a schedule that routinely assess the reliability and effectiveness of its critical processes to prevent generating critical non-conformances as identified in the CCC Plan.

c. An inspection and verification system shall be employed that will verify the robustness of all critical processes. The contractor shall calculate, document, clearly identify, and have a schedule that routinely assess the reliability and effectiveness of its inspection and verification system to detect and prevent critical non-conformance escapes as identified in the CCC Plan. The Government expects that a contractor will allow zero critical escapes. To demonstrate its critical escape risk the contractor will utilize the non-conformance escape risk goal provided below.

(1) Unless otherwise specified immediately below, the calculated critical non-conformance escape risk is 1 in a million (.000001) items delivered.

Or:

Alternate calculated Critical Non-conformance Escape risk (fill-in -1-):

Unless otherwise approved by the PCO, the non-conformance escape risk is the sum of the individual characteristic escape rates. The probability of escape for a single characteristic shall be calculated by multiplying the non-conformance rate(s) entering the inspection system(s) by the error rate of the inspection system(s). These escape rates are then summed and shall not exceed the tolerable critical non-conformance escape risk.

(2) Within 45 days after award, the contractor can elect to submit a phased-in approach on how the nonconformance escape risk will be achieved over a period of time not to exceed 180 days from the date of first article approval, or from initiation of production when first article is not required. Submission will require approval by the Government and is subject to a technical review and analysis. Allowance for a phased-in approach will then become a part of the contract. Disapproval of the contractor’s submission does not relieve the contractor of its obligation to comply with the terms of this clause.

3) Based on the maximum error rate defined for the inspection system, the contractor shall develop a test procedure to demonstrate the error rate. As part of the test plan the contractor shall include sufficient test quantities to assure 90% statistical confidence in the resultant rates unless otherwise approved by the PCO. Once established, the contractor shall have a documented schedule to routinely monitor the non-conformance and inspection system error rates to assure they do not exceed the maximum rates allotted.

d. As a result of previous practices, the government’s technical data may refer to “Critical I”, “Critical II”, and “Special” characteristics. The use of the term "critical characteristics" within this clause includes Critical I, Critical II and Special characteristics and the use of the term "critical nonconformances" includes those nonconformances pertaining to Critical I, Critical II and Special characteristics. Unless otherwise stated in Section C, these characteristics shall be subject to all requirements of this clause.

e. In addition to critical characteristics defined in the government’s technical data (drawings, specifications, etc.), the contractor shall also identify and document in their contractor developed technical data all known material, component, subassembly and assembly characteristics whose non-conformances would likely result in hazardous or unsafe conditions for individuals using, maintaining or depending upon the product. All additional critical characteristics identified by the contractor shall comply with the critical characteristic requirements of the technical data package, supplemented herein. The Critical Item Characteristic List (CICL) review process shall be included in the CCC Plan. The contractor's additional critical characteristics shall be classified in accordance with guidance located at http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/orgchart/quality.shtml and shall be submitted to and approved by the PCO prior to production (DI-SAFT-80970A).

f. In the event that a critical non-conformance is found anywhere in the production process, the contractor, as part of its CCC Plan, shall have procedures in place to ensure:

(1) The non-conformance is positively identified and segregated to ensure that nonconforming product does not inadvertently remain in or reenter the production process. This control shall be accomplished without affecting or impairing subsequent non-conformance analysis. Final disposition of non-conforming product shall be documented and audited for traceability.

(2) The operation that produced the non-conforming component or assembly and any other operations incorporating suspect components or assemblies are immediately stopped. (See para h. for exceptions)

(3) The government (PCO) is immediately notified of the critical non-conformance (electronic mail)(DISAFT-80970A).

(4) Any suspect material is identified, segregated and suspended from any further processing and shipment.

(5) An investigation is conducted to determine the root cause of the non-conformance and the required corrective actions. An evaluation shall also be conducted with regard to suspect material to ensure that no additional critical non-conformances are present. A report of this investigation shall be submitted to the government (DISAFT-80970A). The use of the DID report shall not delay notification to the government as required in f(3)above.

(6) A request to restart manufacturing or to use any suspect material associated with the critical nonconformance is submitted to the government (DI-SAFT-80970A). Restart of production shall not occur until authorized by the PCO, unless previously addressed in the approved CCC Plan. The Government will respond to a restart request within 3 working days. All objective evidence of the investigations to date shall be available for review at the time of restart. Suspect material shall not be used without PCO approval.

(7) The procuring activity reserves the right to refuse acceptance of any suspect material until the root cause or reasonably likely cause of the critical non-conformance has been identified, corrective action has been fully implemented and sufficient evidence has been provided to exclude non-conforming material from the conforming population.

g. The contractor may develop alternative plans and provisions, collectively referred to as a Critical Plan of Action (CPOA), relative to government or contractor identified critical characteristics. All CPOAs are independent and shall be evaluated by the government for this contract. The CPOA and any subsequent revisions submitted IAW DD Form 1423 and DI-MGMT-80004 require PCO approval prior to implementation. Unless otherwise specified at time of approval, contractor shall review and evaluate CPOAs for currency and process improvements at least on an annual basis and submit results to the PCO. Unless otherwise approved by the PCO, each critical characteristic shall require a separate CPOA. If the CPOA includes other documents by reference they shall be submitted upon request. Guidance for the development of a CPOA can be found in the referenced guidance located at paragraph “a” of this clause.

h. The contractor may continue production with an approved CPOA provided that the critical non-conformance is consistent with the failure mode(s) and rates established in the CPOA. Failure to meet all CPOA requirements will require the contractor to revert back to paragraph f requirements.

i. If a critical non-conformance is discovered beyond its designated inspection point and prior to Government acceptance the contractor shall take actions specified in paragraph f above. If a critical non-conformance is discovered after Government acceptance the Government has the right to invoke the requirements of paragraph “f” with respect to the contractor’s remaining production under this contract

ACCEPTANCE INSPECTION EQUIPMENT (AIE)

a. The contractor shall use a calibration system, with traceability to a national or international standard, for the AIE used on this contract.

b. The contractor shall provide all AIE (except for any AIE listed as available in Section H or Appendix I) necessary to assure conformance of material to the contract requirements.

c. AIE shall be available for use on the First Article (FA) submission, if FA is required, or prior to use for acceptance of production material on this contract.

d. Contractor furnished AIE shall be made (i) to the AIE designs specified in section C, or (ii) to any other design provided the contractor’s proposed AIE design is approved by the Government. AIE designs for inspection of characteristics listed as “Critical, Special or Major” shall be submitted to the Government for review and approval as directed on the Contract Data Requirements List, DD FORM 1423. Government approval of AIE design documentation shall not be considered to modify the contract requirements.

e. When the contractor submits proposed AIE on commercial off the shelf equipment, the contractor shall include the manufacturer’s name and model number and sufficient information to show capability of the proposed AIE to perform the inspection required. When the contractor submits proposed AIE designs on commercial computer controlled test and measuring equipment, the contractor shall include information on (1) test program listing (2) flowcharts showing accept and reject limits and computer generated test stimuli (3) calibration program listing (4) sample of the printout of an actual test and calibration (5) test plan to verify accuracy of inspection and correctness of accept or reject decision (6) identification of the equipment by model name and number.

f. Resubmission of the contractor’s proposed AIE design for approval on a follow on Government contract, by the same contracting activity, is not required provided the inspection characteristic parameters specified in the technical data package and the previously Government approved AIE designs have not changed. In this situation, the contractor shall provide written correspondence in place of the AIE designs that indicates the prior Government approval and states that no changes have occurred.

g. The Government reserves the right to disapprove, at any time during the performance of this contract, any AIE that is not accomplishing its intended use in verifying an inspection or test characteristic.

h. If the contractor changes the design after the initial approval, the modified design must be submitted for approval prior to use.