Unbeleaveable Navy contract!!!
 

Can you believe that the Navy has contracted Maximum Thunder/ Blue Lighting or what ever they call themselves this month. To build several 50' center console.out board boats for them. This is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. It seems that they have it all worked out. Julie Brown,Michale Bond and crooks. are going to have some glass lay up out fit in FL. slap some of these boats together and this Marina Mikes in Fort Myers is going to try to rig them. This is the same Blue Lighting that is at Miami boat show.With boats they should have left a home. The Finish work of these boats would scare most people. I Guss they will do about anything to sucker someone into buying there product.The boat they took the Naval Officers out on is not the same Quality of boat they slap together today. Not even close. I have seen the new 5hit and the products from previous owner.Can anyone help me to understand how this could happen.There are other boat companies out there that deserve this type of contract. Please, can anyone help????
Thanks, Chris L

If the contract is "build to print" then the boat is not their design, and the finished item must be correct. If it is their design (or even build to print), a first piece example will be thoroughly, documented and tested by the government prior to approval of production. Either way, a government inspector will inspect all boats, will probably sea trial a couple before he signs off on each batch.
Several times throghout the life of the contract the government will perform audits on costs, material certifications, employee training, documentation and records keeping, as well as many other aspects of the build process.
If they build a product that doesn't measure up, performs poorly, falsification of documents, etc., the government will shut them down in a heart beat and pull the contract. I've seen it happen before.

I know how the system works. I'm employed by a defense contractor and deal with the government on a weekly basis. I also perform specialized testing and inspection on our product.

Theres a old joke that is very true.
One Pilot looks at
the other and asks
how safe the new aircraft is to fly,
Answer, It was built by the LOW Bidder.
Mike J.

Reminds me of the line in the movie "Armagedon", when the well digging crew is ready to blast off. One of the guys quips to Bruce Willis, "so how does it feel knowing your sitting on 8 million gallons of fuel, with over 270,000 moving parts, built by the lowest bidder".

I know the "lowest bidder" joke, but that's not entirely true. Prior to a contract award the government will do a facility inspection to see if the bidder is capable of performing the work. They look at the building, management, number of employees, equipment, and product manufacturing experience as well as many other factors. If they feel the company is not capable of performing the work, lowest bid or not, they will be disqualified and their bid rejected.

As Iggy said they will have to perform to a certain level. If they do not they will loose the contract or not even get it. I have a customer that is trying to win the bid to build the Tomahawk Cruise missles. They purchased a many million dollar lathe and it is going back because it does not cut to the specs in the contract. You only get a certain number of defective parts also. If you have to many they will pull the contract also as I understand it. That includes in the trials.

Jon

Audio is right, the government quality inspector will perform an inspection on a certain number of parts and that quantity is based on the total quantity presented for inspection. Of those he inspects only a certain number can contain defects. If that quantity is exceeded the entire lot is rejected and sent back for 100% inspection by the vendor. Any bad parts are to be replaced, remade, repaired or reworked at the vendors cost. Before any repair/rework can be performed a written procedure describing how the rework will be performed must be written and approved by the government. If the vendor continually produces nonconforming materials the contract can be pulled and awarded to another vendor.

Audio, is you friend bidding to build the entire missile or just various components?
If it's entire missile the qualification program is very lenghty and costly.
If it's just components, he shouldn't need to worry about qual testing.
Best of luck to him.

Chris,
Im not familiar with bluewater boats, but i am
familiar with Marina Mikes and would not let them
rig an electric motor on a canoe. Plenty of great boat
companies out there. venture, powerplay, fountain, cigarette, contender just to name a few. I dont know how in the hell these hacks get goverment contracts.eessshhhh !!!!!!:confused: :mad:

haha won;t this be the 2nd time the goverment got ripped off by blue lightning?

At least the Navy seals 60 foot speed/attack boats are made by Magnum Marine. With the hulls being over three inches thick and Kevlar, they are a much wiser choice, and you can be assured the quality is above and beyond anything the government would be used to. They also have a fleet of black Fountains. The seals have all the cool toys!!!

Did any other companies get the chance to bid?

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Taht inspection of piece parts by individual part or lots used to be called AQL..(Acceptable Quality Level) where they use an established table and inspection criteria for accept/reject levels////

More importantly ...Are the suppliers/manufacturers ISO 9001 (International Standards Organization) certified..

Ask BajaDaze about that one.....It's so much fun to go throught the certification...:D :D

I used to do the certifications....Before I retired that is....

:eek: :rolleyes: :D

what would happen to a person or persons obtaining a navy contract,government contract with false information?? or not disclosing certain information about past history?

I went to the Miami show. We could'nt believe someone would actually PAY to show what crap they built. I own a bodyshop and have never seen such shoddy work. Well, that's our government!

Funny you should mention it. I'm an ISO internal auditor where I work, among other duties.

Unless they were found guilty of falsifying data on a previous government contract I doubt it matters. Maybe if the company had unpaid judgments the government could force them to pay up before contract award.
A company can produce a shoddy product to be sold to the public, but in a government contract the the finished product must meet the quality standards specified in the contract. Poor quality = no acceptance, which = no shipping, which = no payments.

I was involved with one of the first batches of HumVee's that were brought to our Marine unit. I was in a 6week course with the factory reps and then was incharge of teaching all the marines in my unit to operate these vehicles, we were told to go out and see what these things can do. We found several items that wouldn't hold up to the strains of military use and they were corrected based on our tests. I assume the same will happen to these boats.

Yep, lots of fun, gdfatha! ;)

Lowest bidder strikes again. :mad:

I wonder how they'll fix the little problems when they break in half. :eek:

IGGY, no they don,t have the 9001 cert. the joke is there isn't even a factory,office, or equipment. the design/boat/ molds don't belong to them. they left that little detail out. along with alot more when the app was filled out. It's deep!! any thoughts??

I think they're in deep Sh*t. :D

If that is true I would find it hard to believe that they where actually awarded the contract. Anyone can apply for it, just a matter winning it...

I have no idea how they could've been awarded the contract. As far as I know, prior to contract award a team of contract people pay a visit to the production facility to see what they have and if they can perform the work. No facility, no employees = no contract.
Unless they are a subcontractor to another company that was awarded the actual contract. That's different story altogether.

IGGY, WHAT I SEE IS A SMOKE AND MIRROR TRICK, OR SIMPLE BLOWING SMOKE UP SOMEONES ASS .

Oh believe it. They were awarded the contract as the general. Makes no sense to us either.
TS :confused:

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I worked under the eyes of the GSI (Government Source Inspection) mistique/PIA for 37 years at Lockheed and Litton Guidance & Controls and, as Iggy states, they "WILL" or should I say, should, follow the activities Iggy outlines so well.
When I went to work for DNV (an ISO certification company) we tried to "ADVISE" ALL contractors/clients to replace the words (MAY & WILL) with "SHALL." in all documentation.??? May & WILL are permissive.

There is a clause that requires that the main contractor is responsible for the final results/quality,build to print results/performance even tough the product may be manufactured at an "OFFSITe/sister facility.

I wonder if there is a penalty clause in the contract either for not meeting product quality, schedule or performance documented requirements..

I use the phrase 'Contractor shall' almost without exception. Yes they can get nailed- if the boiler plate is there. There are also lots of 'hand-outs' to 'disadvantaged contractors'.

Bulldog BSEE,PE
NASA Center Operations
Stennis Space Center