A16_JOFOC_under_SAT_redacted.pdf

Last updated 7/10/2024

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

Under $150,000 (FAR 8.405-6(c))

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Agency Contracting Agency National Park Service Washington Area Contracting Office 1201 Oakridge Drive 7333 W. Jefferson Avenue #100 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Lakewood, CO 80228

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

As part of a Congressional appropriation for NPS GPS Modernization, the National Park Service (NPS), Information Systems Services (ISS) Division intends to procure manufacturer-specific (Trimble, Inc.) hardware and software to support surveying/mapping. New equipment must be compatible with the existing enterprise software environment and existing Trimble hardware.

There are multiple small-business, certified Trimble distributors that can supply geodetic survey equipment so while this procurement will need to be manufacturer specific in order to meet requirements, it does not need to be procured from a sole source.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

The National Park Service (NPS), Information Systems Services Division, requires Trimble Survey Equipment to support 3D mapping for NPS operations. These devices and software will be fully compatible with existing NPS Trimble survey hardware systems and enterprise-wide processing software, other Trimble geodetic survey equipment, and the NPS GNSS Ntrip base station system.

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(l )(i) and (b )(1 )) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor's unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

FAR 8405-6(b)(1) An item peculiar to one manufacturer can be a particular brand name, product, or a feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer. A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer. Brand name specifications shall not be used unless the particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Government's requirements, and market research indicates other companies' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs.

Trimble is the world's leading geospatial technology company. Their products are used by the National Park Service for mapping and surveying projects because of their quality and reliability in NPS remote field conditions. The National Park Service's current investment in Trimble hardware and software exceeds $14 million with 6000 unique data collection devices including GPS receivers, laser scanners, total stations, software, radios and antennas. By selecting this brand, NPS ensures file formats, communication protocols, device connections are all seamlessly coordinated resulting in the maximum benefit to the government.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with 8.404(d).

Notice will be posted to beta.sam.gov.

Geodetic survey equipment from various manufacturers use proprietary record structure, field collection software, and office post processing software. As a consequence, data collected by one type of Geodetic Survey System will be incompatible for use with other systems. This would create problems in configuration management and support, in using several incompatible systems to do the same work is more costly than only using a single manufacturer's system.

In order to avoid this incompatibility and assure the best value to the government the requirements for this procurement:

• Must be fully compatible with installed existing enterprise software (Trimble Business

Center) to minimize system replacement cost for the federal government.

• Must be fully compatible with existing Trimble survey equipment to minimize system replacement cost for the federal government.

• Must be a fully integrated system and all components work seamlessly as a geodetic data collection system to minimize the workload on NPS personnel resulting in a benefit to the government.

• Most NPS survey personnel are familiar with and are trained on Trimble survey equipment and software. This procurement must provide hardware and software that is similar to form and function of the existing installed survey systems to minimize required training for NPS personnel.

Taking into consideration the current NPS investment in hardware, software and training for Trimble equipment it is recommended that the best value to the government would be to limit this procurement to Trimble, Inc. geodetic survey equipment to leverage the NPS' s current investment of $14 million. In addition, this equipment will be used by Parks, Regions and Programs to serve NPS operational requirements for up to 10 years.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted showing a substantial decrease in Trimble manufacturer pricing for main components of geodetic survey systems versus two other geodetic survey equipment manufacturers, Topcon and Leica, because the costs do not include the required accessories, software, warranty, and firmware that would also have to be procured to ensure the system would work correctly plus all of the additional training necessary to get staff able to use the new equipment. The results show that by purchasing other manufacturers equipment there would be a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in government investment and cause undue disruption of park survey and data collection operations.

Equipment listed is manufacturer (brand) specific to Trimble and can be supplied by multiple vendors.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Equipment additions to the NPS fleet must be compatible with existing equipment. NPS supplies existing enterprise licensing.

This procurement will leverage the existing Trimble Ntrip base station installations (currently in 24 parks) and future deployment to approximately 75 more to provide NPS personnel with a modernized data collection and survey system. It will ensure compatibility, consistency, and standardization for surveying as well as mobile mapping equipment allocated to parks in FY20 through FY22 as part of the GPS Modernization Project.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

Nearly all equipment manufacturers do not integrate with other manufacturers’ equipment operations as described in 5. This equipment will provide services of substantial value to the NPS for at least 10 years. When it is time to replace this equipment, there may be fewer barriers to future acquisitions to obtain GNSS receivers that meet NPS operational requirements. In the meantime, the NPS continues to look for better ways to efficiently complete the bureau mission and, where possible, support additional equipment manufacturers that meet NPS requirements.

Equipment that is not brand-specific to Trimble would require implementation of a completely new enterprise system along with replacement of existing equipment.

9. Certification by Technical or Requirements Personnel:

I certify that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g verifying the Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for an exception to fair opportunity) which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate: