THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION/COMMENTS (RFI) SYNOPSIS ONLY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RFI SYNOPSIS IS TO SEEK INFORMATION/COMMENT REGARDING THE PROCUREMENT OF A DEPLOYABLE 120 LPM OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR FOR THE U.S. ARMY MEDICAL MATERIEL AGENCY (USAMMA), FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION TITLE: USAMMA 120 LPM OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR DISCLAIMER: The attached draft Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued solely for market research, information, and planning purposes only. This Request for Information (RFI) does not constitute an Invitation for Bid, a Request for Proposal, or a Request for Quotation. Ideas contained herein may change significantly during the requirement's ongoing program design, consultation, and approval process. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. This RFI does not commit the Government to the award of a contract. Availability of any formal solicitation resulting from this RFI, if a solicitation is released, will be synopysized separately on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website (http://www.fbo.gov). PROPOSALS ARE NOT REQUESTED AT THIS TIME AND WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. Submitting entities should review FAR 3.104 and FAR subpart 24.2 which sets forth the Government's obligations to protect information submitted in response to this RFI. Pursuant to FAR 15.201(f), information to be provided by the Government in a public forum to a potential respondent in response to such respondent's request must not be disclosed if doing so would reveal the potential Respondent's confidential business strategy, and is protected under FAR 3.104 or FAR subpart 24.2. (Nonetheless, Respondents should properly mark their responses if the information is confidential). The anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is, 339999, All Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing. The small business size standard is 500 employees. Your response should identify your business size (large or small) in relation to the NAICS code. BACKGROUND: The results of the Army's prior solicitation for a deployable 120LPM Oxygen Concentrator were less than satisfactory. From this procurement, the testing of demonstration units in field conditions did not meet the Army's requirements. These systems were unsatisfactory in terms of reliability, availability and maintainability. The Army would like industry to review the requirements included in this draft RFP and submit recommendations focused on: 1. Improvements to sustainability and maintainability of these systems. 2. The Army is interested in new technologies, new designs, and/or changes to configuration, employment, training, maintenance or other factors that would improve the overall reliability and sustainability of these systems. 3. The Army will review all comments and consider modifications to its requirements, based on industry input, before posting any subsequent RFP. 4. The Army is also interested in lead times for manufacture of improved systems and industries willingness to submit test articles in response to future RFP submissions. 5. Are there any areas where interested parties believe a potential risk exists or will present itself by fulfilling the terms of the draft RFP? 6. Is there any area within the draft RFP where interested parties believe the Government has failed to adequately set forth the stated requirements in a clear and unambiguous manner? 7. Is there any area within the draft RFP that has an overall positive and/or negative impact on the process of evaluating contractor performance (i.e. performance objectives, evaluation process, etc.)? 8. Is there any area within the draft RFP that appears unduly burdensome to either the Government or the Contractor towards the goal of achieving superior contractor performance? RESPONSE INFORMATION: Responses to this draft RFP are strictly voluntary. Interested parties shall provide all feedback in writing no later than 2:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time), on February 28, 2013. Interested Parties may e-mail them to
[email protected] or mail them to the following address: US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, ATTN: MCMR-AAA, 820 Chandler Street, Frederick, MD 21702-5014 Point of Contact: Joy D. Kamara, 301-619-9426