JA SPRDL124R0035-FOIA_CSRedacted.pdf

SPRDL1-24-R-0035 (JA-00760)

No Prior J&As are available.

for this specific vehicle. For spare parts buys, the crane is available via Oshkosh Defense part number 3359495GRN and Grove U.S. LLC. part number 90042118.

Grove and Oshkosh are the only vendors who possess the technical data and expertise to manufacture and assemble this crane. Grove has manufactured truck mounted cranes that have met all system level requirements and have successfully operated in the field. If the Government were to purchase cranes that have not undergone proper verification, mission failures and potential loss of mission critical functions to the vehicle could occur. Without this proper verification, it is likely that the crane would not fit or function properly, which could result in failure while recovering stranded vehicles in the field, which could jeopardize mission capability and fleet readiness.

Since the Government does not own any of the technical data, the Government would have to Reverse Engineer the Assembly to determine all aspects of the crane. A Reverse Engineering effort would include work to clarify and define a crane with the same fit, form, and function as the original. Design requirements should be broken down and clarified without ambiguity. Technical information such as understanding the parameters to include types and load ratings of hydraulic cylinders and cables, housing dimensions, and mounting dimensions. Next, Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) testing would have to be completed. Testing would include accelerated life testing, cold and hot environments, salt spray, and maximum load operation testing. To neglect testing would be a high risk as premature failures of this item in the field could result in a mobility failure which could jeopardize the Army’s mission in a potentially adverse operational environment. After the qualification, the Technical Data Package (TDP) would have to be built so the part could be competitively sourced, and a source would have to be found.

The Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) Heavy Tactical Vehicle Sustainment Engineering Team has used historical data from past reverse engineering efforts to estimate that Reverse Engineering the HEMTT wrecker crane would cost an estimated minimum of $3,500,000 for:

Research and Development (R&D), including part qualification and design, development, and prototype.

RAM testing, design validation and vehicle integration testing TDP development, to procure competitively.

A detailed breakdown of cost impacts is shown below.

Action Delay Cost Sample Procurement 1 month $ Part R&D 12 months $ Prototype Development 8 months $ RAM Vehicle testing 6 months $ Develop TDP 4 months $ Total Development Time 31 months $3,500,000

The Government would not be able to recover, through subsequent competition, the duplication of costs involved in either procuring the proprietary data or reverse engineering the item to create a competitive build to print TDP within a reasonable time frame. At the current average usage rate of unit every , a current unit cost of $ and assuming

% savings achieved through competition, the $ in annual savings would take about years to offset the estimated $3,500,000 cost of reverse engineering the item and qualifying another source.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Effective competition: Due to the reasons cited in section 5 above, the Government is not pursuing competition for this item. SOLE SOURCE: Notices required by FAR 5.201 will be posted.

b. Subcontracting competition: Unless the contract is awarded to a small business, the solicitation and resulting contract will include FAR clauses 52.219-8, "Utilization of Small Business Concerns"; 52.244-5, "Competition in Subcontracting"; 52.219-16, "Liquidated Damages--Subcontracting Plan";" and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.219-7003, "Small Business Subcontracting Plan (DoD Contracts)," to maximize small business opportunities and utilization.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: There are no plans to increase competition for future procurements due to the reasons cited above.

8. Market Research: GVSC Tactical Vehicle Sustainment Engineer performed the following internet searches on 9 January, 2024 to find suitable competition for the Grove crane.

Keyword: truck mounted crane, recovery crane, 30-ton truck mounted crane

Website: https://www.grainger.com/category/material-handling/lifting-pulling-positioning/cranes-and-festoon-equipment/davit-cranes?categoryIndex=3 https://www.altec.com/altec-cranes/knuckle-boom-cranes/ https://www.palfinger.com/en-us/products/material-handling-cranes https://www.hmfcranes.com/products/loader-cranes/crane-types/telescopic-cranes-t/2030t-mcs https://www.hiab.com/en-us/application-overview/service-and-recovery-trucks https://jaso.com/tower/en/crane_category/recovery-en/

Findings: When searching “truck mounted crane” the engineer came across Grainger, Altec, and Palfinger, which both offer industry solutions for truck mounted cranes.

However, these cranes are made for material handling and do not have the 30-ton lift capacity necessary for vehicle recovery. Additionally, the cranes were not mounted in the same manner as the HIAB crane. While the HIAB crane attaches angled on the back of the HEMTT, the Altec and Palfinger material handling cranes attach between the bed and the cab. The engineer also searched “recovery crane”. While results came up from JASO, the JASO cranes had the lift capacity, but could not be mounted on a vehicle.

Government does not have any technical information on the Grove Truck Mounted Crane because the data is proprietary, so further research could not be completed.

Although several manufacturers, such as HIAB and HMF, make products that appear similar to the crane used on the HEMTT wrecker, the lack of a TDP or detailed drawings for the crane prohibit the engineer from knowing the exact specifications that must be met by a potential alternative. A wide range of component strength, collapsibility, cable capacity, maximum load, layout, bolt pattern, hydraulic/air connections are available across the brands reviewed. However, the Government does not have access to any of these characteristics for the provisioned crane, so a direct comparison is not possible.

The current crane was designed by the OEM specifically to fit onto this vehicle, and integration/verification testing was conducted for this reason. Any other alternative would require integration and extensive testing to mitigate potential risks in the field, such as negative impacts to operational readiness and mission failure. Therefore, it can be concluded that this crane is custom for the application and should be identified as a sole-source item.

On 26 January 2024, additional market research was performed by the Contracting Specialist. The Department of Defense (DoD) Commercial Item Determination Database was checked for NSN 3810-01-210-2175, but no records were found.

Although NSN 3810-01-210-2175 did not have a formal commercial determination in the database, there is evidence that Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12 procedures were previously employed to procure the same product under contract SPRDL1-11-C-0145, awarded on 15 August 2011.

As a result of the market research conducted, it was concluded that this product is of a type used, sold/leased, or offered for sale to the public and is available in the commercial marketplace with or without modifications pursuant to the definition of a commercial product at FAR 2.101. This product meets the definition of a commercial product at FAR 2.101.

On 16 February 2024, a Sources Sought notice was disseminated on SAM.gov, remaining accessible for a duration of 15 days. Subsequently, three responses were received, indicating an expressed interest in submitting proposals upon the official posting of the opportunity on SAM. Acknowledgments were promptly issued for both email responses. Solicitation announcements are scheduled to be transmitted to Mountain Pacific Contracting (CAGE 9NRD9), Sunnypatch Solutions (CAGE 9R1B3) and Balad Al-Hud Company (CAGE SQTY5).

9. Interested Sources: To date no additional sources have expressed interest in this item.

10. Other Facts: Procurement History: