Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

The National Institute on Drug Abuse – Intramural Research Branch (NIDA-IRP) Neuroimaging Research Branch (NRB) is seeking Capability Statements from Small Business organizations under the North Ameri... The National Institute on Drug Abuse – Intramural Research Branch (NIDA-IRP) Neuroimaging Research Branch (NRB) is seeking Capability Statements from Small Business organizations under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 811210, that are authorized Bruker engineers who have access to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) updates and upgrades and the demonstrated capability of providing maintenance and repair services for the Bruker Biospin 9.4T MRI scanner. This is a Sources Sought Notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified business sources; (2) the availability of capable Small Businesses; HUBZone Small Businesses; Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses; 8(a) Small Businesses; Veteran-Owned Small Businesses; Woman-Owned Small Businesses; or Small Disadvantaged Businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. The established NAICS code is 811210, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. The U.S. Small Business Administration establishes a size standard for 811210 as $34,000,000 in revenue or less. BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND OBJECTIVE: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation’s leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives. The Intramural Research Program (IRP) of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is located on the campus of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC) in Baltimore, Maryland. The goal of the Neuroimaging Research Branch (NRB) of the NIDA IRP is to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms of drug addiction, the neural consequences of short and long-term drug use and the potential reversibility of these neuroadaptations. The major paradigm employed toward this goal is the development and application of novel neuroimaging tools, predominantly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging studies in preclinical models of addiction is an important component of the program. NIDA IRP requires a renewal to the preventative maintenance and service agreement for their Bruker Biospin 9.4T MRI scanner. NIDA requires a service agreement for a 12-month Base Period plus four (4) additional 12-month option periods. Without this contract in place, repair costs are extremely high and instrument downtime is much longer causing significant decrease in scientific productivity PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: The Contractor shall provide preventative maintenance and service agreement coverage during each 12-month period including one (1) preventative maintenance (PM) visit, all available software updates, and unlimited on-site hardware troubleshooting and repair with standard response time including parts for the repair for the Bruker Biospin 9.4T MRI scanner described in the General Requirements section, and to include at minimum the following: Maintenance and repair of the cryocooler, which includes: Monitoring the cryogen levels Refill the cryostat with liquid helium at intervals defined by the manufacturer’s recommendation Supply and refill cryogen as needed or requested Maintain customer transfer lines, cold head, secondary water-cooling system 2. Maintenance and repair services for all other parts of the equipment, which includes the following: The contractor must have either an adequate supply of parts in stock and readily available to the service technicians or be able to obtain any required part within 24 hours of the service technician assessment The service technicians shall be factory certified All service is to be warranted for at least 6 months and any replacement part must have at least a 12-month warranty Contractor shall have access to proprietary parts and test instrumentation for effective repair in case of malfunction. Technical performance requirements include system coverage on the subject equipment by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) factory-trained, authorized technicians and providers of any required parts and software or proprietary diagnostic software and software enhancements must be OEM certified (new or like-new) and compatible with the subject equipment. Contractor shall be required to provide written progress reports in achieving this statement of work during the period of performance. The original documentation shall be provided by the vendor to show they completed service on the instrument and should document technical progress with the POC. Service shall include labor and parts coverage, extended coverage hours, on-site labor response, technical telephone response (call-back to schedule), and planned maintenance, extended planned maintenance coverage hours, diagnostics software license and service documentation, customer engineer training, and preferred labor rate. INSTRUCTIONS: Capability statement /information sought. Companies that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required product/service should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Capability statements must also include the Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. Interested companies are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number. The established NAICS code is 811210. Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the products and support services specified in this notice. Also, information must be provided in sufficient details of the respondents’ (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, formal and other training; (b) capability to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) compliance with requirements: Vendors must identify and demonstrate specifically how they will meet the requirements listed above. Any other specific and relevant information about this particular area of procurement that would improve our consideration and evaluation of the information presented is desirable. Documentation may include, but not be limited to, contracts both Government and commercial the organization performed, references, i.e., names, titles, telephone numbers and any other information serving to document the organizations capability, e.g., awards, commendations, etc. The information submitted must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. Any business concerns that believe they possess the capability necessary to successfully undertake the work described above must SUBMIT CAPABILITY STATEMENTS ELECTRONICALLY to the Contract Specialist, Rob Bailey at Rob.Bailey@nih.gov, NO LATER THAN 1:00 p.m. EST on November 14, 2023. The Subject line for the submission should include this Sources Sought Number and organization name. NIDA will not accept paper or faxed capability statements. THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any contractual agreement. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published on SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. CONFIDENTIALITY. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).