Just Won my First Contract! But nervous about traceability...

Jul 24 • Help

Hi everyone! I just got awarded my first DLA contract, and while I’m excited, I also have nervous butterflies about my traceability. I could really use some guidance.

The award is for NSN 4510-00-757-4095, and the approved source is listed as "CR/PL LLC 77378 P/N 354020" with description "STEM ASSY, FAUCET".

When I was sourcing quotes, everything pointed toward Crane Plumbing as the manufacturer for this part. I thought CR/PL LLC was a subsidiary of Crane Plumbing. I’m confident this is a Crane Plumbing part, but I'm not sure what CR/PL LLC is and don't think I'll be able to get traceability back to them.

The contracting officer didn’t ask me for any traceability documentation prior to award, and now I’m worried I may not be able to get bulletproof documentation linking the part to the approved source (CR/PL LLC). I'm getting the part through a dealer, but I suspect they sourced it from Crane (I hope), not CR/PL LLC.

My questions:

Is it ever acceptable to fulfill a contract with the exact part, but from a non-approved source? I.e., does my source matter so long as I can prove that this is a legit Crane Plumbing part?

Should I reach out to the contracting officer now to proactively disclose the situation, or would that create unnecessary risk?
Any tips for how I can best avoid this situation in the future? I've generally been focusing more on finding the part and not worrying as much about the source.

Any insight from those who’ve been through this would be greatly appreciated! I want to do this right and avoid messing up my first opportunity.

Thanks in advance!

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