Redacted Simplified Acquisition Sole Source Justification (FAR 13.5) TSMC.docx

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS

FAR PART 13 SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Programs/Equipment: Purchase of a small-scale Twin Screw Extruder (TSE) and associated accessories to enable injection molding, film/tape processing, and fiber processing.

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: [REDACTED]

Prepared by: [REDACTED]

Technical: [REDACTED]

Requirements: [REDACTED]

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

Program Manager:

[REDACTED]

Control No: JA-21-Adel-095 Contractor: Nativas Sciences Supply/Service: Twin Screw Extruder

FAR PART 13 SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) Adelphi Contracting Division

2. Description of Action: U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) [REDACTED] requests a firm-fixed-price contract with Nativas Sciences, the US Distributor for the DSM Xplore line of products, 137 Glenwood Ave., Leonia, NJ 07605. Phone 646-266-8995,www.nativasciences.com. The Government projects award for February 2021 and fiscal year 2021, RDT&E funds will be used.

_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: ARL[REDACTED] requires the purchase of a small-scale Twin Screw Extruder (TSE) and associated accessories to enable injection molding, film/tape processing, and fiber processing. This TSE will provide expanded capabilities stemming from an original purchase award, W911QX-08-P-0617 awarded 13AUG2008. (Note that the awardee of the original contract, Dieter Scientific, is now closed and US Distribution of the DSM Xplore line of products is now handled by Nativas Sciences) The original award brought in a ca. 15 mL variable batch volume conical twin-screw extruder (TSE) and related injection molding capability. That equipment is still in service, but additional capabilities and hardware are sought. The current contract seeks to acquire a new TSE, operable in either continuous or batch processes, that can be used for the preparation of extruded rod, injection molded parts, extruded tape/film, or the drawing of fibers. Specific item numbers and descriptions follow, in order to define the requisite hardware and capabilities:

Mould 1200005301, 40 mm circle, 1.5 mm thickness Mould 1200005901, 40 mm circle, 3.0 mm thickness Mould 1200005201, 25 mm circle, 1.5 mm thickness Mould 1200005501, 30mm square, 1.27 mm thickness Mould 1200003102, ASTM D256 63.5 x 12.7 x 3.2mm, DMA bar dual cavity

Period of Performance: Delivery by 01 April 2021, with set-up and installation completed by 30 June 2021.

Total Value: [REDACTED]

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: This sole-source requirement is justified by 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. ARL[REDACTED] requires a conical twin-screw extruder (TSE) with recirculating capability and a homogenized batch of material of ca. 45-50 g (assuming average density of 1.1-1.2 g/mL). The DSM Xplore MC40 is the only system that combines this batch size, recirculating capability, and use with lab-scale fiber and tape casting accessories which allows for a variety of specimens to be prepared from a single processing run. The requesting laboratory currently has an older 15 mL Xplore conical TSE that is able to operate in recirculating mode, in order to provide longer retention times for the mixing and homogenization of polymer melts. The current acquisition is for a lab-scale version of the Xplore TSE that is larger, with a barrel volume of 40 mL, and maintains the ability to provide for single-pass or recirculating operation. Here, the term lab-scale is used to indicate the recirculating batch-mode of operation, which reduces the material requirements to obtain a homogenized and processed polymer product. In addition, the Xplore MC40 has a clam-shell barrel design that makes clean-out and product switch-over more straight-forward than depending on repetitive purge cycles. [REDACTED]. The clam-shell barrel design is a requirement to confirm clean-out and to prevent cross-contamination between batch formulations.This combination provides the required bandwidth for modest-scale batch processing of experimental formulations, yet offers reduced materials requirements when compared to small traditional TSE’s such as ThermoFisher’s Pharma 11 product.

The Government’s market research determined that the only other product on the market with similar characteristics to the Xplore units is offered by ThermoFisher, and is the HAAKE MiniCTW Micro-Conical Twin Screw Compounder, see section 8. The HAAKE system has a total batch volume of only 7 mL, and does not provide the capacity required by this requisition action. The increase in batch volume is required for the rapid production of test coupons (generally via injection molding) in numbers sufficient to gather property data in a statistically meaningful way. The 40 mL batch size of the MC40 allows for the preparation of several types of test coupons from a single batch, including tensile specimens, dynamic mechanical analysis specimens, rheological test coupons, and coupons for optical properties, which is required to meet the Government’s objectives. For mechanical testing in particular, 5-10 sample coupons are required to develop an average for strength/toughness of the material and to determine the scatter (standard deviation or similar statistical data treatment). The 40 mL batch volume is required to produce a full set of sample coupons (ca. 10 tensile specimens), ensuring compositional homogeneity across the coupons produced. The government’s existing 15 mL system averages 3-4 tensile coupons per 12 mL injection molding run. Other products identified on the market are geared towards production of PVC (concial TSEs from Milacron, Brabender, Neoplast, etc.). The other commercial sources of conical TSEs are focused on high-throughput production and lack the lab-scale features of the Xplore system, namely the recirculating channel that permits easy batch processing and the clam-shell barrel design to enable thorough cleaning of the system. None of these systems provide the capacity to enable lab-scale processing of moderate batch sizes, and do not meet the needs of the requisition. Additionally, because the DSM Xplore series of instruments is a proprietary design (US Patent No.: 8794819 B2), governed by US and International patents, it is not feasible for another competitor to offer substantially similar capabilities in the forseeable future.

The other feature of the Xplore line that requires its selection is the accessories available for additional processing of the polymer melt, namely the Fiber Line and the Cast Film Professional Line accessories. These accessories provide access to processing methods that are either in-use or undergoing installation [REDACTED]. However, the accessories for the Xplore MC40 will allow the investigation of fiber or tape characteristics with much less material required than for the pilot scale facility (estimate material required to be ¼ to 1/10th for each formulation), enabling faster development (estimate 3-5x faster compared to traditional single-pass 40 l/d TSE) and evaluation of new formulations and composite materials. This capability is required by the government to reduce synthetic load required for evaluation of new materials, and to increase the productivity/ testing throughput of research staff for the investigation of new compositions/formulations.

As described at FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), when the supplies or services required by the agency are available only from one responsible source, or for DoD, NASA and the Coast Guard, from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other types of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for. Proposed source for the DSM Xplore system hardware is their US Authorized Distributor, Nativas Sciences and they are therefore the only source for the equipment.

If the justification is not accepted and the requisition does not go forward, the lack of processing capability will directly be felt across a number of internal research programs as well as external customer programs impacting in excess of [REDACTED] in planned research. Research will be slowed as material requirements remain high to explore novel compositions and processing approaches. Impacted programs include the following: [REDACTED].

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:. The Contracting Officer shall publish the notices required by FAR 5.201 and any bids or proposals received shall be considered. A Synopsis notice was posted to Beta.SAM.gov under reference W911QX21Q0034 for fifteen (15) days, from 01/13/2021 to 01/28/2021. The notice announced the Government’s intent to solicit one source, Nativas Sciences, for this requirement. To date, no interested party has expressed interest. Any known sources that can provide the requirement will be sought for competitive interest. However, because this is a sole source action, effective competition is not applicable. Subcontracting opportunities are not expected for this effort as Nativas Sciences is the only authorized distributor of the Xplore brand of the TSE required.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: This requirement is for the one-time purchase of TSE. It is not anticipated that this will be a recurring requirement. However, ARL[REDACTED] will continue to pursue web searches and hold discussions among the polymer community to help locate other sources that can provide items that are capable of meeting the requirements as discussed in section 5 above. Any known sources that can provide the necessary components and experimental conditions will be sought after for competitive interest in the future. Until such potential sources are revealed, Navitas Sciences will provide the required TSE components and accessories. Any known sources that can provide the requirement will be sought for competitive interest.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted by [REDACTED]. Research was conducted from approximately 30 January 2020 through 06 October 2020, and consisted of discussions with industry representatives [REDACTED], discussions with other Army scientists [REDACTED], and extensive web searches. Products offered by several manufacturers were reviewed, including ThermoFisher, Brabender, DSM, Leistritz, and Milacron. The only other lab-scale conical TSE on offer is from ThermoFisher, but its capacity is less than 20% of the Xplore MC40, and is not sufficient to meet the needs articulated here. The hardware offered by the other manufacturers are mostly geared to production, and lack the ability to recirculate for any kind of batch-scale homogenization. Market research will be continually performed to survey the market’s capabilities and identify any other vendors who are reasonably expected to submit offers that are competitive in terms of market price, quality and delivery if the requirement reoccurs.

9. Interested Sources: See Paragraph 6 for the synopsis information.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History Contract: W911QX-08-P-0617 Contractor: Dieter Scientific Award Date: 13 AUG 2008 Period of Performance: N/A Dollar Value: [REDACTED] Competitive Status:

Sole-source

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: Research Chemist

[REDACTED]

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: Polymer Engineer, Polymers Branch Chief

[REDACTED]

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:

_X_ Other: Detailed documentation and justification of cost/price reasonableness will be disclosed in the official contract file to include a published price list, and comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases. Cost or Pricing data is not required, in accordance with the threshold at FAR 15.403-4(a) (1).

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

__ will be required.

_X_ 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.

_X_ 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.

[REDACTED]

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

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of small-scale Twin Screw Extruder (TSE) and associated accessories to enable injection molding, film/tape processing, and fiber processing, for an estimate of [REDACTED] 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.

[REDACTED]

(End of Justification)

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