RT00360-24_FAR PART 13.5_Signed_Rev.4_Redacted.pdf

Control Number: MZB-J&A24-1878

Sole Source Justification and Approval Under FAR 13.501

1. Contracting Activity: The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Redstone, Attention CCAM-MZB-B, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5000

2. Description of Action: The Technology Development Directorate (TDD) has a requirement for Siemens/FEMAP perpetual licenses and annual maintenance. The Siemens/FEMAP mesh-centric pre- and post-processing functionality and transient non-linear fully-coupled thermo-structural analysis solution sequence provide unique structural and thermal analysis capabilities.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The following Siemens Digital Industries Software products are required: FEMAP with NX Nastran: Basic (QTY=4), FEMAP with NXN: Multistep Nonlinear solver (QTY=1), and FEMAP Thermal Solver (QTY=1).

This contract action is for one year for a total of $180,265.40. The purchase of the FEMAP software is critical to the directorate’s ability to support the warfighter.

Siemens Digital Industries Software has contracted with Paydarfar Industries, Inc.

dba Saratech to be their FEMAP distributor.

Item Part # Product Description Qty

1 E601 FEMAP with NX Nastran: Basic (Floating) 4

2 E601M FEMAP with NX Nastran: Basic (Floating) – ME&S 4

3 E525 FEMAP with NXN: Multistep Nonlinear (F) 1

4 E525M FEMAP with NXN: Multistep Nonlinear (F) – ME&S 1

5 E306 FEMAP Thermal Solver (Floating) 1

6 E306M FEMAP Thermal Solver (Floating) – ME&S 1

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority for processing this requirement through other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 1901. This action is for commercial items, as defined in FAR 2.101, and will be pursuant to FAR 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain ACC Other than Full and Open Competition Guide Commercial Items. This subpart authorizes, use of simplified procedures for the acquisition of supplies and services in amounts greater than the simplified acquisition threshold but not exceeding $6.5 million ($12 million for acquisitions as described in 13.500(e)), including options, if the contracting officer reasonably expects, based on the nature of the supplies or services sought, and on market research, that offers will include only commercial items.

Under this program, contracting officers may use any simplified acquisition procedure in this part, subject to any specific dollar limitation applicable to the particular procedure.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: Dassault Systemes Simulia Corporation’s Abaqus software online literature, Hexagon/MSC’s Apex software online literature, and ANSYS, Inc. ANSYS Mechanical software online literature were reviewed for applicability in meeting the Structural Development and Integration Division’s mesh-centric finite element meshing capabilities and nonlinear, transient, fully-coupled thermo-structural analysis capabilities. All three of those software packages only offer geometry-centric finite element meshing, and one-way coupled thermo-structural analysis capabilities and do not meet the Government requirements.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: A CHESS RFQ was submitted to 28 vendors in an effort to obtain the software. 25 of the vendors responded with a no-bid, and there were 3 no responses. The majority of the responses indicated those vendors were not authorized distributors of the FEMAP software.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: All major commercially available finite element software packages were reviewed to determine their ability to meet the current requirement. Only the FEMAP software package had the ability to meet all the requirements. Future acquisitions will continue to review all commercially available software packages to ensure the most broad competition landscape possible is employed.

8. Market Research: Section 233 Waiver has been applied and CHESS has been used for research only. On 25 June 2024, Scott Thomas submitted RFQ # 497971 through Computer Hardware and Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) Information Technology Enterprise Solutions- Software 2 (ITES-SW2) 28 vendors), received 25 no bids and 3 no responses. A Statement of Nonavailablity (SoNA) #21689419 was conducted on 17 July 2024. Market research was conducted by Scott Thomas in the DEVCOM AvMC Structural Development and Integration Division. The following market research techniques were used: internet searches on Google, and literature searches on Google were conducted 25 JUN 2024.

9. Interested Sources: The only source that has expressed interest in the acquisition is Paydarfar Industries, Inc. dba Saratech, which is a certified Siemens Digital Industries Software distributor for the FEMAP software. To date, no other sources have written to express an interest. The notices required by FAR 5.201 have been published, and no bids or proposals were received.

10. Other Facts: The FEMAP software has several unique features in the way it enables the analyst to construct the mesh-centric finite element model (pre-processing), the way it supports advanced analytical solutions (nonlinear transient fully coupled thermo-structural analysis), and the way it assists in the timely assessment of analysis results (post-processing). The required software is necessary to allow for the creation of efficient finite element models that maintain numerical accuracy while simultaneously minimizing required solution time and hardware. The required software is also necessary to achieve accurate coupled analysis results that better simulate real-world use scenarios, permitting an accelerated design, analysis, and prototyping timeline.

And finally, the required software is necessary as it provides unique post-processing