Limited_Source_Justification_-Trivec-Avant_Redacted1.pdf

RFQ Number: HSCG40-16-Q-11009 Justification For Other Than Full and Open

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Under 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1)

Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements Brand Name Mandatory

RFQ Number: HSCG40-16-Q-11009

Pursuant to the requirement of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items, in accordance with 41 U.S.C.1901, the justification for the use of the statutory authority is supported by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii) as follows:

(1) Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Coast Guard USCG), Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC), Patrol Boat Product Line and Contracting and Procurement Division, located at 2401 Hawkins Point Road, Baltimore, Maryland proposes to enter into a contract on a basis other than through full and open competition.

(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The USCG SFLC has a requirement on a limited source, brand name only basis to procure various Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Trivec-Avant (COBHAM) antennas for USCG Cutters: WPC- 154, WMEC-282, WTGB-140, NSC- 402 (WMSL-750). The USCG SFLC intends to award a firm fixed-price contract with an estimated cost of

Any authorized Trivec Avant reseller/distributor will be invited to submit proposals. The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is Trivec Avant (COBHAM).

OEM information:

Trivec Avant (COBHAM) 17831 Jamestown Lane Huntington Beach, CA 92647-7136

(714) 841-4976 Avie Graham, Sales avie.graham@cobham.com.

CAGE Code: 60188

(3) Description of Supplies/Services.

This requirement is to provide SFLC’s need to acquire Trivec-Avant (COBHAM) antenna spares at an estimated cost . It essential that this requirement only be satisfied with genuine OEM parts, similar or substitutions are not authorized.

The Trivec-Avant (COBHAM) antenna spares are part of the VHF/UHF, MILSATCOM and Public Safety Interoperability-UHF communications systems aboard the above designated U.S. Coast Guard cutters. These antennas are specifically designed to operate with various onboard installed shipboard systems and are critical for the safety of the crews aboard the cutters during essential mission operation.

Trivec-Avant (COBHAM) is the OEM of this equipment and the sole possessor of the technical data and specification required to properly manufacture these items. Trivec-Avant has authorized resellers of the OEM equipment, but they are the only manufacturer of the items.

The requirement is to purchase:

Item Nomenclature OEM Part Number

National Stock Number

QTY Unit Cost Total Cost

1. Antenna, MILSATCOM

RADOME 240-20

MHz

AV 2098-143 5985-01-477-9187 05

2. Control, Antenna (Remote for P/N:

AV 2098-143)

AV 2098-159 5985-01-615-4612 05

3. Antenna, UHF High LOS 764-870 MHz

AV 447-1-90 5985-01-598-9087 05

4. Antenna, VHF-FM 30-512

MHz

AV 457-6-90 5985-01-615-4605 05

5. Antenna, UHF 225-520 MHz

AV 457-9W 5985-01-599-6868 30

Total Estimated Cost

(4) Identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c )(1); the property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency. FAR 6.302 1; Only one responsible source and no other supplier or services will satisfy agency requirements.

(5) Demonstration that the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

Limitation to use only OEM parts is essential to comply with the existing form, fit and function on U.S.

Coast Guard vessels. Using other than OEM equipment and parts could cause failure to occur;

degradation to the vessel’s primary mission could result in the loss of life and property and failure to meet USCG operational commitments. Inferior quality parts, parts that do not fit or are not fully compatible with the parts being replaced would degrade the reliability and functionality of the equipment.

All manufacturing drawings, specifications, and other technical data pertaining to the parts were not purchased and are not available for use by the USCG and are proprietary to Trivec-Avant (COBHAM).

The USCG does not possess the manufacturing data required to obtain full and open competition. The cost of obtaining or creating these descriptions is prohibitive and would, in part, defeat the economic gains realized when the decision to buy a commercial off the shelf system was made.

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

In an effort to solicit as many potential sources as practical, a sources sought notice was posted on FedBizOpps (FBO) July 06, 2016, detailing the required items, that proprietary data was involved and notifying the industry that it is the Coast Guard’s intent to award a Brand Name contract. Two responses were received. Only one source provided their OEM letter of supply as per the source sought but no other submission information as per the source sought such as SB certification, DUNS numbers, or past performance. The second responder provided a statement saying they were interested in providing a quote once the solicitation was made available.

Procurement history was reviewed to identify any other sources that have supplied the required items.

It is the intent of the Contacting Officer to make the solicitation available through the GPE solicitation and publicized as per FAR subpart 5.2, via the internet at http://www.fedbizopps.gov. A redacted copy of the approved justification shall be posted with the solicitation (see 5.102(a)(6)).

(7) Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer shall determine that the anticipated prices will be fair and reasonable based on a price analysis, comparison of proposals received in response to the solicitation (adequate price competition), the comparison of previously proposed prices and previous Government contract prices (historical data), and the independent government estimate.

(8) Description of market research.

Market research as prescribed in FAR Part 10 was conducted from The following actions were taken;

1) The internet queries did not lead to any additional manufacture of the parts, other than OEM, by part number; yet it did located non-manufacturers of the OEM parts from authorized resellers.

The resellers order the parts with the packaging requirements directly from OEM and have the order shipped directly to the end user. They are not manufactured, stored at, or delivered to the end user.

2)

3) GSA Advantage was utilized and located authorized distributer for Trivec-Avant; yet the companies do not have a current supply all the required parts from the OEM.

4) FEDLOG was searched to identify additional sources of supplies; only OEM identified 5)

6) Research indicated other antenna manufacturers exist within the industry; their antennas were not originally specified for use with these Coast Guard communication systems.

7) A source sought was posted on July 06, 2016 to obtain as much information as possible on additional sources of supplies. No substitutions were acceptable and no technical data or specifications were provided.

8) SBA.Gov was queried for a Non-Manufacturer Waivers which would allow small business set aside firms to perform less than 50% of the cost of manufacturing the supplies. There was no such class wide waiver in place. ttps://www.sba.gov/contracting/contracting-officials/non-manufacturer-rule/non-manufacturer-waivers

9)

The market research clearly indicated there is only one source that has the required technical data and specification to manufacturer the procurement items. All other resellers/suppliers do not manufacture any portion of the product or possess the right to access the technical data and speciation necessary to produce the items. These items are only manufactured from one vendor, Trivec-Avant (OEM).

The OEM has authorized resellers, but none of which manufacture the items. The resellers do not maintain on hand supply. The technical data is proprietary to OEM only; the authorized distributors do not have access to the technical information resulting in their need to order directly from OEM. Each distributor will have to place an order with the OEM and request the required packaging to meet government’s requirements. The order will be shipped directly from the OEM and not thru the distributor. The potential of delays or errors in this process could result and would untimely result in the government receiving the items late and with incurred operational downtime or delay.

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

The Trivec Avant (COBHAM) antennas installed throughout the Fleet and U.S. Coast Guard and are highly complex commercial off the shelf systems, comprised of hundreds of interrelated parts, designed and manufactured by Trivec Avant (COBHAM), were procured as a whole and were originally described as such by the Government; procurement was not based on Government specified descriptions of all of the various components contained within.

Other manufactures parts will not comply with the existing form, fit and function on U.S. Coast Guard vessels. Using inferior generic, non-tested or non-approved parts on the vessels communication systems would significantly impact communications during the many missions of the U.S. Coast Guard such as:

search and rescue, protection of critical maritime infrastructure, safe navigation of waterways, and other congressionally mandated U.S. Coast Guard missions. The U.S. Coast Guard has a minimal level of stock on hand to support these vessel systems.

(10) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

As a result of the sources sought notice published on FBO, July 06, 2016, the following companies expressed interest in receiving a copy of the solicitation when released and were verified to be the Original Equipment Manufacturer authorized reseller/distributor:

(11) A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisitions for supplies or services:

Due to the fact that the Coast Guard does not own the required drawings, specifications, etc. to evaluate other than OEM parts, it is not anticipated that any future requirements will be full and open competition. The Coast Guard cannot force any OEM to release proprietary information and it is unlikely that the Coast Guard will have the required funding to purchase such rights if they were offered by Trivec-Avant (COBHAM); however, every attempt will be made to obtain the applicable drawings, specifications, etc. from the OEM before any subsequent acquisitions occur. The U.S. Coast Guard will also continue to conduct market research as required by FAR Part 10 to identify and other possible sources that could meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements in the future.

In the attempt to increase competition, obtain competitive pricing, and alleviate long term sole source dependency, this solicitation will be posted on FBO. This competition will provide alternative distributors, but ultimately there is only one OEM supplier with the required technical data and specification needed to manufacture and supply the items.

In conclusion; this item should be solicited using Brand Name Justification for OEM parts only parts due to proprietary technical data.

(12) Contracting Officer’s Certification:

In accordance with FAR 6.303-2 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

(13) 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.

Date

Contracting Officer’s Representative

(14) Legal Review and Concurrence:

I have reviewed this justification and deemed it legally sufficient.

USCG Procurement Law Attorney Date

Date

Contracting Officer-Level Above, PBPL o