41--1040 Water Bag Covers

Introduction: Pursuant to FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b)(1), the U.S. Army RDECOM Contracting Center, Natick Contracting Division, on behalf of the Natick Soldier System Center (NSSC), intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order on a sole source basis to: Ridgeline Industries, 745 Graves Street, Clayton, NY 13624-1503 THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. No solicitation document is available. 1. FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) Solicitations may be limited to one source only if the contracting officer determines that only one source is reasonably available. This determination must be supported with full justification for sole source from the customer. When the customer describes an item with a purchase description that limits the availability to one source, the justification must explain why the item is the only one that will meet the government's requirement. Statements such as "only known source" or "only source which can meet the required delivery date" are inadequate to support a sole source purchase. The customer shall provide the following information: 2. Brief description of supplies or services required and the intended use. One Hundered and Four (104) EA Green 3K Insulated Water Bag Cover Assemblies, NIIN: 01-532-3841 which are critical components of the Force Provider Reset Winterization Kit urgently needed in theater (Afghanistan) for the approaching winter season for the Force Provider 600-man modules being deployed. 3. Unique characteristics that limit availability to only one source, with the reason no other supplies or services can be used: Due to significant issues with the specification, the ability to order this material has been significantly delayed but the need for a portion of the total requirement cannot be late. The cause for the delay is that the insulating material called out in the original specification did not meet new testing standards released by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Significant and unavoidable delays occurred as the configuration control manager for the item had to go through a process to determine an acceptable alternative. 4. Reason that suggested source is the only source which can provide the supplies or services: The configuration control manager approved one alternative, "Reflectix", for use. There is a total field requirement for 1040 of these Insulated Water Bag Cover Assembles, 104 of which are needed urgently. There is only one company known, Ridgeline Industries, that has produced the item, and can meet the required delivery schedule of 6 weeks with the required quantity of 104 each. This is the only avenue to meet the urgent requirement. 5. A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted: The Government investigated several other sources for the materials, all of whom offered materials that failed to meet the new specification. 6. Explain why an adequate purchase description or other information suitable to solicit by full and open competition has not been developed or are not available: Specifications were recently finalized, after technical difficulties but this product must be ordered immediately to ensure timely delivery to deployed personnel for the minimum quantity of 104 required. 7. Provide a statement of actions, if any, the government may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before future acquisitions are required. If this is a follow-on action to a previously competed action, so state: Now that the specification issues have been resolved, the Government will attempt to discover other sources for complying materials for the remaining 936 that will be required in theater via full and open competition. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement to the U.S. Army RDECOM Contracting Center, Natick Contracting Division via e-mail to: contact@example.gov no later than 4:30p.m. on November 17, 2011. Contracting Office Address: RDECOM Contracting Center - Natick CCRD-NA-SU, Natick Contracting Division Kansas Street, Building 1 Natick, MA 01760-5011 Point of Contact: Greg Wilson, Contract Specialist contact@example.gov