Testek Test Stand Repair and Maintenance

Added: Mar 24, 2016 10:18 am  

•   Testek will provide services to support Ogden Air Logistics Complex in the maintenance and repair of a total of 58 test stands. Testek's services will provide the Complex with sufficient technical data and training required for repair, engineering/software services, system integration, reconfiguration and modification of 58 test stands located throughout the Complex. The Complex intends to purchase the service to be able to access technical data/source code required to perform repairs but is not able to purchase the technical data as Testek refuses to sell any data and/or source code. Thus far the Complex has acquired partial services to repair test stands using Government Purchase Card procedures, smaller stand alone contracts and maintained test stands using limited organic maintenance capabilities. The stand alone contracts with the contractor to complete some repairs have had limited and short term results. Production has been affected due to down time while pursuing stand alone contracts, which have not always been successful. These methods to repair and maintain the test stands have not kept the test stands fully operational and have led to continual deterioration of the test stands as they do not present a long term solution. Testek will provide services to repair test stands to a fully functional state capable of successfully testing aircraft components in accordance with technical data. This will provide the Government the training and documentation for any form, fit or function changes to the test stands. 

 

FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii) Only one source can meet the Government's requirement for repair and maintenance of test stands due to the unique source code and highly specialized equipment/service. Each of these test stands supports critical current and future workloads spread across nearly every major weapon system supported by Hill Air Force Base (AFB). When test stands are inoperable it creates mission stoppages and lost production until the stand is repaired as these stands are workload specific. Testek test stands took several years of engineering, development, and contracting efforts to replace obsolete, unsupportable legacy test systems. The Government has limited to no rights to the source code, drawings, manuals, etc. as detailed in Table 1. Without access to the source code, the Government is not able to perform maintenance or troubleshooting operations to bring the test stands to fully operational status. It also limits the ability for the Government to reconfigure test stand operation to support new workloads as acquired (e.g. F-22 & F-35). Testek is the only company with full access to the source code, manuals and drawings. Approving another contractor would cause unacceptable delays and would result in major costs to the Government. These include costs for reverse engineering, upgrades, replacement and increased production cost when the stands are inoperable