Please see the attached Amendment 1 for highlighted changes to the below Sources Sought.  All changes are highlighted in yellow. 
 

The changes are also incorporated and bolded and underlined below.

Notice Type:  Sources Sought

Title:  BLU-137/B ECP

Disclosure:

This is a Sources Sought notice only.  This Sources Sought Synopsis is for informational planning purposes and it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government for any actual procurement of materials, machinery, or services.  This notice does not constitute a firm Government requirement.  Any reference to a “requirement” below is not an indication that there will necessarily be a firm requirement in the future. This notice does not constitute a solicitation or a promise of a solicitation in the future.  This Sources Sought does not commit the Government to a contract for any supply or service.  Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this Sources Sought.  All costs associated with responding to this Sources Sought are solely at the responding parties’ expense.  Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response.   The Government will not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly marked or clearly identified.  Proprietary information received in response to this Sources Sought will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable Government regulations.  Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement.  The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular alternative because of this Sources Sought.  Responses to the Sources Sought will not be returned.  Not responding to this Sources Sought does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued.  Specific responses to the approaches will not disqualify or have an impact on participation and evaluation on future solicitations, if issued.

General and Background Information:

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Armament Directorate, Direct Attack Division, Direct Attack Munitions Branch (EBDA), Eglin AFB, FL issues this Sources Sought to help determine the technical capability and qualifications of industry to produce the Advanced 2,000lb Penetrator (A2K) BLU-137/B warhead case assembly and its associated component part sets, including the threaded “button nose” design feature. The BLU- 137 was previously produced to improve upon the survivability and reliability of the legacy BLU-109. This requirement is for production to meet demanding DoD inventory needs. The explosive fill is not considered part of this Sources Sought.  The expectation is that the annual production orders are for (2) varying BLU-137/B designs to be produced: The BLU-137/B (solid nose) and the BLU-137/B with the threaded “button-nose” design feature. It is anticipated that total Production orders for both designs combined could range up to 5,500 total per year for 5 years (procurement numbers could vary by year and be different between the two designs even within the same year). In addition to the warhead assembly, (2) shipping lugs per warhead and pallets to facilitate the transportation of (2) warheads per pallet may be required deliverables.

The deliverable warhead assemblies (DWG: 2015A2K04001) must be manufactured in conformance with the current Air Force BLU-137 Technical Data Package (TDP) and specifications.  These procedures will involve construction of the warhead assembly, to include the warhead case and integrated components.  Copies of the TDP and specifications are available upon request from Mr. Jonathan Cansdale, email: [email protected] and Ms. Christy Cross, email; [email protected].  If requested, the TDP and specifications will be made available via DoD SAFE to qualified respondents for reference only.  Respondents must officially request the documents in writing, via email.  To validate the documentation release, the request must include: the company name, mailing address, email address, point of contact, phone number, current Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and System for Award Management (SAM) registration.  Export Control: Yes. Respondents are required to be “EXPORT CONTROLLED” certified in order to receive and view the TDP and specifications for the Sources Sought.  If the respondent intends to become Export Control Certified, you must register at https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/jcp/search.aspx and be able to provide their approved DD Form 2345 in order to receive the TDP and specifications. The U.S. Government (USG) will only disclose the TDP and specifications to the current data custodian annotated on the DD Form 2345.  Access to the TDP and specs for the Source Sought is restricted to potential offers who have met the requirements to view/receive Export Controlled Data.  Foreign Participation is NOT authorized.

The TDP and specifications are marked with the following distribution and export control statement:

DISTRIBUTION D. Distribution authorized to Department of Defense and U.S. DOD contractors only, Critical Technology, 20 June 2015 (or the latest revision date). Refer other requests for this document to AFLCMC/EBD, Eglin AFB, FL 32542.

EXPORT CONTROL WARNING: This document contains technical data whose export is restricted by the Arms Export Control Act (Title 22, U.S.C., Sec 2751, et. seq.) or the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended, Title 50, U.S.C., App. 2401 et. seq.  Violations of these export laws are subject to severe criminal penalties. Disseminate in accordance with provisions of DoD Directive 5230.25.

DESTRUCTION NOTICE:  Destroy by any method that will prevent disclosure of contents or reconstruction of this document.

The TDP and specification will be sent directly to the contact listed under the applicable CAGE code/JCP certification number. Note: Requests for drawings will NOT be accepted after 4:00 PM Central Time on Thursday, 4 March 2021.

Respondents are requested to provide the following information and should tailor their responses based on their proposed team or company strategy.  Citing prior experiences relating to the questions will aid in the Government assessment of industry capability.

1. Schedule

1. Identify the activities that you would undertake to establish a manufacturing line to include First Article Acceptance Test (FAAT) to qualify the manufacturing line(s) and validate and verify the units meet the government requirements.
2. Identify whether or not you currently have manufacturing facilities and equipment to undertake this effort.  If not identify your process for quickly obtaining facilities and equipment to begin manufacturing, as well as your experience doing so.
3. Identify the timeline required to complete the activities in subparagraphs a and b, providing details on the time period (in calendar days) beginning at the contract award date, to produce the First Article and how production capacity would be increased throughout the base year.
4. Identify any value stream improvements that you would plan to implement as the production run continued, e.g. manual tasks that you would automate, etc. Identify how you would meet up to the stated maximum warhead quantity per year.
5. Provide any quantity discount breaks and an estimated unit price at each quantity break. 
6. Identify the minimum quantity of BLU-137 warhead units necessary for your company to sustain stable annual production throughput. Also identify your best economic order quantity.  Provide estimated average yearly production rate and estimated maximum yearly production rate.

2. Quality/Performance

1. State your quality assurance processes to assure production assets meet all specifications. Describe manufacturing surveillance process and quality/manufacturing metrics reporting requirements flow down to major/critical suppliers.     
2. Describe how you would approach and manage production and “make-buy” decisions (i.e., partnerships, in-house, subcontracting, vendors) of configuration items defined in the TDP. 
3. Identify any risks you perceive with the proposed procurement (technical, cost drivers, schedule) and describe reasonable/achievable alternatives to reduce the risks.
4. Describe your risk management approach for production and acceptance of contract deliverables as related to cost, performance and schedule in establishing and maintaining a sustainable production capability.
5. Document your approach for maintaining configuration control.  Clearly identify the process that will be used to identify the sub-components lots, and batches that make up the end item.
6. Identify the critical corporate capabilities and certifications necessary to achieve the proposed procurement approaches.  Examples of capabilities and certifications include Quality Processes, Failure Analysis and Corrective Actions, production management and control, satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics and International Standards Organizations Certifications.   
7. Summarize how the Manufacturing Management Process meets the requirements of AS6500, and how these requirements are flowed down to major/critical suppliers.
8. Identify if the Quality Management System (QMS) meets the requirements of AS9100 or ISO 9001. Provide any applicable certifications. Summarize how QMS requirements are flowed down to major/critical suppliers.

3. Recent/Relevant Experience/Miscellaneous

1. Describe your capabilities and experience with AF96 steel and alloys and aluminum, components—furthermore, describe related capabilities which correspond with the use of non-metallic materials and coatings such as bituminous coatings (MIL-DTL-450), primer coatings (TT-P-664, MIL-PRF-26915), phosphate coatings (TT-C-490), cadmium plating (SAE-AMS-QQ-P-416), epoxy, silicone and other potting materials used in the manner to attach and/or seal steel components. For this description, reference the specifications in BLU-137 TDP drawings 2015A2K04001, BLU-137 Bomb/Pallet Assembly.
2. Describe your experience working directly with government organizations, first article testing, and final acceptance testing of assemblies.
3. Review TDP and specifications and provide any comments or concerns.

Submission Details:

All interested vendors should submit a response demonstrating their capability to provide these items/perform this effort to the Primary and Secondary Points of Contact listed below.  Proposals are not being requested or accepted at this time.  As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.  No solicitation (Request for Proposal) exists at this time; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation.  The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government’s discretion.

The NAICS Code assigned to this acquisition is 332993 Ammunition, with a size standard of 1,500 employees.  Respondents should indicate their size in relation to this size standard and indicate socio-economic status (i.e. SB, 8(a), HUBZone, EDWOSB, WOSB, or SDVOSB).  Respondents are further requested to indicate their status as a Foreign-owned/Foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort.  The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action.  All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract.  No set-aside decision has been made.  Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that small business prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the effort, as defined in FAR Clause 52.219-14.

Respondents to this Sources Sought should adhere to the following details.  Interested parties are requested to respond to items 1 thru 3 (and all subparagraphs) above with a white paper in the following format:  Microsoft Word 2010 compatible; 30 single sided pages or less (including cover and administrative pages); 1-inch margins; and 12 point font (or larger). The response of the items (1) thru (3) should be in the following order in the white paper:

1. Identifies schedules, long-lead items and timelines for manufacturing and production – needs to meet basic contract year Period of Performance for delivery of assets.
2. Address quality and performance, quality control, and other programmatic topics i.e. risk reduction efforts, configuration control, and certifications.
3. Address recent and relevant experience with similar projects and provide comments on TDP.

Interested parties should provide a company profile to include the following:

1. Company Name
2. Company Address
3. Point of Contact
4. E-mail Address
5. Website Address
6. Telephone Number
7. Business Category as it relates to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 332993 numbers of employees
8. Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number
9. CAGE Code

Capabilities Statement:  All interested vendors shall submit a capabilities statement that explicitly demonstrates their capability to provide/perform the requirement stated in this notice.  The capabilities statement should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirement.  This is part of the 30 single sided pages as stated in white paper.

Small businesses with only partial capabilities of this requirement are encouraged to submit their capabilities statement demonstrating the portion of the requirement they are capable of providing/performing.  This information will allow the Government to identify areas of possible breakout or possible subcontracting opportunities.

All responsible sources may submit information that shall be considered by the agency.  If late information is received, it may be considered, depending on agency time constraints.  All routine communications regarding the announcement should be directed to the contractual point of contact listed in this posting.  The Government may or may not use any responses to the sources sought as a basis for a subsequent project/requirement.  Any project/requirement developed from the sources sought responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be posted in BetaSam.gov separately.  Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked.  To aid the Government in its review, please segregate proprietary information.  Responses to the sources sought will not be returned.  The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, or provide feedback to the respondents with respect to any of the information submitted under the sources sought.  No requests for a bid package or solicitation will be accepted; a bid package or solicitation does not exist at this time.  In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information will be provided and no appointments for presentations will be made in reference to the sources sought.

RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 4:00 P.M. (CST) THURSDAY, 11 MARCH 2021.  Direct all questions concerning this sources sought to Jonathan Cansdale at [email protected] and Christy Cross at [email protected].  All questions should be emailed only as to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion.  All correspondence sent via email shall contain a subject line that reads “BLU-137/B ECP.” If this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through e-mail filters at Eglin AFB.  Filters are designed to delete emails without a subject or with a suspicious subject or attachment.  Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted.  Ensure only .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xsls, or .xls documents are attached to your email.  All other attachments may be deleted.