Request For Interest (Rfi) # 14-01: Fill & Download for Free

I’m going to try and treat this as a serious question, because I think you are sincere, so please read till the end. It doesn't exactly work that way; Ideas are aplenty, well thought out ideas are few, feasible ones are rare and the idea needed right now is the rarest of all.If you think your ideas can pass muster and you can make working prototypes, the best you can do is -1. Get a patent on your design2. Approach a private defence company or OFB with your design. why, you ask? because you might be able to make a design sketch or even a prototype, but you cant make a mass-production, field ready version without the help of a company.3. Wait for an RFI; the armed forces frequently issue Request For Information (RFI) documents (you can find them on the respective forces websites), these documents are how the armed forces ask for new weapons. The RFI will specify exactly what they are looking for; for instance, a rifle RFI would specify calibre, weight, range, accuracy etc.4. If your design matches the RFI, send a reply. If they are interested, they will respond and based on how it goes, you will be invited for a demonstration, followed by an RFP (Request for Proposal) where you will have to offer a price and prove you can deliver based on what the armed forces want.Understand that the world is not as simple as making a sketch and giving it to the army for free. Everything is complicated; the army doesn't make weapons; companies do, and every company (even a govt. one) needs to make a profit.Even if your idea is great, it may not be what is needed; maybe its too expensive, maybe they think it doesn't work with current tactics, maybe there is a cheaper alternative, but maybe, just maybe you could revolutionise warfare!Good Luck!ps. I’m no weapons designer, but send a message, I would be happy to talk!

It’s partially true.What you are talking about is the Grumman LLVAll of them were produced between 1987 and 1994, making the newest ones 23 years old.The engine they use is the GM Iron Duke 4 cylinderIt was first produced in 1977, and when installed in the LLV, they do get about 10 MPG.However, the LLV is not the only delvery vehicle USPS has.Many stations use commercially available minivans from Ford, Chrysler, and Chevrolet to supplement the LLV fleet, and in some cases to replace them.USPS is currently working on replacing the LLV.USPS statement on delivery vehiclesThe United States Postal Service (USPS) publicly began the Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) acquisition program in January 2015 with a Request for Information (RFI) and kick-off meeting open to all interested technology and automotive suppliers to respond and participate.You have to keep in mind that USPS is a very large organization, and sweeping changes take a lot of work and time.

For these are typically two different activities. The first part, getting to statement of work, usually has only vague specifications. It starts with some declaration of interest by the client, something like a Request for Interest (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFQ), Request for Quote (RFQ) or even just an informal-ish request in person. These each have slightly separate formats, but to avoid getting too deep in the weeds suffice it to say they each give some overview of the challenges the organization is experiencing and what they are looking for as the solution. From there we typically have a set of questions, either to get clarification on some of the points or to check their acceptance of certain approaches — as well as to gauge their budget and timeline. These sometimes happen over the phone, video chat or in person or sometimes just through email. We then put together a proposal detailing out approach, tools, timeline, personnel and budget or budget ranges and submit it. As I said these are generally not specification level, at the most they are in the format of user stories, high level epics … functionality that can be described taking days or weeks of effort. From there, if the client likes what we have submitted, we’ll find ourselves doing a more formal pitch, either in person or over video conferencing. This is generally called a Best and Final Offer (BAFO) pitch. It’s our last opportunity to influence the decision and is usually only extended to a small handful of firms, I’ve generally seen 3 or 4 at the most, since it can take several hours of time from senior people at the client.The reason we don’t get into specifications at that point is two-fold: 1) it’s time consuming for us and thus expensive, to get down to that level of detail for something we only have a certain chance of winning; and 2) things often change between when the RF(*) is sent out and when work actually begins, so getting locked into a set of functionality from the outset makes change — which we know is going to happen — difficult to manage. We prefer to start with the assumption that change will happen, propose an approach that we believe will get the client to a solution for their problem in a reasonable amount of time and budget and then figure out the specifics during the process. Sometimes this means making the choice to increase spending on some areas and either reduce scope on — or sometimes even eliminate — certain other features that were part of the proposal.