1.0.      Description

The Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) Program Manager, Supply and Maintenance Systems (PM SMS) program office is seeking potential sources to provide a quadruple container (QUADCON) through a Federal Supply Schedule under the General Services Administration (GSA).  The QUADCON will provide the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) an intermediate sized container to store and transport small organic equipment and consumable supplies (organizational clothing, individual equipment, administrative supplies, and repair parts) during deployment and while employed.  The purpose of this RFI is to identify sources capable of providing the QUADCON as described in the following paragraphs. 

Minimum Requirements:

The QUADCON system as described by Marine Corps Systems Command is an intermediate sized container/rack system used to store and transport small organic equipment and consumable supplies. The system must conform to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) design and performance criteria. It must meet CFR 49 specifications for freight containers, which in turn mandates Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) certification for freight containers.  The QUADCON system is a mission critical core funded asset that is currently utilized Marine Corps wide via land, sea, and air assets, it has become the main stay of the Marine Corps storage, embarkation, and containerized mobilization effort. 

The QUADCON system must be a lockable, non-vented, weatherproof, prefabricated all metal container, accessible via double doors on both ends of the container.  It must have four-way forklift pockets for movement via appropriately rated military and commercial forklift assets.  It must be compatible and interoperable with existing U.S. Marine Corps container racks/inserts/half-length inserts/horizontal connectors.  The QUADCON system must have IS0 configured corner fittings (ISO 1161:2016) to facilitate handling, restraint, and coupling with appropriate horizontal connectors to form arrays of two (pair) or four (quad).  The QUADCON must be compatible and interoperable with currently fielded Marine Corps QUADCONS (NSN 8145-01-556-1313) with the following characteristics.

Overall Dimensions

Exterior Length     4’ 9 3/8”

Exterior Width       8’

Exterior Height      6’ 10”

Gross Weight        11,200 lbs

Tare Weight            2,080 lbs

Payload                  9,400 lbs

2.0.      Background

The QUADCON is currently employed throughout the enterprise.  Additional QUADCONS are needed to meet Approved Acquisition Objectives for using units. 

3.0.      Requested Information. 

3.1. Do you have a viable Federal Supply Schedule that can support procurement of the QUADCON?

3.2. Provide your GSA Schedule information to include the category of products provided.

3.3. Approximately how many QUADCONS can be produced each month through your Federal Supply Schedule per year?  Include minimum and maximum quantities able to be delivered.  The Marine Corps approximates the following QUADCON procurement quantities by year:

Year         Qty

2024        100

2025        250

2026        100

2027        100

2028        100

3.4. Provide an estimate of the Government’s unit cost for the QUADCON, optional accessories with part numbers (including container racks and inserts), field-replaceable parts with part numbers, and technical manuals.  The estimate should include the unit cost per item.

3.5. What is the length of time on the standard warranty of the QUADCON?

4.0.     Responses

4.1. Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper.

4.2. White papers in Microsoft Word or Office compatible format are due no later than 22 January 2024, 11:00 a.m. EST.  Responses are limited to 5 pages and shall be submitted via email only to the Contract Specialist, [email protected].  Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED.  To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information.  Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.  Only Government employees will review the responses.

4.3. Section 1 of the white paper is not included in the page limitation and shall provide the following administrative information at a minimum:

4.3.1. Name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, and email of designated point of contact.

4.3.2. The offeror’s business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 332439 (Other Metal Container Manufacturing).  Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards.  The FAR is available at https://www.acquisition.gov/.

4.4. Section 2 of the white paper shall answer, at a minimum, the requested information addressed in Section 3 of this RFI.

5.0.    Industry Discussions

MCSC representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors.  Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks.

6.0.     Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing via email to the Contract Specialist, [email protected] no later than 2:00 pm EST, 5 January 2024 .  Verbal questions will NOT be accepted.  Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information.  The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 5 January 2024 will be answered. 

7.0.     Summary

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that offer hardware meeting the requirements listed in paragraph 1.0, via GSA schedule.  This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future.  The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.  The Marine Corps has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.  Further, the Marine Corps is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals.  All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.  Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued.  If a solicitation is released, it will be released on the GSA website.  It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.