Brand Name JA_FAR-Part13.5_ACC ATC_Redacted.pdf

CUI

Control Number: JA-22-TEN-256

Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FAR SUBPART 13.5 SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL

ITEMS – BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

Program/Equipment: Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) Ballistic Instrumentation Division (BID) requests an Indefinite Delivery – Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for supply of PCB Piezotronics and Endevco Brand-Named pressure transducers, accelerometers to support its Live Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E) mission.

Authority: Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items, 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by FAR Subpart 13.5.

Amount: $6,000,000.00, includes one base year plus two option years.

Prepared by:

Typed Name: Tien Q. Nguyen Title: Contract Specialist Date: 06/01/2022

Contracting Officer:

Typed Name: Sharon A. Gary Title: Contracting Officer Date Reviewed: 06/02/2022

Technical Representative:

Typed Name: Christopher B. Monahan Title: Chief, Engineering & Lab Branch Date Reviewed:

Requirements Representative:

Typed Name: Laura K. Sacker Title: Chief, Test Support Branch Date Reviewed:

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

Controlled By: US Army ATC Controlled By: ATC CUI Category: CUI//SP-PROCURE// Limited Dissemination Control: FED ONLY POC: Laura K. Sacker, Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

2 SEP 2021

Reviews

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

Legal Counsel

Typed Name: Joseph S. Beazley DSN:

Signatu ate:

Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

3 SEP 2021

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FAR SUBPART 13.5 SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL

ITEMS – BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), 6565 Surveillance Loop, Building 6001, APG, MD 21005-3013.

2. Description of Action: Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) requests an Indefinite Delivery

– Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with PCB Piezotronics and Endevco Brand-Named acceleration and pressure transducers and accessories for one base year plus two option years. The Government projects award for August 2022 and fiscal year 2022 Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funds will be used. An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The requested supply items are Commercial- Off-The-Shelf (COTS) accelerometers and pressure transducer. The items are utilized in support of the ATC Live Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E) mission. Accelerometers are used to measure the structural response of vehicles and/or vehicle components.

Those responses are then used to evaluate vehicle performance. Pressure gages are also used in a similar manner but are used to evaluate effects of pressure waves against mounted and dismounted soldiers. Because of the harsh test environment that these items must endure, they are frequently damaged or destroyed in testing. This results in high turnover of inventory. An IDIQ contract would be the most efficient method for replenishment of damaged or destroyed articles to maintain ATC’s required test instrumentation inventory. The required items are listed below:

Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

9 SEP 2021

have been used in hundreds of LFT&E events. They have characterized the shock response of many vehicles and their components, as well as providing data towards crew injury predictions. These specific transducers are needed to maintain test continuity and consistency, in order to maintain historical comparisons against prior LFT&E events. Because a different transducer cannot be assured to respond in the same ways or with the same level of accuracy as those currently used, a substitute transducer creates a new variable in the test analysis. This can create a loophole that allows current and future customers to cite test failures compared to other testing as being attributed to changes in the measurement technology used, placing the Government at risk of litigation and potential delays in the fielding of new military systems.

Any substitute devices would require extensive validation testing to guarantee equivalence, which is neither time nor cost effective. Due to the nature of testing, the Government cannot accept an alternate vendor's recommendation of “an equal substitute” without testing in ATC’s harsh environments for the data accuracy required.

Some validation testing has been done in the past with other transducer models from Measurement Specialties, Inc. Their products did not provide the same data accuracy or withstand the harsh environment to the same levels as the items requested. The verification and validation process can take upwards of a year to conduct. Evaluating new products is something that has historically been done at random intervals to evaluate any new products that may be on the market. Testing new products typically has had minimal impact on the mission, however BID is not always funding for such efforts. Additionally new transducers have to go through an accreditation process and be accepted by the live fire test community. This process can take several months as well.

PCB Piezotronics and Endevco Brand-Named acceleration and pressure transducers only vends these items directly or through the company’s network of factory authorized regional distributors. PCB’s authorized distributor whose region covers APG is Technical Representatives, Inc. (TRI) of Herndon, VA. No third-party vendors beyond PCB’s authorized distributor network are known to exist.

The Endevco brand was formerly owned by Meggitt PLC. In August of 2019, Meggitt sold off the Endevco brand and it was ultimately purchased by its competitor PCB Piezotronics. PCB is now selling the Endevco brand along side its other brands.

(b) Alternatives: No satisfactory alternatives have been identified to date. Any substitute devices would require extensive validation testing to guarantee equivalence. The government has been purchasing PCB Piezotronics and Endevco equipment for a very long time. This is not in the Government’s best interest, as the requested items meet the required specifications and fulfill the existing need. Lack of such validation could lead to reduced data quality, invalid test results, and create negative impact on crew survivability analysis. This could have a direct impact on system functionality

Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

10 SEP 2021

and soldier survivability. Suspension of operations is not viable as this LFT&E testing is a regular acceptance requirement for new military systems and the program offices managing their development, particularly those that are Congressionally-mandated Title 10 authorizations.

1) Current inventory of these items is presently at its operational limit. At times of high test load in recent months, one test will need to be conducted and completed so that its transducers can be recovered and reused on the next test.

Because there is not sufficient inventory to overlap and instrument multiple tests at once, this can create operational delays in testing. This can have very real impact on program office decision milestones in the development and fielding of new systems.

The requirement for validation testing of other transducers would still be required to show operational equivalence. This would require side-by-side testing in actual test environments over many tests to collect enough data to be of statistical significance for such assurance. This would be a very costly endeavor which is not likely to be recovered through source competition, in addition to the protracted time requirements for such an endeavor.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Contracting Officer will publish the notices required by FAR 5.201 and any bids or proposals received shall be considered. Based on the information provided outlined in Sections 5 (Reason for Authority Cited) and Section 8 (Market Research), this is a sole source requirement and effective competition is not feasible. This is a proprietary, COTS product line. However, the requirement will be competed amongst the various companies which are authorized to sell the brand name items outlined above in Section 3. As required by FAR Subpart 5.2, this requirement will be solicited through the beta.sam.gov amongst all registered vendors as unrestricted.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The supply items (accelerometers and pressure transducer) are critical to support ATC LFT&E mission for continuous testing.

Although the Government is limited in this case to only brand name, ATC will continue to research and make every effort to use compatible supplies that will not limit to brand name only, but instead compete these requirements to the maximum extent possible, and within current policy. Future efforts will include contacting various industry partners, manufacturers, distributors, etc. Ensuring the widest dissemination of opportunity among these entities will maximize the possibility of competition and cost savings for the Government

8. Market Research: Market Research was conducted in 25 February 2022 - 25 March

Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

11 SEP 2021

2022. As the requirement cannot deviate from the specified items, market research has centered on the identification of alternate sources other than PCB, PLC and their network of factory authorized distributors. This has included Google searches for alternate vendors, none found; continual monitoring of technical journals devoted to T&E, largely filled with ads for services and equipment related to T&E (Evaluation Engineering; Design World; Test & Measurement Design; others) with no other vendors noted. Also scanning beta.sam.gov with keyword searches for Endevco and PCB and key transducers are most used at ATC, looking for announcements and contract awards. Other solicitations, notices of intent to sole source, and awards have been found, with all indicating awards to be made to PCB and Endevco or their authorize distributors.

9. Interested Sources: As a result of market research, there are three vendors capable of fulfilling this requirement and which are likely interested sources based on previous procurements. This procurement shall be synopsized as required by FAR 5.201, and the synopsis will be posted on beta.sam.gov website.

10. Other Facts: The following table shows five (5) most recent contracts identified for BID, ATC. There may be other contracts that were not identified as of this writing. There were other transducer orders during this period below $25,000 which did not require ACC contract action.

Contract Number Vendor Award Date Dollar Amount Extent Competed J&A Control # W91ZLK17F1V02 MEGGITT 23-Mar-17 $31,211.58 FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) Soliciting from a single source N/A W91ZLK17P0084 MEGGITT 23-May-17 $50,840.38 FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) Soliciting from a single source N/A W91ZLK17F0013 MEGGITT 6-Sep-17 $73,944.22 FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(ii) Brand name specification N/A W91ZLK18P0139 MEGGITT 21-Sep-18 $54,985.71 FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(ii) Brand name specification N/A W91ZLK19D0003 Technical Representatives Inc 29-Mar-21 $3,000,000.00 FAR Subpart 13.5 - Brand Name Specification JA-19-Ten-079

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signatu Date: 30 June 2022

Typed Name: Christopher B. Monahan Title: Chief, Engineering & Lab Branch

Program/Equipment: Pressure Transducers and Accelerometers

CUI

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

12 SEP 2021

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: Date: 30 June 20226

Typed Name: Laura K. Sacker Title: Chief, Test Support Branch

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. IAW FAR 15.404(b)(2), the following techniques will be used to determine a fair and reasonable price: comparison of proposed prices to historical prices paid, whether by the Government or other than the Government, for same or similar items, use of parametric estimating methods, and, comparison of proposed prices with independent Government cost estimates.

This determination will be made using price analysis, IGCE comparison and procurement history prices.

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data is not required because the item and/or services being acquired are considered commercial.

Signature: Date: 30 June 2022

Typed Name: Sharon A. Gary Title: Contracting Officer

14. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: Date: 30 June 2022

Typed Name: Sharon A. Gary Title: Contracting Officer