MODIFICATION
A -- NSRP ASE Pre-Solicitation Notice for Research Announcement
- Notice Date
- 8/23/2004
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 519190
— All Other Information Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Navy, Advanced Technology Institute, Contracts, 5300 International Blvd., North Charleston, SC, 29418
- ZIP Code
- 29418
- Solicitation Number
- NSRP0401
- Response Due
- 10/19/2004
- Archive Date
- 11/2/2004
- Point of Contact
- Melissa Henry, Subcontracts Administrator, Phone 843-760-3366, Fax 843-760-4098, - Melissa Henry, Subcontracts Administrator, Phone 843-760-3366, Fax 843-760-4098,
- E-Mail Address
-
henry@aticorp.org, henry@aticorp.org
- Description
- INTRODUCTION The NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program is interested in receiving abstracts and ultimately proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described below. The NSRP ASE program goal is to reduce the cost of building and maintaining U.S. Navy warships. To accomplish this, NSRP ASE is focused on industry-wide implementation of solutions to common cost drivers ? solutions to consensus priority issues that exhibit a compelling business case to improve the efficiency of the U.S. Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry. Solutions include both leverage of best commercial practices and creation of industry-specific initiatives. Aggressive technology transfer to, and buy-in by, multiple U.S. shipyards is a requirement of all funded efforts. Successful projects are those that clearly reduce total ownership costs with benefits that can be delivered by varied combinations of cost reductions in acquisition and fleet life-cycle costs. Identification of specific cost reduction manifestation is an important element of NSRP program. The complete Research Announcement (RA) is posted at www.nsrp.org. The Research Announcement will be modified as necessary to reflect changes in industry and/or government priorities. Potential proposers are advised that there are several changes incorporated in this year's solicitation that bear particular attention, including cost share requirements and project metrics. Teaming Teaming arrangements are encouraged. At least one U.S. shipyard should be substantially involved in each project, normally in a leadership role. Exceptions to this may be considered on a case-by-case basis where there is compelling justification that the program mission is best served by the proposed deviation. Awards Due to limited funding, the NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to limit awards under any topic, and only proposals considered to be of superior quality will be funded. The NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. The amount of funding available will be dependent upon receipt of Government Fiscal Year 2005 funds. Awards will be made using a Technology Investment Agreement. These assistance instruments are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). A copy of the NSRP ASE Program Technology Investment Agreement is available on the NSRP Web site (www.nsrp.org) under R&D Programs. For those proposals that are approved for award by the Executive Control Board (ECB), a letter contract will be executed immediately after the selection meeting. This letter contract is expected to be for a period of 30 days with sufficient funding to conduct project kickoff activities. All proposers, unless exceptions are authorized by the ECB for unusual circumstances (e.g., significant changes to the SOW directed by NSRP), will be expected to sign the final agreement within 30 days of selection. The NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to terminate awards if the offeror is not able to conclude a formal, signed Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) within 30 calendar days of selection notification. RA Process: This is an unrestricted solicitation. Proposal Preparation and Submittal Offerors should obtain a copy of the latest NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise Proposal Preparation Kit (currently version 4.4 - available from the NSRP ASE and NSRP Web site at www.nsrp.org). This guide is specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the RA proposal process. The proposal format provided in the PPK is mandatory. A link for submitting questions regarding the proposal process will be provided at www.nsrp.org. All questions received and corresponding answers will be posted to this site (publicly accessible). In addition, the NSRP ASE Program will host a proposer?s conference on September 1, 2004 at the Advanced Technology Institute, North Charleston, SC, to provide an overview of the program, explain the process, and answer general questions. If you plan to attend the proposer?s conference, please RSVP to nsrp@aticorp.org to obtain additional information. Abstracts for this research announcement are optional, but if submitted must be in the format described in Attachment 4 of the PPK. Abstracts for this solicitation are due no later than 3:00 PM Eastern time on September 7, 2004. Submit abstracts to NSRP ASE Program Administrator, Advanced Technology Institute, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418, Attn: Ms. Melissa Henry, ATI Contracts Department. Electronic submission of abstracts is encouraged and should be sent to henry@aticorp.org. Feedback on the abstracts will be provided to submitters no later than September 21, 2004. Full Proposals (hard copy, plus electronic versions of both the Technical Proposal and the Cost Proposal) in response to this Research Announcement (RA) shall be submitted by October 19, 2004, 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern Time, addressed to NSRP ASE Program Administrator, Advanced Technology Institute, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418, Attn: Ms. Melissa Henry, ATI Contracts Department. Proposals received after the time and date specified will be returned to the proposer and will not be evaluated. No extensions will be granted. Acknowledgement of receipt of proposals will be made after the due date. For planning purposes, mandatory oral reviews for proposals evaluated to be in the competitive range are anticipated to be conducted the week of December 13, 2004, in Charleston, SC. REQUIREMENTS Technical Description This announcement is issued to solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices in U.S. shipyards as described in detail in the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). A synopsis of the six major initiatives follows: SHIPYARD PRODUCTION PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES Shipyard Production Process Technologies addresses all production processes used to transform raw material, services, components, equipment, and interim products into completed products. Specifically, these processes include steel, aluminum and composites fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly and erection, outfit fabrication, installation and test, surface preparation and coating, joining, process control (accuracy control and process management), and services (transportation and rigging). This announcement includes potential efforts in all six related sub-initiative areas BUSINESS PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES Business Process Technologies encompass all business processes from initial business strategy development to post-delivery customer service, required to rapidly and effectively respond to the marketplace. This announcement includes potential efforts in four related sub-initiative areas: Sourcing and Supplier Integration; Planning and Production Design Processes; Pre-Contract Processes; and, Contracting Processes PRODUCT DESIGN AND MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES Product Design and Material Technologies include the parametric design rules, metrics, design and material standards, design and analysis tools, and engineering data required to rapidly and efficiently design modern ships in response to market inquiries and to support the follow on contract design, detail design and production phases. This major initiative includes the identification and development of advanced product designs and materials to support development of the next generation of high performance ships. This announcement includes potential efforts in four related sub-initiative areas: Advanced Product Designs and Materials; Portfolio of Preliminary Designs; Parametric Design Rules and Metrics; and, Material Standards. SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES The overall application of information technologies to shipbuilding is categorized as Systems Technologies within the Strategic Investment Plan. The scope of systems technologies includes the underlying information systems infrastructure required to support the other initiatives with emphasis on the tools, environment, and integration required to reduce product realization lead time and provide for tighter coupling between enterprise functions. For the purpose of this initiative, the scope of Systems Technologies can be characterized as an ?Integrated Shipbuilding Environment? (ISE). This announcement includes potential efforts in six of the eleven sub-initiative areas: CAM Interfaces; XML Definition for Interoperability; Evolution of STEP; Advanced Design, Simulation, Analysis and Estimating; and, Parts Library Catalog System (Prototype Development and Full Deployment). FACILITIES AND TOOLING Facilities and tooling includes the functions of providing and maintaining a physical plant capable of assembling, modifying and repairing ships in an efficient, safe, controllable and ecologically acceptable manner. This Major Initiative focuses on asset management issues such as facility utilization, facility planning, maintenance, and capital investment strategies. Additionally, included with this Major Initiative are several risk avoidance issues such as environmental, safety, health, and ergonomic practices within the shipyard. This announcement includes potential efforts in all five related sub-initiative areas. CROSSCUT INITIATIVES Crosscut initiatives encompass the key factors related to people and organizations that can impact the successful implementation of technology advancements and changes in the shipbuilding and repair industry. These factors integrate into all of the major initiatives identified in the NSRP ASE program. This announcement seeks both separate projects that focus on the crosscut factors in general, as well as proposed crosscut solutions developed as supporting elements of the other major ASE initiatives. This announcement includes potential efforts in all four related sub-initiative areas. SPECIFIC INTEREST AREAS Lean Enterprise Concepts While not a separate major initiative, of particular interest during this solicitation are initiatives directed toward furthering the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industry?s adoption of Lean enterprise practices. Shipyards have begun to realize the benefits of applying Lean enterprise principles across the entire value stream from supplier to the final customer. There is industry interest in follow-on efforts that will build on the implementation of basic Lean practices by introducing into shipbuilding and ship repair more advanced Lean concepts and the means of integrating Lean with Six Sigma and other process improvement and quality improvement programs. Additionally, there is Congressional interest in seeing demonstration programs that apply Lean manufacturing technologies and processes to DOD acquisition programs in order to reduce total ownership cost, beginning with concept development and continuing through developmental testing. Nationwide Shipyard Integration/Interoperability Concepts The Navy continues to ask NSRP to extend, develop and implement collaborative approaches that support nationwide shipyard integration/interoperability, including but not limited to Common Parts Catalog (CPC) type approaches. The NSRP Strategic Investment Plan and the current Research Announcement are both structured to support these types of projects. Because of this interest, an area of project concentration included in this solicitation is continuing efforts related to Common Part Catalog (CPC) Initiatives, which have developed common processes and procedures for part definition and configuration management across shipyards. This inter-shipyard collaborative concentration supports industry?s Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). The CPC Project supports integrated design/manufacturing initiatives and provides the required data definition to support material control systems. Standardizing part data allows an organization to search and find parts more quickly and accurately, permits re-use of part data, facilitates the ability to share inventory among collaborating organizations, and results in fewer parts to procure, inspect and warehouse. This standardization results in increased demand for standard parts, which allows suppliers to better serve industry and organizations to benefit from volume discounts. Further, the U.S. Navy benefits by needing fewer parts to support ships on-station and through the greater availability of parts across surface ship and submarine inventories. During the 2003 NSRP solicitation, projects were proposed and selected to complete the development and implementation of CPC capabilities at four 1st Tier yards, develop the capability for 2nd Tier yards, and conduct assessments at two other 1st Tier yards. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Deliverable Items: Deliverable data items that shall be proposed are listed in the Proposal Preparation Kit. Security Requirements: Classified material is not expected to be used on this effort. Other Special Requirements Proposers are advised that research findings and technology developments arising under this Agreement may constitute a significant enhancement to the national defense, and to the economic vitality of the United States. As such, in the conduct of all work under this agreement, the Recipient will comply strictly with the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (22 CFR 120-130), the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (DoD 5220.22-M) and the Department of Commerce Export Regulation (15 CFR 730-774.). Anticipated Period of Performance: For this research announcement, projects must be 12 months or less in duration due to uncertainty of future years funding availability. Expected Award Date: January 2005 for most, if not all, selected proposals. Funding Estimate: It is anticipated that approximately $6,700,000 over a 12-month period will be available for new NSRP ASE Program awards for this solicitation cycle based on expectations of congressional budget actions. There is no guarantee of this funding level or that awards will be made in any individual topic areas. Multiple awards may be made in a given area depending, in part, on the cost of individual proposals and available funding. Potential funding levels for future years are described in the NSRP ASE Strategic Investment Plan available on the Web site. Some program funding may be used to support other methods of industry technology advancement, such as symposia and industry study groups. Type of Funding Instrument The contractual vehicle used to fund the awards will be a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA). A copy of the TIA may be found on http://www.nsrp.org. Proposals without an affirmative response to the cover page certification of agreement to abide by the terms and conditions of the Technology Investment Agreement (current version is dated 19 August 2004) will be subject to elimination during screening. Proposers are advised to contact the NSRP Director of Contracts if they have any questions on this requirement. Proposers are also advised that terms and conditions for projects selected under this Research Announcement are different than those for previous NSRP projects. These new terms and conditions are reflected in the current TIA (dated 19 August 2004) that the program has posted on the NSRP web site. Proposers are advised to check the NSRP web site periodically during the proposal preparation period for any new changes to the TIA terms and conditions. Program Furnished Property: None contemplated. Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the NSRP ASE Program Office point of contact cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that prior Government approval may be required before their proposals can be considered. PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS General Instructions Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the NSRP ASE Proposal Preparation Kit (available at www.nsrp.org) to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed (E-mail is preferred) to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in the NSRP ASE Proposal Preparation Kit. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and shall be valid for 180 days. The proposal format provided in the program Proposal Preparation Kit is mandatory. Proposals shall reference the RA number (NSRP ASE 04-01). An original, hard copy (unbound) of the proposal and four copies (bound) must be received by the time and date listed earlier. Offerors are also required to submit one copy of the cost and technical proposals via electronic means (using Microsoft software - Windows 98 or later versions) on computer disk or CD-ROM. The disks shall be virus free. It is acceptable to provide graphics/exhibits in a separate hard copy or as part of the electronic file. .All responsible sources may submit proposals which shall be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only NSRP ASE Program Office contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the program. Cost Proposal The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be supplied together with supporting schedules. Copies of the above-referenced forms may be obtained by accessing the NSRP Web site. Refer to the program Proposal Preparation Kit for additional details. Technical Proposal The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research, the technical approach and appropriate metrics to gage progress. Proposal formats as specified in the NSRP ASE Proposal Preparation Kit are mandatory. If the PPK requires a particular section, and the offeror determines that the section is not applicable to their proposal, the section shall be included and annotated as not applicable with a brief explanation as to why not applicable. Proposals that develop technology that is readily transferable throughout the industry and for which there is an appropriate technology transfer plan will receive higher scores than those that produce less demonstrable, transferable results. Offerors must include an approach for implementing the proposed technology (if successful) throughout the U.S. shipbuilding industry. Proposals should discuss proposed demonstrations, pilots, and/or prototypes as well as any other technology transfer activities. Proposed project success criteria and associated metrics should be specified. Resumes of personnel (limited to 2 pages each) who will be participating in this effort should also be included as an appendix to the technical proposal and are not included in the page limit. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) suitable for contract incorporation as an attachment detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort. Offerors must use the NSRP ASE Proposal Preparation Kit available on the Web (www.nsrp.org) to assist in SOW preparation. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation shall be referred to the Point of Contact cited in this announcement. Crosscut Initiatives All proposals shall also specifically address the crosscut initiative areas (technology transfer; organizational change; education and training; and human resources) - or identify why this is inappropriate for the specific proposal. Proposers are encouraged to review the technology transfer guide available on the NSRP web site. Page Limitations The technical proposal shall be limited to 40 pages (fixed pitch font of 12 or fewer characters per inch or proportional font point size 10 or larger), single-spaced, single-sided, 21.6 x 27.9 cm (8.5 by 11 inches). Smaller type may be used in figures and tables, but must be clearly legible. Margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right) should be at least 2.5 cm (1 inch). The page limitation includes all information, except the Cover Page, Table of Contents, List of Figures and Tables, Cross Reference to Evaluation Criteria, Resumes, Statement of Work, Letters of Commitment, and Teaming Agreement/Memorandum of Agreement. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered. Offerors are advised that the number of pages should be commensurate with the degree of complexity of the proposed effort. It is expected, and encouraged, that less complex, less expensive proposals will be significantly less than 40 pages in length. Cost proposals have no page limitations; however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals to less than 45 pages as a goal. Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the program to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not considered a direct charge to any resulting award or any other contract. BASIS FOR AWARD The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. Details of the evaluation criteria are provided in the Proposal Preparation Kit, and are summarized below: Technical Aspects: The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority relative to the other factors (cost share, proprietary content, and cost aspect), shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: Strategic fit and leverage; Business case; Innovation and technical merit; Technology transfer and industry implementation; and, Team strength and management plan. The first is the most important technical factor. Proposals that do not meet the strategic fit and leverage criteria will not be recommended for award. The other four technical factors are of equal importance to each other. Each is defined in greater detail in the Proposal Preparation Kit. Given the relatively late start in this Research Announcement cycle and the associated challenges in being able to execute the program, proposers are encouraged to demonstrate evidence of a committed team ready to move out quickly upon award with an aggressive, credible execution schedule. Proposals that demonstrate such commitment will benefit during the technical evaluation process when compared to otherwise equally acceptable proposals that do not show such commitment. Other Factors a. Cost share: The proposal shall demonstrate a commitment to share the cost and risk of the proposed effort. The NSRP ASE program goal is 50% cost share (i.e., for every dollar of program funding provided, industry will provide at least one (1) dollar in cost share). Additional information regarding allowable types of cost share can be found in the NSRP ASE Proposal Preparation Kit. b. Shipyard Specific Projects: Most of the program funding will be applied toward open, collaborative projects that are widely acceptable with broad applicability. For this reason, most projects will be recommended for award on the basis of sharing results within the U.S. industry. Proposals with a higher degree of results that are openly shared and readily transferable throughout the industry will be viewed more favorably. Cost Aspects: Cost/Price includes the reasonableness and realism of the proposed cost and consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles. POINT OF CONTACT Questions related to this RA should be directed to the NSRP ASE Program Office, Advanced Technology Institute, Attn: Ms. Melissa Henry, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418, (843) 760-3366, E-mail henry@aticorp.org. *****
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