Marine Systems Transformation (MaST) Early Market Engagement and Request For Information

Description

The UK Ministry of Defence (UK MOD) is issuing this Prior Information Notice, without call for competition and without commitment, to invite companies to participate in the Market Engagement phase for the Marine Systems Transformation programme (MaST) - the future contracting strategy for Marine Systems Support (MSS) – by completing the linked RFI. The detail regarding the proposed procurement approach is contained within the RFI document itself which can be found by clicking “View DSP Opportunities” at: https://www.contracts.mod.uk/web/login.html under the title: “MaST Early Market engagement RFI (Request for Information)”. Link to the Direct Opportunity Listing: https://contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail?opportunityId=52222 AIM The objective of MaST is to transform the way the MSS programme supports the non-combat related equipment fitted to platforms across the Royal Navy (RN). Currently support is provided either by the equipment desk or by a class-based approach which encompasses T45 and QEC platform support. As the RN seeks to improve availability of its fleet, a number of existing contractual arrangements within MSS come to a natural conclusion and two new classes of Frigate (T26 and T31) are due to come under the support umbrella. The opportunity has arisen for DE&S to evaluate its equipment support in order to improve support to its customer the RN. In order to meet the objectives of supporting new platforms and increasing availability of platforms across the fleet MaST is seeking to change the established setup of MSS by expanding it’s supplier base enabling direct access to the Authority, with improving communications, data sharing, forward planning and opportunities, to consider innovative solutions that best support the RN. Request For Information: The aim of the pre–market engagement is to gain an understanding of the market view of the construct and operation of Multi Supplier Framework (MSF) Agreements, and to further facilitate a collaborative approach to the development of the proposal and assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of supporting equipment via this contracting strategy. To facilitate this the Authority has created an RFI document with a detailed overview of the Programme and the potential contractual approach. The RFI also contains a questionnaire that the Authority invites all interested parties to complete to further understand the feasibility of the proposed approach. The RFI will close to responses at 12:00 on Monday the 18th of October. Caveat: In issuing this PIN and engaging with the market, the UKMOD is not committing to conduct any procurement in relation to the MaST Programme. Equally, non-participation in this Market Engagement will not be taken into account in any future procurement activities and will not preclude any organisation from submitting a tender in any future competitions. II.7) Additional information: It is currently anticipated that any formal procurement relating to the MaST programme will be subject to Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011 and there is the potential for elements of the scope to be exempt from the DSPCR 2011. The contracting authority considers that this scope may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as large enterprises. Suppliers interested in working with the Ministry of Defence should register on the MOD Supplier Information Database (SID) Register, available at www.contracts.mod.uk. The MOD SID is a database of active and potential suppliers available to all MOD and UK Defence procurement personnel and is the main supplier database of MOD Procurement organisations. Please note: the registration and publication of a company profile on the MOD SID does not mean or imply that the supplier has in any way been vetted or approved by the MOD. Suppliers wishing to compete for advertised MOD contracts must respond to any specific call for competition by submitting a separate expression of interest in accordance with the instructions of the purchasing organisation. Additional information: Deadline for Submission for responses is 18th October 2021