Introduction: Pursuant to FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b)(1), the U.S. Army RDECOM Contracting Center, Natick Contracting Division, on behalf of the US Army Combat Feeding Directorate (CF), intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order on a sole source basis to: E-CONTROL SYSTEMS INC., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE. INQUIRIES WILL BE USED FOR FUTURE ACQUISITIONS ONLY. 1. Nature and description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs: The procurement request is for equipment items that monitor temperature, door openings, closings, and diagnose compressor run-times and food service equipment health status. After conducting market research only E-Controls has these items that can operate on a secure network within the military environment. It is imperative for equipment integration to be able to be CAC Card and VPN enabled and have all these items that can work with each other without major security violations or configuration changes that would be more costly. The Combat Feeding Directorate (CFD) worked with NSRDEC IMD to ensure this system meets their network requirement, which it does. The E-Control system has been certified by the Navy Safety and Security Center to meet Hazardous Electronic Radiance to Ordinance (HERO) certification. CFD/SEET has been working this Navy R&D project for over a year with EControl and has the system in place here, the Submarine Base, New London, CT and at Cape Canaveral, FL. The items ordered will be installed by the Systems Equipment & Engineering Team on all refrigeration assets and one dishwasher here at CFD. E-Control is the only responsible source for this procurement request based on the unique naval environment, network security for both the Army and Navy requirements. To meet a research, engineering and development project requirement for testing and evaluation due to the Navy requesting the CFD/SEET perform reliability testing on all food service equipment assets the Navy procures. The Navy currently doesn't have this capability. Lack of these capabilities has resulted in numerous products being disposed of due to equipment failures. If testing and evaluation prove it's a valuable resource for the Navy the SEET will forward a test report and make recommendations for inclusion in the logistics procurement catalog. 2. A demonstration that the proposed contractor is the only source available to provide these services or goods (i.e. unique qualifications, proprietary rights, etc.): E-Control has extensive knowledge and technology in temperature monitoring for all foodservice equipment items, and refrigeration diagnostics for refrigerated units as well as insuring that HACCP regulatory specifications are met. The E-Control has the lowest and safest frequency output in the industry that will not interfere with Navy ammunition or weapons. The system meets all Navy requirements for shipboard use. Prior to E-Control another vendor was explored whose system was unsecure and very costly. The Systems Equipment and Engineering Team evaluated multiple vendors' systems prior to down selection of the E-Control system. 3. A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted: A market research was performed and currently E-Control is the only manufacturer that can monitor temperature, door open/closed and compressor run-time within a secure network environment. The Natick IMD Directorate has approved the use of E-Control Hardware and Software for this test and evaluation. 4. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: As part of the SEET's testing & evaluation process and mission to provide the military services with the most economically feasible and reliable food service equipment this procurement is submitted so testing and evaluation can be accomplished and recommendations forwarded to the Navy. 5. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required: The E-Control Software and Licenses are already in place at CFD, the system has passed all security and HERO certifications. To try and go with another vendor would be very costly due to not only having to procure their software and licenses, but the cost associated with certifying the new software, hardware and the system to meet all security and HERO requirements. The risk associated with procurement from another vendor is to high and not cost effective. The Navy has requested that the SEET test and evaluate temperature monitoring diagnostic detection of equipment assets to save countless dollars in wasted provisions, time and labor due to failure of these assets. 6. 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:
[email protected] no later than 5:00 PM (EST) on March 26, 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: Steven Streeter, Contract Specialist (508) 233-6180
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