B--Engineering Science Application Support

The Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System, has a requirement for DNA processing and analysis. An Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract for 36 months is anticipated and shall be awarded. It is the Government's belief that only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology possesses the required capabilities to successfully meet this requirement. It is the Government's intention to solicit and negotiate only with this source. Please refer to the Sole Source Justification. This is not a solicitation; it is notice of intent to sole source a requirement. Inquiries/information received after the established deadline shall not be considered. The submission of any data for review shall not impede award of this contract as planned. The Government does not intend to pay for information solicited. This synopsis is issued pursuant to FAR 6.302-5. JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System, NCO1 Consolidated Contracting Activity Transaction #: 523-13-1-4982-0002 2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: The nature of the action is a sole source solicitation for a new indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs: In 2009, the New England Veterans Engineering Resource Center (VERC) received funding from VHA Systems Redesign Program Office to fund a Veterans Engineering Resource Center. Included in this award was funding to establish academic relationships with University departments of engineering. One of the academic affiliates is Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI). These faculty and students work to provide engineering solutions to critical VA operational issues and work closely with VA leadership and clinical staff. The New England VERC will be in its third year of operations and seeks to establish a new contract with MIT to provide greater flexibility (issuance of task orders for specific projects) to better meet program needs with national and network priorities. VERC currently have an affiliation agreement with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Towards this end, New England VERC requires a contract with MIT to provide engineering expertise through its faculty and students, to the center as a whole, and for projects designated by New England VERC leadership. The estimated total value of this service is a minimum of $25,000 and maximum of $3M for a period of 3 years. 4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: 38 U.S.C. 8153 and 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a) (5) as implemented by FAR 6.302-5, Authorized or required by statute. 5. Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): The purpose of the VERC is to facilitate innovative solutions to health care delivery challenges identified by national, network, and facility leadership as well as to propose important opportunities for change and improvement. To fulfill our mission, VHA asked the VERC's to create partnerships with University departments of engineering and operations research. This work is highly specialized and requires the resources of MIT's faculty. The field of industrial engineering as applied to a healthcare setting is a relatively new science and MIT possesses the academic curricula and faculty to meet VERC's needs. MIT's strengths in this area include lean enterprise transformation, facility layout optimization, supply chain management, operations research, quality control, statistical analysis, and others. MIT was awarded a firm fixed price contract for engineering student and faculty support in March of 2009. Over the base year and the three option years, MIT has focused on transformational projects such as developing and testing a predictive model for emergency department admission, providing recommendations for improvement in the area of intra-facility transportation and taking care of veterans, and evaluating how VISN 1 enterprise delivers value to patients through the transfer and transportation process, and improving the delivery of medication and clinical services within in-patient pharmacy of a medical center. This experience and the highly specialized nature of their program uniquely qualified them to continue with projects and subject areas of a similar nature. The Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) at MIT, together with its international Educational Network (EdNet), offers organizational members from industry, government, and academia the newest thinking, products, and tools related to lean enterprise transformation. LAI is a unique research consortium that provides a forum for sharing research findings, lessons learned, and best practices. LAI offers unique opportunities to engage with customers, suppliers, and partners to solve problems and share organizational transformation experiences; a portfolio of thought-provoking knowledge exchange events and meetings; and innovative enterprise transformation products, tools, and methodologies. LAI researches, develops, and promulgates practices, tools, and knowledge that enable and accelerate enterprise transformation. LAI accelerates lean deployment through identified best practices, shared communication, common goals, and strategic and implementation tools honed from collaborative experience. LAI also promotes cooperation at all levels and facets of an enterprise to eliminate traditional barriers to improving industry and government teamwork. The Co-Director of the Center is Deborah Nightingale, Ph.D., Professor of the Practice of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at MIT. Professor Nightingale has broad-based experience with academia, the private sector and the government. At MIT she serves as the Director of the Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development as well as the Co-Director of the Lean Advancement Initiative, a joint industry, government, and MIT consortium. Her research interests are focused on lean enterprise integration, enterprise architecting, and organizational transformation. She has led several executive lean transformation engagements in both industry and government. Prior to joining MIT, Professor Nightingale headed up Strategic Planning and Global Business Development for AlliedSignal Engines. While at AlliedSignal she also held a number of executive leadership positions in operations, engineering, and program management, participating in enterprise-wide operations from concept development to customer support. Prior to joining AlliedSignal, she worked at Wright-Patterson AFB where she served as program manager for computer simulation modeling research, design, and development in support of advanced man-machine design concepts. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Past-President and Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Enterprise Transformation. She is a co-author of several books and serves on a number of boards and national committees, where she interacts extensively with industry, government and academic leaders. 6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: During the VHA grant proposal development process VISN 1 solicited the involvement of universities and explored the interest of a large number of potential collaborators. Ultimately, MIT was identified as a suitable academic partner. Additionally, during the solicitation phase of the initial contract (VA241-P-0743) a posting was made to Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) and there was one response (Simpler North America, LLP) from a commercial vendor engaged in providing lean engineering services. Unfortunately, this vendor could not provide the academic partnerships and educational opportunities required by VERC. Due to the VERC's mandate to enhance educational experiences and foster educational opportunities for engineering students in the healthcare arena, it is doubtful this requirement can ever be opened up to full and open competition. 38 U.S.C. Section 8153 paves the way and thus encourages the use of academic affiliates when acquiring healthcare resources. The award will be posted to FBO and may generate additional academic sources. 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The costs are based on standard academic salaries and stipends for students which are set by the University, and these practices are in keeping with standards of practice in use at academic educational institutions. Sufficient cost data will be requested to support a determination of fair and reasonable pricing as well as copy of the current audited and negotiated indirect cost rate with the Department of Health and Human Services. (MIT will be required to certify the accuracy of the current cost data.) There is also the cost data submitted under the original award that will be used for comparison. Use of Salary Wizard and Bureau of Labor Statistics websites will be used to validate the salary data. Therefore a combination of market research, comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases, and comparison to an independent Government estimate under FAR 15-404-1 will be utilized to make a positive determination of fair and reasonable pricing. 8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: As shown on the initial FBO posting, lean engineering services are commercially available. However, the educational component of VERC's mandate precludes the use of a commercial vendor. To meet the mandate, use of an educational affiliate is required. 9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: Over the past 4 years, MIT has developed the educational courses and programs to train engineering students for careers in the healthcare field. They possess faculty that are recognized leaders in the lean engineering field and have published numerous papers in respected scientific journals. 10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: A commercial vendor, Simpler North America, LLP responded to the 2010 FBO posting. This acquisition is conducted under 38 U.S.C. 8153 and no pre-award FBO posting will be made. The award notice will be posted to FBO and may generate additional academic sources to be considered in the next procurement. 11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: We may solicit additional universities in the future as the work expands. This is one of the goals of the New England Veterans Engineering Resource Centers.