JA_LS-DYNA_(final).pdf

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition LS-DYNA (Lawrence Software-Dyna) Software

1. Contracting Activity: The US Army Contracting Command – Warren, Warren, Michigan 48397-5000 is the procuring activity responsible for this action.

2. Description of Action: Approval is being requested for a new sole source, firm-fixed price contract to Livermore Software Technology Corporation (LSTC), Livermore, California (CA) for LS-DYNA software and maintenance package.

FY15 RDTE funds are available for this procurement, which is proposed to include a base year beginning on the date of contract award plus one option year.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: TARDEC has a requirement for 1,288 LS- DYNA software licenses. LS-DYNA is an engineering Modeling and Simulation (M&S) tool for structural and occupant response behavior during automotive crashworthiness and/or under body blast (UBB) events. This tool is currently being used at TARDEC for both automotive crashworthiness and underbody mine blast simulations. The estimated cost of this procurement is $293,199.99, including both the base year and two one year options at an estimated cost of $293,200 for each year for a total cost of $879,599.97 . The projected cost covers all license fees, all maintenance releases on the software package, along with administrative and technical support on-line and on the phone to the proposed source, LSTC.

Base $293,199.99 Option year 1 $293,199.99 Option year 2 $293,199.99 Total $879,599.97

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2) which provides that when supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: LSTC is the only vendor that can provide the services listed above. The software products and configurations covered under this proposed contract are proprietary to LSTC. The LSTC software and supported applications are one of the primary RDECOM-TARDEC software packages used for survivability and reliability analyses for Army tactical and combat vehicles and their sub-systems. The services cannot be performed by any other contractor since the software is owned by LSTC, and as such, only that company can charge annual license fees as well as provide regular maintenance releases on the subject software that TARDEC needs on the High-Performance

Computing (HPC) infrastructure. LSTC owns the intellectual property (source code) and only provides customers with compiled executables (much like most software vendors), not the original source code. Even if the Government had the necessary expertise to do so, it cannot provide the required services identified above. The software is not available through CHESS and the statement of non-availability is saved in PCF

Attempting to procure a similar, but different software to meet the needs currently met through the use of the LS-DYNA software is impractical for the following reasons:

1.1 The time that would be lost on the part of TARDEC personnel is one month of classroom training and an additional one to two months of on-the-job training for the users to learn the new package, amounting to about 320-480 hours per analyst. This is a very conservative estimate (please see #1.5 below). These software packages require a high level of expertise and a very steep learning curve, and it is not easy to switch from one toolset to another, even for seasoned employees. During this time period, the engineering staff’s ability to attend to Program Manager (PM) and Project Executive Office (PEO) mission needs would be severely impaired.

1.2 There are a minimum of 15 analysts associated with this switch of toolset, resulting in from 4,800 to 7,200 hours being lost as a result of the need to learn how to use the new software. Based on an average hourly rate of $90 per analyst, the added labor cost attributable to such a transition would be at the very minimum from about $432,000-to $648,000 in addition to training and travel costs.

1.3 An even bigger issue is that customer support to PM/PEO programs would be significantly impaired during the required two to three month “learning” period, resulting in TARDEC’s inability to fulfill its mission of evaluating and designing ground vehicles.

1.4 LS-DYNA is being used by all sister Army agencies, including Army Research Labs (ARL), as well as all of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), including General Dynamics (GDLS), BAE Systems, and Navistar.. Right now, for reasons of efficiency and commonality, modeling and simulation models are freely transferred between our Army and OEM partners, a benefit that will be negated if TARDEC is forced to move away from LSDYNA, which will have to either create the models in the new software system, or find a way to convert from LSDYNA to the new system. Both of these options would involve considerable effort and cost. Every system level model would need at least 300 hours of effort to convert, resulting in about $27,000 in labor costs given the above quoted approximate rate of $90 per hour, not to mention the delays in customer response time of eight to ten weeks for each system. In light of the numerous exchanges of M&S models that occur between TARDEC and its Department of Defense (DoD) and OEM partners, the organization’s analytic mission would be crippled.

1.5 A jointly sponsored DoD-HPC office and ARL effort is currently underway to replace the LS-DYNA driven system with a Government-owned, Government-controlled software system called “Integrated Software, for the Analysis of Blast Effects, Library” (ISABEL) developed by Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL), CA. This multi-agency project is a long term effort with a projected cost of $16 million to $20 million. The magnitude of that effort in time and cost is a clear indication of what it would take for TARDEC to switch to a different software system in the short run.

If the Government were to obtain the LS-DYNA software from another vendor, TARDEC would confront the following issues:

2.1 Prior to Nov 2011, TARDEC’s then existing requirement for 640 LS- DYNA software licenses was procured from one of two locally authorized distributors of LSTC-manufactured products, namely Engineering Technology Associates (ETA), Inc., of Troy, MI. Because the contract was awarded to ETA, TARDEC’s first line of technical support was ETA.

Only if ETA could not take care of an issue, would that company act as the conduit to LSTC. ETA’s tech support was very poor, and almost in every case, that contractor transferred TARDEC requests for assistance to LSTC, the second and only capable line of support. While TARDEC’s needs were ultimately met, the process consistently entailed increased support times and unnecessary middle men who muddled communications. After Nov 2011, TARDEC’s LS-DYNA software requirement was satisfied by contracting directly with LSTC since TARDEC’s requirement for licenses exceeded the 1,000 count threshold that ETA was authorized to resell. Under the direct contract with LSTC, TARDEC has been able to contact LSTC directly with its problems, resulting in the speedy resolution of those problems.

2.2 It is currently understood that there are no authorized resellers for LS- DYNA software in the SE Michigan area that are authorized to sell the quantity of licenses that TARDEC currently needs, which is 1288 licenses. LSTC is the only available source of this product for the required volume.

2.3 Even should such a sub-vendor or reseller be able to meet our requirements, it is very unlikely that they will be able to provide the product at a reduced cost. Such a savings would have to be substantial to overcome the issues described in 5.2.1 above.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: For all the reasons stated in paragraph 5, LSTC is the only source that will be considered for this contract since it is the only source capable of meeting the current requirement.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: Through contacts with other Government entities, industry and academia, TARDEC is always exploring new technologies as they become available. If and when a suitable substitute becomes available, TARDEC will explore the ramifications of its introduction. (Please also see paragraph 5.1.5 above regarding the long-term government plan to develop a Government-owned, Government-controlled software system called ISABEL.)

8. Market Research: Market research revealed no other sources for the annual license renewal and maintenance of this proprietary software. It was found that only LSTC could provide this software product and maintenance services. LSTC is the only contractor that is authorized to distribute the LS-DYNA software and provide services for the volume of licenses required by TARDEC, because as owners of the source code, it owns full and sole rights to the source code and the software package. While the research indicated that there are a few competitive products available in the marketplace, the reasons that make switching to another software product treacherous and unacceptably risky are enumerated in detail in Item 5.

9. Interested Sources: LSTC is the only vendor and distributor, for more than 1000 core licenses, of the LS-DYNA software being sought pursuant to this Justification and Approval.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history.

1. W56HZV-13-C-L528 awarded on, Sep 20, 2013, was for the procurement of 1288 core licenses of LS-DYNA through LSTC, Livermore, CA. The estimated cost of this procurement of 1288 core licenses is $586,400, including a base year of $293,200 and the one option year of $293,200.

These license fees were for the procurement of licenses of Ls-Dyna for the period 1 November 2013 – 31 October 2014 (with an option year of 1 November 2014 – 31 October 2015) along with support maintenance from LSTC (for the period Nov 01, 2013 to Oct 31, 2015) on an Other Than Full and Open competition bases pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304

(c) (1), FAR 6.302-1.

Competitive status: Sole source

b. Acquisition data availability. N/A.

c. Unusual and compelling urgency. N/A.

d. Subcontracting competition. N/A. There is not subcontractor involved in the development, distribution and sustainment.

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.

Typed Name: Date: Sanjay Kankanalapalli , 8/18/2015 Title: Signature: //s// Sanjay Kankanalapalli

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.

Typed Name: Date: 8/18/15 Title: Signature: //s// Sanjay Kankanalapalli

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. The Contract Specialist will conduct a Price Analysis IAW FAR 15.404-1(b)(2). Certified cost or pricing data is not required for this acquisition.

//signed//

Lynn M. Byrne Contracting Officer

Date: 8/4/2015

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

Pursuant to FAR 6.304(a)(1), this certification constitutes my approval of the sole source procurement described above pursuant to the authority cited above subject to availability of funds and provided that the supplies or services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

8/21/2015

X Lynn M. Byrne Contracting Officer Signed by: BYRNE.LYNN.M.1284801829