Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

The Department of Defense, United States Air Force (USAF), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Force Test Center (AFTC), is currently conducting market research seeking capabilities statement from ... The Department of Defense, United States Air Force (USAF), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Force Test Center (AFTC), is currently conducting market research seeking capabilities statement from all potential sources, including small businesses (SB), 8(a), HUBZone, Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned (EDWOSB), Woman-Owned (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOSB) small businesses that are capable of providing the brand name or equal requirement described below: Brand name or equal to the Magritek Spinsolve 80 Benchtop NMR Spectrometer Must include all necessary parts and accessories to make it a turnkey system. Must be able to analyze proton, fluorine, and carbon nuclei (1H, 19F, and 13C, respectively). Must utilize a non-cryogenic magnet and must not require the use of compressed gases Must operate at a frequency of 80 MHz when examining 1H. Must be capable of variable acquisition times. Must have a proton (dual channel) signal/noise (S/N) ratio of greater than 200:1 for a 1% ethylbenzene in chloroform-d standard sample in a single scan/pulse, a 1H 50% linewidth of 0.5 Hz or less, and a 1H 0.55% linewidth of 20 Hz or less. Must be able to provide an automatic frequency lock. Must be able to shim automatically with an integrated field frequency lock to permit analysis with non-deuterated solvents. Must be able to shim unattended to maintain the optimum magnetic field during idle time such that it is always well-optimized in advance of the NMR being used. Must have system software that has the ability to run multiple experiments on the same sample without user interaction. Must have the following pulse sequences for 1H built into the software (requiring the end user to program the pulse sequence is unacceptable): 1D, 2D COSY, 2D TOCSY, 2D ROESY, 2D JRES, and T1 and T2 determinations. Must have the following pulse sequences for 13C built into the software (requiring the end user to program the pulse sequence is unacceptable): 1D, DEPT-45, DEPT-90, DEPT-135, HETCOR, APT, HMBC, HMQC, HSQC, and HSQC-ME. Must have the following pulse sequences for 19F built into the software (requiring the end user to program the pulse sequence is unacceptable): 1D, 2D F-COSY, 2D F-JRES, and 2D FH-COSY. Must have a stray magnetic field of 2 gauss or less. Must use conventional NMR tubes: glass tubes with an outer diameter of 5 mm. Must fit on a standard laboratory bench. Must be able to be transported by a standard laboratory cart and weigh equal to or less than 73 kg. Must be self-contained in a single unit containing both the magnet and spectrometer. Must utilize a separate (not built-in) CPU/processor and screen/display for reliability and to facilitate upgrades. Must not require the sample to spin in order to meet the aforementioned sensitivity, signal-to-noise, and other requirements. must include delivery, installation in person or remote assistance for installation, and initial calibration assistance and system specification verification, either included with the system purchase or as an available add-on option. Must include at least a one-year equipment warranty, either as an option or as a standard manufacturer warranty. Must include a permanent license for the instrument operating software. Must include a permanent license for Mestrelab MNova spectral processing software, either included with the system purchase or as an available add-on option. All interested vendors shall submit a response demonstrating their capability to provide these items to the Primary Point of Contact listed below. Proposals are not being requested or accepted at this time. As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation (Request for Proposal) exists at this time; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government’s discretion. The NAICS Code assigned to this acquisition is 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1000 employees. The PSC assigned is 6625. Respondents should indicate their size in relation to this size standard and indicate socio-economic status (i.e. SB, 8(a), HUBZone, EDWOSB, WOSB, or SDVOSB). Respondents are further requested to indicate their status as a Foreign-owned/Foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. No set-aside decision has been made. Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that small business prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the effort, as defined in FAR Clause 52.219-14. Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought is voluntary. This sources sought notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be individually notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government’s assessment of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small business, or any particular small business program. CAPABILITIES STATEMENT: All interested vendors shall submit a capabilities statement that explicitly demonstrates their capability to provide the requirement as stated in this notice to include delivery F.O.B Destination. The capabilities statement should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirement. The response must not exceed 4 pages. Responses may be submitted electronically to the following e-mail address: francisco.arredondo.4@us.af.mil. Correspondence sent via email shall contain a subject line that reads “FA2823-20-Q-9048 Benchtop NMR Spectrometer.” If this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through e-mail filters at Eglin AFB. Filters are designed to delete emails without a subject or with a suspicious subject or attachment. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xsls, or .xls documents are attached to your email. All other attachments may be deleted. The Government may or may not use any responses to this sources sought as a basis for a subsequent project/requirement. Any project/requirement developed from the sources sought responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be posted in Beta.SAM separately. Responses to this sources sought will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, or provide feedback to the respondents with respect to any of the information submitted under this sources sought. No requests for a bid package or solicitation will be accepted; a bid package or solicitation does not exist at this time. In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information will be provided and no appointments for presentations will be made in reference to this sources sought. Only government employees will review submitted responses to this sources sought. Respondents are advised that employees of commercial firms under contract with the Government may be used to administratively process submissions and perform other administrative duties requiring access to other contractor’s proprietary information. These administrative support contractors include nondisclosure agreements prohibiting their contractor employees from disclosing any information submitted by other contractors or using such information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished. RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 12:00 P.M. NOON (CST) ON October 23 2020. Direct all questions concerning this requirement to Francisco Arredondo at francisco.arredondo.4@us.af.mil.