Posted on

Top 5 DoD battery contractors – week of July 29, 2018

Today is a continuation of yesterdays article for the top 5 battery contractors selling to DoD last week. Through research of our daily DoD procurement data we present the remaining 4 top battery contractors selling to DoD the for  week of July 29, 2018.

Second ranking for sales of batteries to DoD is Saft America, transportation division.  Their CAGE code at that location is 09052, they have several divisions. The order was for a quantity thirty-seven 24V – 35AH nicad batteries at cost of $8,041.12 each totaling $297,521.44.  The NSN sold 6140-01-385-4191 is used on the H-1 Helicopters.

Third place was Harris Corporation CAGE code 14304 selling another battery used with one of the Harris radios.

Fourth place was Concorde Battery Corp CAGE code 63017 selling a battery similar to the 6140-01-385-4191, except this one NSN 6140-01-420-8988 is used on the F-18 aircraft.  It sold at a price of $1,425.60 each totaling $114,048.00 for the 80 they purchased.

And the 5th company with the top dollars in sales to DoD last week was Enersys selling another battery used on the F-18 aircraft.  The cost was $2,322.98 each at a quantity of 47 pieces.  Since BidLink updates procurement data on a daily basis I wanted to include another order I just saw for the same NSN 6140-01-458-4863 posted two days ago on August 08, 2018 for 60 more batteries under contract SPE7LX-15-D-0064. Enersys is a public company trading under the stock ticker ENS.

BidLink is a provider of DoD procurement research tools and has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement and solicitations for the past 18 years. Find defense contracts and research competition. Learn more at www.bidlink.net

Posted on

DoD awards Harris Corporation $831,363.75 for batteries sold last week

While creating a report on the top 5 companies selling military batteries to DoD for last week, we found something interesting.  The top manufacturer we came up with didn’t appear to be a dedicated battery manufacturer, it was Harris Corporation.

A quick review on our data pertaining to DoD contracts we saw one single delivery order awarded to Harris Corporation, stock ticker HRS.  The order was for 2,415 rechargeable batteries totaling $831,363.75 on Thursday August 2nd 2018.  The order was for a lithium ion battery part number 12041-2400-02 which is used on the Harris radio AN/PRC-152.  This handheld radio is one of types of two way radios used by DoD.

Since our initial thought was we would find only battery manufacturers or battery distributors selling to DoD, we investigated a little further. We found an old SEC press release that stated that Ultralife Batteries, now known as Ultralife Corp under the stock ticker ULBI was awarded a contract by Harris to develop a high-capacity rechargeable lithium ion battery pack for use with the Harris Falcon(R) II multiband handheld radio and since the AN/PRC-152 radios series use the name Falcon it’s a possibility and more research would need to be done to see who is actually manufacturing the batteries.

If you are a battery manufacturer or distributor of batteries you are probably well aware of who might be making the batteries for Harris Corporation, or it may very well be Harris.

BidLink is a provider of DoD procurement research tools and has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement and solicitations for the past 18 years. Find defense contracts and research competition. Learn more at www.bidlink.net

Posted on

DoD Small Business Sales Breakdown – June 2018

Last week we looked at DoD Small Business set-aside sales as a whole, today we’ll take a quick look at the breakdown which includes Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOSB), and HUBZone Small Business.

The chart above shows the total sales over the past 3 years for each of the small business set-aside sectors. These are all prime contracts such as items sold direct to the Department of Defense (DoD).   Each year since 2015 the DoD awarded contract sales to each group has risen except within the HUBZone sector which has grown slowly.  This is probably due to not enough HUBZone companies answering government solicitations.

The chart above shows the total DoD sales to all small business set-aside sectors for FY 2018 year to date as of June 2018. With 3 months left of the U.S. Governments fiscal year it appears that the trend is continuing as the sales relate to each sector except the overall budget is higher so we expect the totals in September 2018 to be higher than last year.

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years. Find defense contracts and research competition.  Learn more at www.bidlink.net

Posted on

DoD Small Business Sales up 26%

Over the past 3 years small businesses sales to the Department of Defense (DoD) have been steadily increasing. In fact yearly sales have risen on average 4.5 Billion dollars each year and this year it’s even higher.  The chart above shows the total small business sales to DoD was  $31.5 Billion dollars in 2017 compared to $39.6 Billion in sales as of June 25, 2018 up almost 26% from last year.  Small businesses received $8.1 Billion dollars more in prime contracts selling to the DoD than they did last year, this trend is likely to continue till the end of the year.

Small Business set-asides are specific procurement goals which Congress puts forth under the Small Business Act in order to set-aside a percentage of U.S. Government contracts to small businesses.

The U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is responsible for ensuring government participation of these goals. The 2018 small business goal for DoD is to have 22% of their contracts awarded to small businesses.  DoD monitors all contract awards to small business daily in order to keep meeting these goals.  This chart above was created from data gathered from these awards on June 25, 2018.

The DoD budget increased by $33 Billion from 2017 to 2018 this is also an indicator for an increase in small businesses sales as the goal is based percentages of sales.  In fact the DoD budget has increased by over $20 Billion dollars every year since 2015.  With only 3 months of Government spending left this year in order for DoD to continue to meet their small business procurement goals they need to award more government contracts to small businesses, probably close to $20 Billion or more this year.

Meeting DoD small business procurement goals is not just a concern of the U.S. Government it should also be a concern of every small business to help them meet or exceed their goals. Actively searching for Government contracts and taking advantage of these set-asides is a crucial activity often missed even by the “seasoned contractor”.  As part of research for this article we used the BidLink database and search engine reviewing NSN’s, parts which had been solicited using set-asides such as HUBZone, small business.  There were government solicitations we found with no associated contract award possibly due to the fact that no companies with the correct set-aside responded.  Are some of the government contractors sleeping on the job and missing these government opportunities?

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.  Find defense contracts and research competition.  Learn more at www.bidlink.net

Posted on

US Government plans on buying 20 Harley Davidson motorcycles for Egypt

The Army Contracting Command, Warren Michigan division currently has an open solicitation for 20 Harley Davidson motorcycles in support of the Egyptian Government. This is a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement. The supplier is to provide the Harley Davidson motorcycles along with all the associated riding gear, Harley Davidson parts, and complete sets of tools – Basically a dream setup for any bike owner’s home garage and 20 of their friends.

This complete set of items includes things like spare engines, Harley Davidson leather riding jackets, boots, gloves, helmets, goggles, and the ultimate tool set by snap on tools. This solicitation is a small business set-aside which has been open for over a year as the requirements have changed several times, it’s now due to close again on June 27th 2018.  When it’s finally awarded they will be delivered to the Egyptian Ministry of Defense in Cairo Egypt.

Details of the Requirement:

  • Solicitation number: W56HZV-17-R-0091
  • Current close date: June 27, 2018 (This solicitation has open and closed before a few times)

Motorcycles

  • Model: Harley Davidson FLHTP Electra Glide police motorcycle
  • Quantity: 4 single seat and 16 dual seat motorcycles
  • Support Equipment – Repair and wear items
  • 6 Spare engines, normal repair and maintenance parts and extras such windshields and handlebars.

Tools by Snap-on such as:

  • 6 Red tool chests, 5 drawer type – part number kra2055, NSN 5140-01-434-5792
  • 6 Torque wrenches part number qd2fr75, NSN 5120-01-355-1734
  • 6 Combination wrench sets part number oexm710b, NSN 5120-01-428-8366
  • And many others – see attachments in bid details

Riding Gear:

  • 100 Harley Davidson heavy duty leather riding jackets
  • 100 riding boots and gloves
  • 200 police helmets and driver goggles

After a quick review of BidLink NSN data and Government contracts we found over 1000 NSNs associated to Harley Davidson cage code 27296. Many of these NSNs date back to the 1960’s.  Direct Government or military sales of Harley Davidson products to the military was low.  On the other hand the sales of Snapon tools sales are out of control as the military buys a lot of them.  The CAGE code for Snap-on tools (AKA IDSC Holdings) is 55719. Click here to do your own research.

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.

Posted on

Army seeks bids for ice coolers used for deep-sea catches and big events

Today after our daily review of current open solicitations we found an Army requirement posted for several huge ice coolers a very timely request as today is the first day of summer. The size of the cooler is over 82 gallons weighing in at 89 pounds when empty.  This Army requirement is coming out of Fort Benning, GA.  One listed requirement says the cooler is for “deep-sea catches” – Army fishing missions?

The solicitation requests the Yeti Tundra 350 cooler, however the buyer is accepting brand name or equal as long as the alternate item provided meets the salient characteristics of the Yeti cooler.

Using the BidLink database for research we were able to find a few National Stock Numbers (NSN’s) for some of Yeti’s coolers with procurement history, however there were no NSNs associated to this almost 6 foot wide ice chest. Yeti’s CAGE code is 5REC4. One of yeti’s smaller coolers, the 45 quart model has an NSN assigned which is 4110-01-579-0984, it sold in November of 2017 at a price of 297.49 each the ordered quantity was 12, there were many other orders that year.

This solicitation which is a Small business set-aside closes on June 26, 2018, it’s also a reverse auction solicitation which will be processed through FedBid.

Summary

  • Solicitation number: BENNING30THAGAM0011
  • Outside dimensions: 24 ¾” x 23 ¼” × 63 ½”
  • Inside dimensions: 16 ¾’’ × 17 ¾” × 54 5/8”
  • Empty weight: 89 pounds
  • Description: 19,000 cubic inches of capacity and enough space to hold 82.4 gallons, it’s built to handle big events and deep-sea catches.
  • Quantity requested: 14 each
  • Contracting Office: 5305 3rd Infantry Division Rd, Fort Benning, GA 31905

Distributors or manufacturers’ of ice chests / coolers have a bid opportunity somewhere in the thousands of dollars range for this solicitation selling to the Army, Happy fishing.

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.

Posted on

DLA’s buying parts for M2A2 Aiming Circles, needs SDVOSB machine shops

Today DLA’s contracting office SPE4A6 – Aviation supply chain commodities division posted a requirement for an item used on the M2A2 Aiming Circles. The requested item is a metal spacer plate, aluminum alloy about 3 inches in diameter with two concentric bolt circles.  It’s a simple part any machine shop could manufacture.  DLA says they have a complete set of drawings for the item.  Machine shops searching for government contracts of metal parts should look at this one.

This spacer plate NSN 5365-01-082-7978 is part of the end item, “M2A2 Aiming Circle” NSN 6675-01-067-0687. An Aiming Circle is a portable optical telescopic device used by the Army and Marines to measure elevation and azimuth angles for field artillery and mortar target acquisition, somewhat similar to a transit used in surveying operations.

In supporting/sustainment of end items the Defense Department (DoD) either buys parts direct from the manufacturer or from other sources. This specific end item NSN 6675-01-067-0687 has a couple of repair/support parts DoD buys from sources other than the manufacturer, this is the case with the Spacer, Plate listed in this open solicitation. It’s one way new companies can start selling to DoD by going after these business opportunities.

According to BidLink procurement history after performing an NSN lookup  5365-01-082-7978 official name “Spacer, Plate” the last government contract SPE4A4-18-V7811 was awarded to Seiler Instrument Cage code 11934. The price was $30.00 each quantity of 33 pieces. Today’s open solicitation SPE4A6-18-T-12M1 is for a quantity of 218, however it’s classified as a Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-aside which means Seiler Instrument can’t bid on it since their business is not classified as SDVOSB.

Seiler Instrument is a manufacturer specializing in optical instrument and lens manufacturing. Providing the Defense Department (DoD) products such as optical fire control sighting and ranging equipment.  Click on their Cage code 11934 in Vendor data section to see what items they produce and how much they are selling.  Their company has about 150 employees located in Saint Louis Missouri.

Summary

  • Solicitation SPE4A6-18-T-12M1 closes on June 18, 2018
  • Item requested NSN 5365-01-082-7978
  • Quantity 218
  • To see the actual drawings log into the DIBBs Site

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.

Posted on

DoD Sustainment of T-64 engine requires fuel control shafts – Manufacturers needed

CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter – U.S. Marine Corps by Cpl. James R. Smith/Released

Recently DoD released a Request for Proposal (RFP) in support of the T-64 engine. It’s for the manufacturer of NSN 3040-00-786-3246, a fuel control shaft used on the General Electric T-64 turboshaft engine.  The solicitation SPE7L3-18-R-0050 is for a quantity up to 956 fuel control shafts.

This item is part of the T-64 jet engine fuel control unit. Navy and Marine Corps use T-64 engines in the CH-53 Helicopter.  As of May 2018 according to NAVAIR PMA-261 data there are 142 CH-53E Super Stallion currently in inventories.  NAVAIR PMA-261 is based out of Patuxent River, MD.

According to DLA, drawings are available and First Article Testing (FAT) for new manufacturers will be required. Current listed manufacturers are Preci-Manufacturing (Cage code 66841), Hamilton Sundstrand (Cage code 73030) and Ontic Engineering (Cage code 45934).  The current listed DoD unit price for NSN 3040-00-786-3246 official name “Shaft, Fuel Control” is $1,450.32 each.

The most recent government contract was awarded to STATZ Corporation. STATZ is listed as a non-manufacturer with 5 employees, cage code 3WGD1.  The defense contract SPE7L3-17-C-0068 awarded to STATZ in September 2017 was for quantity of 360.  Procurement history of NSN 3040-00-786-3246 shows $982.00 each with a First Article Testing (FAT) report costing $2,750.00 for a total contract value of $356,270.00.  The solicitation posted which resulted in this award was SPE7L3-17-T-A043.  Competition for this contract was low to medium with 7 offers received by the Government.

Summary

  • Potential contract award value – close to 1 Million dollars
  • Previous contract was awarded to a Non-Manufacturer
  • Solicitation SPE7L3-18-R-0050 closes on June 8, 2018
  • Contracting office is SPE7L3 – DLA Land and Maritime – Land supplier operations – Vehicle support office
  • Technical documents/drawings are available

Overall this would be a good opportunity for manufacturers and machine shops interested in selling to the government.

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.

Posted on

Memorial Day Blue Angels Air Show at Jones Beach NY

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement

This Memorial Day weekend, the Navy’s Blue Angels will perform at the Jones Beach NY Air show; however they will not be back next year. The flight demonstration and support team Navy and Marine Corps have been performing for over 70 years with an estimated 11 of million spectators each year.

History of the Blue Angels

In 1946 the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Chester Nimitz of the U.S. Navy came up with an idea to create a flight exhibition team to help boost Navy morale and raise the public’s interest in naval aviation. So how did the Blue Angels get their name you might ask? One of the original team saw the name Blue Angel nightclub in the New Yorker Magazine.  Over the past 72 years the team has changed their home base several times.  Starting at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, they are currently stationed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola Florida.

The Blue Angels have flown several types of aircraft over the years, the current model being the F/A-18 Hornet. The Support aircraft flown by Marine Corps pilots has been the C-130 since the 1970’s.  It’s used by the team to move personnel and equipment between show sites.  The Marine Corps originally nicknamed the C-130 “Fat Albert”.

Where do they perform and when can I see them?

When the Blue Angel team is not performing at shows they can be found at the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola which has a viewing area for visitors to watch the team practice.

Flight demonstrations, air shows and performances according to the Department of Defense (DoD) assist in recruiting, demonstrate professional capabilities and pride of the Navy and Marine Corps by community outreach.   Every year the Department of Defense, Blue Angels’ Commanding officer, CNO and Navy recruiting command review hundreds of requests per year to hold air shows featuring the Navy Blue Angels.  After several meetings and approval processes the locations and dates of air shows are released.  https://www.blueangels.navy.mil/show/

The Blue Angels Memorial Day weekend Air show is scheduled to be perform next year at Scranton, PA May 25 & 26 2019.

Blue Angels contracting office information:

N30929 -Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron – Blue Angels care of supply officer, Pensacola FL 32508

https://www.blueangels.navy.mil/

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.

Posted on

Zerk fitting price increases 1,277% at DOD – They’re seeking new manufacturers

This week a new government solicitation was issued which will result in a Long Term Contract (LTC) for several styles of commonly used grease fittings. These grease fittings otherwise known as lubrication fittings or Zerk fittings are used virtually in anything that moves. The US Military uses them in everything, it’s a common repair part replaced when it fails.  The one most commonly used is the straight one, the National Stock Number (NSN) is 4730-00-172-0010.  In fact DLA purchases over 100,000 units per year.   This NSN 4730-00-172-0010 has the official item name of “Fitting, Lubrication”.  The Department of Defense forecasts an Annual Demand Quantity (ADQ) of 190,625 of these grease fittings.  The government solicitation SPE7MX-18-R-X040 closes June 8, 2018 and the requirement includes 14 other similar styles of lubrication fittings with lower quantities.

A couple factors caught our interest in this solicitation

On December 22nd 2017 a defense contract for the exact same group of 15 NSNs was awarded to Jamaica Aerospace Company (AKA Jamaica Bearings) CAGE code 12516.  The total estimated contract value was listed at $800,000.00.  The Government received only 3 responses to the solicitation SPE7MX-17-R-0085 which resulted in this award to Jamaica Aerospace.  The contract award SPE7MX-18-D-0040 is an IDC – Indefinite Quantity Contract which they are currently delivering product under.  It consists of a three-year base period with two one year option periods.  It was issued by the DLA Land and Maritime, Strategic Material Sourcing Group division.  The new solicitation SPE7MX-18-R-X040 is out of the same office also with a three-year base period with two one year option periods for the same list of items.

The second factor which was interesting is the huge price jump of 1,277 percent of the NSN with the highest volume. After reviewing past procurement history, actual PDF contracts and DLA unit prices back to 1989 pricing for NSN 4730-00-172-0010 remained basically unchanged.  Current DLA unit cost associated to this NSN (based on past activity) is set at $0.22 per unit or $5.50 per package of 25.  Now according to the latest contract awarded to Jamaica Aerospace they now cost $3.03 per unit or $75.70 per package.  These prices are based on government purchases on over 466 packages (per order) as that’s the price break point.  Orders under 466 price out at $5.18 per unit or $129.39 per package of 25.

Overall this is a huge price increase going from $0.22 each unit to $3.03, what happened?

We reviewed procurement history (contract awards) of this NSN as well all the companies CAGE code classifications over the past 10 years. Most all of the companies listed as past suppliers for this grease fitting were distributors or dealers including Jamaica. Many of the companies received contracts for this NSN only to have them cancelled soon thereafter for unknown reasons.

NSN Analysis

First here are some NSN basics – Every NSN is associated to one or more reference numbers along with a CAGE code, these numbers are listed in the Master Cross Reference List (MCRL) section. These reference numbers have various purposes such as defining the number as either a manufacturers part number, specification or drawing number.

This NSN 4730-00-172-0010 lists 50 distinct reference numbers along with 50 different companies and 54 distinct CAGE codes this is more than most NSN’s. The majority of the CAGE codes associated are manufacturers, most of them prime manufacturers like General Motors or Oshkosh Defense.  These companies are ones that would typically use grease fitting in their products and not make them, that’s why you see so many numbers.  The others were listed as non-manufacturers many of them obsolete CAGE codes.  Typically one or more manufacturers are listed in the MCRL section and of this entire list we only found two CAGE codes that possibly specialize in manufacturing grease fittings or Zerk fittings.  They are CAGE 36251 McNeil Ohio Corporation and 0FKM1 Alemite, neither of them are active in the SAM database www.sam.gov or have sold direct to the government in many years.

History on lubrication fittings or Zerk fittings

Alemite LLC a manufacturer of grease guns (lubricating guns) was purchased by the Allyne-Zerk Company back in the year 1924. Oscar U Zerk an inventor designed a new style of lubricating nipples which improved on the previous designs.  October 18, 1932 Oscar U Zerk and assignee Alemite Corporation received patent number 1,883,275 for this new design.  The lubrication nipple or fitting in this patent drawing looks relatively unchanged from the grease fittings we use today some 86 years later. See the Military Specification MS15002-1 and MS15002-2 as a comparison.

McNeil Ohio Corporation purchased Lincoln Industrial in 1955 they also specialized in lubrication and fluid pumping products. Today they operate under the name Lincoln Industrial. Both Lincoln and Alemite operate under the SKF Group which is headquartered in Gothenburg Sweden.  SKF USA Inc. CAGE code 52676 is the only active CAGE code currently selling to the US Government.

Specifications and Drawings

This open solicitation states that the drawings/specifications are available for any bidders. Most are SAE specifications or standards based on obsolete military specs.  We have gathered a few of the mil-specs for you to review here. MIL-F-3541 is the general specification for lubrication fittings; MIL-F-3541 and the actual drawing MS15002 for the most commonly purchased Lubrication fitting. However you will need to obtain the current SAE standards to quote.

Manufacturing of grease fittings

Part of our research included reaching out to a machine shop to gain some professional thoughts.

“A machine shop with a screw machine should be able to produce the grease fitting you described” was the comment from a prototype machine shop we spoke to – Thanks 4M Instrument & Tool LLC.

In conclusion these were our findings based on the available data

  • The US Government for this most commonly used grease fitting has limited manufacturer.
  • A 1,277 percent price hike – from $0.22 cents to $3.03 dollars each means something.
  • Competition for manufacturers of grease fittings is low.
  • Competition for government sales of grease fittings is low, only 3 submitted bids last time.
  • The current government solicitation closes on June 8th 2018, and is for same list of items.

If you are a manufacturer looking for defense contracts this is one item worth looking into.

BidLink has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement for the past 18 years.