FAR 6.302_Justification for Other Than Full & Open Competition ds.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.3 Control No. (if applicable) ______________________

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

USDA-APHIS-WS-National Wildlife Research Center 4101 Laporte Ave Fort Collins, CO 80521

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

Acquisition of a sole-source agreement with Agilent to provide one base year and four option years of service and preventative maintenance on scientific instruments. The specific scientific instruments covered under this agreement are described below.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

Agilent will provide service and preventative maintenance for the facilities’ Agilent Technologies HPLCs and GCs with associated detectors for the service period 06/01/2024 – 05/31/2029.

Agilent will provide on-site repair within 3 business days of a services request.

They will provide factory recommended software and firmware updates/upgrades, engineering upgrades and maintenance procedures for all instrumentation and software.

The software will include Open Lab, Masshunter, and Mass Profiler software packages. Agilent will use only OEM and not third party or remanufactured parts. There is no upper limit on the cost for any repair and no further authorization from management is needed to complete a repair request.

Agilent is also offering a Remote Advisor option on some models. This allows on-line tracking of problems and faster diagnosis and responses for repairs.

Remote Advisor supported instruments include:

• Agilent LC models: 1100 and 1200 Infinity Series

• Agilent GC models: 6850, 7820A, 7890 Series

• Agilent LCMS models: single quad 1946, Q-TOF 6140 Series, triple quad 6400 Series

• Agilent GCMS models: 5973-5977A Series

• Waters LC models: Alliance and Acquity

Remote Advisor is a real-time support and reporting tool that works on Agilent and non-Agilent systems regardless of the controlling software or chromatography data system in use.

Assist: Virtually eliminates trial and error troubleshooting to quickly resolve problems

Reports: Monitor and optimize equipment utilization and effectiveness

Alerts: Prevent downtime and reduce sample re-work with real-time alerts

Agilent is also offering module replacements at no charge for any modules or instruments which cannot be repaired. The USDA/WS Facility in Ft. Collins, CO will be able to ship broken modules to them and they will replace it with the same module free of charge.

Base Year Cost and Option Year Cost = $118,755.85 (quote obtained from service provider)

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, titled "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements."

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

According to Service Sales Product Specialists Life Sciences & Chemical Analysis at Agilent Technologies Inc;

Agilent Technologies is the OEM for all equipment listed in this requirement for maintenance. In most instances there is at least one other vendor on GSA listing prices to provide these services, but the Agilent price is always the same or lower.

Agilent does not authorize companies to provide services on Agilent Instrumentation. They do not have current manufacturer’s certified service training on software, hardware, or firmware used in the operation of the instruments.

If an unauthorized party services Agilent instruments during the warranty periods, the warranties would be voided.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

NA – Agilent does not authorize other companies to provide services on Agilent instrumentation.

Doing so would void manufacturer warranties.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Base Year Cost and Option Year Cost = $118,755.85

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason Market Research was not conducted.

NA – see Item 6

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

NA

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

Agilent

11. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

NA

Certifications & Approvals

Supporting data that form the basis for and included in this justification are certified accurate and complete.

Jeffrey Chandler Supervisory Biologist

USDA/APHIS/WS/NWRC

Laboratory Support Services Unit Leader

The information contained in this Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Latisha Hollman Contracting Officer

USDA/APHIS/MRPBS/AAMD