NSRP ASE PreSolicitation: Notice for Research Announcement

The following NSRP ASE PreSolicitation Notice was released:

This is a pre‐solicitation notice for the NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program. Upon reasonable assurance that FY11 funds will be provided (expected late summer 2010), the NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program plans to issue a formal Research Announcement on the research effort described below.

The NSRP ASE program goal is to reduce the cost of building and maintaining U.S. Navy ships. To accomplish this, NSRP ASE is focused on industry‐wide implementation of solutions to common cost drivers – solutions to consensus priority issues that exhibit a compelling business case to improve the efficiency of the U.S.

Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry. Solutions include both leverage of best commercial practices and creation of industry‐specific initiatives. Proposals that incorporate aggressive technology transfer to, and buy in by, multiple U.S. shipyards are strongly preferred. Successful projects are those that clearly reduce total ownership costs with benefits that can be delivered by varied combinations of cost reductions in acquisition and fleet life‐cycle costs, which are critical elements in the Navy’s 30‐year shipbuilding plan. The complete Research Announcement (RA) will be posted at www.nsrp.org. The formal Research Announcement will solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices in the U.S. shipbuilding and repair enterprise that will achieve one or more of the following:

1. Improved first‐time quality in ship construction and/or repair

2. Reduction in Total Ownership Cost of ships

3. Improved energy efficiency and/or environmental impact in shipyards and/or ships

The Research Announcement will be modified as necessary to reflect changes in industry and/or government priorities.

Teaming

Teaming arrangements are encouraged. At least one U.S. shipyard should be substantially involved in each project, normally in a leadership role. Exceptions to this may be considered on a case‐by‐case basis where there is compelling justification that the program mission is best served by the proposed deviation. Evidence of Navy customer support for a proposal idea will be viewed as meaningful evidence of value to the Navy and thus a favorable evaluation factor.

Awards

Due to limited funding, the NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to limit awards, and only proposals considered to be of superior quality will be funded. The NSRP ASE Program reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposals received.

The amount of funding available will be dependent upon receipt of Government Fiscal Year 2011 funds. It is anticipated that approximately $10 ‐ 12 million will be available for the first year of new NSRP ASE Program awards for this solicitation cycle based on expected budget actions; however, there is no guarantee of this funding level.

Awards will be made using a Technology Investment Agreement, which is not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations. A copy of the NSRP ASE Program Technology Investment Agreement will be made available on the NSRP website (www.nsrp.org) by the time the Research Announcement is released.

The award date is expected to be in the April‐May 2011 timeframe for most, if not all, selected proposals.

Mandatory Abstracts

It will be mandatory that any proposal submitted in response to the Research Announcement be preceded by an abstract of up to three pages in length. Details on abstract format and submission guidelines will be provided on the NSRP website (www.nsrp.org) prior to Research Announcement release. Abstracts will be shared with Navy shipbuilding Program Executive Officers and their staffs, for information and optional comment. Feedback on the abstracts from the Navy and the NSRP Executive Director staff will be provided to submitters approximately three weeks after the abstract due date. Abstracts and feedback will not be shared with other proposers or proposal evaluators.

Proposal Due Date

Due date for full proposals in response to the intended RA will be published when the solicitation is released.

Basis For Award

The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. Details of the evaluation criteria are provided in the Proposal Preparation Kit, and are summarized below:

Technical Aspects

The Technical Proposal will be evaluated based on the following criteria, defined in more detail in the Proposal

Preparation Kit:

-          Strategic fit and leverage

-          Business case

-          Innovation and technical merit

-          Technology transfer and industry implementation

Team strength and management plan

Other factors that will be considered include the following, also described in more detail in the Proposal

Preparation Kit:

-          Cost share

-          Shipyard specificity

-          Project execution

-          Workforce impacts

Cost Aspects

The Cost Proposal will be evaluated for completeness, reasonableness and realism of the proposed costs. Additionally, proposed spending profiles will be considered in the context of program financial requirements and constraints. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time.

POINT OF CONTACT

Ms. Melissa Ingram, ATI Contracting, NSRP ASE Program Administrator

Email: [email protected]