Inactive

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional informa... (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) The solicitation number is 75N95024Q00439 and the solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the FAR part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and is not expected to exceed the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT). A fixed-price type of purchase order is contemplated for this requirement. (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2024-05, dated April 22, 2024. (iv) The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 811210 - Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance, and the small business size standard is $34M. This requirement shall be solicited using full and open competitive procedures. (v) DESCRIPTION The Government requires the following brand name or equal services: Instrument: Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System Serial Number: 200825339 Service Plan: Platinum Preventative Maintenance and Service Contract (vi) Please refer to Attachment 1 – Statement of Work for details and information describing the brand name or equal salient characteristics and requirements. (vii) The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated period of performance to be twelve (12) months for the Base Period, with three (3) Option Periods of twelve (12) months : Base Period: August 8, 2024 – August 7, 2024 Option Period 1: August 8, 2025 – August 7, 2025 Option Period 2: August 8, 2026 – August 7, 2026 Option Period 3: August 8, 2027 – August 7, 2027 Option Period 4: August 8, 2028 – August 7, 2028 The place of performance shall be 49 Convent Drive, Building 49, Room B1A51, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. (viii) The provision at FAR Clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (SEP 2023) is applicable and incorporated by reference into this solicitation. (ix) The provision at FAR Clause 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2021) is applicable and incorporated by reference into this solicitation. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. Each quote will be evaluated in strict conformity with the evaluation factors, utilizing quantitative scores and written critiques. The evaluation will be based upon the demonstrated capabilities of the prospective Contractor in relation to the needs of the project as set forth in the solicitation. The quote will also be evaluated taking into consideration any price reductions for the requirement being ordered. A price reasonableness determination will be made and a best value analysis will be performed. The best value analysis will take into consideration the results of the technical evaluation, price evaluation, and the ability to complete the work within the Government's required schedule. The analysis will document that the award represents the best value to the Government (considering technical evaluation factors, past performance, and price) to meet the Government’s needs. The Government reserves the right to issue an order to the best advantage of the Government, technical merit, price, and other factors considered. All aspects of a quote are subject to discussion, including price, technical approach and terms and conditions. At the completion of discussions, the Contractor will ensure the technical and price quote reflects the mutual understandings of the requirement and if requested, submit a revised technical and price quote to the Contracting Officer. The Government may request clarifying information from the Contractor, as it relates to its quote. If an award will be made without conducting discussions, Contractors may be given the opportunity to clarify certain aspects of their quote (e.g., the relevance of the contract, the Contractor's past performance information, and adverse past performance information to which the Contractor has not previously had an opportunity to respond) or to resolve minor or clerical errors. Discussions will not be held with any Offeror determined to be technically unacceptable. The Government reserves the right to make a single award, multiple awards, or no award at all as a result of the solicitation. In addition, the solicitation may be amended or canceled as necessary to meet the Government’s requirements. A tradeoff process shall be used for this acquisition because it has been determined to be in the best interest of the Government to consider award to other than the lowest priced Offeror or other than the highest technically rated offeror. All evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are more important than cost or price. For this acquisition, the following considerations will be part of the trade-off process: Technical Evaluation Factors including Past Performance, and Price. The evaluation factors are used by the technical evaluation committee when reviewing the technical quotes. The factors below are listed in order of its relative importance for evaluation purposes. 1. Technical Capability and Functionality NIMH shall evaluate the offeror’s technical approach for overall capability and functionality in relation to the General Requirement, Salient Characteristics, Quantity and Deliverables as described in the Statement of Work.. In addition, the offeror will be evaluated to determine if they are an authorized provider of maintenance for the Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System. 2. Contract Management and Customer Support NIMH shall evaluate the offeror’s ability to provide a high level of customer service, particularly in the area of initial responsiveness and resolution of device and service problems. Specifically, the Government will evaluate the Offeror’s capability based on its description of any applicable warranty, customer support process. 3. Speed of Service NIMH shall evaluate the offeror’s technical approach for completeness, feasibility, soundness and practicality of the proposed approach and work plan for accomplishing the requirements of the Statement of Work. PAST PERFORMANCE The Offeror should provide past performance information. Past performance information should cover a minimum of 1 year in relevant and recent services and deliveries of comparable systems. "Relevant" means active or completed contracts that required offeror to evaluate, maintain and repair the Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System. "Recent" means active contracts or contracts completed within five years from the issuance date of the NIDA solicitation. The Offeror shall provide at least one reference for any project identified under the experience factor that has a performance period within the past three years. For each reference, the offeror shall provide: (1) Organization/contracting partner's name; (2) Point of contact's (POC) name and contact information: Current phone numbers. Valid email addresses; (3) Desc ription that precisely explains: General scope of the contract. Specific requirements of the contract. Offerors will be evaluated based on information obtained from references provided by the offeror, other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the Government, and any information supplied by the offeror concerning problems encountered on the identified contracts and corrective action taken. Furthermore, the Government will assess the relative risks associated with each offeror. Performance risks are those associated with an offeror's likelihood of success in performing the acquisition requirements as indicated by that offeror's record of past performance. The assessment of performance risk is not intended to be the product of a mechanical or mathematical analysis of an offeror's performance on a list of contracts but rather the product of subjective judgment by the Government after it considers all available and relevant information. EVALUATION OF OPTIONS It is anticipated that any contract awarded from this solicitation will contain option periods. In accordance with FAR Clause 52.217-5, Evaluation of Options, (July 1990), the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement, except when it is determined in accordance with FAR 17.206(b) not to be in the Government's best interests. Evaluation of option periods will not obligate the Government to exercise the options. An evaluation of this factor will only be conducted on offerors and quotes who have been determined to be technically acceptable. PRICE EVALUATION Offerors price quote will be evaluated for reasonableness. For a price to be reasonable, it must represent a price to the government that a prudent person would pay when consideration is given to prices in the market. Normally, price reasonableness is established through adequate price competition, but may also be determined through cost and price analysis techniques. Price evaluation will not be conducted on any Offeror determined to be technically unacceptable.. (x) The provision at FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Products and Commercial Services (MAY 2024), is applicable and incorporated by reference into this solicitation. (xi) The provision at FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2023), applies to this acquisition. See Attachment 2. (xii) The provision of FAR Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Products and Commercial Services (MAY 2024), applies to this acquisition. See Attachment 3. (xiii) There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. (xiv) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) is not applicable to this requirement. (xv) Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the Offeror’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the government requirements stated in this solicitation. Basic cost and price information in the Offeror’s proposal must contain sufficient information to allow the Government to perform a basic analysis of the reasonableness of the Offeror to supply the required goods/services. Any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision may include such factors as: past performance; special features required for effective service coverage; trade-in considerations; warranty considerations; maintenance and service coverage availability; serial, product or catalog number(s); product description; delivery terms, and prompt payment discount terms. The Contractor shall submit its quote electronically. Offerors MUST verify the valid certifications, registrations, and Representation and Certifications from the System of Award Management (SAM) applications at www.SAM.gov, which may be indicated on the Offeror’s cover sheet. In addition the vendor Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All Offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must be received no later than July 30, 2024, 4:00 PM EST. Late responses may not be accepted. All responses must reference solicitation number 75N95024Q00439. Responses must be submitted electronically to rob.bailey@nih.gov. For information regarding this solicitation, please contact Rob Bailey by email at rob.bailey@nih.gov or by phone at 301-451-7586. (xvi) DATE QUESTIONS DUE: Questions and requests for clarification must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist, Rob Bailey, at rob.bailey@nih.gov on or before 4:00 PM EST, July 26, 2024. Fax responses will NOT be accepted. ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1 - Statement of Work (SOW) Attachment 2 - FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2023) Attachment 3 - FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Products and Commercial Services (MAY 2024) Attachment 4 – Invoice and Payment Instructions

Inactive

The Government is seeking Capability Statements on behalf of The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from organizations under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 8112... The Government is seeking Capability Statements on behalf of The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from organizations under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 811210, that are authorized Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System maintenance and service technicians who have access to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) updates and upgrades and the demonstrated capability of providing maintenance and repair services for Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System. 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; and (2) 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, Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance. 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 make medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Laboratory of Neuropsychology (LN) and Laboratory of Brain and Cognition (LBC) investigators perform experiments in which they need to collect light microscope images of very large amounts of sectioned material. This is frequently of entire brains from marmosets and macaques. The material is cut into sections that may be 20-40 microns thick and mounted onto slides. Depending on the species, the section thickness, and whether all sections or a sampling are used, a brain may create several hundred sections. It may be necessary to image them in either brightfield or fluorescence. Depending on details of the experimental information required, it may be appropriate to image at relatively low magnification (2.5-5X), medium (10-20X), or high (40X) magnification, or to initially image at low magnification and subsequently image selected regions of interest at higher magnification. It may be appropriate to collect images from a single focal plane or to collect images from multiple focal planes at each position. With the large volume of brain specimens being processed, the microscope system requires prompt and timely repair and updates to keep it in well maintained working condition. The complex specificity of this microscope system is such that only the Platinum Service Contract provided by Evident (formerly Olympus) will meet the required needs. NIMH awarded preventative maintenance and service for the Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System on December 6, 2023. NIMH requires a renewal to the preventative maintenance and service agreement for NIMH’s M Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System. NIMH requires a service agreement for a 12-month Base Period plus three (3) 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. The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described in this Statement of Work (SOW). The contractor shall provide maintenance support and guidance for the hardware and software on this system which supports the on-going research performed on this system. 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 troubleshooting and repair with standard response time including parts for the repair for the Olympus VS200 Slide Scanning Microscope System (including the VS with AutoLoader with Fluorescence) described in the General Requirements section, and to include at minimum the following: 1. Preventative maintenance services which shall consist of, but not limited to, inspection, examination of all functioning parts, thorough cleaning, proper lubrication, replacement, or repair of worn or unserviceable parts, adjustment and calibration made with the expressed intent of maintaining the instrument to the manufacturer’s original specifications. When necessary, this includes complete dismantling, parts replacement, reassembly, and thorough testing and adjusting. 2. Emergency repair service shall be provided on an unlimited basis during the term of this contract at no additional cost to the Government. Emergency service shall be provided between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Monday through Friday excluding weekends and Federal holidays. Upon receipt of notice that any part of the equipment is not functioning properly, the Contractor shall furnish a factory-trained service representative to inspect the equipment and perform all repairs and adjustments necessary to restore the equipment to normal and efficient operating condition. 3. The Contractor shall provide preventive maintenance, service repairs, and technical support between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. 4. On-site service and repairs shall be performed between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. 5. The Contractor shall use only OEM-certified parts and components for all preventive maintenance and repairs, except for consumables, at no additional cost to the Government. 6. Contractor shall be responsible for shipping and handling costs of each equipment instrument’s replacement parts and components. 7. The Contractor shall provide unlimited technical support, including by phone, email and web support. 8. The Contractor shall provide, at no additional cost to the Government, all necessary documentation, repair parts, replacement parts, spare parts, accessories, maintenance supplies, special tools, test and support equipment, travel and transportation, personnel skill requirements, and other related services required to maintain the instrument in fully functioning condition, except for costs of repairs occasioned by fault or negligence of the Government. 9. The services and preventive maintenance shall be performed by a factory certified and fully trained OEM technician in order to assure proper repair and operation of the system in accordance with manufacturer guidelines. 10. The Contractor shall provide, at no additional cost to the Government, expendable repair parts normally used up or consumed in service. 11. The coverage includes upgrading the operating system and software of the workstation running the slide scanner. 12. The government shall have priority service scheduling over non-contracted customers. Documentation shall be provided by the Contractor to the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) or point of contact (POC) to show they completed the work. The service technician is to present a service ticket that briefly details the work performed to the POC for signature and a copy of the ticket is to be left with the POC. The Contractor shall submit a detailed written report of any service to be submitted to the COR, or a delegated entity, within 24 hours of service being performed. 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. One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing. 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 9:00 a.m. EST on July 22, 2024. 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).