Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Code 1164EF, Crane, IN 47522-5011

A -- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SOL N00164-96-R-0083 DUE 070896 POC Contact - Ms. Terry Davis, Code 1164EJ, 812-854-3704/telefax 812-854-3465, Mr. J.D. Martin, Contracting Officer This action is the solicitation which follows the synopsis that was originally published on 22 April 96. Award will be made in accordance with DFARS Subpart 235.70, Research and Development Streamlined Contracting Procedures. All of the mandatory terms, clauses, and provisions, and certain asterisked terms, clauses, and provisions in DFARS 235.7006 are incorporated by reference. The asterisked terms, clauses and provisions that apply are D1, E5, H1, H4, H5, I42, I50, I51, I52, I69, I87, I88, I89, I94, I107, I132, I133, I136, I140, and I167. The clauses and provisions are those in effect through FAC 90-37 and DAC 91-9. The standard evaluation factors have been modified but all evaluation factors are clearly stated in section ''M''. Data requirements are not being mandated by the Government at this time because this will be largely dependent on the offeror's selected technical approach and technology for accomplishing the research effort described below. The contract type being contemplated is cost-plus-fixed-fee. The estimated period of performance is 24 months. Technical and cost proposals shall be submitted to Bid Room Depository, Contracting Officer (Code 1164, Bldg. 64), NAVSURFWARCENDIV, 300 Highway 361, Crane, IN 47522- 5011 on or before 2:00 PM EST on 08 July 1996. Offerors shall submit a minimum of one copy of the cost proposal and four copies of the technical proposal. The technical proposal shall be limited to 25 pages on technical approach, 15 pages on past performance, a maximum of 6 resumes for ''key'' personnel and 5 pages describing facilities. All references to pages above means 8.5'' by 11'' pages. Any technical proposal pages submitted which exceed the page limitations set forth above will not be read or evaluated. Proposal pages failing to meet this format will not be read or evaluated. No program cost data or cross-reference to the cost proposal will be included in any other volume. Drawings and sketches may be provided as exhibits or attachments to a given section as an addition to the allowable number of pages. All proposals must be complete and respond directly to the requirements of the solicitation. The factors and subfactors listed herein shall be addressed. Cost and supporting data shall be included only in the cost volume. All other information shall be included in the technical volume. It is requested that offerors include the costs associated with each proposed task and the costs that they are proposing to expend each performance year. Multiple awards may be made but the Government reserves the right to make a single award. The contracting officer on this procurement is Mr. J.D. Martin, NAVSURFWARCENDIV, 300 Highway 361, Crane, IN 47522-5011. The telephone number is (812)854-3723. Proposed Research. Proposals are being solicited in the areas of feasibility studies and technical data with regard to automated battery charger/analyzers. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that lead to or enable revolutionary advances in the state-of-the-art. These innovative approaches should utilize Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) equipment to the fullest extent practicable. Additional evaluation preferences will be given to those offers that propose to demonstrate new concepts through the use of a demonstration vehicle such as systems prototypes for proof-of-concept. The objective of this program is to impact the time required, cost and performance of battery maintenance through the timely insertion of state-of-the-art battery charger/analyzers. This will be addressed by assimilating data and information concerning state-of-the-art components such as (but not limited to) computer(s), power supplies, electronic loads, and equipment/software products configured to charge/discharge a wide variety of battery types. By soliciting the expertise of manufacturers/vendors in each component field, additional phases of this program will take advantage of feedback from and teaming with component suppliers and integrators to obtain maximum leverage of the domestic industrial infrastructure. Common military and commercial specifications are essential to this goal. The unit will be used in all Navy environments; therefore, attention should be given to structure and environmental resistance of the equipment. The analyzer must also be able to run diagnostics on different chemistry primary batteries and provide a ''capacity-remaining'' status. Primary battery diagnostics must not vent or degrade the performance of the batteries diagnosed by the system. The cost of developing a support infrastructure for the charger/analyzer will be minimized by leveraging commercial off-the-shelf components to the fullest extent practicable. The result will be a capability to cost- effectively field the most advanced technology available with very low risk and to incrementally upgrade that technology throughout the life of the system. Within the context of this program, a charger/analyzer is a unit capable of charging/discharging two or more batteries (different chemistry) of different ampere-hour ratings, running completely different charge/discharge regimes (voltage and current) concurrently. This unit would eliminate operator error of improper charge/discharge settings, excessive or shortened maintenance cycles, and overall indecision of proper battery maintenance. The charger/analyzer will be capable of programming and interfacing all present known functions of operator controlled charger/analyzers and identify parameters by either reading a bar code placed on the battery or by any other appropriate means. State-of-the-art attention must be given, maximizing COTS components, to the computer, component integration, safety, data acquisition, logistics acquisition of battery data and data storage, control hardware, charging sources, electronic loads, bar code reader, software (test equipment and multimedia training), and system integration components or other components as determined appropriate. The immediate interests are those technologies and infrastructure components necessary to establish viable manufacturers/vendors to provide the expertise for developing this charger/analyzer. Collaborative efforts, consortia, and teaming are encouraged where appropriate. Proposals are solicited in the following general areas 1) test control computer capable of interfacing, collecting and storing data, and generally supporting the system; 2) power supplies and electronic loads capable of minimum voltage range of 0.0 to 60 volts and minimum current range of 0.0 to 50 amperes; 3) bar code reader utilizing standard coding, capable of interfacing to database and all applicable interfacing; and 4) video information system and software providing state-of-the-art training to the systems operating technician. Individual proposals should express a consolidated effort in support of one or more of the general areas described above. Disjoint efforts should be submitted as separate proposals. Evaluation for Award. In addition to the standard evaluation factors listed in DFARS 235.7006, provision M2, the Government will evaluate all offerors' past performance on similar and related efforts in order to make award on greatest value to the Government (0149)

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