JA6302-1-SUITS-Redacted.pdf

J&A # 21-0032

Delaying the procurement to find another source would significantly impact the US Navy/Marine’s operating capabilities. In order to develop a new source, the Government would incur additional costs and a longer schedule to meet the requirements, The savings would be attributed to both Government and Contractor cost avoidance, as this unit has already been tested for functionality in meeting inspection requirement and approved with associated procedures and manuals in place. Based on historical data, it would cost approximately in NRE costs and take roughly 3 years in front-end investment to develop and deliver a competitive production line for part or all of each of the inspection subset’s operational requirements. This estimate, developed by the PMA260 Integrated Product Team, is based upon significant NRE costs to develop and deliver a competitive production line. Therefore, award of a contract to any other source would result in substantial duplication of costs that are not expected to be recovered through competition.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable.

Market Research was conducted through web searches, meetings with commercial vendors and through a Request for Information (RFI).

The Integrated Product Team met with General Electric and Olympus America Inc. in 2018- 2019. Both commercial vendors demonstrated their next-generation systems at Lakehurst.

General Electric has a commercial UT system with no environmentally hardened design currently available. Additionally, they do not offer a bond testing system. This feedback was provided to General Electric during the onsite meeting with them.

Market research activities were conducted on a continual basis through 2020 including an RFI/Sources Sought to industry (N68335-19-RFI-0376). RFI inquiries were received as follows:

-Unison Global which was not a viable response due to lack of information provided.

-Deltek, Inc. which was not a viable response due to no information provided.

Based upon the market research findings, no other vendors were determined capable of meeting the Government's needs. Neither of the two RFI inquiries were viable responses. Olympus America Inc. is the only source that can provide both UT and BMT units meeting Navy/Marine operational environmental requirements. Olympus America Inc. is able to leverage off of lessons learned having already completed the NRE efforts for electromagnetic environment requirements, under previous common support equipment contracts, as well as testing for other Government projects for other DoD agencies. Olympus America Inc., as the OEM of the Navy’s current unit, has understanding of the operational environment and offers environmentally hardened systems without any further development required.

On 10 June 2020, a Pre-Solicitation Announcement was posted on the Beta.SAM website through 26 June 2020. One submission was received from GM Tech Services (Graphene Manufacturing Technology) proposing standard Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) offerings of the parts from Olympus America Inc. On 07 July 2020, the Contractor was notified that the COTS parts are not inclusive of all required accessories, transducers and probes. Additionally, J&A # 21-0032 the submission did not contain the necessary hardware modifications to meet the Environmental and Electromagnetic Interference requires of the system specification. The contractor confirmed receipt of the Government’s response and provided acknowledgment via email.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

In accordance with FAR 15.402, the Contracting Officer shall ensure that all supplies and services provided under this contract are procured at a fair and reasonable price. The Contractor will submit a formal price proposal with certified cost or pricing data and sufficient information to support the accuracy and reliability of the estimate. The Government shall conduct a complete evaluation of Olympus America Inc.’s proposal, to include a technical and cost analysis, with the aid of field technical and pricing support, as necessary. The Contracting Officer will utilize cost and price analysis as the basis for negotiating a fair and reasonable price.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

The Government does not own the technical data package to compete the requirement for new production units in order to resolve parts obsolescence issues and mitigate impact to mission readiness.

PMA260 will continually monitor the marketplace to assess emerging technology or market competition, as well as for the availability of alternate products and sources that would meet all or part of the capabilities should additional requirements arise.