47QSCC18A000B Mod 003 LSJ_redacted.pdf

General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service

General Supplies and Services Central Office Acquisition Division

Retail Operations Acquisition Branch

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

DESCRIPTION OF ACTION - PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE EXTENSION

GSA SCHEDULE 51V CONTRACT NUMBER: 47QSHA18D000G

GSA BPA NUMBER: 47QSCC18A000B

The General Services Administration (GSA) makes this Limited Sources Justification (LSJ) pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A).

1) Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity

Client Agency:

General Services Administration (GSA) General Supplies and Services (GSS) Retail Operations (RO)

Contracting Activity:

Retail Operations Acquisition Branch (QSABA) Central Office Acquisition Division (QSAB) Office of General Supplies and Services (GSS) GSA Federal Acquisition Service (GSA, FAS) 1800 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20405

2) Nature and/or description of action being approved

Action. The action being approved is a modification to Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) 47QSCC18A000B, to extend the performance period for an additional six months, with one six-month option period.

Background. This BPA was originally awarded to Grainger on May 25, 2018 as a logical follow-on pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures, as well as the Contract Continuity Initiative under MAS 51V contract

Limited Source Justification number 47QSHA18D000G. This logical follow-on BPA has a performance period (including options) which will expire on August 1, 2021. This requirement is for 4PL support at the following Pacific Northwest (PNW) locations: Joint Region Marianas, Guam (2 locations); Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Alaska.

GSA had initially re-competed this effort under RFQ QSAB-RFQ-19001 in 2019, which was protested and resulted in a re-structuring of GSA’s acquisition strategy. Of particular note, the protest filed in response to QSAB-RFQ-19001 was sustained on January 16, 2020.

GSA’s response to this decision included a restructuring of their acquisition process, to include the creation of a new MAS SIN to better accommodate the 4PL Program and GSA’s customers. As of June 8, 2020, the new MAS SIN had been created, but GSA’s industry partners were still working to obtain modifications to add the SIN to their MAS contract to enable GSA to re-compete this effort under the new SIN. Because of this, GSA had been unable to issue a new RFQ (in support of all of the locations under this existing PNW BPA) immediately upon receipt of the protest sustainment, as there were no vendors currently under the SIN who could legally compete. GSA is finalizing its requirements package and is planning to issue the revised RFQ for this requirement during the summer of 2021. Based on the 4PL team’s standard acquisition milestones (which includes a 12 month cradle-to-grave acquisition timeline) the “Go Live” date for the re-competition of this effort is not expected to occur until . As a result, in order to avoid a lapse in service at the existing PNW locations, GSA is issuing this limiting sources extension to the current BPA for a maximum of 12 months (6-month period of performance with one, 6-month option period).

In sum, GSA has been diligently pursuing a strategy for providing 4PL services under a new procurement approach since 2019.

3) Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency’s Needs

Under the current Schedule 51V Hardware Superstore BPA, Grainger provides GSA and its customer at the Pacific Northwest locations (VMI) and related in-store services including on-site management and inventory levels, stocking/restocking of shelves, customer service, processing referral orders for items such as chemicals, commercial coatings including paints, sealants, adhesives, oils and abrasives;

tools including, but not limited to, power tools, accessories, and hand tools; hardware;

building supplies; safety products; precision tools and equipment; machinery and tooling components; tool holding and work holding equipment; outdoor equipment and accessories;

and material handling.

Based on average quarterly sales, the estimated value of this BPA extension is .

4) Authority and Supporting Rationale

This action is conducted under the authority of the MAS 51V program and in accordance with the following FAR provision: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A) – An urgent and compelling need exists, and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays. Absent modification, BPA 47QSCC18A000B will expire on August 1, 2021, leaving inadequate time to onboard and transition a new vendor, which includes sourcing, installation, security access requirements, and transport/staging inventory for the covered PNW activities.

Consequently, a modification to bridge performance was determined as an effective mechanism to continue contract coverage until such time that the Government is able to onboard a new vendor for these locations.

The 4PL program has been integrated into Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), and Joint Region Marianas Guam. The absence of this BPA would preclude authorized agencies across Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam from accomplishing the following:

All Locations: Maintaining ground equipment in a state of readiness, which would result in fewer equipment being available to perform mission essential activities.

The materials and services provided by this BPA complement the repair and overhaul of equipment, which includes the storage, handling or use of hazardous materials.

All Locations: Many customers rely on official government requisition programs such as DoDAAC/MILSTRIP to purchase material which cannot be used as a purchase method with local commercial vendors. Additionally, the DoDAAC/MILSTRIP requisition process reduces the customer's administrative burden associated with use of GPC as well as mitigates the risk of purchase limits associated with use of a GPC. GSA, through the 4PL program and specifically this BPA, provides customers alternative Government-only purchasing methods to increase customer’s operational efficiency.

All Locations: This BPA provides in excess of 3,500 on-the-shelf industrial materials and 900,000 products available via referrals used to support daily operations. Some of these items are not available in the quantities required due to limited procurement alternatives via local source and limitations using GPC.

All Locations: The DoD achieves efficiencies through an enterprise approach to obtain industrial material through the 4PL program. An interruption in this support would return material requirements to the base-level and unit level to conduct a large number of individual procurements for which they are no longer staffed to support. This gap in procurement support will significantly increase the risk that required products will not be available in the quantities and timeframes needed to meet their mission requirements.

JBER Specific: This BPA provides approximately 175 mission critical products in support of the F-22 and F-35 aircraft squadrons for the USAF in Alaska.

JBER Specific: DoD and Federal agencies (Coast Guard, ARCTEC Missile Command, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, etc.) rely heavily on the logistical support and expertise provided by GSA, via this BPA with Grainger, to include the coordination and arrangement of transportation documentation to ship material by barge, military air or commercial air, from JBER to remote locations throughout the Aleutian Islands.

Many agencies arrange for seasonal bulk orders to avoid winter weather transportation limitations and such ordering activities occur in Q3 around the time of BPA expiration.

JBER Specific: GSA works with the US Army Range Control in support of their training readiness center to provide generators, material handling sub-equipment, batteries, lumber, etc. through this BPA.

JBER Specific: This BPA supports the Department of Natural Resources and the

Bureau of Land Management for mission critical industrial products in preparation for fire season. Not extending this BPA will force DNR and BLM to order outside of Alaska and create risk associated with lead time to receive critical products.

JBPHH Specific: Numerous DoD and Federal agencies rely on the Joint Base

Pearl Harbor-Hickam Servmart for support to include command level agency support. Based on the geographic location of Hawaii, the shipment pipeline takes a minimum of 7-10 days to receive product. Purchase resources are limited locally and online ordering of products can be restrictive in nature with some commercial vendors not supporting shipments to this location.

Guam Specific: Based on the geographic location of Guam, the shipment pipeline takes a minimum of 30-60 days to receive product. Purchase resources are limited locally and online ordering of products can be restrictive in nature with some commercial vendors not supporting shipments to this location.

5) Determination by the Ordering Activity Contracting Officer that the Order Represents the Best Value Consistent with FAR 8.404(d)

The undersigned Ordering Activity Contracting Officer has determined that this modification order represents the best value and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, and administrative costs) to meet the Government’s needs. To date, Grainger has performed at a under BPA 47QSCC18A000B, and is the only vendor with the capability and employees at the BPA locations to deliver the necessary products and services. In addition, per FAR 8.404(d), Grainger’s MAS prices are fixed prices already determined to be fair and reasonable

6) Description of the Market Research Conducted Among Schedule Holders and the Results of the Research

GSA considered alternatives to this limited sources BPA modification, such as leveraging other established 4PL locations to support the four locations covered by the BPA; however, these other locations would be outside the geographical and contractual scope of any other

4PL BPA.

An open market procurement was determined not feasible for the 4PL program. Utilizing a MAS solution is designed to accommodate orders/BPAs for the 4PL program, by providing a viable solution for obtaining the necessary products and services in accordance with standard commercial practices, based on input from industry partners. More importantly, fulfilling this requirement via the open market does not allow for the requisition-based vehicles that the program relies on. Additionally, the MAS program ensures that the products and services required under any resulting BPA are within the scope of the negotiated products and services under the SIN(s), and that all prices have already been determined fair and reasonable to allow for rapid ordering and deployment of services that an open market vehicle would not accommodate.

7) Other Facts Supporting the Justification

Grainger has approximately of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) prepositioned at the locations covered by BPA 47QSCC18A000B, which functions as part of the 4PL supply chain for hardware and industrial products.

Local individual procurements for these supplies are not available or feasible.

8) 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

GSA developed a new MAS 4PL SIN as a result of the protest received under QSAB-RFQ- 19001. GSA continues to monitor the number of vendors that have transitioned to the new SIN. GSA anticipates adequate competition for the renewal of this requirement.

Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification:

I certify that the requirements for this acquisition, as depicted in the Statement of Work of this BPA and that the supporting data, which forms the basis for the justification, is accurate and complete.

William Crenshaw Date Director of Operations Retail Operations Branch GSA/FAS/GSS/QSR

CONCUR:

Paul Mack Date Director Retail Operations Branch GSA/FAS/GSS/QSR

Contracting Officer’s Certification:

I hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and determine on the basis of the findings above that the limited sources approach is in accordance with the requirements and is in the best interest of the Government.

Carolyn M. Long Date Contracting Officer Central Office Acquisition Division GSA/FAS/GSS/QSABA

APPROVED:

Based on the aforementioned discussion for the use of other than full and open competition, I find that the foregoing circumstances justify limiting sources in accordance with FAR 8.405- 6(a)(1)(i)(A) and approve this justification.

Stephen A. Smith Date

Central Office Acquisition Division GSA/FAS/GSS/QSAB

Mark L. Dunkum Date

GSS Acquisition Management (QSA)

Dominic Sale Date Competition Advocate Office of General Supplies and Services

GSA, FAS

Dominic Sale Date (Acting) Assistant Commissioner, HCA Office of General Supplies and Services

GSA, FAS