FAR 8.405_LimitedSources12639524A0023.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Limited Sources Justification

For an Order/BPA Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

FAR 8.405 Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) Multiple Award Schedule Program

Control No. (if applicable) 1123727

Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Requesting Agency:

USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center

USDA/APHIS/WS

4101 La Porte Ave Fort Collins, CO 80521

Contracting Activity:

USDA, APHIS, MRPBS, ASD

250 MARQUETTE AVE

SUITE 410

MINNEAPOLIS MN 55401

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.

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 yr 06/01/2024 to 05/31/2025 $ 118,755.85 Per Quotation Number: 5001288797 dtd 3/12/24 Yr 2 of 5 06/01/2025 to 05/31/2026 $ 118,755.85 Per Quotation Number: 5001288798 dtd 3/12/24

Yr 3 of 5 06/01/2026 to 05/31/2027 $ 118,755.85 Per Quotation Number: 5001288799 dtd 3/12/24

Yr 4 of 5 06/01/2027 to 05/31/28 $ 118,755.85 Per Quotation Number: 5001288850 dtd 3/12/24 Yr 5 of 5 06/01/2028 to 05/31/2029 $ 118,755.85 Per Quotation Number: 5001288851 dtd 3/12/24

Total $ 593,799.25

The authority and supporting rationale.

The following circumstance justifies limiting the source under FAR 8.405-6:

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) – Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services requried at the level of quality required.

The authority and supporting rational (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) (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 and a demonstration of the proposed contractor's unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

To our knowledge the property or services needed are available from only one responsible qualified source at this time and no other type of property or services will satisfy these needs.

As the company which manufactures these instrument, Agilent Technologies is the only company that can provide the software and firmware updates and proprietary factory recommended upgrades and service notes needed.

Only factory certified engineers with access to ongoing factory updates are to be used; proof of training records beyond basic operator training is required. Any training or updated training must be recent (within 1-2 years) and cover all modules of a system. (see attached sole source letter)

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

8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) is the proposed authority, The Government believes 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. Contractor has unique qualifications or specialized experience to provide the supplies or services that are not available elsewhere on the schedules.)

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. These other companies do not have current manufacturer’s certified service training on software, hardware, or firmware used in the operation of the instruments.

6. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer (CO) that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

Price Analysis:

• Although the current price of $ 118,755.85 yearly is a 28.70% increase over the previous BPA price of $ 92,274.00 yearly; This is a sole-source item. In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(B) There are no other distributors or dealers from whom comparison prices may be obtained.

• According to the latest CPI Index the rate of increased inflation over the past 5 years is 23.29%

• Comparison of historical prices on BPA 12639519A0043 were compared with current proposed prices for the same or similar items, when both the validity of the comparison and the reasonableness of the previous price(s) could be established.

Previous BPA# 12639519A0043 Current Quotes 2024 Difference %incr/

TOTALS $92,274.00 $118,755.85 $26,481.85 28.70%

CPI INDEX 2019 CPI INDEX 2024

TOTALS $92,274.00 $113,761.05 $21,487.05 23.29%

• The pricing offered to the USDA are the same prices stated on the Agilent Catalog found at IAW FAR 8.404(d) GSA has already determined the prices of items under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. By placing an order against a schedule using the procedures in this section, the ordering office has concluded that the order represents the best value and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc., to meet the Government’s needs.

A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

03/27/2024 Sole Source Notice # WS1123727 IAW FAR IAW FAR 8.405-6(c)(2) Cls 04/10/2024 and on GSA eBuy RFQ1686998

1Response

THE REMI GROUP LLC

SAM UEI# X458FNVQ1YX9 CAGE: 51LN4

6325 Ardrey Kell RD

STE 200

Charlotte, North Carolina, 28277-4967

Any other facts supporting the justification.

Pricing is considered Fair and Reasonable IAW FAR 8.405-6(1)(1)(i)(B) and. When 8.405- 6(a)(1)(i)(C) is cited for logical follow-on from BPA# 12639519A0043

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

No actions will be taken to remove any barriers to competition according to statements explained in item#5 and attached sole source letter.

2850 Centerville Road Wilmington, DE 19808‐1610 Tel: 1‐800‐227‐9770 opt1,then 5 www.agilent.com

March 28, 2024

US Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Ctr 4101 LaPorte Ave

FORT COLLINS CO 80521

Sole Source for Agilent Manufactured Hardware Equipment

Dear Carol Dingess, Agilent Technologies chemical analysis and life sciences instruments are highly complex and sensitive. Because of their unique technical nature, we recommend that instrument services be performed by Agilent, an ISO 9001:2008 -certified source for factory-authorized service. Agilent has proprietary rights to the existing equipment and is the sole manufacturer of the equipment. Agilent has no independent support resellers or service providers; therefore, only Agilent and its authorized support partners and resellers can supply the required service and guarantee that the maintenance and parts will be fully compatible with and meet the original performance specifications for the equipment. Services performed by providers who are not Agilent factory-authorized could invalidate Agilent’s warranties. Although Agilent may not be the only vendor who can repair or maintain your equipment, we are the sole source for the following:

• Agilent is the sole source for factory-recommended replacement parts

• Agilent is the sole source for proprietary software updates- installed by Agilent licensed service engineers

• 3rd party can’t purchase a software upgrade and transfer the ownership to a customer

• Agilent trained and certified service engineers that are routinely trained on latest technology and regulatory guidelines, and have an average of 10 years instrument repair experience

• Agilent is the sole source for proprietary factory-recommended upgrades and service notes

• Agilent is the sole source contact for factory authorized escalation services to resolve difficult problems

• Agilent Service Guarantee: If we can’t fix an instrument covered by a contract, we’ll replace it

In addition, Agilent’s service contracts offer many other advantages:

• Priority response time, with 85% of service calls successfully resolved on the first visit

• Agilent-certified replacement parts, and a local parts inventory with 24-hour hotline ordering capability to ensure Agilent engineers have quick access to the parts needed for repair

• Dedicated FSE has an overstock of commonly required hardware and consumable parts

• Local field representatives in all major metropolitan areas – with 98% customer satisfaction

• Assigned Account Customer Engineer and Backup Customer Engineer

• Remote hardware and software telephone support from factory-trained engineers

• Software update service- Software reloads and firmware updates

• Call Center support- to handle any billing or scheduling inquires

• Quality measures for timely response, first visit repair, and customer satisfaction

• Factory -specified preventive maintenance procedures using only new Agilent certified Parts & Supplies

• Field Repair Center for Autosamplers, Integrators, A/D modules, and MSD source cleanings

Sincerely, Agilent Technologies Life Sciences Chemical Analysis