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SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE Document Type: Sources Sought Notice Notice Number: NIST-MML-20-SS12 Title: Manufacture of Low Alloy Steel and High-Purity Iron for Reference Material Development Response Date: ... SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE Document Type: Sources Sought Notice Notice Number: NIST-MML-20-SS12 Title: Manufacture of Low Alloy Steel and High-Purity Iron for Reference Material Development Response Date: Feb 19th, 2020 NAICS Code: 331110 Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing Contracting Office Address National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-1640 Sources Sought Notice NIST-MML-20-SS12 Project Title: Manufacture of Low Alloy Steel and High-Purity Iron for Reference Material Development This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. Requirement: NIST is seeking information on contractors who can provide the following: The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) requires low alloy steel and high-purity iron in rod form suitable for development into certified reference materials for elemental analysis. NIST plans to slice the rods into disks suitable for use in calibration or validation of test methods used on solid samples in the steel industry. NIST has a need for low alloy steel and high-purity iron that would meet the following criteria: Production Size and Unit Dimensions: The goal is to produce two different materials – one low alloy steel composition and one high-purity iron composition. Each material will consist of a set of at least 30 rods each having a diameter of 3.5 centimeters and lengths of 3.5 meters to 5.0 meters. The production run of each material will provide enough for NIST to saw the rods into at least 5000 disks each 2.0 centimeters thick. The total produced weight of each material will be at least 750 kilograms (1700 lbs), preferably in a single batch. Elemental Compositions: Low Alloy Steel – The low alloy steel material should be similar in elemental composition to SRM 1766 Low Alloy Steel (disk form). The certificate of analysis for SRM 1766 is attached and may be downloaded from https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1766. By similar in composition, it is meant that the material must contain all elements in the certificate of analysis at mass fractions within a factor of two (2) lower than and a factor of two (2) higher than the listed mass fractions. For example, SRM 1766 contains carbon at 0.015 %. Therefore, the acceptable amount of carbon in a manufactured replacement material would be in the range of 0.0075 % to 0.030 %. Where the listed mass fraction of an element is given in the certificate as a ‘less than’ value (e.g. <0.0001 % Mg in SRM 1766), drop the ‘<’ and target the remaining value, in this case 0.0001 % Mg. If the target mass fraction is < 0.002 %, any produced value < 0.002 % is satisfactory. Where the listed element is an element that is not allowed to be handled in the foundry, the natural tramp amount of the element found in the manufactured material will be acceptable. The respondent should provide a list of such elements. High-Purity Iron – The high-purity iron material should be similar in elemental composition to SRM 1768 High-Purity Iron (disk form). The certificate of analysis for SRM 1768 is attached and may be downloaded from https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1768. By similar in composition, it is meant that the material must contain all elements in the certificate of analysis at mass fractions less than or equal to 0.003 %. There is no target mass fraction for oxygen; whatever is present in the produced material will be accepted. Where the listed element is an element that is not allowed to be handled in the foundry, the natural tramp amount of the element found in the produced material will be acceptable. The respondent should provide a list of such elements. Homogeneity of Compositions: The sought materials are intended for development into NIST SRMs. Therefore, homogeneity throughout the production run is of high priority. The first goal with homogeneity is to produce material having no statistically significant composition trends over the population of bars or within any individual bars. The second goal is to have all elements give repeatability standard deviations ? 10 %, at which level they can be quantified. It is recognized that the manufacturer and NIST may need to work together to optimize the homogeneity of a produced batch. That effort is expected to require sampling throughout the batch for testing using spark optical emission spectrometry and/or X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. There is the potential for rework of material composition to attempt to improve homogeneity. If the manufacturer has test capabilities, they should make note of them in their response. If necessary, NIST is willing to subdivide the produced lot into two sublots to meet homogeneity requirements. Packaging: The produced rods shall be numbered at the foundry. It is important that the number be marked on or into the rod ends in such a manner as to be preserved during shipping and subsequent handling. If possible, the order of numbering should match the rod production order. The rods shall be packaged for shipment in wooden crates or boxes such that each box contains six to eight rods. NIST storage facilities are set up for long term storage of alloy rods in boxes having inside dimensions of 6 inches (15.2 cm) wide and 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) deep and overall length up to 15 feet (4.6 m). Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the service described above. NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the first quarter of FY2020 and awarding a contract no later than the second quarter of FY2020. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 331110, is 1500 employees or fewer. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice in any response to this notice. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to erik.frycklund@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: Name, Address, DUNS number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company. Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable. Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the services described in this notice. A description of your company’s previous experience providing the services described in this notice. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research. Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.