Rothe Development, Inc., 4614 Sinclair Rd., San Antonio, TX 78222

36 -- PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD RAPID PROTOTYPING MACHINE Sol RFQ 7023-46. Due 112996. Contact William D. Rothe, (210) 648-3131./ Subcontracting Officer. Referenced: Subcontract 7023-46. This is a modification to Sources Sought Synopsis published in the CBD on 7 July 1995 (PSA 1383). Rothe Development, Inc. is a prime contractor for NASA JSC. Rothe has a requirement for manufacturing prototypes of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) within short time spans for design verification and concurrent engineering. Rothe believes that the only product on the market which meets the technical specifications outlined below is the CircuitWriter circuit board prototyping system manufactured by Sophia Systems and Technology. Rothe intends to subcontract on a sole source basis with Sophia Systems and Technology for a CircuitWriter Model 1.5 System consisting of: (i) Robotics Station; (ii) Mill/Drill Applications Head; (iii) Extrusion Application Head; (iv) embedded computer control system with monitor, keyboard, and 3 copies of operations, maintenance, parts and CAD reference manuals; (v) CAD conversion utility software; (vi) starter package consisting of 2 each circuitpen sets, pen cleaning kit, 3 each circuit board blanks, plus an assortment of mill/drill bits and required supplies; (vii) 20 additional circuitpen sets (viii) training for four people at Sophia's facility and a four day training course at Johnson Space Center; (ix) a three year full parts and labor service agreement (to commence 6 months after acceptance of the system; the first six months Sophia Systems will warrant full parts and labor) (Note: The service agreement includes both periodic and emergency maintenance - emergency response is required within two working days); and (x) an agreement that the purchase is contingent upon successful completion of beta testing by NASA at Johnson Space Center (testing will commence for 90 days after installation and responsibilities will be defined via separate agreement). Beta Testing took place at Johnson Space Center from 1 November 1995 to 31 October 1996. The system was expected to meet the following technical performance parameters. The boards must be the same high quality and perform the same as copper etched boards and they must be form factor identical to production boards. Conductivity between connections will be equivalent to solder. The machine will be expected to fabricate all single and double-sided PCBs, all four and six-layer boards, and low to medium density eight layer designs. Boards will be sized up to 11'' x 14'' with an estimated production quantity of one to two per day. The process must be relatively low in cost, produce boards relatively rapidly (i.e. 2-3 hours for a simple four-layer board to 10-15 hours for complex designs) and automatic (i.e. not requiring operator intervention except for initiation). The system must accept Gerber and NC drill files from the local NASA CAD system ( ) and translate them into build files. The computer control system must be dedicated to the circuitboard fabrication process and not be able to be used for any other computer function. The system must be capable of producing circuitboards with 10 mil traces and 10 mil spacing (20 mil pitch) for polymer traces and 8 mil traces and 8 mil spacing (16 mil pitch) for milled traces. Orthogonal and diagonal (45 degree) traces must be supported. Through-hole and/or Surface Mount technologies must be supported. Fabricated boards must be able to withstand all normal board rework procedures including handsoldering, wave soldering, and IR reflow for surface mount components. System must have no toxic emissions and must safeguard operators from contact with chemicals of any kind. Shelf life of the pen set shall be 90 days when stored at 5 degree C. The pot life of the pen set shall be at least one week at room temperature. The system has been determined to successfully meet these requirements and this notice advises that Rothe Development, Inc. intends to purchase the system from Sophia Systems, Inc. Vendors offering comparable equipment must supply complete product information indicating exactly what equipment would be offered, three customer references, and pricing data (including costs of service agreement, technical documentation, freight, and full costs of training at JSC (i.e. costs for travel, meals, hotel, and rental car). Comparable equipment being sought must be equal to or exceed the technical specifications of the Sophia Systems and Technology CircuitWriter model 1.5 system. No solicitation document exists; therefore, request for such a document will be considered nonresponsive and not valid for further consideration. All responsible sources may submit a proposal and quotation which shall be considered. Written responses must be received by the agent at the address specified within 15 calendar days after this notice appears. If no affirmative responses are received within this time to determine that a source is available whose proposal is more advantageous, a delivery order will be placed with Sophia Systems and Technology. FAX # (210) 648-4091. (320)

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