83--Intent to award a contract to Camel Manufacturing Company.

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 STEFD, intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order on a sole source basis to: Camel Manufacturing Company, 176 Luther Seibers Ln, Pioneer, TN 37847. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE. RESPONSES WILL BE USED FOR FUTURE ACQUISITIONS ONLY. 1. Nature and description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs: The Army Medical Materiel Development Activity has requested testing of a new tent insulation technology for their newly adopted airbeam TEMPER shelter. This insulation will provide energy savings in a lightweight, low cube package for Combat Support Hospital applications. A new insulated liner for the TEMPER airbeam shelter has just been designed, patterned and fabricated by Camel Manufacturing, Inc. that incorporates a new fire resistant 3M Thinsulate textile, made from U.S. manufactured materials. This liner provides the necessary thermal resistance in a compact, flame retardant package suitable for this shelter. 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.): This particular 3M Thinsulate configuration of interest is currently only available from Camel Manufacturing, Inc. To date, Camel Manufacturing is the only company that has built this liner using 3M Thinsulate insulation and has the patterns and materials on-hand in order to meet the required time frame for testing. 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: Market investigations on available shelter insulation materials have been continuous since FY2010 with this material currently being the top candidate meeting all performance requirements. Some modifications of the fibers have just been completed to achieve flame resistance and U.S. manufacture. 4. 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 10:00am (EST) on August 29th, 2011. Contracting Office Address: Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground Natick Contracting Division Kansas Street, Building 1 Natick, MA 01760-5011 Point of Contact: Jeffrey Bernard, Contract Specialist (508)-233-6105 [email protected]