Limited Sources JA N3904020MP00118 28 Aug 2020 Redacted.pdf

affect this equipment due to its costly and irreversible damage to equipment that an uncontrolled and immediate shutdown would have on the systems.

The UPS also as a secondary function provides needed power surge buffering for the same equipment protecting those systems from damage. The overall effect to the PNS Shipyard Mission if the UPS is not maintained would be a work stoppage delaying the work that PNS does for the Naval Fleet, at an estimated cost to PNS of a day and possible delay to returning the submarine in repair to the Fleet for service. The UPS system is considered mission essential to the Shipyard.

As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Eaton is the only provider of factory supported, factory trained, factory authorized and factory certified service. Eaton Corporation is also the sole source for tested and reliable replacement parts for the UPS equipment. Services are only available from Eaton Corporation due to firmware used to control the 3-Phase functioning of the UPS system is proprietary to Eaton Corporation. No other service supplier is authorized to possess Eaton proprietary (copyrighted) software, repair documentation, processes or materials. Eaton does not train, certify or support independent third-party service providers. Updates to the firmware are only available through the OEM, as they have no authorized resellers.

Eaton is the only capable source due to potential invalidation of warranty coverage for the UPS system. Any hardware or software on the Shipyard network is required to have maintenance. If the UPS is not maintained, it would have to be removed, leaving the equipment currently reliant on the UPS for protection, open to risk of a power outage shutdown and surge damage.

The UPS system has been in use by PNS since fiscal year 2012. The Government invested in excess of in the current UPS system. Award to any other source would not be cost effective due to replacement costs of equipment, downtime for installation and retraining. OEM Eaton is the only source that can provide the required maintenance and software at this time.

5. Proposed Sole Source Contractor: Eaton Corporation (Eaton)

6. Market Research: Market research was performed by the Navy from March 2020 through August 2020. The research involved researching historical purchasing data and familiarity of maintenance. Based on current market research, it has been determined that only the aforementioned brand-name maintenance support provided by Eaton can fully support the Government’s need. Additionally, market research revealed this requirement can only be fulfilled by the OEM, as there are no authorized resellers or 3rd party vendors that can provide the certified parts, authorized/trained technicians and firmware updates and security patches. Eaton is the only authorized provider of maintenance due to the firmware Eaton developed for 3-phase Eaton UPS products. The firmware is proprietary copyrighted to Eaton. Eaton does not train, certify or support independent third party service providers to deliver support or service Eaton 3-Phase UPS power products. To use uncertified parts, labor for service and support voids the warranty of the whole UPS system.

Eaton is the only source that can meet the Government’s requirements.

The Government will continue to conduct market research to determine if there are changes in the market place that would enable future competitive actions, i.e. there are third party authorized maintenance providers for the Eaton UPS support in the marketplace, the original equipment manufacturer releases ownership rights of product of maintenance, or it is economically feasible to procure a new system.

7. Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer, hereby approve this brand name sole source justification for the proposed contract action pursuant to the authority cited above as the particular brand-name product and services are essential to the Government's requirements, and market research indicates other companies' products or services do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs.

Based on the justification provided by PNS, a determination has been made to solicit brand name UPS maintenance via sole source solicitation open market via beta.sam.gov to Eaton Corporation for the above described requirement.