RedactedJustification.pdf

Control No. ___15-17__________

Justification Review Document

For Other than Full and Open Competition

Program/Equipment: One (1) each Reconditioned Hot Rolling Mill

Authority: 41 U.S.C 1901(e) as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii) “Only One Responsible Source and

No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

Amount: $486,875.00

Prepared By:

Typed Name: [REDACTED] DSN[REDACTED]

Title: Team Leader Date: May 16, 2015

Procuring Contracting Officer:

Typed Name: Phillip Amador DSN: [REDACTED]

Date Reviewed: May 22, 2015

Technical Representative:

Typed Name: [REDACTED] DSN: [REDACTED]

Title: Team Leader Date: May 16, 2015

Requirements Representative:

Typed Name: [REDACTED] DSN: [REDACTED]

Title: [REDACTED] Date: Dec. 16, 2014

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

DSN: [REDACTED]

Justification and Approval

For Other Than Full and Open Competition

1.a. Contracting Agency - US Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi

Contracting Division, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783

1.b. Requiring Agency – US Army Research Laboratory, Weapons & Materials Research Directorate

(WMRD), [REDACTED] 4600 Deer Creek Loop, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005

2. Description of Action – Approval is requested to solicit for a firm-fixed price (FFP) contract for the purchase of one (1) [REDACTED]Reconditioned 2 High Hot Rolling Mill, to support Mission

[REDACTED], on the basis of other than full and open competition in accordance with FAR Part 13.5.

The suggested sole source vendor is Internaitonal Rolling Mills (IRM) 81 Beverage Hill Ave, Pawtucket, RI 02860. Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Research and Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) fund will be utilized. The funds have been reviewed and are determined to be appropriate and available for obligation through 30 Septemeber 2015.

3. Description of Supplies/Services - The proposed acquisition consists one (1) Reconditioned 2-High Hot

Rolling Mill that meets the following minimum requirements:

-(1)Capable of processing samples with final dimensions of 12”x12”x1” (L x W x H)

-(2) [REDACTED] (width x diameter) rolls capable of being heated to approximately . 600

Farenheit

-(3)Power screwdowns to control height of roll separation, of a ratioof 400:1 hollow shaft gear reducer

-(4)100 Horse Power motor capable of rolling speeds up to 50 feet per minute

-(5)Preheating table capable of handling work pieces 36” long x 12” wide and heating up to 600F

-(6)Mill dimensions: 10’ wide x 12’ deep x 10’ high

-(7)Mill weight: approx. 35,000 pounds

The estimated total dollar value for this procurement is $486,875.00.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C

1901(e) as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii) “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or

Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

The US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is actively engaged in the processing and characterization of lightweight metallic alloys for a broad variety of structural and ballistic protection applications. Recent purchasing actions have resulted in the acquisition of in-house capability for casting these alloys. However, the alloys need to be further processed from their cast forms (typically, cylindrical ingots) to plate forms more suitable for additional processing and/or evaluation. This transformation is normally achieved through the rolling process, in which the starting metallic ingot is passed between rolls, resulting in a reduction in thickness due to the compressive stresses exerted by the rolls. The rolling process can be performed at a broad variety of temperatures that are determined by the material being processed, and is repeated until the desired final thickness is reached.

Precise control of rolling conditions are required to produce high quality materials on a consistent basis.

Market research conducted in preparing this acquisition revealed that there is only one (1) domestic supplier for rolling mills designed for the size and scale of use anticipated by ARL scientists. Market research performed by [REDACTED]determined that hot rolling mill processing controls offered on small scale rolling mills were inadequate for ARL research actitives and do not meet the requirments of the

Government specified in section 3. The addition of higher precision controls – either on a new machine or through the reconditioning of a used rolling mill – is often a costly process. Indeed, an initial price estimate put the cost of a rolling mill with the required specifications stated in section 3 at [REDACTED]

Extensive market research detailed in paragraph eight (8)_ did identify one (1) company – International

Rolling Mill (IRM) that offers a mill that meets the specifications required by the Government. It was determined that all other sources identified do not offer mills that meet the Government’s size requirements for a lab-scaled mill. IRM has experience doing reconditioning of used rolling mills, in particular this new

[REDACTED]rolls is capable of being heated to approximately 600 F which no other source is capable of meeting in combination with the Government’s size requirements, see section 3. The ability to precisely and repeatedly control the roll temperature will allow ARL [REDACTED]. Further, IRM will incorporate power screw-downs to control the separation between rollers, thereby enabling the ability to “dial-in” a desired plate thickness. Finally, the high separating force will allow for the rolling of plates as large as 12” x 12” x 1” (LxWxH) which will complement existing in-house studies for [REDACTED]as well as enable new studies in forming small components.

IRM has therefore been identified as the only source that can provide a laboratory scale rolling mill with sufficient capacity and sufficiently accurate control systems to meet ARL’s requirements for research and development needs.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Based on market research in Section 8 performed by the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC), no other vendors other than IRM were found to be able to fulfill the Government’s requirement. Thus, effective competition for this acquisition is not anticipated.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: ARL does not anticipate any further acquisitions. However, ARL will continue to monitor the commercial marketplace in case a new requirement arises and new suppliers do indeed become available. The market for this specialized item is limted to a small group of niche vendors.

The demand for “laboratory” or “research” sized hot rolling mills is limited and in turn does not afford vendors any incentive to design and build “models” for laboratory sized mills. Only demand for laboratory sized mills would increase competition.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted from the period of 20 February 2014 to 04 March

2014 by [REDACTED] Materials Engineer[REDACTED]with nine (9) years experience and by

[REDACTED] Materials Engineer, [REDACTED]33 years experience. A detailed review of available internet sites was performed. Internet searches resulted in four (4) companies International Rolling Mill, Feen Rolling Mill, Waterbury Farrel, NewField, and Kobelco. [REDACTED]completed phone calls to the above discovered companies identified through the internet search. It was determined that IRM is the only company that provides lab-scale, reburbished, rolling mills designed to customer specifications. None of the identified companies manufactures laboratory sized equipment. List of web addresses for the vendors identified and their capabilies are as follows:

http://www.introllingmills.com/

-International Rolling Mills

-Offers all sizes of hot and cold rolling mills, meets Government requirments.

http://www.fenn-torin.com/

-Fenn

-Manufacturer of metal working equipment

-Offer laboratory mills with maximum roll width of 9” that do not meet Government’s size requirement, see section 3.

-Offer larger production mills, that do not meet the Government’s size requirements.

http://www.waterburyfarrel.com/home

-Waterbury Farrel

-Manufacturer of rolling mills

-Offer very large production hot and cold rolling mills that do not meet Government’s size requirement, see section 3.

http://www.newfieldengineers.com/index.html http://www.introllingmills.com/ http://www.fenn-torin.com/ http://www.waterburyfarrel.com/home http://www.newfieldengineers.com/index.html

-Newfield Engineers Pvt. Ltd.

-Offer very large production cold rolling mills that do not meet Government’s size requirement, see section

3.

http://www.kobelco.co.jp/english/machinery/products/rolling/index.html

-Kobelco

-Supply rolling mills for ferrous and nonferrous metals processing

Offer very large production rolling mill systems that do not meet Government’s size requirement, see http://cauffiel.com/

-Cauffiel Corporation

-Custom manufacturing and installation of machinery

-Offers cold rolling mills only http://www.fatahunter.com/_new_08/index.htm

-Fata Hunter, Division of Fata S.p.A.

-Implements single equipment and turn-key plants for aluminum and steel processing

-Offers design and manufacture of machinery for aluminum strip and foil cold rolling http://www.tdigrp.com/index.jsp

-TDI Group, LLC

-Supplier of used and remanufactured equipment

-No hot rolling plate mills currently available at any size http://www.rayjacobs.com/

-Ray Jacobs Machinery Co.

-Distributor of new and used rolling mill machinery

-Only used cold rolling mills, all very large production units http://www.spx.com/en/

-SPX Precision Components

-Only offer production rolling mill support equipment http://www.herr-voss.com/

-Herr-Voss Stamco

-Offer refurbishment of hot and cold rolling mills that do not meet Government’s size requirement, see http://www.mcmillanconroy.com/

-Machinery International Corporation

-Supplier of used metalworking machinery

-No hot rolling mills available http://www.fortuneresources.ca/ http://www.kobelco.co.jp/english/machinery/products/rolling/index.html http://cauffiel.com/ http://www.fatahunter.com/_new_08/index.htm http://www.tdigrp.com/index.jsp http://www.rayjacobs.com/ http://www.spx.com/en/ http://www.herr-voss.com/ http://www.mcmillanconroy.com/ http://www.fortuneresources.ca/

-Fortune Resources of North America Inc.

-North American representative for Shanghai Jieru (China) aluminum casting and rolling equipment.

-Offer industrial scale cold rolling mills

9. Interested Sources: A Synopsis was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website on 18

Feburary 2015 with a closing date of 05 March 2015. To date, no other sources have written to express interest. The notices required by FAR 5.201, shall be published and all bids or proposals shall be considered.

10. Other Facts: a. Procurement history. N/A, this is a first time buy.

b. Acquisition Data Availability. None to date. First time purchase.

c. Unusual and Compelling Urgency. None to date. First time purchase.

d. Subcontracting Competition. None to date. First time purchase.

e. Follow-on Contracts. None to date. First time purchase.

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: Team Leader

[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: Branch Chief[REDACTED]

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. Detailed documentation and justification of cost/price reasonableness will be disclosed in the official contract file to include a published price list if available.

14. Procuring 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 Reconditioned Hot Rolling Mill on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901(e)as implemented by FAR Part 13.501(a), “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will Satisfy Agency Requirements”, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.