A02 - JA - Brand Name - Polyacrylic Rubber Requirement - Redaction.pdf

Supply: HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber Est Dollar Value:

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FOR JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Supply/Service: HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 1901

Prepared by: Riley DeBrock Contract Specialist Email: riley.j.debrock.civ@mail.mil

Phone: 309-782-3586

Contracting Officer: Jill C. Veloz Contracting Officer Email: jill.c.veloz.civ@mail.mil

Phone: 309-782-2895

Technical:

Requirements:

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Program Manager:

Department of Army Justification and Approval for Other than Full and

Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Contracting Command � Rock Island (ACC-RI) Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, IL 61299-8000.

2. Description of Action: Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA) requests a five (5) year, firm-fixed-price, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract. ACC-RI projects award for November 2021 and will obligate fiscal year 2022, Army Working Capital funds. Anacquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/Services: PBA has a requirement for the supply of HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber to be used in production of the M14 Thermate Grenade. For this effort, there is a Brand Name Restriction for HyTemp. The Polyacrylic Rubber procurement is estimated at a value of . The Guaranteed Minimum Value is at 3,200 lbs. The Maximum value is at 35,000 lbs. There will be five � one year ordering periods. The proposed contract will not include an option provision.

Soldiers in the battlefield use the grenades during operations that may require destroying documentation, gun barrels or engines in vehicles for example.

4. Authority Cited: 41. U.S.C. 1901, as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation(FAR) 13.501(a)(1)(ii), Sole source under the simplified procedures for certain commercial items.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: As described in FAR 13.501(a)(1)(i), the contracting officer may conduct sole source acquisitions only if the need to do so is justified in writingand approved at the levels specified in FAR 13.501(a)(2).

PBA has utilized the brand name of �HyTemp� for M14 Thermate Grenades since 2013. The HyTemp is required as it is the only known brand to be tested with the M14 Thermate Grenade. The HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber was utilized to prove out the Thermate and First Fire Mixes. The HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber mixture was tested from 2011 to 2013, and is specifically created to burn at 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Any deviations to the mix including a different brand name, would require testing. The initial testing of the HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber took two years to complete, at a cost of nearly $ to the Government. The prove-out process for an alternate brand is still estimated to take two years, however with an increased estimated cost of $ . PBA does not have the time, or funding to support an alternate brand.

A change in any of the mix components can cause the mixes to combine differently. This could cause the mix to burn too fast, too slow, too hot or too cool etc. Any of those scenarios could make the grenades function outside the required parameters of the grenade specification. Therefore, deviating from the brand name HyTemp could sacrifice safety and effectiveness of the M14 Thermate Grenades and could be catastrophic to the soldiers using the grenades in the field.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Government will achieve effective competition by publishing the solicitation on SAM.Gov. The Government intends to solicit to the contractors known from Market Research, see paragraph 8. The contract will contain FAR clause 52.244-5(a), Competition in Subcontracting, which states that the contractor shall select subcontractors on a competitive basis to the maximum practicable extent.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: ACC-RI will coordinate with Pine Bluff Arsenal on actions taken to increase competition. ACC will discuss with PBA to determine if exploring other brands would be beneficial in the future.

Market Research: ACC-RI conducted a Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Search on 29 September 2021 under NAICS Code 325212; in order to find additional sources capable of providing the Polyacrylic Rubber. Additional market research was conducted based on Historical Data to identify vendors who have provided HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber in the past. Two of the contractors noted are based off historical, along with the small business found from the SBA Dynamic Search:

8. Interested Sources: To date, no other sources have expressed a written interest in this requirement.

9. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History:

Contract: W911RP-13-P-0112 (HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber) Contractor: Motion Industries, Inc.

Award Date: September 2013 Competition Status: Sole Source Authority: unknown

Contract: W911RP-11-P-0002 (HyTemp Polyacrylic Rubber) Contractor: Motion Industries, Inc.

Award Date: September 2011 Competition Status: Sole Source Authority: unknown