Limited Source Justification over SAT (REDACTED).docx

Control No:JA-22-Adel-522

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FOR LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

FAR Part 8.405-6

Programs/Equipment: Preventive maintenance and repair of scientific laboratory equipment for the [REDACTED] of the Army Research Laboratory

Authority: Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251, et. Seq) and Title 40 U.S.C 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented by FAR 8.405-6 Limiting Sources.

Amount: [REDACTED]

Prepared by: [REDACTED]

Technical: [REDACTED]

Requirements: [REDACTED]

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support limiting competition.

Legal Counsel [REDACTED]

[Type here]

Control No:JA-22-Adel-522

Limited Sources Justification FAR Part 8

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi Contracting Division, (ACC-APG), Adelphi Contracting Division, (CCAP-SCA), 2800 Powder Mill RD, Adelphi, MD 20783

2. Description of Action: [REDACTED] of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) requests a firm-fixed-price contract under the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Program with The REMI Group, 6325 Ardery Kell Rd STE 200, Charlotte, NC 28277. The Government will execute this action against FSS contract GS-21F-0093V. Projected award is September 2022 and fiscal year 2022, RTD&E Army funds will be used. [REDACTED]

X An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement either does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i) or is an R&D acquisition and does not meet the definition of services in 10 U.S.C. 2330(c)(2).

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

The [REDACTED] has a requirement for a contractor to provide both standard preventive maintenance and timely professional repair to a range of highly technical scientific equipment, as well as other common laboratory equipment. It is important to have manufacturer-specific parts and service to the maximum extent possible. [REDACTED] Equipment to be maintained and repaired is located at several different ARL sites as listed below: Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC), Adelphi MD; Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Aberdeen MD; and Army Research Laboratory-South (ARL-S), University of Texas (UT) Austin campus, Austin, TX. The equipment includes:

[REDACTED]

4. Authority Cited: Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41U.S.C. 251, et. Seq) and Title 40 U.S.C 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented by FAR 8.405-6 and substantiated by the following:

X FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(B). Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

The Remi Group is the only company capable of supplying the services required [REDACTED]. The equipment is specialized, with proprietary parts, and often requires preventive maintenance from the manufacturer, as well as repair from manufacturer’s trained and/or certified personnel [REDACTED] The REMI Group is the only service provider found that provides a central point for managing multiple brands, at multiple locations, using manufacturer’s trained and/or certified personnel, greatly simplifying the management of essential laboratory equipment. [REDACTED] The REMI Group is on the GSA schedule and [REDACTED] Other potential sources investigated included companies that seemed promising but are not fully comparable: (1) Agilent provides on-demand repair. However, preventive maintenance and coverage of non-Agilent equipment brands is not offered. https://www.agilent.com/en/services/crosslab-instrument-services/service-repair/on-demand/repair/ondemand-online-quote; (2) CNA provides insurance, but does not arrange actual servicing, repairs, or preventive maintenance https://www.cna.com/web/guest/cna/products/all; (3) Thermo Unity appears comparable but does not use the manufacturers’ technicians for maintenance and repair. https://www.unitylabservices.com/en/instrument-services/multi-vendor-services.html

Failure to procure the service from the proposed source, and instead relying on manufacturers’ traditionally non-discounted plans, would be expected to result in a [REDACTED]. Sixteen different contracts would be required for coverage, each with a different schedule and expiration, a different contact number/site/representative, a different method of obtaining repair, and no central tracking of preventive maintenance. This would clearly be inefficient and a poor use of time for high-level technical personnel who should be conducting research. The inefficiency is multiplied by the risk of shut down of operations when a critical item is disabled, downstream processes must be halted while repair is arranged, and additional cost and loss of time must be incurred for outsourcing operations.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Government will continue to perform market research to locate other sources that meet future service requirements in the required geographic areas. The Government issued a notice of intent to sole source, synopsis that was posted on https://sam.gov website from 29 June 2022 through 12 July 2022 in an effort to obtain competition. The Government received no responses to this intent to sole source publication on https://sam.gov “Contracting Opportunities”.

The market research demonstrates that having all the preventative maintenance and timely professional repair to a range of highly technical specific equipment, as well as more common laboratory equipment located at various ARL sites, be performed by one (1) contractor instead of breaking out into individual competitive procurements due to cost savings derived from guaranteed discounts for serving multiple sites and the need to have manufacturer-specific parts and service to the maximum extent possible.

The Remi Group, LLC is a small business that does not make, sell, lease, or repair equipment and thereby, has no interest in replacing products and/or service technicians with their own. As a neutral third party, Remi provides custom equipment maintenance management solutions to meet the specific needs of their customers by having a large group of independent vendors within their vendor network for subcontracting opportunities.

7. Actions to Increase Competition:

The Government will continue to perform market research to locate other sources that meet future service requirements in the required geographic areas. If the Government becomes aware of other sources with the capability of providing services to equipment, then a determination will be made for suitable competition. When another source is discovered, the Government will technically evaluate the response against current services, and if the new source is deemed acceptable, then the Government will seek a competitive action.

8. Market Research:

ARL conducted extensive market research from 30 Sep 2021 through 17 June 2022.

This contract is for Equipment Related Services, Category 18 in the category management system. It is exempt from Category Management (CM) compliance. However, the following category was searched: Industrial Products and Services (Category 5), which includes laboratory equipment & supplies, machinery & components, test & measurement supplies/instruments, basic materials, chemicals, hardware & tools, industrial product installation & maintenance/repair, and fire/rescue/safety/environmental equipment.

The GSA Global Supply Requisition Channel and the GSA Acquisition Gateway Solutions Finder were searched, but provided no additional potential sources for the required services.

Market research queried Government-wide databases of contracts and other procurement instruments intended for use by multiple agencies available at https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory/ and other Government and commercial databases that provide information relevant to agency acquisitions. Nothing applicable was found. Sources listed for UNICOR, AbilityOne, and CHESS do not offer the services required.

The General Supply Schedule (GSA) website at https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/advantage/main/start_page.do was searched with multiple search terms. The REMI contract sought here is available in GSA. Two other vendors seemed comparable but turned out to be local to California, e.g. Giles Scientific (small business in Santa Barbara) and Liberty Test Equipment (small business in Roseville, CA).

Contact with knowledgeable people or subject matter experts within Government and industry resulted in recommendation for the REMI Group. The REMI Group was recommended (by a research chemist in ARL) for their ability to service multiple sites and for their guaranteed 26% discount. The BBS Division of ARL has 7 months of experience with REMI on a current contract and are satisfied with quality, price, and timeliness of service.

Three (3) companies were found by internet search that seemed promising but are not fully comparable: (1) Agilent provides on-demand repair. However, preventive maintenance and coverage of non-Agilent equipment brands is not offered. https://www.agilent.com/en/services/crosslab-instrument-services/service-repair/on-demand/repair/ondemand-online-quote; (2) CNA provides insurance, but does not arrange actual servicing, repairs, or preventive maintenance https://www.cna.com/web/guest/cna/products/all; (3) Thermo Unity appears comparable, but does not use the manufacturers’ technicians for maintenance and repair. https://www.unitylabservices.com/en/instrument-services/multi-vendor-services.html Therefore, only one company was found, The REMI Group, that can meet the requirement to provide consolidated equipment maintenance and repair services, for equipment from multiple manufacturers, using the manufacturers’ service people, and working in the required geographic areas.

9. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History. None

10. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Technical: [REDACTED]

11. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Requirements: [REDACTED]

12. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the order represents the best value to the Government in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(v). Additionally, I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

This determination will be made using the following:

X Price analysis

X IGE

__ Other:

Contracting Officer: Lee E. Troope, Jr.

13. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer: Lee E. Troope, Jr.

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve limiting sources in the acquisition of Preventive maintenance and repair for scientific laboratory equipment, for the estimated amount of $[REDACTED], and for a period of performance of 01 October 2022 through 30 September 2027, including options, under Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251, et Seq.) and Title 40 U.S.C 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Advocate for Competition: [REDACTED] image1.emf image2.emf