AIRBEAM CYCLE TESTING In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 the U.S. Army Material Command Acquisition Center, Natick Contracting Division, Natick MA 01760, intends to negotiate and award a sole source contract to Federal Fabrics-Fibers, Lowell Massachusetts. The effort will include testing of existing Airbeams that are currently being manufactured by this company and to make modifications thereto. The effort will also include cycle testing of the Airbeams and data collection. Based on the results of the testing, modifications will be made to the Airbeams and cycle testing will be conducted on the modified beams. The Airbeams manufactured by this company are used in the critical Chemically Biologically Protected Shelter System (CBPSS) program and there have been noted durability problems with the beams. In an effort to identify the exact cause of the problem, hundreds of testing cycles is required. Federal Fabrics-Fibers Airbeams are proprietary in nature; therefore, no other source could manufacture the identical beams to determine the cause of the problem, nor could any other company apply the same technology that is currently being used to make modifications thereto. These tests are instrumental to the longevity of the CBPSS program. Federal Fabrics possess all the necessary equipment, personnel and technical expertise to perform this effort. Award to any other company would incur substantial duplication of costs, cause extremely long delays without any guarantee that the exact process was duplicated or the problems identified and have serious impact on the success of the CBPSS contract. This announcement is reduced from 45 days to 20 days. This is due to the current testing that is taking place on the CBPSS and the necessity to award the contract in the shortest time. Airbeam testing must commence before mid-August so that the problems are identified and resolved and any CBPSS testing risk is greatly mitigated to insure success of the program. If you have any questions concerning this notice pleasee-mail them to the Contracting Officer, Ed Lavigne at the address listed below. See Note 22. E-MAIL: click here to contact the Contracting Officer, edward.lavigne@natick.army.mil. Posted 07/27/00 (W-SN479596).

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0551 20000731\SP-0028.MSC)

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