**Solicitation 1-203-SEB.1623**

**The closing date for this synopsis has been extended to Wednesday,
June 5, 2002.**

**Questions received for the solicitation 1-203-SEB.1623**

**Question 1**

Will onsite teaching assistants be available for: assisting in the
delivery of the courses and/or customizing the content to NASA-Langley
needs?

**Answer 1**

No teaching assistants will be available. A NASA LaRC employee will be
available for consultation only during the course of the training.

**Question 2**

What is the current statistical or SPC software used at NASA-LRC and
would a site license be extended to the course instructor for
preparation of examples/demonstrations?

**Answer 2**

MS Excel is the only statistical package in wide use at the center. A
temporary site license and software will be provided to contractor for
the period of the training.

**Question 3**

Are there other references that are currently being used onsite in
addition to the Shewhart text (published in 1939)?

**Answer 3**

The key references used at LaRC besides Shewhart\'s 1939 book are listed
below in no particular order:

1\) ASTM Manual on Presentation of Data and Control Chart Analysis, 6th
Edition, 1995.

2\) S. A. Wise, D. C. Fair, \"Innovative Control Charting\", ASQ Press,
1998.

3\) W. A. Shewhart, \"Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality
Control\", Dover, 1986.

4\) D. J. Wheeler, D. S. Chambers, \"Understanding Statistical Process
Control\", 2nd Edition, SPC Press, 1992.

5\) D. J. Wheeler, \"Advanced Topics in Statistical Process Control\",
SPC Press, 1995.

6\) J. Mandel, \"The Statistical Analysis of Experimental Data\", Dover,
1984.

7\) Ge. E. P. Box, W. G. Hunter, J. S. Hunter, \"Statistics for
Experimenters\", Wiley, 1978.

8\) W. H. Press, B. P. Flannery, S. A. Teukolsky, W. T. Vetterling,
\"Numerical Recipies\", Cambridge 1989.

9\) D. C. Montgomery, \"Introduction to Statistical Quality Control\",
3rd Edition, Wiley, 1996.

**Question 4**

Can we propose one course that includes both the introductory and
advanced versions?

**Answer 4**

No, both of the courses that we have in mind will each take four full
days to complete. So a combined course would take eight days. That\'s
just not feasible for the students or the instructor. Furthermore, it
has been our experience that students need a break between the courses
so that they have a chance to digest the material from the first course
and use it in their daily work. If they don\'t have a sufficient break
to do that, the second course is much tougher, if not impossible, for
them to digest in real time.

**Question 5**

Who is the audience for these courses? Will it be the same audience for
both courses?

**Answer 5**

The audience is all engineers and scientists at LaRC who have need of
statistical methods for evaluating and controlling their processes,
especially measurement. The audience for the two courses is the same.

**Question 6**

What is the expected budget for the preparation and delivery of each of
the two (4 day) courses? Are these 4 full day sessions (8 to 12
hours/day)?

**Answer 6**

The government estimated cost is not given out for solicitations. The
award will be made to the company providing the best value for the
Government. Yes, these are 4 full day (8 hrs/day) seesions.

**Question 7**

Where will the courses be given?

**Answer 7**

As stated in the solicitation, the training will occur on-site at LaRC
or a nearby training facility in Hampton, Virginia.

**Question 8**

How will travel, per diem, etc., be invoiced, as part of our cost
estimate or separately?

**Answer 8**

Travel, per diem, etc. will be included in the firm fixed price proposed
cost. All costs related to this training will be included on the
company's quote.

**Question 9**

We were not able to determine what the length of each course is to be
from the information provided on the web. Is there and expected length
for each or are we free to propose? This will help to provide a more
cogent response.

**Answer 9**

As stated in the solicitation, this training effort will consist of two
(4 day) courses. These courses will be full day (8 hrs/day) courses.