NASA, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Procurement Office, Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812

M -- OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PROPELLANTS, PRESSURANTS AND CALIBRATION SERVICES SOL RFC 8-P-6-AB-30955 DUE 053196 POC Contact Melinda Gauthier, GP56-H, 205-544-7583/ Contract Specialist, Facsimile 205-544-4401, or John C. Cather, GP50/Contracting Officer The following is a Request For Comment (RFC) -- This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a Request For Proposal -- After release of the solicitation, it is anticipated the Request for Proposal will be available for release within 45 days of publication of this synopsis -- The date of the preproposal conference, to be held at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, will be included in the solicitation -- All responsible sources may submit comments and request a copy of the Request for Proposal when available and shall be considered by the agency -- This procurement is for Pressurants, Propellant and Calibration Services for the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Institutional and Program Support Directorate -- The contractor shall provide onsite services to include operation and maintenance of cryogenic, propellant and pressurants generating storage, and distribution systems; management; engineering and planning; operations and maintenance; valve and component refurbishment; certification and repair of pressure system; program support; and instrument calibration -- The period of performance will be for a 1-year base period with four 1-year option periods -- MSFC is changing to performance based contracting --The purpose of the RFC is to afford industry an opportunity to comment on any perceived issues with regard to the impact of Performance Based Contracting and to allow the Government to receive the benefit of industry comments -- The Government's purpose in providing an opportunity for industry comment is to identify potential problem areas, and provide alternative recommendations in order to enhance the success of this initiative -- The Government believes industry feedback is important, and is receptive to any and all ideas from industry which would result in eliminating constraining requirements, realizing cost savings, or highlighting potential technical or contractual problem areas associated with this initiative -- Any comments provided should not be viewed as a vehicle for presenting a specific approach or product intended to be proposed but as an opportunity to improve the final solicitation package -- Comments are solicited regarding the following: (1) Based on decreasing budgets and a need to maintain facilities and services at prior fiscal year levels, MSFC anticipates the negotiation of a ''Performance Based'' Contract with an objective, measurable quality assurance surveillance plan, and associated fee structure; (2) Selection will be made on a best-value basis and significant emphasis will be afforded to past performance in providing operations and maintenance of propellants, pressurants, and calibration services as an evaluation criterion in determining award; (3) MSFC will require the eventual awardees to provide comprehensive mission services including the ability to respond appropriately to emergency situations -- (4) MSFC has attached the draft statement of work and attachments -- (5) Comments, whether supportive or critical, are earnestly solicited regarding every aspect of the proposed initiative -- Replies are not mandatory -- The use of comments received from industry to complete final statements of work and resulting solicitation documents will be at the discretion of MSFC -- Contractors are encouraged to be innovative in their comments related to metrics for the Standards of Performance in the Performance Requirements Summary as well as possible contract type and management-- Any subsequent solicitations will be synopsized prior to its release -- The Government will not critique a potential offeror's comments and the RFC should not be used by offerors to market their products/services -- The Government does not intend to pay for the information solicited and will not recognize any costs associated with submission of RFC -- Proprietary information is not being solicited -- Information considered proprietary, if any, should be identified as such -- Response to this synopsis must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer at the above address no later than May 31, 1996. The following STATEMENT OF WORK for the OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PRESSURANT, PROPELLANTS AND CALIBRATION SERVICES is designed to be Performance Based and therefore will be referred to as the PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS). The PWS will contain (1) Specific Tasks, (2) Performance Requirements Summary (PRS), and (3) Explanation of the PRS, for EACH of the following Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) areas: 1.1 Management, Data, Documentation and Reporting Requirements; 1.2 Engineering and Planning; 1.3 Operations and Maintenance; 1.4 Valve and Component Refurbishment; 1.5 Certification of Pressure Systems; 1.6 Program Support; and 1.7 Instrument Calibration. The STATEMENT OF WORK for the OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PROPELLANTS, PRESSURANTS AND CALIBRATION SERVICES will be available through NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS) for downloading from MSFC. The SOW will be in Rich Text Format Interchange (RTF) and Microsoft Word 6.0 format and reside on a World-Wide Web server, which may be accessed using client browsers, such as MOSAIC, Netscape, etc. The WWW address, or URL, of the MSFC Procurement Office home page is: ''http://procure.msfc.nasa.gov''. (0143)

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