SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Market Research for Warlock Dragon Program Reference Number W15P7T-07-RFI-PMSW01
- Notice Date
- 9/29/2006
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 334511
— Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- US Army C-E LCMC Acquisition Center - DAAB07, ATTN: AMSEL-AC, Building 1208, Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703-5008
- ZIP Code
- 07703-5008
- Solicitation Number
- USA-SNOTE-060929-006
- Archive Date
- 12/28/2006
- Description
- Description: Request for Information (RFI) to Support a Producibility and Sustainment Assessment for the Warlock Dragon Program Introduction: This RFI is for planning purposes only; this is not a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. The G overnment will not be liable for payment of any response preparation expenses. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government is issuing this RFI to ob tain information from industry which would permit a feasibility assessment of achieving accelerated high rate production of a new Counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED), the Warlock Dragon. The Government is also interested in evaluating comments and r ecommendations relative to the potential impact(s) that accelerated high rate production of such systems will have on existing domestic supply chain participants as well as the existing infrastructures currently used to support inspection, test, acceptance and fielding of comparably complex counter IED and devices and Electronic Warfare (EW) equipment. All interested firms that possess the capabilities and facilities addressed herein are encouraged to respond to this RFI by providing the information speci fied below, on or before 1700 hours on 5 October 2006. Responses to this RFI must be unclassified and should be sent via email to Matthew Ludwig at Matthew.Ludwig@us.army.mil and David Pak at David.S.Pak@us.army.mil. Technical questions should be addresse d to David Pak at above email. Background: Program Executive Officer Intelligence and Electronics Warfare Systems and Product Director Signal Warfare, Fort Monmouth, NJ are continuously seeking the means to satisfy the urgent need for rapid manufacture and deployment of unprecedented q uantities of Counter IED equipment and systems into Southwest Asia to support Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom (OIF and OEF). To meet future requirements for production of Counter IED systems, the Government is interested in receiving industry recom mendations for providing effective manufacturing methods and processes to achieve required quantity yields and product reliability. The specific system of interest is the Warlock Dragon, the newest addition to the Counter IED family of products. The Gove rnment is seeking information from established firms with both the demonstrated capability of achieving accelerated high rate production of complex EW systems as well as providing insight into the potential impact(s) that accelerated high rate production c ould have on existing domestic supply chain participants and existing infrastructure(s) to support inspection, test, acceptance, fielding and sustainment of comparably complex counter IED and EW equipment. Specifically, the Government is interested in ass essing the capacity of domestic manufacturing firms to mobilize for the production of approximately 500 Warlock Dragon systems based on a Government supplied design; how fast the production rate could be ramped up; what the highest economic order quantity would be to reach a peak monthly production rate; and, what rate could reasonably be sustained in order to achieve a high level of operational availability once the systems are fielded and released into their respective operational environments. Becaus e the nature of the IED threats is constantly changing, the Government recognizes that the Warlock Dragon performance capability will necessarily have to evolve in order to insure that its effectiveness remains relevant. The existing Warlock Dragon protot ype system performance capabilities have been established by the design and assembly processes utilized Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD which have been demonstrated and tested by the Army Test and Evaluation Command. PD SW recognizes th e need for an industry assessment of the systems demonstrated performance capability with an eye towards improvement for inclusion of any emerging technological advancements in the field of counter-IED effectivity. To better understand the nature of the W arlock Dragon system, prototypes and associated documentation with drawings and ATEC system test data exist and will be made accessible to qualified domestic sources in accordance with the procedures described below. Industry Capabilities of Interest: The Government is seeking responses from established firms with both the demonstrated capability of achieving accelerated high rate production of complex EW systems as well as those organizations capable of providing fi rst hand lessons learned or commercial best practices for dealing with the potential impact(s) that accelerated high rate production has on existing domestic supply chain participants and infrastructure(s), especially those impacting support, inspection, test, acceptance, fielding and sustainment of comparably complex counter IED and EW equipment. The Government is interested in receiving responses from firms with explicit knowledge of and experience with fielding of complex EW and counter IED systems to include total life cycle support considerations (i.e., total supply chain management and oversight functions, manufacturing process and provisioning documentation, optimal spares stockage rates based on reliability projections, and qualification of field service representatives, etc.). Firms should be capable of recommending best practices or sharing commercial standards for vendor surveillance/management, analysis techniques and/or metrics used to evaluate market conditions that would indicate the need t o establish multiple qualified sources of critical components. Of particular interest are firms with current internal practices wherein quality assurance and inspection of vendor parts has led to early detection of defects that minimized or avoided product ion delays. Additionally, the Government desires recommendations from firms with knowledge of essential component lead times, industry standard assembly times for various types EW equipment and counter IED components, special tooling and test equipment, methods for accelerated system qualification tests, real time engineering assessments for incorporation of technology upgrades into ongoing production, continual manufacturing process assessments to achieve improved producibility, reliability or ease of operator use. The Government is also interested in recommendations that would result in improved system performance (e.g., temperature, vibration, dust, etc.) given the extreme environmental conditions the system will be exposed to during mission operati ons. Notional Schedule of Events Related to this RFI. Firms interested in receiving any of the additional information identified in this RFI must submit a written request in accordance with the following procedures on or before close of business October 5, 2006: The Warlock family of products and their associated system specifications contain information that has been designated as Militarily Critical Technical Data. Only businesses that have been certified by the Department of Defense, United States /Canada Joint Certification Office, and have a valid requirement may obtain a copy of DD From 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. To obtain certification, contact: Commander, Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS), ATTN: U.S./Canada Joint Certific ation Office, 74 Washington Avenue North, Battle Creek, MI 49017-3084 or call DLIS at (800) 352-3572. The DLIS United States /Canada joint Certification Lookup service is available via the internet at: http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp/documents.asp. Access to t he Warlock Dragon System documentation or prototype systems as described in this RFI shall only be granted once a certified DD Form 2345 is received and processed by PD SW Sec urity Officer, Alison Weaver, Alison.Weaver@us.army.mil. Only firms that have a verifiable SECRET level facility clearance may receive any of the additional information. To obtain a copy of the applicable Dragon documentation including Drawings, and Bill o f Materials, a written request on Corporate Letterhead needs to be forwarded to the PD SW Security Officer and must include the following information. Once this information is obtained and the appropriate clearance is verified, a copy of the documentation will be mailed. Company Name: Company Cage Code: Corporate Mailing Address: Classified Mailing Address: Security Office Information: Name / Title: Email: Phone: PD SW plans to host an Industry Orientation and Overview of the Warlock Dragon Program the week of 10 October 2006 at the Army Research Laboratory facility in Adelphi, MD. Government will coordinate registration and clearances to attend this event after r eceipt of the information identified above. The purpose of this event is to provide interested firms access to both the ARL site where the system was designed and developed, and to allow access to an actual working prototype. Additionally, PD SW will pro vide industry participants with a threat overview and insights on system test results provided by the ATEC community. The goal of this market research effort will be to have industry responses submitted for Government consideration after conclusion of the Program Orientation and Overview. Notionally, this is anticipated to be around October 27th, 2006. At that time, it is requested that all Industry responses be submitted in the format of an unclassified white paper. The responses should provide the following information at a minimum: 1. Corporate Capabilities in terms of experience and existing facilities capable of High Rate Manufacture of EW type equipment to include: current monthly production rate per month for similar systems or equipment; current methodology for subcontractor/ven dor management; whether there are any ongoing high rate production projects in the company at this time; identification of risks for high rate production and associated risk mitigation plans: automated production and test equipment currently in use; produc tion management initiatives, specifically those related to product quality; and current available production space, facilities and manufacturing capacity. 2. Demonstrated ability to meet or accelerate production schedules. 3. Experience in providing test and support for Government testing of EW type systems and equipment. 4. Existing corporate depot type repair capability or facility. 5. Identify any strategic partnering alliances that permit acceleration of component delivery or obtaining priority subcontracted support services. 6. Identify core corporate personnel assets with expertise in EW and counter IED qualifications in the areas of design, manufacture, supply chain management, implementation of lean six sigma manufacturing improvements 7. Existing expertise to conduct independent verification and validation through system engineering and analysis from preliminary manufacturing drawings, test plans and procedures. 8. Identify any commercial/industrial certifications or quality systems in use 9. Experience in performing core depot assessments to include identification of facility strengths and weaknesses in order to determine the necessity for capital investments in either equipment or facilities. 10. Demonstrated capacity to achieve high rate manufacture of ruggedized commercial or nondevelopmental products. The Warlock family of products was recently designated a DX rated program under the Defense Priorities and Allocations System. As such, PD SW is using this RFI as a primary means of conducting a real-time assessment of the US industrial base's ability to mobilize in support of accelerated delivery of EW systems like the Warlock Dragon. Acceleration is defined in terms of both shorte ned lead times for testing, product delivery, and achieving maximum sustainable production rates with 30 days or less advance notice. To completely assess the total life cycle elements of such an industrial mobilization, a sample size of approximately 500 systems is currently being considered in order to validate future decisions for capital investments in the domestic market infrastructure that might be necessary to support 'just in time' availability of critical components. With this in mind the Governm ent would like your feedback with regard to the most probable cost and schedule estimates associated with the following efforts: -Estimated unit production price based on a total quantity of 500 systems. -Estimated costs for system support, testing, documentation, and supply chain management to include an estimated number of support personnel required for field installation and system support at five forward operating bases in the OIF and OEF theaters of o peration. -Estimated costs for establishing a program directed towards a continual assessment of the changing threat environment and the ability of high rate manufacturers to cut in technology enhancements/system upgrades with minimal impact to production scheduling and projected target system life cycle unit cost. -Estimated lead time for critical components/vendor parts, assembly of the system, production rates, qualification testing, and potential capital investments in automation, special tooling or test equipment to enhance producibility, accelerate testing or i mprove serviceability in the field. -Estimated costs for suggested design changes to enhance producibility, ruggedization, or to improve system performance. -Corporate assessment of the domestic manufacturing base readiness posture with emphasis on critical component vendors of specialty parts unique to the counter IED component market. Any information concerning the potential need for establishing multiple s ources of supply for critical, low density components to meet current and future demands should also be included. Commencing the first week of November 2006, the Government may afford interested parties an opportunity to discuss the contents of their White Papers during an industry one-on-one session where it is envisioned the parties will engage in an active informat ion exchange and dialogue to aid in the governments feasibility assessment. It is anticipated that any such sessions would not exceed 3-4 hours and will take place at PM SW at Fort Monmouth, NJ. It is envisioned that participation will be limited to a m aximum of five industry representatives that were involved in the preparation of the white paper being discussed.
- Record
- SN01158271-W 20061001/060929221050 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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