W56HZV-18-R-L306_-FBO.pdf

Department of the Army Limited Source Justification for Purchases under $150,000

Purchase Request #: 11230180

1. Contracting Activity: The Army Contracting Command – Warren (ACC-Warren) is the procuring activity for this action.

2. Description of the Supply or Service Purchased: ACC-Warren proposes to award a new Firm-

Fixed Price contract to TA Instruments (Newcastle, DE) for the procurement of a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) to conduct research grade testing and characterization of elastomeric materials in support of program managers of Army tracked vehicles.

Recommended Supplier:

TA Instruments – Waters L.L.C 159 Lukens Dr.

New Castle, Delaware 19720

Phone: (302) 367-8174

CAGE: 0MJS5

DUNS: 615257847

3. Dollar Amount: The estimated total purchase price is . The type of funds to be used

Fiscal Year 2018 RDT&E Funds (GSES – PLE – Materials).

4. Authority Cited: Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) and 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 13.106- 1(b)(1), “Soliciting from a Single Source” , which states that Contracting Officers may solicit from one source if the Contracting Officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available..

5. Reason for Authority Cited: TA Instruments is the only manufacturer that met the requirements established by the Elastomer Improvement Program (EIP) laboratory for a “Research Grade” DSC, with its Discovery DSC 2500. These requirements include: 1) the temperature range (-180°C to 725°C), accuracy (±0.025°C) and precision (±0.005°C); 2) thermal baseline flatness (≤5 μW) and repeatability (<10μW) over a temperature range of -50 to 300°C; 3) auto-sampling capability; and that is 4) Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory certified. Based on the market research conducted, they are the only responsible source which meets and exceeds the requirements for a research grade DSC.

6. Market Research: Market research was conducted in November and December 2017 via internet and discussions took place on relevant details with technical representatives from three global leaders in DSC – NETZSCH (located in Gebrüder-Netzsch-Straße 19, Selb Germany); , Perkin Elmer (located in Hopkinton, MA) and TA Instruments (located in New Castle, DE) (Market Research Report dated 28 March 2018). Discussions took place with each of these three manufactures concerning their respective research grade DSC’s and the ability to meet the following

TARDEC EIP DSC requirements: 1) Research Grade DSC; 2) Precise baseline accuracy ( </= 0.30 µW) with auto correction; 3)Enthalpy precision +/- 0.07% indium; 4) Specific heat and temperature modulation- standard 5) NRTL certified; 6) Software Compatible with EIP lab; and 7) Cell warranty minimum of 3 years. After review of all three manufacturers capabilities it was determined that both NETZSCH and Perkin did not meet all seven TARDEC EIP DSC requirements identified above and TA Instruments was the only manufacturer capable of meeting and exceeding TARDEC’s requirements for a research grade DSC.

8. Technical Certification: I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Signature:

Title: Date:

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

Name: Signature:

Title: Date: