Request for Information– Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility Performance Knit Fabric Structures for Polo Style Shirt Background: The Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility (NCTRF) is conducting a market survey to determine the availability of Berry Compliant, Commercial-off-the-Shelf, performance knit shirting fabrics for use in the United States Postal Service (USPS) Uniform Program. The most promising fabrics will be down selected and subjected to physical property testing. Successful fabrics may be used in future uniform procurements for the USPS Uniform Certification Program. Description: NCTRF seeks to identify material to be used in men’s and women’s USPS “Polo” style shirts. The material should be capable of meeting or exceeding the physical and performance characteristics outlined in Table I. The fabric must be a performance knit cloth that is preshrunk, machine washable and dryable and be able to be cut and sewn without any workmanship issues. Yardage submitted should be as close to the approved Postal color Blue 5060 or Light Blue 5063. Interested Parties: To respond to this RFI, interested parties are REQUIRED to submit the following to enable the NCTRF to conduct physical property testing and determine acceptability for end use: A minimum of 5 yards full width material. Two (2) samples of Letter Carrier Knit Shirts, Men’s, size medium made in accordance to USPS 108 - Letter Carrier knit shirt dated 29 July 2013 with a pattern date of 26 June 2008. Two (2) samples of Retail Clerk Shirts, Men’s, size medium made in accordance to USPS 152 – Retail Clerk knit Polo shirt dated 26 September 2017 with a pattern date of 19 October 2005. A material description, to include; identification of fiber (fiber percentage), mercerized, bleached, de-sized, singed, combed, yarn structure (yarns per inch and ply), knit structure, pre-shrunk and performance characteristics, production lead time, production locations (fiber, yarn, weaving and finishing). Complete disclosure of chemical treatment for topical finishes, applicable Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and documentation for Berry Amendment, 10 USC 2533a, and compliance is required. An estimated unit cost per linear yard (specify width of material), which may be broken down by quantity reflecting economies of scale. Information which certifies that the finished product is composed of materials which have been safely used commercially or provide sufficient toxicity data to show compatibility with prolonged, direct skin contact. The finished cloth shall not present a dermal health hazard when used as intended. Submissions are limited to two (2) materials per company. Required documentations, fabric and garment samples are due by COB 31 JULY 2020 at NCTRF. Information will be handled as proprietary and samples will not be returned. Contact Information: Please submit responses to this notice and/or requests for information to Kelly Fratelli, Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility, 10 General Greene Ave, Bldg. 86, Natick, MA 01760-5019, 508-206-2762,
[email protected] . This notice is for market survey only. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. No solicitation document exists.