SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- NSRP ASE Pre-Solicitation Notice for Research Announcement
- Notice Date
- 6/23/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- 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
- NSRPASE0501
- Description
- INTRODUCTION This is a pre-solicitation notice for the NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program. Upon reasonable assurance that FY06 funds will be provided (expected summer 2005), the NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program plans to issue a formal Research Announcement 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, 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) will be posted at www.nsrp.org. This announcement is issued as a pre-solicitation notice to potential proposers since the response time to the formal solicitation will be limited due to the expected late start of this solicitation cycle relative to Navy expenditure rate requirements. This notice will also provide ample time to review the soon-to-be-released Revision 4 of the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). The formal Research Announcement will solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices across the following major initiative areas in U.S. shipyards: Shipyard Production Process Technologies; Business Process Technologies; Product Design and Material Technologies; Systems Technologies; Facilities, Tooling and Risk Management; and Crosscut Initiatives. These major initiatives are described in detail in the Strategic Investment Plan located on the Web at www.nsrp.org. Offerors are strongly advised to read the SIP in order to gain a greater understanding of the sub-initiative areas detailed below. Because the program major initiatives are closely tied to each other, proposals may be submitted with a scope that represents integrated efforts across several major initiative and/or sub-initiative areas. The Research Announcement will be modified as necessary to reflect changes in industry and/or government priorities. 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. 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 will be 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 60 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 60 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 60 calendar days of selection notification. Proposal Preparation and Submittal Offerors should obtain a copy of the latest NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise Proposal Preparation Kit (PPK) - version 4.5 will be made available on the 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 is anticipating to host a proposer?s conference at the Advanced Technology Institute, North Charleston, SC, to provide an overview of the program, explain the process, and answer general questions. Once a firm date has been scheduled, additional information will be available by sending an email to nsrp@aticorp.org . Abstracts for the formal Research Announcement will be optional, but if submitted must be in the format described in Attachment 4 of the PPK. The due date for abstracts for this solicitation will be published when the decision is made to formally release a solicitation. Feedback on the abstracts will be provided to submitters approximately two weeks after receipt. Due date for full proposals in response to this RA will be published when the decision is made to formally release the solicitation. Full proposals must be addressed to NSRP ASE Program Administrator, Advanced Technology Institute, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418, Attn: Ms. Melissa Ingram, ATI Contracts Department. One original, unbound hard copy (each) of both the technical proposal and the cost proposal, four bound hard copies of the technical proposal, and three bound hard copies of the cost proposal are required. Offerors are also required to submit one copy (each) of the cost and technical proposals via virus-free electronic media (using Microsoft software - Windows 98 or later versions). 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 will be conducted at a date to be determined. REQUIREMENTS Technical Description A formal Research Announcement is expected to be 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 initiative areas follows. SHIPYARD PRODUCTION PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES Shipyard Production Process Technologies addresses all production processes used to transform raw material, components and equipment into completed products for the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. Specifically, these processes include steel and aluminum fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly and erection, outfit fabrication, installation and test, surface preparation and paint, process control (accuracy control and process management), industrial engineering, production control (in-yard material planning and coordination), and services (transportation and rigging). BUSINESS PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES Business Process Technologies encompass all principal business processes required to rapidly and effectively respond to the customer's needs, from the initial business strategy development through life cycle support service that optimizes "Enterprise" value improvements. PRODUCT DESIGN AND MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES Product Design and Material Technologies includes the design rules and standards; material standards and standardization, 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 advanced materials, and the establishment and implementation of design for production methodologies to support development of the next generation of high performance ships. 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). By integrated, it is meant that the various business processes and their supporting information technology systems are able to accept and disseminate information electronically without manual intervention, passing paper, or off-line translations or reformatting. Information is entered once and reused throughout the ship lifecycle. FACILITIES, TOOLING AND RISK MANAGEMENT Facilities, Tooling and Risk Management includes the functions of providing and maintaining a physical plant capable of assembling, modifying and repairing ships in an efficient, safe, controllable and environmentally acceptable manner. This major initiative focuses on asset management issues such as facility utilization, facility planning, and maintenance. Included with this major initiative are several risk avoidance issues such as environmental, safety, health, and ergonomic practices within the shipyard. 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. SPECIFIC INTEREST AREAS Lean / Six Sigma Enterprise Concepts Of particular interest during this solicitation are initiatives directed toward furthering the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industry?s adoption of Lean / Six Sigma enterprise practices. Shipyards are realizing the benefits of applying Lean, Six Sigma and other process improvement concepts throughout the entire value chain from supplier to the final customer. The principles include specifying value in terms of the customer's needs, identifying the value streams for each product or service, creating continuous flow through the value streams, producing goods or services according to customer demand, and continuing to always improve and seek perfection. There is industry interest in follow-on efforts that will build on the implementation of basic Lean / Six Sigma practices by introducing into shipbuilding and ship repair more advanced concepts and the means of integrating existing efforts with 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. Enterprise Integration / Interoperability Enabling Concepts The Navy continues to ask NSRP to extend, develop and implement collaborative approaches that support nationwide shipyard integration/interoperability and product data interoperability. The NSRP Strategic Investment Plan and the current Research Announcement are both structured to support these types of projects. The objective of these efforts is to enable the sharing of production process and ship construction and repair data required to support a collaborative Naval shipbuilding and repair program across an extended enterprise. The ability to exchange production process and construction support data, such as engineering reports, construction status, test data, and objective quality evidence, is critical to the ability for multiple shipyards to collaborate. An interoperable information environment is required to streamline NAVSEA enterprise information development, flow, and access. An interoperable environment will also support progressive improvement in materials procurement/management and configuration management, as well as worker (both knowledge worker and touch labor) productivity, enabling the continuous reduction of the cost of developing, building and supporting the fleet. Design for Production / Production Engineering Findings of a recent benchmarking of U.S. shipyards echo or complement NSRP Strategic Investment Plan priorities in identifying a significant need in the areas of Design for Production (DFP) and Production Engineering. Specifically, the need is to focus on finding ways to improve the processes, tasks, tools and data associated with product definition throughout the product life cycle. DFP comparisons relate to the degree that ship designs consider production process considerations to enable highly efficient manufacturing and assembly. The objective of focusing on producibility in the design phase is to reduce production costs to a minimum, compatible with the requirements of the vessel to fulfill its operational functions with acceptable safety, reliability and efficiency. DFP applications should include emphasis on design optimization to minimize material and work content, standardization and reduction of part count, design for self-alignment, and the application of group technology. Production Engineering is the definition and organization of preferred production standards for product, methods and industrial engineering into readily accessible libraries of best practices, so that once a production engineering solution has been arrived at, the designer can employ those standards to produce design details which can be efficiently produced. Recognizing the potential benefit, the Navy has increasingly attempted to adopt commercial standards and performance requirements where practical. Significant joint industry/government cooperation will be required to make substantive gains in the production engineering arena. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Deliverable Items The following deliverable data items shall be proposed: (a) Quarterly Technical Status Report; (b) Quarterly Business Status report (including participant provided funds); (c) Presentation Material, as required; (d) Contractor's Billing Voucher in accordance with milestone payment schedule; (e) Quarterly status report briefings; (f) Software Development Plan (if software development is proposed); (g) Technology Transfer Plan; (h) Project Management Plan; and (i) Final Technical Report (including Project Results Attachment). Appropriate interaction with Ship Production Panels and industry workshops should also be considered. Offerors are expected to also identify other deliverable items that are unique to their project. 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 awarded 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: Note: A determination has yet to be made on whether to allow multi-year proposals. It is the intent of the Program to solicit multi-year proposals if there is sufficient evidence of budgetary support for Government Fiscal Year 2007 and beyond. For this research announcement, offerors may submit multi-year proposals, provided they specify clearly defined one-year (or less), sequential (non-overlapping) project phases to allow for go/no-go decisions on future year efforts/funding. Each phase should specify key tasks (activities) and deliverables (results). The total length/duration of the technical effort is expected to vary by project complexity. It is anticipated that most projects will be 24 months or less in duration. It is recognized that particularly complex projects may require technical efforts of up to 36 months. The contractor may also provide for an additional 4 months for processing/completion of the final report. Expected Award Date Approximately 150 days after release of the Research Announcement for most, if not all, selected proposals. Funding Estimate: It is anticipated that approximately $6M to $7M will be available for new NSRP ASE Program awards for this solicitation cycle if the final 2006 Navy budget develops as expected. 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 NSRP 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 will be posted 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 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 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 the formal Research Announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that prior Government approval may be required before their proposals can be considered. Preparation Cost: The cost of preparing proposals in response to any formal Research 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 listed below, shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: Strategic fit and leverage Business case Innovation and technical merit Technology transfer and industry implementation 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. 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). To the maximum extent practicable, industry-provided matching funds must come from non-Federal sources (Type B Matching Funds as defined in the Proposal Preparation Kit). It is recognized that many proposers may be engaged in exclusive Government work, thereby reducing the sources of non-Federally reimbursed (Type B) funds. The offeror may therefore elect to include Federally reimbursed sources of funds (Type A Matching Funds as defined in the Proposal Preparation Kit) as matching funds, but these costs must be identified separately. Where and to the extent the offeror cites Type A funds toward meeting the ?sharing? or ?matching? goals specified, this does not and need not constitute ?cost sharing? as defined under DoDGARS 37.530. The goal for Type B funds is to exceed 15% of the total program costs. While there is no pre-determined cost share ratio requirement for any single project, the following incentives apply: (1) Shipyard-specific proposals are expected to provide significantly higher cost share than collaborative projects, and (2) All projects will compete on, among other factors, the degree to which the proposers will share the cost and thus leverage program funds. 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. It is anticipated that some projects with limited access, and limited or delayed applicability to the broad industry will be awarded, but these projects will require substantially higher cost share. The estimated fraction of a proposed project's funding that will be used in developing technologies that will be openly shared without delay, such that a higher percentage of the results are shared, will be considered in the evaluation. Proposals with a higher degree of results that are openly shared and readily transferable throughout the industry will be viewed more favorably. c. Project Execution 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. d. Crosscut Initiatives The degree to which the proposed project addresses Crosscut Initiative areas (Education & Training, Technology Transfer, Workforce Development & Retention, Organizational & Cultural Change, Human Resources) will be evaluated. Cost Aspects: The Cost Proposal will be evaluated for completeness, reasonableness and realism of the proposed costs. Additionally, proposed spending profiles will be considered in the context of program financial requirements and constraints. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. POINT OF CONTACT Questions related to this RA should be directed to the NSRP ASE Program Office, Advanced Technology Institute.
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