SOLICITATION NOTICE
J -- Ground Multi-Band Terminal (GMT) Depot Support
- Notice Date
- 5/11/2012
- Notice Type
- Fair Opportunity / Limited Sources Justification
- NAICS
- 811213
— Communication Equipment Repair and Maintenance
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Space Command, SMC - Space and Missile Systems Center, 483 North Aviation Blvd, El Segundo, California, 90245-2808
- ZIP Code
- 90245-2808
- Point of Contact
- Kimberly S. McGough, Phone: 7195562919, James D. Swartz, Phone: 7195560612
- E-Mail Address
-
kimberly.mcgough@us.af.mil, james.swartz@us.af.mil
(kimberly.mcgough@us.af.mil, james.swartz@us.af.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- FA8771-04-D-0007
- Award Date
- 4/30/2012
- Description
- JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY, CONTRACTING ACTIVITY, AND JUSTIFICATION A. Agency: Department of the Air Force, Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), MILSATCOM Systems Directorate, Logistics and Operations Support Division (SMC/MCL) B. Contracting Activity: SMC/PKL, Peterson AFB, CO C. Justification Type: Logical Follow-on to an Order Issued Under the NETCENTS Contract D. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Department of the Air Force NETCENTS (Network-Centric Solutions) contract IAW FAR 16.505. II. NATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED The Government intends to solicit through a Fair Opportunity Exception (FOE) justification and award a three-month bridge task order for Ground Multi-band Terminal (GMT) Depot Support to General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) under the NETCENTS (Network-Centric Solutions) contract IAW FAR 16.505. This requirement is for a standalone NETCENTStask order to serve as a three-month bridge from 01 May 2012 through 31 July 2012. This order will support the Air Force's immediate need to bridge a gap in service from the end of the current GMT depot contract, which expires 30 April 2012, and a competitive award of the follow-on contract. The most recent previous competitive order was Task Order 0087 with GDIT under their NETCENTS contract FA8771-04-D-0007, which expirse on 30 April 2012. III. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES TO MEET THE AGENCY'S NEEDS Description The GMT program provides wideband communication services using existing Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) satellites, the new Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellites, and commercial satellites. GMT is interoperable with legacy Super High Frequency (SHF) terminals, replaces the aging Ground Mobile Forces (GMF) satellite terminals, and is designed to be upgradable to incorporate new technologies and capabilities in the future. The GMT program consists of 133 terminals and associated antennas, 20 Large Aperture Multiband Deployable Antennas (LAMDA) fielded as part of the initial GMT package and 113 Quad-band Large Aperture Antennas (QLAA) being fielded as part of a GMT improvement package. The GMT depot facility was originally established in Needham, MA under Theater Deployable Communications (TDC) for assorted tactical communications systems. The GMT depot was detached from TDCand moved to Colorado Springs, CO as a stand-alone program. The depot operation is basically a stock, store, and issue operation with a moderate level of subject matter expertise required for field support. The contract consists of GMT hardware and software maintenance, secure depot warehousing and logistics to include shipping, receiving, inventory, storage, control, and common fault isolation techniques. Currently GDIT provides GMT sustainment support to eight (8) Major Commands and over fifty (50) organizational units through task order 0087 awarded as a centralized task order under NECTCENTS Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract FA8771-04-D-0007 on 11 June 2010 by the HQ 754th Electronic Systems Group (ELSG/ES) under AFMC at Gunter Annex, Maxwell Air Force Base. Estimated Value of Three-Month Bridge The total estimated value of the three-month bridge contract action is $650K. The value is comprised of facility (facility labor), materials sustainment (direct labor), and Other Direct Costs (ODC) for Materials. IV. FAIR OPPORTUNITY EXCEPTION AND SUPPORTING RATIONALE - INCLUDING DEMONSTRATION OF PROPOSED CONTRACTOR'S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS Fair Opportunity Exception (FOE) The applicable Fair Opportunity Exception (FOE) authority is FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) - The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order. This is the first time this exception has been used for the GMT Program under NETCENTS. Logical Follow-on Supporting Rationale - Including Unique Qualifications GDIT, the proposed contractor, is currently performing all required GMT depot support services necessary to continue to meet mission critical requirements at the current Colorado Springs warehouse site. GDIT has the requisite GMT system knowledge necessary to isolate repair requests and to provide help center functions. GDIT has an active lease in place for the fully operational secure depot facility in Colorado Springs. GDITactively maintains the facility withqualified personnel, in conformance with the contract requirements and the associated DD-254 security requirements. GDIT has a provenpast performance record that attests to the company's knowledge of, and experience with, GMT Line Replaceable Units (LRUs). GDIT currently provides the full range of sustainment support for GMT hardware and software maintenance, secure depot warehousing and logistics (including shipping, receiving, and inventory storage/maintenance/control), and common fault isolation techniques required to assist the GMT community in the sustainment of the GMT Satellite Communications (SATCOM) terminals, the Large Aperture Multi-band Deployable Antennas (LAMDA), and the Quad-band Large Aperture Antennas (QLAA). GDIThas extensive experience coordinating with the MILSATCOM operating field unit, the GMT original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and component vendors. GDIT actively manages all necessary actions, tools, spare parts, labor, materials, technical data, facilities, packaging, and transportation to accomplish the repair and delivery of serviceable GMT asset(s) to the Government. GDIT has a successful record in the area of GMT software sustainment, and the company is adept at investigating and resolving problem reports and using technical data and program documentation to assist or provide the MILSATCOMoperating field unit with applicable software imaging disks. While other contractors may be capable of performing the GMT Depot Support in the long-term, in the required near term three-month bridge period, it is not expected that another company would be able to successfully ramp up and assume/perform all of the required sustainment support services currently managed by GDIT at the current Colorado Springs warehouse site. Any prospective company other than GDIT would be required to obtain a secured warehouse of approximately 3,000 sq ft for parts inventory (including a secured cryptocontrolled area) within the city limits of Colorado Springs, Colorado for three-months and then staff it for that time period withqualified/experienced personnel with a Secret security clearance. To maintain the current level of service, the personnel would also be required to have sufficient GMT equipment knowledge to immediately provide help desk services and fault isolation guidance to the MILSATCOMoperational community. The prospective company would also need to ensure a transparent transition with sufficient administrative processes, databases, and know-how to process immediate and ongoing GMT purchases/replacements/repairs for CONUS, OCONUS, and CCI controlled requests. The current level of depot sustainment would need to maintained, and the prospective company would be required to seamlessly assume the responsibility to package, handle, store, and transport GMT repair materials at the current levels of service. The prospective contractor would also need to immediately and seamlessly implement an expenditures tracking and approval system capable of identifying all charges submitted to the Government. The contractor would be required to concurrently implement a logistics and trending analysis reporting system as well as an Incident Reports processing/tracking system comparable to that in place and managed by GDIT. Thus based on the need to successfully assume and fulfill the above requirements in order to maintain transparent operations for the GMT Depot Support in the short-term period of three months, it is very unlikely that another company would be able to accomplish the requirement in the short timeframe while also mitigating the impact of personnel turnover and implementing a fully successful transition. The costs to the prospective competitive contractor would likely be prohibitive. Establishing a new depot capability would require moving the inventory at a significant cost, establishing a new facility lease, and would likely include administrative delays in establishing a new labor force of security-cleared personnel. These additional costs are costs that would not be borne by the current incumbent contractor, GDIT. The prospective competitive contractor is also not guaranteed that they will be awarded the new task after the proposed bridge expires on 31 July 2012. Given these factors and considering the extremely short time before the depot ceases operation on 30 April 2012, the most expedient means for the Government to maintain operational support is to establish a short-term bridge contract with the current contractor, GDIT. Relationship Between the Current Task Order and Three-Month Bridge in Terms of Scope, Period of Performance, and Value The scope of the three-month bridge follow-on is identical to the scope of the current task order (0087) being performed by GDIT, and GDIT will be expected to perform the identical tasks and services as those currently being performed. As noted above, the required three-month period of performance is necessary to bridge a gap in service from the end of the current GMT contract, which expires 30 April 2012, and the competitive award of the follow-on contract. The estimated value for the three-month bridge is based on the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) developed by the GMT Program Office. This is the amount that will have to be duplicated by another contractor to accomplish the required GMT work for the Government. If there are any differences in the value proposed by GDITfor the three-month bridge, they are expected to be slight and attributable to rate differences, transportation/shipping costs increases due to fuel cost increases, and/or changes in lease costs. V. CONTRACTING OFFICER DETERMINATION THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE The current GMT NETCENTS task order (0087) and the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) created by the GMT Program Office will serve as the basis for determining that the anticipated cost will be fair and reasonable. By placing an the three-month bridge order against the GDIT NETCENTS contract, the ordering activity has concluded that the order represents the best value and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government's needs. VI. OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION FOR A FAIR OPPORTUNITY EXCEPTION The Ground Multi-band Terminal (GMT) depot operations contract expires 30 April 2012. A follow-on GMT sustainmentsupport depot contract cannot be established in time to continue depot operations and provide GMT mission support. If the three-month bridge cannot be established, the GMT sustainment support that GDIT currently provides to the eight (8) Major Commands and over fifty (50) organizational units will end, and approximately $6.5M of inventory will be displaced without a storage facility. There is no other alternative available to provide the required GMT sustainment support. VII. STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS TAKEN TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE MAKING SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITIONS FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES A follow-on GMT sustainment support depot NETCENTStask order is planned for award by 31 July 2012, with an effective date of 01 August 2012. This order will be competed amongst the eight (8) NETCENTS multiple award contract holders IAW the NETCENTS Ordering Guide and the Fair Opportunity procedures under FAR 16.505. There are two small businesses with contracts under the NETCENTS multiple award contract vehicle. Based on communications between the SMC/PKL Contracting Officer and the two (2) small businesses under NETCENTS, only one of the two Small Businesses indicated they would propose under the competitive follow-on effort. Based on these findings, the SMC/PKL Contracting Officer determined that the follow-on task order will not be conducted as a Small Business set-aside, and a DD2579 documenting this determination was approved and is on file. A Notice of Contract Action (NOCA) was also sent to the seven remaining NETCENTScontract holders on 06 April 2012 with a response date of 12:00 noon on 11 April 2012. The NOCAprovided notification of the Government's intent to issue the GMT three-month bridge NETCENTS order to GDIT, and it also provided notification that the GMT depot follow-on effort after the bridge would be conducted as a Fair Opportunity competition amongst all eight NETCENTScontract holders. No objections to the three-month bridge announced under the NOCA were received from any of the seven remaining NETCENTS contract holders. VIII. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S CERTIFICATION The Contracting Officer's signature on the Coordination and Approval Document of this logical follow-on Fair Opportunity Exception (FOE) justification evidences that the Contracting Officer has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief and serves as the Contracting Officer's Certification of this FOE justification. IX. TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL CERTIFICATIONS The signatures of the GMT Program Office on the Coordination and Approval Document of this logical follow-on Fair Opportunity Exception (FOE) justification are evidence that the GMT Program Office's personnel have determined this document - and the supporting data and information relied on to create the document - are both accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief. The signatures are also evidence that the GMT Program Office has verified that the data and information which form the basis for this justification reflect the Government's minimum needs and requirements and support the rationale for the logical follow-on fair opportunity exception. Based on the foregoing, the GMT Program Office's signatures serve as their official certification of this logical follow-on Fair Opportunity Exception justification.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/473bf599a890b822bd62ea69876decf7)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Peterson, AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80914, United States
- Zip Code: 80914
- Record
- SN02746021-W 20120513/120511235400-473bf599a890b822bd62ea69876decf7 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |