Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington VA 22203-1714

A -- TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AFFORDABLE MULTI-MISSILE MANUFACTURING SOL BAA96-21 DUE 070396 POC Keith Miller, DSO, FAX (703) 696-3999. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714. TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AFFORDABLE MULTI-MISSILE MANUFACTURING SOL BAA# 96-21, DUE by COB July 3, 1996, POC Mr. Keith Miller, DARPA/DSO, FAX (703) 696-3999. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION. The Defense Sciences Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals for innovative tools and technology to support the Affordable Multi-Missile Manufacturing (AM3) program. The AM3 program is developing and demonstrating design and manufacturing enterprise concepts and systems that can substantially lower the cost for future development and low-volume production across DoD's portfolio of tactical missiles. A major target is reduction of costs in supply chains below the prime contractor level, which account for 50% of missile production costs. The purpose of this BAA is to develop and demonstrate technology enabled tools for efficient supply chain integration in support of DARPA's on-going AM3 Program. Responses to this BAA should describe innovative tools and technologies that present significant technical or implementation risks but which offer a high payoff in cost reduction, cycle time compression and quality improvement across AM3 design, production and product support supply chains. Proposed solutions must add value to the envisioned future missile enterprise, which includes: a distributed collaborative design environment with supplier participation, the capability for significant re-use of designs, knowledge, components, and software, the capability to ''drive before buy'' components and subassemblies in a simulation based design environment, and flexible manufacturing systems and processes that offer low volume defense access to high volume commercial production lines at the supplier level and to multi-product assembly lines at the prime level. Innovations are sought that will provide the high mix/low quantity AM3 enterprise with the benefits of high volume supply chain integration solutions (such as co-location, dedicated service, just-in-time delivery) without the associated high costs. Solutions must be affordable and implementable by a broad spectrum of suppliers ranging from key subsystem developers to commodity vendors. In particular, solutions intended for use by small suppliers must recognize the limited capabilities of such firms to acquire and maintain engineering tools, information systems and other design and manufacturing resources. Proposed tools and technologies should reach sufficient maturity for beta test in the 1998-1999 time frame in conjunction with AM3 Phase 3 demonstrations at prime contractor sites. Within the above context, proposals are sought that address one or more of the following areas: (1) technologies to assist prime contractors in the selection of parts and suppliers and in the cost and time efficient configuration and implementation of supply chains, (2) technologies that assist primes in bringing the full spectrum of suppliers onto the design team and facilitating supply chain operations during the design phase, and (3) technology solutions to improve supply chain operations in production and maintenance activities. Additional details and examples are provided in the BAA 96-21 Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP), referenced below. PROGRAM SCOPE. A total of approximately $10 million is available for funding efforts selected from this BAA. Multiple awards are contemplated, with a single major award in the $5M - $7M range plus other technical focus awards in the $1M - $2M range. The Air Force Wright Laboratories Manufacturing Technology Directorate (WL/MTM) will serve as DARPA's agent for awards under this BAA. Contract awards will be for a period of 18-24 months, with an optional follow-on contract for beta testing. Proposals should include provision for participating in two Principal Investigator (PI) meetings per year. At least one PI meeting will be held jointly with AM3 PIs or participants of AM3 cooperative efforts to facilitate interaction between the projects. EVALUATION CRITERIA. Evaluation of proposals will be accomplished through a technical review of each proposal using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of importance: (1) overall technical merit and level of innovation of the proposed concepts including the potential to reduce cost and cycle time through the integration of the supply chains in the tactical missile sector, (2) scope and affordability of proposed supply chain integration concepts, (3) quality and scope of proposed demonstrations, (4) effectiveness of proposed technology transition approach and planning for down stream commercialization, (5) offeror's capabilities and related experience for performing the proposed work, and (6) cost realism. Note: cost realism will only be significant in proposals which have significantly under or over estimated the cost to complete their effort. GENERAL INFORMATION Proposers must obtain a pamphlet entitled ''BAA 96-21 Proposer Information Pamphlet'' (PIP) which provides further information on areas of interest, the submission, evaluation, and funding processes, proposal formats, and other general information. This pamphlet may be obtained by fax, electronic mail, or mail request to the administrative contact address given below. Proposals not meeting the format described in the pamphlet may not be reviewed. Proposers must submit an original and eight (8) copies of the full proposal and a copy on one 3.5 inch magnetic floppy storage disk of either Macintosh or IBM compatible media with all text in generic ASCII or Microsoft Word format, graphics in a format compatible with MS Word or PowerPoint, and spreadsheet data in either Excel or Lotus 123 format. All submissions must reference BAA 96-21 and be sent to: DARPA/DSO, 4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 725 Arlington, VA 22203 (ATTN: BAA 96-21), on or before COB July 3, 1996 in order to be considered. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA 96-21 Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP), constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal which shall be considered by DARPA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals, however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of research in electronic systems manufacturing and design support for mixed-technology integration. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a proposal to this BAA, should be directed in writing to one of the administrative addresses below, e-mail or fax is preferred. DARPA intends to use electronic mail and fax for correspondence regarding BAA 96-21. Proposals may not be submitted by fax or e-mail, any so sent will be disregarded. DARPA encourages use of the World Wide Web (WWW) for retrieving the PIP. The administrative addresses for this BAA are: Fax (703) 696-3999 (Addressed to: DARPA/DSO, BAA 96-21), Electronic Mail: BAA96-21@arpa.mil Mail: DARPA/DSO, ATTN: BAA 96-21, 4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 725, Arlington, VA 22203. This announcement may be retrieved via the WWW at URL http://www.darpa.mil/ in the solicitations area. (0122)

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