SSJ _ Redacted (1).pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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This Sole Source Justification (SSJ) is to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supporting requirements generated for the Warner Robins Logistics Complex (WR-ALC/402nd Maintenance Support Group (MXSG). The contracting activity for this requirement is Air Force Sustainment Center AFSC/PZIMA). The purchase request number supporting this contracting action is:

PR#: F3QCCM4352A003 / FDB#: 77281.

Due to the circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to acquire Spectrometer Metal Analyzer-ARL iSpark™ 8860 Plus OES & Maintenance using Other Than Full and Open Competition as prescribed by 10 U.S.C. 3572, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901).

This acquisition will result in the award of a new contract which will be Firm Fixed Price consisting of basic one-year and four (4) option periods with the Period of Performance from , if all options are exercised.

No previous contract history.

This brand name requirement will be purchased from one of the following Vendors:

OEM:

Thermo Electron North America, LLC 1400 N Point Pkwy Ste 10, West Palm Beach, FL 33407-1976 Point of Contact: Dave McAnallen Phone Number: 304-654-1951 Email Address: david.mcanallen@thermofisher.com Cage Code: 3WXJ7 Business Type: Large

Authorized Resellers:

Thomas Scientific, LLC 1654 High Hill Rd Swedesboro, NJ 08085-1780 Point of Contact: Noelle Albertson Phone Number: 865-832-3294 Email Address: noellea@thomascientific.com Cage Code: 725Q0 Business Type: Small

Cleaver, Nathan Doing Business As: DVBE Suppliers 9362 Parkstone Cir, Roseville, CA 95747-6326 Point of Contact: Nathan Cleaver Phone Number: 916-588-2933 Email Address: n.cleaver@dvbesuppliers.com Cage Code: 8DA99 Business Type: Small (SDVOSB)

Government Scientific Source Inc

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12355 Sunrise Valley DR STE 400, Reston, VA 20191-3497 Point of Contact: Teresa Beamer Phone Number: 800-248-8030 Email Address: tbeamer@govsci.com Cage Code: 0S908 Business Type: Small

B & K Supply Company, LLC 5067 N Building Center Dr Ste B, Coeur D Alene, ID 83815 Point of Contact: Bob Ehrlich Phone Number: 208-765-3039 Email Address: bob@bksupply.co Cage Code: 46GB3 Business Type: Small

Fedpoint Systems, LLC 13042 Blackbird Pl, Fairfax, VA 22033-3731 Point of Contact: Mrinal Khosla Phone Number: 703-994-3581 Email Address: mkhosla@fedpoinsystems.com Cage Code: 6MRQ6 Business Type: Small (8a, WOSH, EDWOSH)

Caitta, Inc.

13289 Holly Meadow LN, Herndon, VA 20171-3841 Point of Contact: Divya Srinagesh Phone Number: 781-962-6538 Email Address: divya@caitta.com Cage Code: 6TFV7 Business Type: Small (8a, EDWOSH)

Product delivery of Item #1 (unit and associated items) to Robins AFB shall be accomplished within 140 calendar days after date of contract award.

Scheduling of Item #2 add-on option (PM visit) shall be performed within twelve (12) months after acceptance of Item #1 (see 2.4.1.2 for additional details).

**All Items shall be delivered via FOB Destination Shipping** Contracting action is: PR#: F3QCCM4352A003 / FDB#: 77281

This is a commercial, brand name, new annual requirement. The Contractor shall provide labor, tools, materials, parts, equipment, transportation, travel, delivery, and preventative maintenance ” “built-to-order' spectrometer metal analyzer which includes the ARL iSpark™ 8860 Plus Series Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) and associated options/accessories. Also, the Contractor shall provide 12-month

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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Basic:

CLIN NOUN COST QTY U/I Unit Price Total Est Cost 0001 ARL iSpark 8860 Plus OES FFP 1 EA Preventative Maintenance 0002 (Proactive Plan - 701-073701) FFP 1 EA 0003 Data - C DRL A001 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 0004 Data - CDRL A002 FFP 1 EA 0005 Data - CDRL A003 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 0006 Data - CDRL A004 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 0007 Data - CDRL A005 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 0008 Data - CDRL A006 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 0009 Data - CDRL A007 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP

Option Year 1:

CLIN NOUN COST QTY U/I Unit Price Total Est Cost Preventative Maintenance 1002 (Essential Plan - 701-074901) FFP 1 EA 1004 Data - CDRL B002 FFP 1 EA 1005 Data - CDRL B003 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 1007 Data - CDRL B005 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 1009 Data - CDRL B007 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP

Option Year 2:

CLIN NOUN COST QTY U/I Unit Price Total Est Cost Preventative Maintenance 2002 (Essential Plan - 701-074901) FFP 1 EA 2004 Data - CDRL C002 FFP 1 EA 2005 Data - CDRL C003 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 2007 Data - CDRL C005 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 2009 Data - CDRL C007 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP

Option Year 3:

CLIN NOUN COST QTY U/I Unit Price Total Est Cost Preventative Maintenance 3002 (Essential Plan - 701-074901) FFP 1 EA 3004 Data - CDRL D002 FFP 1 EA 3005 Data - CDRL D003 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 3007 Data - CDRL D005 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 3009 Data - CDRL D007 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP

Option Year 4:

CLIN NOUN COST QTY U/I Unit Price Total Est Cost Preventative Maintenance 4002 (Essential Plan - 701-074901) FFP 1 EA 4004 Data - CDRL E002 FFP 1 EA 4005 Data - CDRL E003 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 4007 Data - CDRL E005 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP 4009 Data - CDRL E007 NSP 1 EA NSP NSP

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Total:

This requirement will be funded with Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group (CSAG-M) funds Defense Working Capital Fund (4930).

DAFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 3572, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

This is a brand name, commercial new annual requirement. Thermo Electron North America , LLC is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) (See OEM verification) with 6 authorized re-sellers (See OEM Verification - Small business list) to the U.S. Government for equipment and services. Also, Thermo Electron North America, LLC does not share any of its operating system source codes, schematics, or machine mechanical specification with anyone outside of its company and Thermo Electron's information is proprietary in nature. As a result, the only servicer(s) allowed to have access to the technical documentation and engineering support that are required to maintain this equipment include Thermo Electron's existing direct service employees whereas said servicer(s) have agreed to the OEM's prerequisites--non-disclosure and non-compete contracts--as stipulations for employment In addition, Thermo Electron's machine(s) share complex pieces of machinery which require very specific training and knowledge in order to provide the necessary quality assurance associated with the preventative maintenance and repair tasks that enhances production.

The current unit, ARL 4460 OES, is reaching its end of life (EOL) and will require a replacement for the continuation of productivity whereas the new metal analyzer instrument will maintain the equivalent methods utilized by the existing 4460 unit and include the current technological advances for metal analyzing instruments. Also, the new unit, Thermo Scientific™ ARL iSpark™ Plus Series OES Metal Analyzer is a high-performance Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) spectrometer utilized in the First Article test lab to identify different types of Iron and steel, non-ferrous metals and alloys, fine precious metals, and non-metallic micro-inclusions. In addition, ARL iSpark 8860 is equipped with optical emission analysis software (Thermo Scientific OXSAS analytical software) pre-installed on a Desktop PC with printer--the OXSAS software shares functionality and design with its OXSAS XRF (x-ray florescence) version of the software which is currently being utilized via the ARL Performx Advance WDXRF Spectrometer System purchased in 2023 to support 402nd Maintenance Support Group (MXSG) at Robins AFB. A major benefit to maintaining equivalent methodology simplifies the transition from the EOL instrument to the newer version of the Thermo Fisher instrument whereas both units utilize the same operating software--therefore, the legacy data found on the existing system can be seamlessly transferred to the new system. This includes hundreds of military specifications stored in the database as well as several hundred alloy-types of standard data. It would be counterproductive to switch to a different brand, specifications and type of standard data because said data would have to be manually input into to the new system whereas this method would represent a projection of hundreds of man-hours and lost production overhead costs that could exceed $75K for testing, evaluation, and operator(s) training expense. Other impacts include excessive costs associated with training on a different instrument/software platform whereas the purchase of the iSpark 8860 would not require the operator training expense that would potentially require machine operators scheduled downtime away from workload production due training associated with a different equipment brand.

Due to the aforementioned facts, it has been determined by the undersigned that only Thermo Electron North

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American, LLC and its authorized resellers can provide the supplies/services that the Government requires in a timely and cost-efficient fashion without suffering substantial costs to the government that will not be recovered by competition. Thermo Electron North American, LLC and its authorized resellers are the only company with the suite of standards and the expertise available to maintain the current metal analyzing processes.

Previous Contracts: N/A (see other similar contracts are listed below.)

ARL Performx Advance Spectrometer System and 3 annual maintenance options FA8571-23-P-0061, competitive awarded to Thermo Electron North America, LLC, Estimated Total contract value:

total period of performance: 10 MAR 2023 to 28 AUG 2026 NAICS Code: 334516.

Optical Emission Spectrometer - Inductively Coupled Plasma FA8571-15-P-0136, competitive awarded to Thermo Electron North America, LLC, Estimated Total contract value: , total period of performance: 24 SEP 2015 to 30 NOV 2015 NAICS Code: 337214.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) engine was used to conduct a query to locate contractors capable of meeting the noted requirement. The search which included HUBZone, 8d(a), Woman-Owned, and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses returned 3 small businesses. Thermo Electron North America, LLC is the OEM for these systems and have 6 authorize small business resellers. GSA was also searched but returned no vendors. (Also, see section

VIII)

The 3 DSBS vendors were evaluated for their capability, but, those Vendors were not listed as authorized service providers by the OEM.

The overall cost of this acquisition will be negotiated in accordance with procedures in FAR Part 12 and FAR 13.106-3(a)(2) and include a statement of price reasonableness confirming the ultimate price to the Government is fair and reasonable. Additional pricing methodologies to negotiate fair and reasonable price may include reviewing publicly offered catalogs, comparison to historical contractor sales, and/or analysis of limited cost or pricing information provided by the contractor. In the event that limited cost or pricing information is made available, the Government's negotiation objective will be developed using local technical analysis and direct and indirect rate factors recommended by the Defense Contract Management Agency.

Market Research was conducted 02 OCT 2024 to 19 DEC 2024 in accordance with FAR Part 10.001 and

10.002. The Market Research Report was completed on19 DEC 2024. The market research techniques used are as follows:

A Small Business Administration (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) query was conducted using NAICS Code 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing and keyword(s) "metal analyzer" and "OES" looking for companies that could provide this requirement. This query resulted in three (3) small businesses. This resulted in zero capable businesses whereas none of those businesses were listed as an authorized service provider. The OEM, Thermo Electron North America, provided the attached

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OEM Letter dated 22 JUL 2024 with the authorized resellers list.

GSA was also queried for any source that could provide these units which resulted in zero small businesses (see attached GSA Query). Also, the OEM letter stated that there were no GSA resellers. Mandatory Sources such as 2-GIT and Ability One were considered but did not meet this requirement (see attached 2-GIT and Ability One queries).

The is considered a commercial item as defined in FAR 2.101. The ARL iSpark™ 8860 Plus OES is used by both the military and the commercial aviation industry.

The market research concluded that OEM, Thermo Electron North America and its authorized resellers are the only sources capable of fulfilling the Government's requirement.

Primary NAICS: 334516 - Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing

Recommendation: Post on SAM.GOV for a brand name award to the OEM or one of the five (5) authorized resellers listed in Section II

None.

See Section VI above.

The ARL iSpark 8860 is necessary for analysis of metal samples for First Article workload and other maintenance support functions. The Government is unable to compete this effort without the Government suffering significant financial harm. The purchase of this ARL iSpark 8860 OES is to replace an outdated model, the ARL 4460 OES, which is reaching the “end of life” (EOL). Also, this requirement cannot be completed organically. This requirement shall include brand name authorized resellers that can provide annual preventative maintenance options for up to four (4) years.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.

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