A.5.3 - JOFOC-Medtherm_RS - v20210824.pdf

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

Control #: ATF-21-0061 ARQ #DJA-21-ALAB-PR-0503 Page 1 of 4

1. Agency and Contracting Activity:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) | Office of Management | Property, Acquisitions & Safety Division | Acquisitions Branch | 99 New York Avenue NE, 3.S- 153 – Washington, DC 20226

Requesting Office: ATF | Office of Science & Technology (OST) | Forensic Research Laboratory (FRL) | 6000 Ammendale Road – Beltsville, MD 20705

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being approved:

ATF is considering the issuance of a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) setup directly with the manufacturer, Medtherm Corporation.

3. Description of the Supplies and/or Services required to meet the Agency’s needs (including period of performance, estimated value and options):

The FRL has a requirement for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable-calibration, repair, and replacement services for its Schmidt-Boelter type, heat-flux gauges.

The period of performance will be five (5) years from the date of award, anticipating 9/1/2021 through 8/31/2026. The estimated value for the life of the BPA Setup is a not-to-exceed amount of $250,000.00, which averages to $50,000 per year. These amounts are based on how often the Lab anticipates using the heat-flux gauges during experiments and the manufacturer’s price. For calibrations, the price ranges from to ; and for the replacements, the price ranges from to . Both include an annual-escalation rate of ~5.7%.

4. Statutory Authority permitting Other than Full and Open Competition:

Pursuant to the authority of Title 41 United States Code 3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.302-1, ‘only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements’. In addition, pursuant to FAR 6.302- 1(c), the ‘application for a particular brand-name product, peculiar to one manufacturer is essential to the Government’s requirements, thereby precluding consideration of a product manufactured by another company’.

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the Authority cited:

The gauges are used to measure heat-flux exposure levels at various locations during FRL experiments. FRL’s quality procedures and manufacturer recommendations state that once calibrated, the gauges can be held in abeyance for 60 months. All Medtherm-manufactured, heat-flux gauges are required to be recalibrated after the 60-month abeyance period expires or after one (1) year from when the gauge has been removed from the abeyance state. They are also required to be recalibrated if the gauge has been over-ranged and is unable to be functionally verified on-site. Additionally, it is not uncommon for a heat-flux gauge to be

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

Control #: ATF-21-0061 ARQ #DJA-21-ALAB-PR-0503 Page 3 of 4 schedule showed certain calibration services as “At Cost”, its other calibration services ranged from $751 to $15,779.

8. Description of the Market Research (MR) conducted and the results or a statement of the reason MR was not conducted:

A Google search for “Schmidt-Boelter Heat Flux Gauges” yielded three (3) vendors that manufacturer Schmidt-Boelter type heat gauges: Medtherm Corporation, and

. Since there is a very limited market for these types of gauges, there are a very limited number of manufactures.

Based on communication with and , neither can satisfy the requirement. Per

, it “could likely calibrate a Medtherm Gardon gauge type heat flux sensor;

calibration traceability would be to ITS-90. Repair of a faulty Medtherm sensor is however is unlikely; best to return a defective sensor to Medtherm for repair.”

The FRL does not use Metherm Gardon gauges. Additionally, calibrations are traceable to ITS-90, not NIST Traceable. Per Corporation, “Yes we offer Medtherm recalibrations. Vatell is NIST certified. We are also required to update annually. Our turn-around time for recalibrations is 2 weeks…” could not provide written documentation stating its company is authorized by Medtherm to perform calibration and repair services on Medtherm-manufactured, heat-flux gauges.

As a result, Medtherm Corporation was determined to be the only capable provider of the necessary NIST-traceable-calibration and replacement services for its Schmidt-Boelter heat-flux gauges needed by the FRL.

9. Any other Facts supporting the use of Other than Full and Open Competition:

a) Explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work (SOW) or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available: This requirement is for a sole-source award based on the above information.

b) When FAR 6.302-1 is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived. This is not a follow-on to an order for the continued development or production of a major system or highly specialized equipment, including major components thereof.

c) When FAR 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government. FAR 6.302-2 is not cited; nor is it applicable to this acquisition.