JandA Redacted 7-25.pdf
PDF 1 MB Posted
- Solicitation number
- FY25-0136
- Issued by
-
Defense Health Agency
About this file
This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for a sole-source contract with AB Sciex LLC for maintenance and repair services of scientific laboratory instruments for the Defense Centers for Public Health - Aberdeen (DCPH-A) Laboratory Sciences. The contract covers maintenance for multiple instrument components including system controllers, solvent delivery modules, autosamplers, photodiode array detectors, and column ovens, with specific serial and model numbers listed. The Defense Health Agency is controlling the procurement, which is being awarded on a sole-source basis because SCIEX does not authorize third-party service providers and only SCIEX engineers are trained to maintain their instruments.
The J&A document details that a Notice of Intent to Sole Source was publicized, and one response was received from The Remi Group, LLC. However, the government determined that Remi cannot meet the required service standards due to their inability to guarantee response times and lack of direct technician employment. The contract is critical for maintaining timely public health laboratory services, with potential risks including extended instrument downtime, increased costs, and potential disruption to mission-critical research if alternative service providers are used. The procurement is a new requirement for recently acquired equipment, with the sole-source justification based on SCIEX's proprietary maintenance requirements and the specialized nature of their instrument servicing.
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Text version
CUI
CUI
Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4
3 NOV 2024
b. Additional Information:
(1) Failure to award to the sole-service Sciex will hamper the Defense Centers for Public Health -
Aberdeen (DCPH-A) Laboratory Sciences (LAB) ability to provide timely routine and emergency mission-critical public health lab services.
(2) Impact: Preventive equipment maintenance and repair support does not happen promptly.
Our client agreements and sample life efficacy require us to return results within a specified turn-around-time. Without a reliable service contract, required services for these robotic analyzers will have to be acquired via Government Purchase Card and one-time service contracts-which will result in extended instrument down times and increased service costs.
Extended down time will require us to outsource the testing, resulting in excess time and unnecessary cost to our organization.
(3) The experience of DCPH-A LAB is that third-party organizations often propose on these equipment service contracts as middle-men between the Government and the manufacturer who is the one performing the maintenance services. DCPH-A has worked with several groups (Remi Group and Goldbelt Frontier most recently) and have found that the turn-around-time for instrument support increases substantially. The response time from these ‘third-party’ vendors does not meet the needs of the government and often causes significant delays in being able to perform the sample analysis in-house, affecting reporting to our clients. This delay is because they must schedule with the proprietary vendor to actually perform the work. The third-party organizations do not have priority service agreements and cannot meet the necessary turn-around-times needed to support our mission. In addition, there are higher costs included in their bids proposals that are associated with logistical administration
10. Interested Sources: On 17 April 2025, one (1) response was received in response to the Notice of Intent to Sole Source from The Remi Group (Remi). Remi is a large business providing the required services under the applicable NAICS code. However, SCIEX does not authorize or certify third party service providers, and, given the early service life of the equipment, it is in the Government’s best interest to pursue a sole-source award directly with Sciex.
Additionally, based on the capability statement provided by the Remi Group, which states, "While response time is often similar to the targeted responsiveness provided under an OEM-direct contract, we are not able to provide a guaranteed response time as Remi does not directly employ the technicians providing the service," it is evident that the Remi Group cannot meet the mandatory turnaround time requirements for this equipment maintenance contract identified in PWS 5.2.3. The inability to guarantee timely service response and resolution jeopardizes the reliability and compliance of in-vivo and in-vitro studies conducted under Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) standards. Such delays could jeopardize the integrity of critical research, result in non-compliance with regulatory requirements, and cause significant delays in delivering analysis results to Commanders and decision-makers. These delays would impair the ability to make timely, informed decisions essential to the health and safety of military service members.
Consequently, the Remi Group's reliance on third-party technicians, without direct control over service timelines, renders their services inadequate for the stringent requirements of this contract, making competition with an OEM-direct provider inappropriate.
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .