A13. SSJ Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR SOLE SOURCE PROCUREMENT (OPEN MARKET OR GSA)

UNDER $250,000

Sole source acquisitions may be used on a limited basis and only when the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)/Program Official has provided sufficient justification and the Contracting Officer has determined that the circumstances warrant such action. The content for a justification must contain detailed facts and rationale to justify the sole source acquisition. Soliciting from a single source must be done in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b) or 8.405-6. At a minimum, the following information must be included:

Identification of Program Office, Contracting Activity, and Proposed Requirement, Justification and Program Office Certification:

A. Program Office:

NIOSH/HELD/PERB

1095 Willowdale Road Mail Stop: L-2027 Morgantown, WV 26505

B. Contracting Activity:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office of Financial Resources Acquisition Branch #5

C. Identification of Requirement:

1. Nature of Action to be Approved by Contracting Officer:

a. Sole source acquisition of: Testing of Knee-Saver Devices in Deep Squatting Tasks

b. Procurement Request (PR) Number (if available):

2. Proposed Vendor and Estimated Procurement Amount (if available):

a. Proposed Vendor: Ting Xia, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northern Illinois University, Engineering Building 226, 590 Garden Road, DeKalb, IL 60115

b. Estimated Procurement Amount:

Rev. 5/14/19

3. Is the requirement on GSA Schedule? Yes No

If yes, provide schedule number: Click here to enter text.

D. Justification:

1. The justification for this non-competitive action is:

In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), “only one source [is] reasonably available” which states that, “For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold. (i) Contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name or industrial mobilization). (ii) Where a single source is identified to provide a portion of a purchase because that portion of the purchase specifies a particular brand-name item, the documentation in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section only applies to the portion of the purchase requiring brand-name item. The documentation should state it is covering only the portion of the acquisition which is brand- name.”

Urgency Exclusive licensing agreements/Proprietary data Brand name required Industrial mobilization Other (e.g., compatibility, space issues, continuity, etc.)

In accordance with FAR 8.405-6 “Limiting Sources” which states that, “the only circumstances that may justify the action are – (A) An urgent and compelling need exists, and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays; (B) Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized; or (C) In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-up to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.”

Urgency Only One Source

Logical Follow Up Brand name required

2. Other facts supporting sole source procurement:

a. What can this product/service do that other products/services cannot do?

The service “Testing of Knee-Saver Devices in Deep Squatting Tasks” to be provided by the vendor is important to assist in the planning and modification of the NIOSH main project. This vendor has been recognized as a pioneer in evaluating assistive devices for occupational activities in general. The vendor not only has the highly specialized equipment and facility to perform occupation-related kinematic and kinetic analysis but also has a strong research team with a solid background and expertise in ergonomics and biomechanics, especially the biomechanical analysis of deep squatting tasks associated with occupational activities. NIOSH will not receive any personally identifiable information (PII) or have any contact with human research subjects.

NIOSH will receive only data back from Northern Illinois University.

x x

b. What other products/services were considered and why did they not meet the need?

We also evaluated other vendors (such as other independent institutes and facility developers/companies) for the requested tasks. We found multiple academic research labs that have experience with general human movements analysis or ergonomic studies; however, most of their research activities focus on sports or clinical biomechanical evaluations. There are few studies that focus on the biomechanical analysis of deep squatting tasks associated with occupational activities. We were only able to find sparse information on relevant work in Europe, which is geographically impractical for this service.

We prefer not to choose any private developers/companies to work on this service, mainly due to the potential issues of conflict of interest, especially when there are multiple brands of products involved in the testing. No other vendors have the expertise for the study and can complete the customized testing within our limited budget ($24k).

3. Program Office efforts to seek potential offerors:

Based on extensive internet searches and literature review, we couldn’t find any other vendors that have the specialized facility and expertise for the requested tasks. This vendor has several top-rated publications, as detailed in the Statement of Work, on investigations of musculoskeletal loading related to exoskeleton uses in occupational tasks. No other vendors have the necessary specialized and comprehensive knowledge and experience needed to carry out this service, compared to the selected vendor.

E. Program Office Certification:

I have reviewed this sole source justification and certify the justification is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and adequate to support other than full and open competition.

CIO Project Officer Name: John Wu

CIO Project Officer Signature:

Approval Date:

Branch Chief: Renguang Dong, Branch Chief, PERB

Signature:

Approval Date:

John Z.

Wu -S

Digitally signed by John Z. Wu -S Date: 2023.11.13 13:43:06 -05'00'

Renguang Dong -S Digitally signed by Renguang Dong -S Date: 2023.11.14 19:27:13 -05'00'

Certification Date:

F. Contracting Office Certification:

I have fully relied on the information provided herein and hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Contracting Officer Name: Click here to enter text.

Contracting Officer Signature:

Certification Date: