Cold Climate Aviation De-icing Technologies

Trade Agreement: Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
APS Aviation Inc.
6700 Cote-de-Liesse, Suite 105
Montreal (St-Laurent) Quebec
Canada
H4T2B5
Nature of Requirements: 

Cold Climate Aviation De-icing Technologies

T8156-170044/A
Schmidt, Jeff
Telephone No. - (905) 615-2058 
Email - jeff.schmidt@pwgsc.gc.ca

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of the requirement

2.1 Transport Canada (TC) has a requirement for a wide range of Research and Development (R&D) tasks relating to aircraft ground icing in cold climatic conditions. This requirement relates to the development of solutions, processes, and the investigation of technologies that will enhance de-icing and anti-icing of aircraft.  

2.2 The work involves various anticipated R&D program elements, such as, but not limited to: 

2.2.1 The evaluation of winter weather data;

2.2.2 The evaluation of de/anti-icing fluid endurance times on deployed flaps and slats;

2.2.3 Investigating the effects of de/anti-icing fluids and ice phobic technologies on aircraft surfaces prone to icing;

2.2.4 Examining the integrity of freezing and thawing thickened fluids and the resulting holdover times; 

2.2.5 Investigating the use of sensor technologies to detect icing on aircraft; 

2.2.6 Evaluating de/anti-icing fluid holdover times for various types of fluids and in various winter precipitation conditions; 

2.2.7 Investigating the potential of reduced effectiveness of de/anti-icing fluids on the interaction between the horizontal stabilizer and elevator of regional transport airplanes; 

2.2.8 The examination of how Outside Air Temperature (OAT) is used to determine frost holdover time tables; 

2.2.9 The development of visibility limits for heavy and very heavy snow; 

2.2.10 Full scale evaluation of de/anti-icing fluid endurance times on the horizontal stabilizer verses the wing; 

2.2.11 Investigation of aircraft nose cone as a suitable representative surface for determining de/anti-icing fluid condition during holdover times.

2.3 The outcome of this work is significant for the aviation industry and constitutes a major part of research and development related to aircraft ground icing for the Government of Canada, its partners, and stakeholders. The Cold Climate Aviation Technologies (CCAT) program builds upon previous R&D testing in both a field and laboratory setting for the purposes of evaluating the performance of anti/de-icing fluids, the development and management of technical reports and holdover time tables, and assessing and investigating new and emerging technologies related to aircraft icing detection.  The overall goal is to identify new solutions related to ground icing of aircraft and correlate the performance of de/anti-icing products with the performance of actual aircraft wings, or other critical surfaces. 
The research results will be used to prepare de/anti-icing fluid holdover time tables, be published in technical reports, and be presented to the Canadian and international aviation community at various seminars and conferences.

3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements;

3.1 Experience 

Interested suppliers must provide a portfolio or summary of the projects they have completed to demonstrate they meet the Experience requirements.

3.1.1 The Contractor must have a minimum of 10 years of aviation related experience as of the ACAN closing date undertaking the following tasks: 

3.1.1.1 Testing and evaluating aircraft de/anti-icing fluids in an outdoor and indoor environment including testing on actual aircraft wings and representative flat plate surfaces at an airport facility and in a climatic cold chamber and aerodynamic wind tunnel; 

3.1.1.2 Developing test programs for de/anti-icing fluids through the analysis of fluid performance and processing relevant data to be used in the compilation of the fluid holdover time tables; 

3.1.1.3 Interacting with aviation related government regulatory agencies, academia, and other private sector organizations, managing high value aviation technical projects with competing concurrent tasks;

3.1.1.4 Publishing aeronautical technical material and presenting this work at Canadian and international aviation seminars and conferences.

3.1.2 The proposed supplier must have sufficient capability (a minimum of four (4) team members with scientific/engineering backgrounds and a minimum of two (2) team members with an administrative background) to undertake several tasks concurrently.

3.2 Knowledge and Understanding  

In order to demonstrate they meet the Knowledge and Understanding requirements, interested suppliers must provide technical papers, journal articles or conference proceedings that detail their work on aircraft ground deicing fluid testing.

3.2.1 The Contractor must have knowledge and understanding of atmospheric precipitation conditions that could affect aviation winter operations such as freezing drizzle, freezing fog, clear ice, rime ice, ice pellets, ice crystals, frost, snow pellets, super cooled liquid water droplets, etc.;

3.2.2 The Contractor must have knowledge of how to test and evaluate de/anti-icing fluids on metal plates and on actual commercial airplane wings in an indoor (climatic cold chamber and aerodynamic wind tunnel) and outdoor (airport facility) environment; 

3.2.3 The Contractor must have familiarity with Canadian and U.S. aviation regulations and standards regarding ground icing; 

3.2.4 The Contractor must have knowledge and understanding of the types of ice accretion affecting various airplane surfaces; 

3.2.5 The Contractor must have knowledge and understanding of data reduction and regression analysis techniques and methods; 

3.2.6 The Contractor must have knowledge of standards and procedures required for the publication of technical reports as well as holdover time tables.

3.3 Academic Qualifications 

At least one member of the supplier’s scientific/engineering team must possess an undergraduate degree from a recognized university in the field of engineering.  In order to demonstrate they meet the Academic Qualifications, interested suppliers must provide a copy of the proposed resources undergraduate degree.    

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:

? Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)

5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

This R&D work continues a major program of research, testing, and evaluation related to aircraft winter operations, much of which has already been conducted in the past by APS Aviation Inc. (APS).  APS has acquired extensive experience and has developed a unique expertise in the areas of field and laboratory testing of de/anti-icing fluids as well as the investigation and evaluation of technologies to enhance de-icing and anti-icing of aircraft.

Much of this work is reliant on scientific and engineering expertise that requires the collection, analysis and manipulation of data and information that is utilized for the eventual development of guidelines, standards, recommended practices and other regulatory instruments both domestically, and on the international level. To that effect, it is of utmost importance that the quality, integrity, and the continuity of the data collected remain as consistent and reliable as possible to that which was collected in previous years. This ensures that the use of resources remains efficient, thorough, and cost effective to meet the project requirements.

To the best of Transport Canada’s knowledge, APS Aviation Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is the only known supplier with the expertise and experience capable of performing the work which meets both the government’s requirements and statement of capabilities.

6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - “only one person is capable of performing the work.”

7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the 

Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) - Article 513.1 (b) (iii), “due to an absence of competition for technical reasons.”   

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Canada intends to retain ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract on the basis that the main purpose of the contract is to generate knowledge and information for public dissemination.

9. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date

The proposed contract is for a period of 9 months, from February 1 to October 31, 2018 with four optional 1 year periods.  

10. Cost estimate of the proposed contract

The estimated value of the contract, including options, is estimated to be approximately $4,409,020.00 (GST/HST extra).

11. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier

APS Aviation Inc
6700 Côte-de-Liesse, Suite 105
Montréal (St-Laurent), QC H4T 2B5

12. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

13. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is January 19, 2018.

14. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to: 

Jeff Schmidt
Supply Specialist 
Acquisitions Directorate 
Public Services and Procurement Canada - Ontario Region
33 City Centre Dr., Ste. 480, Mississauga, ON L5B 2N5 
Telephone: 905-615-2058
E-mail: jeff.schmidt@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca 
Government of Canada
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.