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: EMTEC Federal, Chantilly, VA 20151. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. No solicitation document is available. 1) FAR Statutory Authority cited: FAR 13.106-b(1) (b) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, or industrial mobilization). 2) Nature and description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs: Laptop computer. 3) A demonstration that the proposed contractor is the only source available to provide these services or goods (i.e. unique qualifications, proprietary rights, etc.): The contractor identified in the provided quote is the only source from the CHESS site that offers this product. 4) A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted: CHESS has completed market research and competed the item and price in accordance with the best business practice. 5) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: Laptop history at PM-FPS: In June 2004, this office purchased 12 new laptop PCs to support our ICIDS road warriors (Site Mangers and Lead Project Officer spending up to 60% of duty in TDY status). Since the office was unable to identify a single solution to satisfy all users, two products were selected, and half were bought as Panasonic Toughbook laptops, and the other half were Dell Latitude laptops. The Panasonic Toughbooks were slightly higher in price, but had been touted as the ideal solution for the frequent traveler. Both had comparable performance specifications. Of the laptops purchased, there have been many performance issues and failures among the Dell laptop laptops, to include total video failure, multiple hard disk failures, keyboard failures, and case breakage. Most are now inoperable and have been turned in. Among the Panasonic Toughbook laptops, there have been two failures. The first failure occurred in the first three months of operation (one line of pixels failed on video display). This was deemed an infant mortality issue by the manufacturer and immediately resolved. The other failure was a degradation of hard disk performance after more than four years of extensive use and travel. The hard disk was replaced before any catastrophic loss of data, in part due to the early warning of pending disk errors. All of the Toughbook laptops purchased are still providing reliable service, after 5 years of extensive use and travel. In 2007 an additional 18 new Dell Latitude laptops were purchased for PM-FPS. This time, the buy was for a Dell's ruggedized Latitude ATG laptop. Of these laptops purchased, almost 90% have failed, requiring service with several having catastrophic hard drive failures with little-to-no warning of an impending failure, and subsequent loss of critical program data. Our personnel have to brief our customers at the O-6 or equivalent and beyond at the customer site. Often, there are last minute changes to the briefings based on findings at the site after we arrive and discover new issues. Showing up with inoperable equipment is not only professionally embarrassing, it is unproductive and makes this office appear unprofessional. Time lost having a laptop sent out for repair, and subsequent data accessibility issues waste Government resources and impacts our ability to perform. This office needs to equip our personnel with reliable tools they need to perform efficiently. Loss of productivity and loss of critical data, and the intangible losses associated with down-time more than outweighs the difference in price. Based on the experience we have had in this office with both Dell and Panasonic laptops, the Panasonic Toughbook has overwhelmingly provided the highest reliability and best value to this office. 6) 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: 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 8:00 a.m. on March 19, 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
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