Inactive

DISCLAIMER: The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought Notice. As stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201€, response to this notice are not of... DISCLAIMER: The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought Notice. As stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201€, response to this notice are not offers, and shall not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Synopsis: Sources Sought Notice is issued as a means of conducting market research to determine if any companies are capable of providing Performance Based Long Term Contract support for the A-10 Platform for all the items attached. The A-10 is a single-seat, twin turbofan engine, straight wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic (now owned by Northrop Grumman) for the USAF. The proposed contract action is for a Performance Based Long Term Contract support for the A-10 Platform for all the items attached for which the Government may solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority of FAR 6.302. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all responses received by the synopsis response date will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a sole source or competitive procurement. PURPOSE: The Government desires a Performance Based Long Term Contract provider to enter into a partnership to include supply support, demand/planning forecasting, material management, engineering support and sustainment elements, packaging, storage/warehousing, reliability improvements, and field customer service/engineering support of the A-10 Airframe manufactured by Northrop Grumman, and the associated A-10 Bill of Materials (BOM) of DLA managed consumable parts attached to support United States Air Force (USAF) customers. The contract is anticipated to be Requirements-type, Firm Fixed Price Contract, with a five-year base period, and 1, five-year option period. OBJECTIVES: The overarching objectives of this acquisition are to: (1) decrease A-10 Airframe repair delays due to outstanding consumable requirements, and fill requisitions within material availability priorities; and (2) accelerate the airframe repair turnaround time through enhanced material availability. In order to meet these objectives, the contractor must have the ability to drive changes into the weapons system configuration and, more importantly, understand, analyze, and assess the implications—both in terms of performance and operational usage—of any potential configuration change. The contractor will be required to aggregate all material requirements in order to leverage the best value for material support. The contractor will be required to deliver their supplies utilizing a Performance Based Long Term Contract process that pushes material into the DLA system to satisfy demands while significantly reducing DLA’s inventory investment and / or provides material directly to the end user. The contractor shall be responsible for forecasting, acquiring, stocking, and fulfilling requirements via its commercial operation/facility utilized to meet contract requirements. In addition to filling material requirements, the contractor is required to make recommendations for Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) along with being responsible for obsolescence management and mitigating Diminishing Manufacturing Source (DMSMS) challenges for the A-10 Bill of Materials (BOM). Performance metrics associated with this acquisition may be tied to local DLA-A Aviation and DLA (worldwide customers) material availability. Small business participation will also be a metric. Reliability improvements, and backorder management are also potential metrics. The contract will allow for an expansion of support based on developing and evolving A-10 Airframe requirements from DLA and/or USAF. RESPONSES: The Government requires that only non-proprietary information be submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for the use of any proprietary information submitted. Responses are required by no later than 21 November 2020. Reponses must include the following information: Company Name Address CAGE Code Point of Contact Phone Email Web page URL, if available Small business type or category you represent, if applicable. Identify as a U.S. or Foreign Owned Entity Indicate whether your interest is a prime contractor or as a subcontractor Respondents must address: Their capability to satisfy all objectives listed above, to include a description of the extent and content of prior experience on PBL efforts that are similar in nature and scope and, Willingness to provide upfront pricing for full term of contract (10 years) and, Capability to support all parts in the attached list. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION: Responses to this Sources Sought Notice must be readable by Microsoft Office or Adobe software. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice shall be unclassified and not exceed 20 pages in length. Please note: emails containing file types such as .zip, .xlsx, docx, or other macro-enabled extension, may not be delivered to the intended recipient. All responses and questions under this Sources Sought Notice must be transmitted electronically to Mr. Ryan Finan at Ryan.Finan@dla.mil and Ms. Paula Baker at Paula.Baker@dla.mil. Prior to the response date, if necessary, potential respondents may request clarification by email. Significant responses to a potential respondent’s request for clarification will be posted to FedBizOpps under this Sources Sought Notice. 11/06/2020 Update. Below is a listing of clarifying questions received for this project. Answers to these questions are listed below to provide additional information to Industry. DLA/Contractor Q&As: Contractor #1: In order to meet these objectives, the contractor must have the ability to drive changes into the weapons system configuration and, more importantly, understand, analyze, and assess the implications—both in terms of performance and operational usage—of any potential configuration change “field customer service/engineering support” Questions: For statement A above; is the government the configuration authority for the A-10 Airframe and Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) or will the awardee serve in that capacity? For example, obsolescence, DMSMS, or performance improvement ECPs that could drive configuration changes, analysis, performance, and usage changes - will the government serve in that capacity or does the government intend to utilize the awardee? Are there any data rights not owned by the government to allow a company capable of these requirements to have the data to meet these requirements? DLA Response: The government will maintain configuration authority, however we would expect the awardee to provide weapon system expertise/knowledge for recommendations/improvements. Government owns some data rights, therefore changes or improvements would likely need to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 2. For statement B above, what is the expectation for the statement of work surrounding “field customer service/engineering support”? Are there any data rights not owned by the government to allow a company capable of these requirements to have the data to meet these requirements? DLA Response: The field customer service is geared toward having a representative on site to provide integral support. Contractor #2: Is there an incumbent for this award? DLA Response: There is not an incumbent. We are currently looking to see what companies have this capability discussed in the RFI. 2. For the items list in the NIIN list, does the US Government own the Technical Data Package? DLA response: The Government owns some data rights. 3. Please confirm but for clarification we are assuming that engineering change proposals (ECPs) are an acceptable method of driving changes into the weapons system configuration? DLA Response: The government will maintain configuration authority, however we would expect the awardee to provide weapon system expertise/knowledge for recommendations/improvements, via ECPs. 4. Would the requirement for DMSMS analysis be based on a quarterly, annual requirement, or on an as need basis? DLA Response: The contractor is required to make recommendations for Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) along with being responsible for obsolescence management and mitigating Diminishing Manufacturing Source (DMSMS) challenges for the A-10 Bill of Materials (BOM). 5. Is there a location requirement, such as the contractor must be located within 25 miles of Hill AFB/Ogden depot? DLA Response: A contractor on-site representative is a viable option, however we would look to the awardee to identify the best way to support our customers. Contractor #3: Will the government be providing parts currently being held by DLA? Who will own the material for the contract? DLA Response: Under a DLA Direct Supplier Initiated Ordering (SIO) the awardee would be responsible for planning and forecasting the material requirements in order to meet the customers demand/ordering frequency. The material is “Pushed” into a DLA Distribution center and is owned by the government at that time. We welcome any recommendations from industry on how a DD SIO effort could perform better. 2. Can the government provide a list of components in Inventory? DLA Response: Yes after award. 3. Will the contractor be responsible for obsolete parts and the management of obsolescence? DLA Response: The contractor is required to make recommendations for Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) along with being responsible for obsolescence management and mitigating Diminishing Manufacturing Source (DMSMS) challenges for the A-10 Bill of Materials (BOM). 4. What metrics are you currently measuring to and what is current performance to those metrics? Is the data available? DLA Response: Performance metrics associated with this acquisition may be tied to local DLA-A Aviation and DLA (worldwide customers) material availability. Small business participation may also be a metric. Reliability improvements, and backorder management are also potential metrics. 5. Is this considered a substantial bundling effort and if so, will the labor hours DLA currently puts into the management of these parts be a portion of the contract? DLA Response: All SIO efforts have the potential to be a bundling effort. Sources Sought Notice is issued as a means of conducting market research to determine if any companies are capable of providing Performance Based Long Term Contract support for the A-10 Platform. 6. Will there be additional Small Business requirements as part of the contract? DLA Response: To be determined at a later date 7. Does the government have current usage data for the parts? DLA Response: Yes; we have the customer demand/usage data, which can potentially be provided if needed/required. 8. Is there plans for additional major subassemblies to be added to this PBL at a later date? DLA Response: The contract will allow for an expansion of support based on developing and evolving A-10 Airframe requirements from DLA and/or USAF. 11/18/2020 Update- This Sources Sought notice is updated to extend the closing date to 05 DEC 2020. In addition, the Procurement History for the items considered for this project is provided in response to a request from Industry.