Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2017-11-14
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, DSG, Defence Support Group (DSG)
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 50116000: Repair and maintenance services of car parts | 50630000
Award criteria: Other

Technical requirements: The Authority intends to negotiate a 1 Year plus 1 Option Year single source contract with Navistar Defense UK Limited for the repair of the Husky Shock Absorbers (further information can be found in section 3 of this Notice).
This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the UK Ministry of Defence is to negotiate a single source Framework Agreement with the Navistar Defense UK Limited and this notice is published for reasons of transparency only.
Babcock DSG Ltd acting as the UK Ministry of Defence's agent intends to negotiate a single source contract with Navistar Defense UK Limited, the Design Authority and Original Equipment Manufacturer of the Husky (Navistar MXT) Protected Mobility Vehicle (the ‘Husky’), for the repair and overhaul of Shock Absorbers for the Husky, for which General Kinetics Engineering Corporation is the Design Authority and Original Equipment Manufacturer.
It is considered that this Contract can be placed using the Negotiated procedure without prior publication pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of the Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations 2011) for technical reasons.
General Kinetics (GK) is the OEM of the Active Suspension System, of which the Shock Absorber is part of, and GK developed the system specifically for the Husky.
All drawings, processes, repair techniques, testing specifications, build standards and test equipment for the repair and maintenance of the Shock Absorber were developed by GK, are proprietary to them and, except below, are not available to any other suppliers.
There are two levels of repair required by the UK Ministry of Defence involving inspection and pre-testing of shock absorbers and cables (as level 1) and, as required, major repairs (as level 2). Without access to detailed technical information held by GK (which includes knowledge of the critical fluid levels, pressures and the process to check and add to fluid levels if required, under the correct test methods, the MOD is not able to specify the exact technical requirements which would enable a third party supplier to repair the Shock Absorbers as fit for purpose in accordance with the original design specifications, and this could lead to inoperable vehicles.
The Shock Absorber forms part of the Active Suspension system on the Husky, and forms part of the safety critical operation of the Husky and is safety critical for the vehicle. The Shock Absorber is a critical component in the Husky active suspension system and needs to be repaired to the correct specification and tested and calibrated to ensure correct operating parameters. Should the suspension suffer a failure due to loss of fluid caused by incorrect pressure, the suspension will drop to rest position, with no clearance between the wheel/tyre and the bodywork, rendering the vehicle inoperative.
GK has stated that the only UK/EU agent that they have currently provided necessary training, required equipment and technical information to is Navistar UK. Navistar UK will contract with the UK Ministry of Defence and will provide a triage service, which includes identifying correct assets, diagnostic testing and shipping instruments which require a more detailed repair which can only be carried out by GK. GK has released limited technical information to Navistar UK to allow them to carry out this triage service. The contract between the UK Ministry of Defence and Navistar UK will contain an obligation on Navistar UK to ensure that any more detailed repair, beyond the triage service, must be carried out by GK as the nominated sub-contractor to Navistar.
The Authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security Aspects Letter), the Authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government Security Classification.
Advertising Regime OJEU: This contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk GO Reference: GO-20171110-DCB-11372755.


Winner: Navistar Defense UK Limited