Redacted Simplified Acquisition Sole Source Justification (FAR 13.5) OxyGon REDACTED.pdf

Control No: JA-20-Adel-132 Contractor: Oxy-Gon Industries, Inc.

Supply/Service: Supply

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS

FAR PART 13 SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR

OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Programs/Equipment: One (1) tungsten resistance heated, top-loading, vacuum and controlled atmosphere furnace system.

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 1901(e)(2), implemented by FAR 13.501(a) -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

Amount:

Prepared by:

Materials Scientist Date: 1/27/2020

Contracting Officer:

Contracting Officer Date: 1/27/2020

Technical:

Requirements:

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Program Manager:

Supply/Service: Supply

FAR PART 13 SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR

OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: Adelphi Contracting Division, Army Contracting Command- Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, Maryland 20783-1138.

2. Description of Action: The Ceramics and Transparent Materials Branch of the Army Research Labroatory (ARL) Weapons and Materials Research Directorate (WMRD) requests a new, noncompetitive, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) type contract to procure a top-loading furnace from Oxy-Gon Industries, Inc. (CAGE Code: 0DRY4; DUNS: 190746008;

Small Business; located at 42 Old Rte 28, Epsom, NH, 03234-4115, United States) in support of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The Government projects an award date in March of 2020 and fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funds will be used for the issuance of the award.

_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 Government requires one (1) tungsten resistance heated, top-loading, vacuum and controlled atmosphere furnace system for operation up to 2800 degrees (°) Celsius ©.

Additionally, the required unit must be 6 feet (‘) Length (L) by (x) 6’ Width (W) x 7’ Height (H); and have power capabilities up to 200 amps (A) using 480 volts (V), 3 phase, 60 hertz (Hz) facility power.

Delivery NLT three (3) months after contract award (ACA)

Total Value:

4. Authority Cited:

41 U.S.C. 1901(e)(2), implemented by FAR 13.501(a) -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

The ARL/WMRD Ceramics and Transparent Materials Branch requires one (1) top-loading furnace system to act as the primary method for pressureless sintering of square tiles measuring up to 4” x 4” used for ballistics research, testing, and evaluation.

Furthermore, the aforementioned ballistics materials will be used for complex geometrical additively manufactured non-oxide ceramics, ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC), as well as novel ceramics used which have applications in current and future programs at the Army Research Laboratory.

Supply/Service: Supply

Top-loading furnaces are primarily used in industrial and laboratory heat treating, sintering, and brazing applications, and are capable of high temperatures and vacuum characteristics not commonly available in other furnace structures. Additionally, the top-loading functionality allows for extremely convenient and unobtrusive loading and unloading of fixtures and workloads – ultimately minimizing unintended alterations to ballistics materials and allowing for safe operation within a laboratory setting such as the one in operation within the Ceramics and Transparent Materials Branch. Other applications of this machinery include diffusion bonding, degassing, annealing, and glass processing studies.

Based on the market research efforts, which will be further discussed in Section 8 of this document, there are six (6) additional manufacturers who produce industrial grade furnaces which were identified for this effort. Further investigation into these sources confirmed that only Oxy-Gon Industries, Inc. provides the equipment with the required specifications necessary for this effort.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Effective competition is not anticipated for this procurement based on the market research (see section 8) performed that has failed to identify any viable alternative products that satisfy the Government’s requirements, or resellers of the required top-loading furnace. The following companies were identified that manufacture top-loading furnaces: (1)Oxygon; (2) Thermal Technologies; (3) Centorr Vacuum Industries; (4) Carbolite Gero Limited, (5) Sentro Tech (6) Micropyretics Heaters International, and (7) ThermCraft Inc. Only one vendor, Oxy-gon, was able to meet the salient characteristics provided.

The Contracting Officer has published the noticerequired by FAR 5.201 on 30 January 2020 and, no bids or proposal were received from interested and capable vendors...A Sources Sought Synopsis was posted on BetaSam.gov in an effort to identify additional vendors, however no responses were submitted during the active period of said synopsisS

7. Actions to Increase Competition: ARL attempted to identify multiple sources for the required equipment by consolidating industry knowledge and expertise from Army Materials Scientists as well as contacting subject matter experts within the materials alteration industry. Based from the companies listed above who manufacture industrial-grade furnaces, they all would beed to be structured as a “top-loading” furnace similar to what Oxy-Gon Industries manufactures.

f it is found that another vendor is capable of providing the required furnance without any need for for Government compromise or

Supply/Service: Supply deviate from their existing specifications, then ARL will not hesitate to procure such equipment competitively.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted

Market research efforts included consulting collaborators in related fields, such as who have over 40 years of experience between the two of them.

Additionally, Internet searches of all the furnace companies identified in section 6 were reviewed, as well as interactions with subject matter experts (SME) strengthened market research efforts. In consulting with SME’s are also Materials Scientists who have over 40 years of collective experience between them. In some cases, interchange meetings and presolicitation conferences were held in order to gain a better understanding of the required equipment and the nature of the work to be performed with said equipment.

Market research identified the TC Top-Loading furnace from Oxy-Gon Industries as the only product/vendor that offers a suitable solution that meets the Army’s requirements.

The furnace from Oxy-Gon is the only furnace identified that has the top-loading capability, meets the space requirements, power requirements, tungsten heating requirements, as well as general temperature requirements – all of which are outlined in the salient characteristics.

9. Interested Sources: In accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Procedures, a Synopsis was posted to SAMbeta.gov on 30 January 2020under solicitation number W911QX-20-Q-0025 for 21 calendar days, with a closing date of 18 February 2020 in an effort to seek for additional sources for potential competition. This Synopsis posting resulted in zero (0) interested vendor responses with no written interest in this requirement.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History: There is no procurement history as this is a first time procurement.

11. 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.

Signer’s Title: Materials Scientist

Supply/Service: Supply

12. 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.

Signer’s Title: Materials Scientist

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: 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:

__ Cost analysis _X_ Price analysis __ Should-cost

__ IGE

__ Audit:

__ Other:

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data:

_X_ will be required.

__ will not be required and the following exception applies (FAR 15.403):

__ Prices that will be agreed upon are based on adequate price competition.

__ Prices that will be agreed upon are based on prices set by law or regulation.

__ A commercial item is being acquired.

__ A waiver has been granted by the head of the contracting activity (HCA) in accordance with DFARS PGI 215.403-1.

__ The contract action is a modification to a contract or subcontract for commercial item(s).

__ The estimated cost of the contract action is less than the threshold for certified cost or pricing data.

Supply/Service: Supply

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

Supply/Service: Supply

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of one (1) tungsten resistance heated, top-loading, vacuum and controlled atmosphere furnace system for operation up to 2800 °C., for an estimate of , on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901(e)(2), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

(End of Justification)