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Running head: ACQUISITION STRATEGY: PIEZOELECTRIC EMBEDDED TRANSDUCERS UNDER WALL GEOSTRUCTURE PROGRAM

Acquisition Strategy: Piezoelectric Embedded Transducers (PET)

Under the WALL Geostructure Program

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ASCM 628 Section 9040 2172

University of Maryland University College

March 11, 2017

This strategic plan will specify the details relating to the acquisition of Piezoelectric Embedded Transducers (PET) to be utilized to provide enhanced surveillance capabilities for the new Wide Alignment Limited Loading (WALL) Geostructure Program. As referenced by Kim, Roberts & Brown (2016), United States federal policy and regulatory guidance encourage the use of fixed-price contracts in an effort to secure best value for purchasing groups; therefore, the form of contract that shall be utilized shall be a Fixed Price Economic Price Adjustment (FPEPA) contract to account for the uncertainties of future economic conditions that may cause fluctuations in the future costs of supplies and equipment that the contractor might be required to provide under contract and would not at this time be predictable. Contract Type

Pursuant to 41 USC 253 and 10 USC 2305, competition will be full and open and the contract shall be both severable and non-severable. For the procurement of 1,000 Piezoelectric Embedded Transducers, the contract shall be non-severable; however, any elements relating to their maintenance and non-developmental support and data to be reported shall be considered non-severable. Additionally, given the complexity and technical nature of this service, price alone is not sufficient to determine the award and therefore, the contract will be awarded based on a contracting by negotiation bidding process. Furthermore, it is assumed that the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acquisitions Division wishes to hold discussions regarding the contract to ensure that its needs are clearly communicated and met to its satisfaction. To allow ICE to have maximum flexibility in awarding the contract, the trade-off process shall also be initiated.

Planning Fundamentals

The subsequent planning fundamentals shall also be incorporated within this strategic plan as they are essential for the PET sourcing and future negotiations: (1) Contractor Performance Requirements, (2) Deliverables, and (3) Assumptions.

Contractor Performance Requirements and Deliverables

The contractor shall be responsible for providing substantial value to ICE in the form of required hardware to ensure the enhancement of the surveillance capability for the WALL program, software to certify the technical monitoring and successful operation of the hardware, and the non-developmental support and data which will be utilized to analyze the stabilization and sustainability of the geostructures. The contractor’s performance requirements shall begin on the date specified within the contract and continue over a multi-year period with submissions of progress and status reports, at the request of ICE. The schedule and individual timeframes of each phase may be determined by the contractor; as will the assembly of a project team who will be responsible for the installation, operation and implementation of the system that will allow ICE to monitor the structural health and damage detection to ensure the reliability of the structure which is essential both for safety and economic purposes. Visual inspections or destructive tests which are the most widely used methods are costly and hardly efﬁcient since they are necessarily intermittent.

Gao, Dai, Liu, & Tian (2016) state that, “One of the main targets of structural health monitoring is the online damage detection, which not only reduces costs by minimizing maintenance and inspection cycles, but also prevents catastrophic failures at earlier stage. This is particularly useful for developing self-monitoring structures, into which “smart” materials are

Integrated.” As a nondestructive evaluation method, electromagnetic testing for damage detection is being employed, which applies the elements of piezoelectric materials as noninvasive means for monitoring structural health online.

Assumptions

Project Plan Development: the contractor shall develop a project plan with specific time frames that detail each phase of the system process, including hardware installation, software configuration, and non-developmental support and data that reflects testing and system monitoring.

Testing: the servers, machines, and other equipment used for testing shall be furnished by the contractor and installation and configuration of the systems, and its software. ICE representatives will assess and identify any errors, deficiencies or discrepancies and report them in writing to the contractor.

Contractor Expenses: ICE shall not be responsible for contractor expenses that might be incurred as a result of the project.

Acceptance of the Project: the final acceptance will occur over a multi-year period, when all discrepancies, errors or software irregularities identified by ICE have been resolved.

Payment: contract payment is due once the hardware has been installed and the new system has been tested and is fully operational. The amount due to the contractor shall be the amount agreed upon during the negotiation process, not to exceed the budgeted $20-$30M.

References

Gao, S., Dai, X., Liu, Z., & Tian, G. (2016). High-Performance Wireless Piezoelectric Sensor

Network for Distributed Structural Health Monitoring. International Journal Of

Distributed Sensor Networks, 1-16. Doi:10.1155/2016/3846804

Kim, Y. W., Roberts, A., & Brown, T. (2016). Impact of Product Characteristics and Market

Conditions on Contract Type: Use of Fixed Price Versus Cost-Reimbursement Contracts

in the U.S. Department of Defense. Public Performance and Management Review, 39(4),

783. doi:10.1080/15309576.2015.1137765

Office of Law Revision Counsel, United States Code, 41 USC § 253 (2012). Retrieved from

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-1999-title41- section253&num=0&edition=1999

Office of Law Revision Counsel, United States Code, 10 USC § 2305 (2012). Retrieved from

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title10-section2305&num=0&saved=%7CKHRpdGxlOjEwIHNlY3Rpb246MjMwNWEgZWRpdGlvbjpwcmVsaW0p%7C%7C%7C0%7Cfalse%7Cprelim

ASCM 628 9040 2172 Paper #1
Name:	Stephanie Watson
Date: 3/12/2017
Content and Development	Rating	Score
THREE (3) distinct acquisition planning fundamentals relevant to the PET acquisition process.	Substantially Met	4.625
Rationale and explanation for why the selected acquisition planning fundamentals are essential for the contemplated PET Sourcing and future negotiations.	Substantially Met	4.750
Selection of a Contract type for the major deliverable items 1, 2, and 3 in the given Scenario for the PET.	Substantially Met	4.625
Explanation for how the selected Contract type will contribute to meeting the factors and performance standards contribute explicitly to the PET acquisition objectives.	Substantially Met	4.750
Content and Development Total		18.75
Organization and Mechanics
Paper length	Substantially Met	1.250
4 References	Substantially Met	2.500
General writing mechanics - Organization, Headings, Formatting, Correctness	Substantially Met	2.500
Organization and Mechanics Total		6.25
Assignment Total		25.00
Your Paper addresses at least 3 relevant acquisition planning fundamentals. It highlights a good explanation and rationale that may be tied to the acquisition process for future negotiations. It includes a well-written summary of the processes to identify, evaluate, and selection of a good alternative for proceeding with the negotiation of the resultant PET Contract. You synthesized the deliverables for the given scenario well and demonstrated a significant understanding of the concepts by considering specific factors and applying them to your selection of Contract Type. Your points on Contract Type selection are well supported with other examples, which demonstrate a deeper understanding for planning and preparations for negotiations of the PET Contract. The page length is satisfactory and of good quality and shows skillful use of, at least 4 relevant sources important for benchmarking critical thought appropriate for the discipline and theme of the Assignment scenario. The Paper is well organized and formatted and your writing is well done with no errors which impede the reader’s understanding.