J A FBO.doc

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (J & A)

SOLICITATION NO. HSCG38-09-R-200003

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by FAR Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

(1) Agency and Contracting Activity – The U. S. Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center (ALC) Short Range Recovery (SRR) Division, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, proposes to enter into a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition and presents this Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (J&A) for review and approval.

(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved -- Approval is requested to purchase, on a limited sources basis, spare parts for use on the SRR aircraft. These parts are manufactured by foreign vendors. The proposed contract type shall be a firm-fixed price Requirements contract. Market research reveals that the following vendors are capable of providing these parts to the U.S. Coast Guard: Sey Tec, Hurst, TX; Boone Air Parts, Valencia, CA; Defense Technology Equipment, Sterling VA; B&B Marketing Enterprises, Deerfield Beach, Fl; American Eurocopter, Grand Prairie, TX.

(3) Description of the Supplies/Services -- As the Aviation Inventory Control Point (AICP), ALC must provide effective supply support for all Coast Guard aviation units and for the Programmed Depot Maintenance Program. This requirement is anticipated to be awarded to responsible sources with traceability to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the items solicited. Failure to purchase these parts may cause aircraft to be grounded. A similar part from another manufacturer would not suffice as these parts would require numerous changes to the aircraft (software, configurations, etc), which ultimately would result in more dollars spent than required. The United States Coast Guard did not purchase the technical data rights as part of the original acquisition for the short range recovery aircraft (formerly referred to as H-65), nor we do not have accessibility to the complete specifications and drawings for each part. Eurocopter owns the proprietary data for these parts and will not release it. The material and estimated quantities to be procured are based on current and past usage. Projected stocking levels are based on: experienced mean time between failure rates; failure and corrosion trends; experienced and projected scrap rates and procurement lead times. The proposed period of performance is a one-year base period plus four (4) one-year option periods.

(4) Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This acquisition is limited to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or OEM approved sources.

(5) Demonstration That the Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited. The parts to be procured under this solicitation are obtainable only from French Original Equipment Manufactures and its distributors. The OEM owns the proprietary rights to the drawings and specifications needed to manufacture these items.

(6) Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable. In accordance with FAR 5.205(c), a special notice was posted on 15 October 2008 forecasting the need for spare parts and components in the support of the SRR aircraft, as well as, giving advanced notification, procurement in this nature could be procured multiple times throughout the Fiscal year. If any vendor/company through any of those actions were found to be capable in providing the spare parts, a validation of their capabilities would be performed and an evaluation of the submitted quotes would be determined.

(7) Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable. It is the Contracting Officer's opinion that prices ultimately negotiated for this procurement will be fair and reasonable based on a comparison to commercial prices, a comparison to historical pricing information on similar items, and if necessary, an analysis of other than cost and pricing data.

(8) Description of Market Research. Market surveys are continually conducted to identify new sources of supply and services for the SRR aircraft fleet. For example, contacts made by Aviation Logistic Center's Technical Services and Inventory Management Specialist at the annual Helicopter Association International Trade Group Conventions, which was held this year in Anaheim, California have resulted in identification of alternate sources of supply/services for various spare parts utilized on the aircraft. Searches via the Internet on websites, such as ILS, Haystack, and wBparts, as well as, accessing the FedLog database, have not been successful in finding other sources. Nevertheless, as the Coast Guard strives for open and competitive acquisition processes, the Coast Guard’s use of sole-source contracts (or contracts with a limited number of sources), is due to the initial procurement of the aircraft and its components/spare parts without obtaining applicable data rights. The spare parts associated with this acquisition are unique to Eurocopter, the OEM and its distributors at this time.

(9) Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition. The approval of this justification is necessary because the United States Coast Guard did not purchase either the technical data rights as part of the original acquisition for the SRR aircraft nor the necessary manufacturing drawings, data, and special tooling, which are proprietary and only available to the foreign original equipment manufacturer. The Coast Guard inquires on an annual basis to the availability of this information and, as stated in Eurocopter’s letter dated 30 April 2008, “American Eurocopter, LLC. is the only approved source of supply for Eurocopter products for the SRR aircraft. We are the only authorized source to sell these parts in North America. Eurocopter will not release their drawings or data rights to anyone for the purpose of reverse engineering and will not copy the drawings for someone to duplicate the Eurocopter design and remanufacture under a different part number.”

(10) A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.201, the intent to contract for these items will be posted via the Federal Business Opportunity website upon approval of this J&A. If any responses are received as a result of the synopsis/solicitation, the file will be documented accordingly and the requirement competed among all eligible offerors.

(11) A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required. Complete specifications and drawings for the SRR aircraft are not available to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard does not possess technical expertise nor were the data rights to spares purchased as part of the initial system acquisition for the SRR aircraft. As the Aircraft Inventory Control Point (AICP), ALC is tasked with supporting systems that have been deployed for use in the aviation community. However, in an effort to increase competition among affiliates and distributors, SRR Product Line members annually attend aviation trade shows, extensive internet database research is conducted and procurements are advertised in FedBizOps. In support of the Competition in Contracting Act, ALC established the New Product Development Branch (NPD) and a representative of the NPD Branch are assigned to the SRR Product Line. This representative has the responsibility to locate alternate sources of supply/services and alternate acceptable products. Since distributors within the U.S. are limited, NPD is exploring avenues of reverse engineering the items considered hard to find. However, this process is lengthy, costly and a labor intensive effort. Engineering, contracting and New Product Development representatives continuously conduct market research through sources sought notices, posting RFQs and RFPs in FedBizOps, attendance of trade shows and networking to ensure that companies interested in doing business with the USCG are given every opportunity to compete for our requirements. Each year, NPD attends the annual Helicopter Association Int’l, a major industry trade show – in Anaheim, CA (02/27/06 – 02/28/06), Orlando, FL (03/02/07 – 03/05/07), Houston, TX, and (02/25/09 – 02/27/08), and Anaheim, CA (02/24/09 – 02/26/09). NPD identifies and visits those companies that offer similar parts to the ones used on the aircraft or have manufacturing capabilities of similar items. As of the date of this J&A, NPD has been unsuccessful in finding alternate sources other than the ones listed in paragraph two (2) that are capable of providing the spare parts.

(12) Contracting Officer’s Certification

I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date

Contracting Officer

Technical / Requirements Personnel Certification

I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

Technical Representative

APPROVAL:

Chief of Contracting Office

HQ Procuring Activity Competition Advocate, PACA

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