Avionics News August 2022 - 23

With the ever-increasing need for military and government agencies to squeeze every year out of an aircraft's life, there are seemingly endless
opportunities to provide panel upgrade and repair services.
value' category. That tips it in our favor as a past provider. "
But Ochs stressed that even if you have an inside track on the
contracting process, there's still a mountain of paperwork that
goes into each request for quote the government issues.
" The contracting process is the hard part, and it's getting
worse, " Ochs said. " Even though many of these are 'Small
Business Set Aside' contracts, the proposal requirements are
daunting for many shops. It takes a team of experienced people
to provide the engineering processes, integrated master plan,
budget, and highly-detailed schedule of how you are going to
execute the work should you get it. "
He shared a copy of a recent RFQ for a government contract.
With all the boxes checked and information filled in, the
document was 89 pages long - not very attractive if you don't
like essay questions.
If compiling all that information wasn't challenging enough,
Ochs explained that all the information has to be created from
the surprisingly rudimentary set of instructions and guidelines
contained in the issuing organization's project description.
" It's extremely detailed at every level; even though many
of these projects are meant to help small businesses, there just
aren't many smaller shops or MROs that have the additional
resources, personnel and experience to take on the paperwork, "
Ochs explained. " Doing the actual work on the airplane is often
the easiest part of these projects. "
GETTING THE WORK IS JUST THE BEGINNING
While the contract bidding process is daunting, don't
think the paperwork is done once the contract is signed.
That's only the beginning.
" There's a lot of red tape to follow throughout the life
of the project, " Stehlik said. " We not only have the FAA's
FARs (federal aviation regulations), but we also have the
Defense Department's FARs we have to follow to the letter.
They're extremely detailed in every aspect of the project. "
There are regulations for even the seemingly simplest
tasks. For example, when Duncan Aviation overhauls or
repairs a component, there are mil-spec requirements as to
how that finished piece is packed, sealed and labeled.
" They often have to survive long trips via ship, so
we have to vacuum seal all the components, then use
special packing materials and finally seal the boxes per
the specifications, " Miesbach explained. " The packages
even have to have their labels applied in a specific location
on each box, making them easier to find in the location's
warehouse. "
Oh, and don't for a minute think that whichever
government body you're working with won't notice if you
deviate from the requirements. They're always watching.
avionics news * august 2022 23
Continued on following page
Photo courtesy of Spirit Aeronautics

Avionics News August 2022

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