Redacted_JandA.pdf

Control No: JA-18-Adel-153

Contractor : Grid Logic, Inc.

Supply/Service: SUPPLY

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FAR PART 6 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Programs/Equipment: (1) Powder Lithography (OPL) 3D Printer with (1) three-nozzle print head with three-powder, (2) Additional Build Cartridges, including (1) year Maintenance Agreement

Authority:

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

Amount: [redacted]

Prepared by: [redacted]

Contracting Officer: [redacted]

Technical: [redacted]

Requirements: [redacted]

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

Program Manager: [redacted]

FAR Part 6 Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity:

United States (US) Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC- APG), Adelphi Contracting Division (CCAP – SCA), 2800 Powder Mill Rd, Adelphi, MD 20783.

2. Description of Action:

The Lightweight & Specialty Metals Branch, Weapons & Materials Research Directorate (WMRD), Army Research Laboratory (ARL) requests a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract with Grid Logic, Inc. 1555 Atlantic Blvd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326. The Government projects award for March 2018 and Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, Army Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) funding will be used under GFEBS PR 0011105967.

_X_ An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement either does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i), or is an R&D acquisition and does not meet the definition of services in 10 U.S.C. 2330(c)(2).

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

CLIN 0001: one (1) Ordered Powder Lithography (OPL) 3D Printer:

CLIN 0002: one (1) Three-nozzle print head with a three-powder hopper:

CLIN 0003: one (1) Additional Build Cartridge 100x100x100 (mm):

CLIN 0004: one (1) Additional Build Cartridge 250x250x100 (mm):

CLIN 0005: one (1) one-year Maintenance Agreement:

Total Value: [redacted]

4. Authority Cited:

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

The Lightweight & Specialty Metals Branch, Weapons & Materials Research Directorate (WMRD) requires the procurement of one (1) Ordered Powder Lithography (OPL) 3D Printer, one (1) Three-nozzle print head with a three-powder hopper, one (1) Additional Build Cartridge 100x100x100 (mm), one (1) Additional Build Cartridge 250x250x100

(mm), and one (1) one-year Maintenance Agreement from Grid Logic, Inc (Grid Logic).

The Government requires the OPL 3D printer from Grid Logic due to the precise nature of the OPL technology. OPL is a specialized 3D printing method of much interest to ARL scientists as it provides an option for producing near net shape components from powders which suffer adverse effects from standard laser based additive manufacturing.

The acquisition of a three-nozzle print head will enable ARL scientists to explore such materials as functionally graded materials, in-situ composites, and/or layered materials.

Procuring two (2) additional build cartridges will allow production of samples of multiple sizes up to 250x250x100 mm. The Maintanence agreement will provide quick turn around repairs and periodic updates to the equipment. This will ensure that ARL is fully/promptly supported by Grid Logic in case of machine issues, as well as advance notice of any machine/process improvements.

Through internally funded research efforts, Grid Logic has successfully developed the additive manufacturing (AM) method, OPL. In this AM method, the part to be produced is created by the layerwise deposition of a minimum of two (2) powders per layer – a negative powder that is used to create the mold in which the positive powder, which is used to construct the component of interest, is deposited. Once the entire assembly is deposited, the build cartridge is placed into a sintering furnace and subjected to the desired heat treatment to achieve near/full density of the positive powder. As the negative powder used to create the molding/support is non-reactive at the chosen sintering temperature, the part is easily removed after densification by allowing the negative powder to flow out of the build cartridge.

Justification for the sole-source purchase action is that the OPL process was developed solely by Grid Logic, which has no authorized resellers or distributors, and contains a large amount of company retained intellectual property and/or proprietary data.

Furthermore, Grid Logic has filed for patent protection (US Patent Application 20170216915) on the OPL process. As such, this technology is not currently available from any other source.

In regards to the OPL technology, ARL/WMRD is currently working with a series of novel, “in-house” developed metallic powders which possess unique properties due to the manner by which they are produced. That is, through the processing methods used in-house, the powders possess highly complex microstructures and/or specialized properties that can be rapidly lost/degraded if the powders are exposed to highly elevated temperatures. Indeed, this concern has been justified, as initial experiments have shown that these properties are lost or appreciably degraded if the powders are consolidated using laser based AM methods (such as selective laser melting, laser engineered net shaping, etc.) due to the melting/reforming process that takes place in these methods. Furthermore, one (1) group of powders that are copper based can not be processed in current laser based additive manufacturing machines as the high reflectivity of the copper powders reflects a significant amount of the laser radiation, resulting in limited consolidation of the powder as well as potentially damaging the components of the system.

In recognition of the inability to achieve the desired performance from parts produced using laser based AM systems, ARL has explored an AM method known as binderjet printing. In this method, a part is created by the use of a polymeric binder on each layer until the part is completed. The completed assembly is then subjected to a burn-out treatment to remove the binder, followed by a sintering treatment to fully densify the part.

However, it is extremely difficult to remove all of the polymeric binder from the powder, as there is typically a small amount of ash and/or residue that is left behind. This ash (which is primarily carbon based) then reacts with our metal part, resulting in degraded properties due to the presence of the more brittle carbide particles that were formed during the burn out process.

In light of the limitations inherent in the above methods, there is great anticipation that the OPL process developed by Grid Logic offers an AM technique that will enable the production of high quality near-net shape components. As detailed above, the OPL process does not use any type of polymeric binder in creating the part – thus, there is no possibility of residue contamination as seen in binderjet printed parts. Moreover, the use of a conventional sintering treatment to density the part eliminates any possibility of significant property loss and/or degradation as seen in samples produced using laser based AM techniques.

Failure to procure the OPL 3D Printer from Gird Logic will severely hinder, if not essentially end, ARL’s research in the AM of near net shape components from in-house powders, as there is no other method currently available in the market that is fully suited to the task.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

Based on the market research performed by the Technical Point of Contract (TPOC) (See Section 8), references the efforts and available options that was considered to seek out other sources, however,only Grid Logic was determined as the only responsible vendor.

See Section 9 regarding the synopsis of this requirement being posted to FedBizOps from 31 January 2018 to 15 February 2018. No responses were received and no other source has written to express interest in this procurement.

7. Actions to Increase Competition:

The Government will continue to perform market research by reviewing catalogs and other generally available product literature published by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers to locate other sources capable of providing the aforementioned requirements, as well as consideration for alternative vendors providing technical support that would be able to maintain system warranties should future support requirements be realized.

Until Grid Logic allows for other vendors to be authorized resellers of their equipment, future purchases will still be restricted to procure from them as the manufacturer.

8. Market Research:

Market research was performed by [redacted], within ARL’s WMRD Lightweight & Specialty Metals Branch for the period of approximately two (2) weeks in mid August 2017. The market research consisted of a detailed internet search on ScienceDirect.com, as well as a review of available scientific literature to determine if there was another process or similar alternatives to OPL developed by Grid Logic. The closest comparative technology came from an article from tctmagazine.com, dated January 28, 2018 where it went into detailing a new 3D printing method called “iro3d”.

The article specified the iro3d method is still early in development and many improvements are still needed in regards to software, the micro controller, safety mechanisms, and printer mechanics. In comparing both of these technological efforts the “iro3d” has a limited capacity whereas the OPL process as developed by Grid Logic is currently being considered for full patent protection. As of right now Grid Logic is the sole supplier of this particular 3D printing AM method that is capapble of satisfying Government requirements.

In accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 205.205-71, DFARS 206.302-1(d), and DFARS Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) 206.302-1(d), a sources sought was posted to Federal Business Opportunities on December 13, 2017 for seven (7) days and there were no responses.

9. Interested Sources:

A notice of intent to sole source under solicitation number W911QX-18-T-0055, was submitted to FedBizOps on 31 January 2018, with a closing date of 15 February 2018.

To date, no responses were received and no other source has written to express interest. However, as required by FAR 5.201, should any other notices or bids be received by the Government in response to this synopsis, they shall be forwarded to the approving officials for consideration.

10. Other Facts:

There is no procurement history, as this is a first time buy.

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: [redacted]

X

Technical Certifier (Tech)

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: [redacted]

Requirements Certifier

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

This determination will be made using the following:

__ Cost analysis _X_ Price analysis __ Should cost

__ IGCE

__ Audit:

__ Other:

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data:

__ Will be required.

_X_ Will not be required and the following exception applies (FAR 15.403):

__ Prices that will be agreed upon are based on adequate price competition.

__ Prices that will be agreed upon are based on prices set by law or regulation.

_X_ A commercial item is being acquired.

__ A waiver has been granted by the head of the contracting activity (HCA) in accordance with DFARS PGI 215.403-1.

__ The contract action is a modification to a contract or subcontract for commercial item(s).

__ The estimated cost of the contract action is less than the threshold for certified cost or pricing data.

Contracting Officer (KO)

14. 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 (1) Powder Lithography (OPL) 3D Printer with (1) three-nozzle print head with three-powder, (2) Additional Build Cartridges, including (1) year Maintenance Agreement on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C.2304(c)(1), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

(End of J&A)