JOFOC Final - Redacted.pdf
PDF 5 MB Posted
- Attached to
- Research and Development, IDV
- Solicitation number
- 2031ZA26D00009
About this file
This document is a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) for a sole-source acquisition submitted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).
The BEP seeks to award a five-year, firm-fixed-price indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to Leonhard Kurz Stiftung & Co. KG (Kurz), a German company, with a total estimated value of $24,634,497. The acquisition covers continued research and development of proprietary security features suitable for U.S. currency, specifically building on Phases 1 and 2 of an existing Technology Development Process (TDP). The contractor will deliver services and materials to prototype and develop counterfeit deterrent features through Phases 2 through 4 (Feasibility, Test and Optimization, and Technology Integration), culminating in proof of manufacturability on an industrial scale and integration into a U.S. Federal Reserve Note. The government will provide a firm fixed price for travel expenses and reimburse actual costs incurred. Justification for sole-source award is based on 41 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(1)—only one responsible source exists—as the required technology is proprietary to Kurz and unavailable from other sources. Extensive market research, including trade shows, RFIs posted on SAM.gov, and government/industry expertise consultation, confirmed no competing technologies exist with equivalent technical complexity, visual effects, and resistance to reverse-engineering. The contracting officer certifications and approvals from the Advocate for Competition, Bureau Chief Procurement Officer, and Head of Contracting Activity are documented in Section K.
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Text version
Version No.: 4 Version Date: May 2025
Approved by: Chief, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer
Market-specific trade shows were attended by various members of the OTD team to gather information on the state of the technology of polarization effects. Examples of recently attended trade shows include the following:
o Label Expo Americas 2024, Chicago, IL, September 10-12, 2024
Request For Information (RFI) – There is an ongoing RFI posting on SAM.gov for security feature technologies, which is an open channel for companies or individuals who are unknown to the marketplace to submit their technologies for consideration. The RFI’s are for one year and expire in November 2026.
Latest RFIs can be found on SAM.gov:
o 2031ZA26N00005 - Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Request for Information (RFI) - R&D Hidden Machine-Readable Security Features o 2031ZA26N00006 - Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Request for Information (RFI) - R&D Overt Security Features o 2031ZA26N00007 - Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Request for Information (RFI) - R&D Device Assisted Security Features o No response has been communicated to the program office so far.
The state of the market was judged against the type of feature that is the desired outcome of the current project. No known effect exists that displays the level of technical complexity or perceived effect uniqueness with a comparable activity that would make for sufficient competition to the current effort. Only Kurz was identified that could produce a security feature that fulfills the BEP requirements for ease of interpretation due to strong and reliable visual effect, difficulty of simulation, and high barrier to reverse-engineering due to the manufacturing technique.
BEP is and will continue to promote competition for the development of unique technologies for the expressed purpose of their use as a security feature on U.S. currency. In this instance, BEP has conducted and is currently conducting multiple standalone R&D efforts regarding various unique and novel technologies for possible use as a security feature on U.S. currency. The actions BEP will continue to take to promote competition and identify such potential sources include but are not limited to holding vendor conferences, attending conferences and other similar forums regarding emerging trends and leading technologies within and outside of the banknote industry, and posting RFIs and Sources Sought Notices.
The contractor and Government routinely conduct the market survey of the technologies that are relevant to Project . Recently completed market research showed new technologies aimed at use as have appeared since market research in support of the original contract. However, in all cases there was a shortcoming in: the required deployment (for example, on a banknote), and/or , requirement for complexity of effect (and challenge to counterfeiters) as judged by a team of subject matter experts. Thus, the advancement of specific new Kurz technologies under BEP contract has increased the differentiation from the market and it would be even more difficult to find another suitable source now, compared to the outset of the project.
A Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source will be publicized on SAM.Gov prior to solicitation release.
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .