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Sources Sought: Monitoring Technology Solutions for Shipyard Efficiency

NCMS is assisting a naval shipyard partner to find equipment monitoring technology solutions to increase maintenance efficiency.

Problem Statement

  • The naval shipyard has a considerable number of forklifts that are used continuously to transport various items from one part of the shipyard to another. Preventative maintenance of these forklifts is scheduled based on the meter readings of these machines. It is a time consuming and cumbersome task to collect meter readings of these machines on a regular basis and to manually update the records. The shipyard is seeking an innovative solution that would automatically track the time when a forklift is in operation and electronically send that data to the maintenance database.
  • In addition, this shipyard has a large amount of production equipment/machinery in various shops on the yard. These machines are used to perform repair and maintenance tasks (CNC machines, Water jets, Milling machines, Automatic welders, etc.). Maintenance of these machines is performed on a periodic basis based on a set schedule but some of these machines are used only once in a while for a few unique and specific tasks. Therefore, they may not need to be serviced if they are not in use. The shipyard is seeking a solution to track the operation of these machines and to assess the need for service based on their actual condition such as the condition of lubricant, time of operation, etc., and to transmit that information electronically to the maintenance database.
  • Shipyard has a large number of critical support equipment that need to be operating continuously in order to provide various essential services during an operation. These systems are currently manually overserved and assessed by the designated workforce on a timely basis. The shipyard is seeking an electronic solution to monitor and communicate the operation of these systems in real-time. In a situation, if the system is not performing in the desired way (overheating/overload/decrease in RPM, low pressure, shut-off, etc.) tracking solution should be able to send the notifications to the concerned POC so the system should be checked in a timely manner.
  • Shipyard has a large number of wireless IT devices deployed all over the yard. These devices need to be tracked and maintained by the IT dept. on a regular basis to ensure they are all up to date on their software upgrades and security patches etc. IT department would like to track the location of these devices in real-time in order to streamline this task. An ideal solution should be able to track the actual location of these devices and transfer that information electronically to the concerned POC.

Desired Solutions

  1. Autonomously collecting forklift meter readings to automate their preventative maintenance program – IOT’s.
  2. Monitoring shop equipment to augment our predictive maintenance program.
  3. Regular monitoring of critical support equipment to ensure these systems stay on-line.
  4. Monitoring wireless IT assets (laptops, tablets, PDA’s, Cellphones etc.) to identify their location.

Preference will be given to technology compatible with existing Wi-Fi infrastructure on the shipyard. Currently, the shipyard has a wide network of Wi-Fi coverage which is capable of receiving data/information from various Navy approved sensors/transmitters and host it on a local server on the yard. Cloud-based systems are not desired because of data security concerns.

Salient features of desired technology:

  1. Battery powered/powered by the electric source of host equipment.
  2. Internal/external sensors.
  3. Capability to sense vibrations, motion, location, viscosity, temperature etc.
  4. One-way communication only (information/data transfer from host equipment to the end user).

Equipment should meet Network and IT security classification requirements.

  1. RESPONSES

Responses to Sources Sought need to provide the following:

Background of capability development

  • Examples of where the capability is currently used if any
  • A corporate presentation including engineering, manufacturing, and testing capabilities
  • Cost Summary Form

Interested parties should complete the following form. All questions and/or inquiries can be addressed to opportunities@ncms.org

QA Sources Sought Monitoring Technology for Shipyard Efficiency

The submission period has closed.