In This Week’s Newsletter:
- Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: DON WSISS VI
- Four To Follow: Four Interesting Pursuits
- Capture Corner: Leveraging Competitive Discriminators
- Pricing Insights: From Cost Plus to Fixed Price
Opportunity Alert – DON WSISS VI
Contact Katie: katie.clatterbuck@hinzconsulting.com
Department of the Navy, Weapons Systems Integration Support Services (WSISS VI).
On May 15, 2026, the Contracting Office released a special notice to industry to update the opportunity to Small Business set-aside and inform industry of the Navy’s intent to issue a draft RFP in Fall 2026. Support includes research, development, test, evaluation, system integration, and programmatic support for weapons systems and tactical computer systems embedded or carried on aircraft. The final RFP for this $1B Small Business Set-Aside is anticipated for release in June 2027 with an award date of September 2028. Reach out to Hinz Consulting for any Capture Management, Competitive Analysis, Graphics, Price to Win, or Proposal support and continue to monitor SAM.gov for any updates in the procurement timeline.
Four to Follow
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Cybersecurity Exercise Support Services. CISA seeks a contractor to support the Infrastructure Security Division with cybersecurity exercise services aligned with Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program guidelines, including both discussion-based and operations-based exercises. Support includes program management, administrative support, scenario development, cyber expertise, exercise facilitation, and critical infrastructure knowledge. The final RFP for this $50M opportunity is set for release in July 2026 via OASIS+ with the award anticipated for September 2026. The competition type remains unknown, so continue monitoring SAM.gov and your eBUY portals for further updates.
- Department of Defense (DoD), Technical Support Services. On May 11, 2026, the Contracting Office released an RFI to industry, seeking 8(a) companies to provide technical support services in support of the U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal (USAG-Redstone) Directorate of Public Works (DPW), to include specialized database managers and analysts, facility and real property survey specialists and inspectors, geographic information systems technicians, quality assurance specialists, drafters, and engineers to maintain the reimbursable programs and activities that sustain the various tenant missions on Redstone Arsenal. Responses are due no later than 2:00 PM CT on May 26, 2026. The final RFP for this $24M 8(a) Set-aside is due for release in October 2026, with an estimated award timeframe of January 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and GSA AAS for any changes to this opportunity.
- Department of the Army, Three-Dimensional High-Speed High Altitude Mapping Operations Technology Integration 3DH2-M O&TI). The Army Geospatial Center requires a contractor to conduct wide area high altitude flight operations to collect, process, disseminate, and maintain data including terrestrial and bathymetric LiDAR, EO, SAR, Hyperspectral imaging, Full Motion Video, Special Intelligence, and commercial satellite imagery. The final RFP for this $219M IDIQ is estimated for release in March 2027 with a projected award date of July 2027. The competition type is currently unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for further movement on this effort.
- Department of the Navy, Advanced Signatures Technologies (AST) Support Services. The Navy Has a need for a contractor to support design and implementation of reusable software across multiple Naval systems, including tactical sonar, combat systems, fleet synthetic training, Command and Control (C2), and C4I systems. The final RFP for this $22M opportunity is set for release in August 2026 with an estimated award of November 2026. The competition type is currently unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for any updates on this opportunity.
Leveraging Competitive Discriminators
Contact Nick: nick.mccauley@hinzconsulting.com
In my recent Capture Corner articles, we’ve been walking through the key elements of successful capture for production and manufacturing contracts — from assessing Production Readiness and understanding manufacturing capacity and supply chain risks, to making deliberate Prime vs. Subcontractor decisions. Once that foundational work is done, the next step is learning how to turn those strengths into competitive discriminators — both before and after the RFP drops.
Some technical experts and engineers view this as unnecessary “fluff.” They believe that if the solution is strong and technically sound, that should be enough. This mindset is risky. In today’s competitive environment, it is very common for the government to receive multiple technically acceptable proposals on production-type opportunities. When that happens, a strong technical solution alone rarely wins. The differentiator often comes down to who best demonstrates lower execution risk, proven relevant experience, and clear value through their production capabilities, capacity, and past performance.
Why These Strengths Matter as Discriminators: Your production capabilities, proven capacity, and relevant past performance are some of the most powerful tools you have — but only if you actively use them to shape the playing field and then reinforce them in your proposal. Companies that treat these areas as afterthoughts often find themselves competing on price or generic technical merit instead of on the things they actually do well.
Using These Strengths to Shape Requirements Pre-RFP: One of the highest-leverage things you can do is use your production strengths before the solicitation is released. This is where you can influence the requirement in your favor and create barriers for competitors.
Strong pre-RFP shaping tactics include:
- Responding strategically to RFIs and Sources Sought notices. Use these opportunities to highlight your specific production capabilities, recent delivery performance, and capacity. When done well, this can help drive the acquisition toward a set-aside or influence the evaluation criteria in ways that play to your strengths.
- Shaping delivery schedules and timelines.If you know your production processes and supply chain allow you to deliver faster or more reliably than some competitors, you can provide data and examples during the shaping phase that support more aggressive (but achievable) delivery requirements. This can put pressure on competitors who cannot match your timelines without significant risk.
- Leveraging vetted supply chain relationships.Having a deep bench of reliable, already-vetted suppliers is a real advantage. Getting those suppliers qualified, under agreement, and documented takes significant time and effort. When you surface this capability early (through RFIs or industry days), you make it harder for competitors to quickly replicate your supply chain posture. This can be particularly powerful on programs where supply chain resilience or diversity is a concern.
- Influencing how requirements are written.By providing thoughtful, data-backed input during market research or draft RFP reviews, you can help steer requirements toward areas where your production processes, capacity, or past performance give you a clear edge.
The companies that win the most work don’t just wait for the RFP. They actively use their strengths to help shape the requirement in ways that favor them and create friction for others.
Using These Strengths in the Proposal: Once the RFP is released, your job shifts to clearly and credibly demonstrating these discriminators in your submission.
Key areas to focus on:
- Production Capabilities— Be specific. Don’t just claim strong manufacturing capability. Show the processes, controls, certifications, and recent investments that directly reduce risk on this program.
- Capacity and Throughput— Quantify where possible. Use recent throughput data, demonstrated surge capability, and supply chain resilience evidence to show you can deliver on schedule.
- Past Performance — Lead with the most relevant production deliveries. Focus on outcomes (on-time performance, quality results, ramp-up success) rather than just listing contracts. Tie past performance directly to the risks the customer is trying to avoid.
- Win Themes and Narrative — Weave these strengths into your overarching win themes so they appear consistently across volumes instead of being isolated in one section.
The goal in the proposal is to make it easy for evaluators to see that you bring lower execution risk and more relevant experience than the competition.
Practical Action for This Week: Look at your current opportunities and ask:
Pre-RFP Shaping
- Are we actively using RFIs and market research opportunities to surface our production strengths?
- Are we providing input that could help shape delivery timelines or supply chain requirements in our favor?
- Are we identifying ways to create barriers for known competitors through our vetted supplier base or production capabilities?
Proposal Phase
- Are we leading with our discriminators, or are they buried?
- Are we quantifying outcomes in a way that directly reduces customer risk?
- Are our win themes supported by real strengths?
If the answers are weak in either phase, make it a priority to strengthen how you use these discriminators before the next gate or major milestone.
From Cost Plus to Fixed Price
Contact Dr. Tom: thomas.hudgins@hinzconsulting.com
Shifting from Cost-Plus (CP) to Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contracts flips the financial dynamic completely: risk moves entirely from the client to the contractor. Navigating this transition successfully requires overcoming three critical hurdles:
1. The Pricing Trap: Forecasting vs. History
Under Cost-Plus, pricing relies on historical actuals and adjustable wrap rates. FFP demands prophetic accuracy. If your Basis of Estimates (BOEs) misjudge technical complexity or labor hours by even a small margin, that variance directly erodes your bottom line. Furthermore, indirect rates are locked; a sudden drop in corporate volume means your fixed-price contracts must absorb the overhead spike without adjustment.
2. The Execution Pivot: Guarding the Scope
In a CP environment, Project Managers (PMs) often accommodate minor client requests because the extra hours are billable. In FFP, unchecked scope creep is financial poison. PMs must pivot from “customer pleasers” to rigorous contract guardians. They must immediately recognize constructive change and halt execution until a formal Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA) or contract modification is finalized. Revenue is tied to milestone delivery, not hours logged; a delayed deliverable instantly freezes cash flow.
3. The Cultural Shock: Efficiency vs. Utilization
The hardest obstacle is dismantling an ingrained “billable hour” mindset. CP KPIs reward high labor utilization—keeping staff billing hours. FFP rewards efficiency. The faster and with fewer resources a team achieves a milestone, the higher the contract’s profitability. Convincing execution teams that spending fewer hours on a task is a win requires a fundamental cultural overhaul.
Key Structural Differences
- Risk Bearer: Client (CP) vs. Contractor (FFP)
- Revenue Driver: Hours incurred (CP) vs. Milestone completion (FFP)
- Scope: Flexible (CP) vs. Rigid modification control (FFP)
- Margins: Capped and predictable (CP) vs. Variable with unlimited downside/upside (FFP)
Hinz Consulting’s pricing group can help you with this task, so reach out to us today!
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