REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

U.S. Army TACOM Field Sustainment Support Services (FSS)

1. Description

1.1 The United States Government (USG) is seeking industry feedback on new ways to provide Field Sustainment Support activities (FSS) for the Abrams vehicle platform. The USG is looking to our world class supply base to propose innovative and cutting-edge solutions. To this end, the USG is requesting information from suppliers who can provide one or more of the following activities:

• Field Service Representatives (FSR)- FSRs are technical experts in the maintenance, operations, troubleshooting, data collection, fielding, de-processing, storage, and shipping of combat vehicle systems. They typically have had several years of experience in performing and supervising military automotive maintenance; are proficient at reading and understanding complex system-of-systems troubleshooting; are proficient at reading hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical schematics; and are skilled at providing instruction to both maintainers and operators. FSRs generally do not provide maintenance support, rather they provide technical advice and assistance to vehicle users and maintainers, and if needed, the FSRs typically may perform hands-on maintenance for the purpose of providing instruction and advice to both Soldier and civilian maintainers. In providing this support, the FSR may reference Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETM), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) procedures, or best commercial practices.
• Vehicle Maintenance- This is generally performed by heavy equipment mechanics responsible for analyzing malfunctions, rebuilding and maintaining power equipment, operating and inspecting machines or equipment to diagnose defects, dismantling and reassembling equipment, using hoists and hand tools, examining parts for damage or excessive wear, using micrometers and gauges, possibly replacing defective engines and subassemblies, such as transmissions, and testing overhauled equipment to insure operating efficiency. The mechanic may direct workers engaged in cleaning parts and assisting with assembly and disassembly of equipment.
• Modification Work Orders (MWO) - USG Program Offices engage in continuing engineering efforts to replace, modify, or improve equipment or parts on a vehicle platform via Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) which define and develop the necessary configuration documentation to implement a change. This includes MWO effort, which is the implementation or retrofit of such changes onto existing vehicle platforms, and generally includes the addition and deletion of parts in accordance with the ECP. In addition, the management, preparation for shipment, and inspection of MWO kits is a vital aspect of the MWO program. MWO personnel shall be skilled at inspecting vehicles to determine whether or not they are capable of receiving proposed MWO’s. That knowledge will require the MWO personnel to have a strong maintenance background on the system along with being able to troubleshoot, diagnose faults, and provide feedback to soldiers and civilians on proposed fixes prior to installation of the MWO’s.
• Fielding and De-processing- Fielding, or Material Fielding, is the process of preparing, taking inventory, and issuing a vehicle system to Gaining Units. De-processing is the checkout of vehicles at the de-processing or handoff site(s) upon arrival from production or other facilities. De-processing hand-off occurs at each fielding, post, installation site, or central staging site designated to support fielding. This assures that the vehicle is ready to operate, adjust, clean, or replace any items found discrepant or missing during the inspection of vehicles and joint inventory with the Gaining Unit. De-processing actions may include:
  • Unpackaging, filling with oil and fuel, charging batteries.
  • Removing all preservative coatings, grease, tape, and packing materials.
  • Inspecting for any damage from shipment.
  • Checkouts are to be performed in accordance with the stated procedures and include review of vehicle operations, oil analysis, road testing (if applicable), and replacement of failed or discrepant components.
  • All aspects of vehicle operation are checked and verified, and all known faults are corrected to ensure vehicle is fully operational for issue.
• New Equipment training (NET)- This requires vendors to furnish instructor personnel to conduct NET to meet Continental United States (CONUS) and Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) requirements. Responsibilities include recruit, hire, and process all instructors of the NET team. Certification of instructors may be required. Final certification of individuals typically will be done by a board consisting of the USG NET manager and the contractor NET site manager. Depending on the circumstances, the contractor shall utilize existing materials, develop, and document revised training and training materials, or create new training and materials to conduct Operator New Equipment Training (OPNET) and Field Maintenance New Equipment Training (FMNET). The training site manager may conduct risk analysis to identify risk, the levels of risk severity and risk mitigation measures before each training event. Much training is hands on and will include Training, Aids, Devices, Simulators, and Simulations (TADSS). Electronic and paper-training support packages may be required to be provided for training and to the units as a stay behind training packet. Copies of instructional materials, written test(s), score sheets, practical exercise evaluation checklist(s), critique sheets, etc. are to be provided prior to the start of training.

The USG recognizes that certain suppliers may have a core competency in some but not all of these activities. Suppliers are encouraged to provide information on all activities they believe they can provide at a fair cost.

1.2 The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has an objective to modernize the Department of Defense’s procurement approach, implement best practices, and to achieve greater affordability to reinvest in readiness. The FSS is supporting that objective and looking for new innovative partnerships with industry to evaluate the feasibility and opportunity to achieve greater affordability through alternative procurement approaches.

1.3 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. The submission of this information is solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes and is not a request for competitive proposals, quotations, or an invitation to reimburse contractors for associated costs to respond or for any information provided. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the USG to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or any follow up information requests. All costs associated with responding to this notice will be solely at the responding partys expense. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the USG to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor the System for Award Management (SAM) (beta.Sam.gov) site for additional information pertaining to this notice.

2.0 Requested Information

Please provide the information requested in the attached RFI Supplementary Supplier questionnaire word document. These questions will assist the USG in assessing qualifications for the provisions specified above.

3.0 Industry Discussions

USG representatives may or may not choose to have discussions with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks.

4.0 Questions

All questions relating to this RFI shall be submitted in writing only via email to the Army Contracting Command (ACC) point of contact (POC) Jeffrey Webb, Contracting Specialist, at jeffrey.c.webb13.civ@army.mil. The subject line on the email submissions for questions or requests for clarifications should read: RFI: Field Sustainment Services Support, Questions/Clarifications. Absolutely no telephone calls will be accepted in response to this RFI. Questions or requests for clarification shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. In order to facilitate a timely response, it is requested that all questions or requests for clarification be received by 4:00 pm EST 08 January 2024. Responses to the questions received will be answered and posted for all interested parties to see via an amendment to the RFI on the SAM website and posted publicly. The USG reserves the right to not address questions or requests for clarification should it not be pertinent to the RFI.

5.0 Responses

Suppliers are encouraged to submit written notification of their interest, qualifications, and technical concepts to Jeffrey Webb, jeffrey.c.webb13.civ@army.mil.

All submitted responses shall follow the outline below and be provided in Microsoft (MS) Word Office 2013 compatible format or Adobe PDF. Submission shall be capable of being printed on 8.5x11 inch paper with one inch margin (top, bottom, left, and right) and no smaller than 12-point Arial font. Line spacing shall be set no less than single space. Any drawings shall be capable of being printed on 11x17 inch paper and no smaller than 10-point font. Submissions shall be less than 10 total pages excluding any drawings. All submissions should include a title page with the following information:

• Company or organization name and mailing address (City/State/Zip)
• Company web page URL, if any
• Point of Contact (name, title, phone number, and e-mail address)
• CAGE Code and NAICS Code

The submissions will be reviewed by USG representatives as approved by the FSS and other governing agencies. All information provided will be adequately protected in accordance with the markings as described in section 6.0, below.

Submissions are due no later than 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) 02 February 2024. All submissions shall be submitted electronically via the Department of Defense (DoD) Safe Access and File Exchange (SAFE) website (https://safe.apps.mil). To be able to utilize the DoD SAFE website, request a Drop-off code via e-mail to jeffrey.c.webb13.civ@army.mil NLT 20 days of posting this RFI. After receiving the Drop-off code, use the following distribution email address as prompted by the site: jeffrey.c.webb13.civ@mail.mil. The subject line for the SAFE submission shall read: Abrams Field Sustainment Services Support - YOUR COMPANY NAME. No hard copy or fax responses will be accepted. If a late submittal is received, acceptance of such will be at the discretion of USG.

6.0 Post Submission Guidelines

Proprietary information shall be clearly marked. No classified documents may be included in your response. Please be advised all information submitted in response to the RFI becomes the property of the USG and will not be returned. The USG is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. There is no guarantee that any submission in response to this RFI will result in a USG program. The USG may or may not use any responses to this RFI as a basis for a subsequent project. The information submitted in response to this RFI may be used to help the USG further define its requirements. If the USG develops a program that addresses any submitted or similar topic, the resulting procurement will address technology and business specific requirements as defined by the USG to achieve the required objectives. Any projects developed from the RFI responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be publicized accordingly. Responders to this RFI will have no competitive advantage in receiving any awards related to the submitted topic area. Responders who do not submit to this RFI will not be prohibited from submitting a proposal if an RFP is published at some point in the future. In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information other than the information contained in this RFI will be provided.

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