US Army Industrial Operations Command, Attn: AMSIO-ACS, Rock Island, IL 61299-6000

13 -- LARGE CALIBER METAL CARTRIDGE CASES SOL DAAA09- POC Contact the Contract Specialist: Jim Cobb, (309)782-3790, POC for Technical: Matthew Nilsson, Industrial Engineer, (309)782-5989 voice - (309)782-1396 fax. Special attention be must be given when addressing requests for solicitations and bids/offers. Failure to properly address requests for solicitations in accordance with this CBD notice will result in non-receipt of the solicitation package. Failure to properly address bids/offers in accordance to solicitation instructions may result in a late bid which cannot be considered. Written, fax, or electronic requests for solicitation packages are accepted. No telephone requests will be honored. Requests for copies of this solicitation should include your commercial and government entity (CAGE a CAGE code has been assigned to you) along with your name, address, data fax number, and solicitation number. The fax number for requests is (309) 782-4803. Electronic requests may be accepted through the Automated Acquisition Information System (AAIS). All IOC solicitations are available for viewing/downloading, in addition to procurement history, via the AAIS. The AAIS accessible electronically 24 hours a day via modem at (309) 782-7648. Terminal emulation should be VT100, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. Once connected, enter ''aais'' at the ''LOGIN'' prompt. At the ''PASSWORD'' prompt depress the ''ENTER'' key. If electronic means is not possible, procurement history will be provided telephonically at (309) 782-8094 on a limited basis. This is a survey limited to U.S. and Canadian firms only. The Munitions Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Industrial Readiness, is conducting a market survey of U.S. and Canadian industry to identify potential contractors capable of manufacturing large caliber metal cartridge cases by means of a deep draw press operations or a flow forming operation. Cartridge cases to manufacture include the 76mm Navy round, 5'' 54 Navy MK9 round and M148A1B1 105mm Army tank round. Material typically is forging quality carbon steel, MIL-S-3289. These pieces must meet stringent dimensional and performance specifications. Metallic plating and heat treatment is necessary. Respondents must have available skills, equipment, facilities and applicable licenses/permits to perform necessary manufacturing operations. Description of typical manufacturing processes: Deep Draw: This process requires 30 plus operations to blank and extrude steel stock into a finished cartridge case. These operations include heat treating, pressing, machining and plating. Critical skills include tool and die makers, tool grinders, manufacturing engineers, set-up people and machinists. The pressing operations require heavy tonnage, long stroke presses. The tonnage of these presses range between 200 and 35,000 tons. No government-owned equipment nor funding is available. Flow Forming: This process is a method of cold forming cartridge cases in which the part is spun on a rotating mandrel with usually three computer numerically controlled (CNC) rollers that form metal to the desired shape and thickness. The starting blank is a cup produced by extrusion of forging and typically machined to improve dimensional accuracy. Critical skills include tool and die makers, tool grinders, manufacturing engineers, set-up people and machinists. The flow forming operation requires a large CNC three roller flow forming machine. Government-owned flow formers are not available. Equipment to produce starting blanks include large press and/or forging equipment. Government-owned equipment is not available. A respondent to this market survey must have available the skills required to perform most production and testing operations with sufficient extent of experience and levels of proficiency to produce these cartridge cases in a timely, efficient manner and have the capability to produce 10,000 cartridge cases a month on a 3-shift basis. a respondent must currently possess a majority of these processes in-house and demonstrate provisions for obtaining and setting up the remainder without significant delay. Total annual production projections for all large caliber cartridge cases are: 1997 - 6,000, 1998 - 25,000, 1999 - 60,000, 2000 - 80,000, and 2001 - 43,000. These projects are very sensitive to global and national events. Technical data does not exist for these items, but only a detailed questionnaire, including top drawing, may be provided to respondents. If a complete Technical Data Package is required, reproduction charges will be assessed. Interested firms who feel they are capable of manufacturing these items based on the above criteria are invited to indicate their interest by providing to the Government a summary of their company's capabilities, including a description of facilities, key skills, and past manufacturing experience. Information must be submitted within 15 calendar days from the date of this publication to U.S. Army Industrial Operations Command, Attn: AMSIO-IRC (MR. MATT Nilsson), Rock Island, Il 61299-6000. This is a market survey for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a request for proposal or as an obligation on the contract solely on the basis of this market survey or otherwise pay for information solicited. The information you provide will be utilized by the U.S. Army only in developing its acquisition approach for future requirements. (0166)

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