Attachment A - BNJ_Europlacer.pdf

Limited Sources and Justification & Approval

IAW Limited Source Justification IAW 8.405-6(b)

REQUISITION NUMBERS: N0025350862910 and N0025350862907

REQUESTING AGENCY: Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Keyport, 610 Dowell Street, Keyport, WA 98345

POC:

CONTRACTING OFFICE: General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Supply Chain Management (SCM) Contracting Division, SCM Office Supply and Management Branch, New York, NY

1. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: This justification is in response to a request received from NUWC, for the one-time purchase of Europlacer System requirements. This Limited Source Justification is being solicited, open market to Small Business contractors via Sam.gov. Therefore, FAR 8.405-6(b) is being invoked to limit sources to only MFR:

F(Europlacer).

Line 1 - Requisition: N0025350862910 P/N: E113428; Item: ii-Feed element 8mm; Qty: 60 P/N: E115025; Item: 8mm Magnetic ii-Feed Elements; Qty: 30 P/N: E113432; Item: ii-Feed element 12mm step 4mm; Qty: 24 P/N: E113433; Item: ii-Feed element 16mm step 4mm; Qty: 4 P/N: E114595; Item: ii-Feed element 24mm step 8mm; Qty: 4 P/N: E113727; Item: ii-Feed magazine 390mm – Full size; Qty: 4

Line 2 - Requisition: N0025350862907 P/N: E114651, Item: Glue dispense device turret Auger - Demo Unit; Qty: 4 P/N: SERVE; Item: Onsite Installation; Qty 1

Description: The Europlacer System is the primary mechanism by which code 424/4221 builds almost all its product lines, particularly the NAVAIR essential Gyros and Accelerometers. This incredibly accurate robot allows us to place microscopic surface mount components accurately, which otherwise are impossible by human means.

Line 1: Acquisition is essential to handling the volume of work that is done while reducing the number of man hours required to set up the system for production. Magnetic feeders will allow the division to reduce component loss when dealing with ultra-small, microscopic components.

All the items in Line Item 1 are specific to the Manufacturer of this robot and are not available anywhere else.

Docusign Envelope ID: 38974109-86E5-4216-BBC9-97EE5AF988B3

Line 2: Acquisition is considered a standard capability in industry and was overlooked as an add-on device when this system was purchased. The ability to glue components on the bottom so they don’t fall off during processing of the top of a circuit board is considered essential and will solve a major engineering problem. This is a very inexpensive addition that solves a relatively expense problem and can only be acquired from the maker of this system.

Estimated Cost: $ Estimated Delivery: 30 calendar days ARO

2. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES: In accordance with the overall GSA objective of supporting other USG agencies, the government has a need to procure Europlacer System requirements in order to meet ongoing NUWC mission requirements, as outlined in this document.

Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Keyport, 610 Dowell Street, Keyport, WA 98345 requires the Europlacer, ii-Feed elements and glue dispense option to the iiA1 machine as it is necessary to continue to meet fleet demands for state-of-the art circuit board manufacturing for technology required to solve obsolescence management. Internal and external customers in the DoD design critical replacement technology and contract Code 42 to fabricate the technology which requires this robotics system to be fully capable of meeting all engineering requirements.

Use of any third-party Feed elements and glue dispense option would result in voiding the warranty with the company for our existing equipment, if they were even available.

In addition, it is more cost effective to acquire the Europlacer, ii-Feed elements and glue dispense option at an estimated price of than to consider a complete replacement of the Pick and Place Robotics processor. The estimated replacement cost to a comparable “System” is in excess this includes loss of production time for installation, the cost of retraining two engineers and two operators in the use of a new system, and the conversion of all the production files for all product lines to a new format systemic to a different system.

3. AUTHORITY AND SUPPORTING RATIONALE: FAR 8.405-6(b) – An item peculiar to one manufacturer can be a particular brand name, product, or a feature of a product. A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer.

On 31 March 2025 the requiring agency submitted the purchase request to the SCM Office Supply and Management Branch, New York office. This was followed up on 07 April 2025 with the submission of a Brand Name Justification, to limit sources for the purchase of the above referenced Europlacer System requirements.

NUWC ‘s market research indicated that Europlacer is the only manufacturer that at this time can meet the specific need without replacing the system at more than ten times the cost of this acquisition request. There are approximately 20 manufacturers in the world that produce Pick and Place Robotics, with more than half coming from China—not available as a purchase option.

Of the ten remaining viable candidates many of these robots are high speed manufacturing designed for extremely high-volume commercial manufacturers and the cost of those robotics are more than double the expense of the current asset. Furthermore, one of the Japanese manufactures refuses to sell, or service to the U.S. military based on philosophical—anti-war—reasons. Several of the available options are smaller and not designed for moderate product through-put—rather prototyping only. The current Europlacer robot is a mid-range priced device that meets the workload currently required of the Division. The award of any product other than the above-mentioned brand name product would not be in the best interest of the Government at this time and not commensurate with the President’s goal of cost reduction and increased work efficiency. The current Europlacer system is only 1.5 years old and expected to last at least 15 more years.

Therefore, for this acquisition, the SCM Office Supply and Management Branch is restricting the consideration of contractors under to include the only source that can provide Europlacer System requirements.

4. DETERMINATION BY THE ORDERING ACTIVITY CONTRACTING OFFICER

THAT THE ORDER REPRESENTS THE BEST VALUE CONSISTENT WITH FAR

8.404(d): IAW FAR8.405-6(c)(vi), The overall goal of GSA FAS is to provide the Government with a fast and efficient way for federal agencies to requisition commodities at reasonable prices with prompt, cost effective delivery and customer services. In accordance with FAR Part 8.404(d) GSA has already determined the price of supplies under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. A best value determination will be documented. Prior to placing the order, the Contracting Officer will seek price reductions.

5. MARKET RESEARCH: IAW FAR 8.405-6(c)(vi), market research has been conducted to justify this Request for Quote (RFQ) as a Brand Name only. The aforementioned product carries unique capabilities that meet the Government’s requirement as designed and cannot be met with any other system or through modifications to an existing system.

6. PCO DETERMINATION: IAW FAR 8.405-6(c)(xi), I certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Based on the above, I hereby determine that it is in the best interest of the Government and most appropriate for this acquisition to procure Europlacer Americas Incorporated brand only.

Candace Grella Contracting Officer, GSA SCM

5/8/2025