Inactive

This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Gover... This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Your response to this Sources Sought Notice will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing its acquisition approach, statement of work/statement of objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought Notice or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice. The purpose of this sources sought announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran Owned Small Businesses, 8(a), HubZone and other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing the services described below. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Responses to this notice shall include the following: (a) company name (b) address (c) point of contact (d) phone, fax, and email (e) DUNS number (f) Cage Code (g) Tax ID Number (h) Type of small business, e.g. Services Disabled Veteran Owned small Business, Veteran-owned small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small disadvantaged business, or Small Business HUBZone business and (i) must provide a capability statement that addresses the organizations qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below. The VA Heartland Network 15, Contracting Office located at 3450 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048-5055 is seeking a potential qualified contractor to provide instrumentation, installation, and training for an automated digital microbiology laboratory system to the Microbiology Laboratory. Total lab automation for Clinical microbiology would include smart incubator(s) and computerized workstations that work with existing Copan WASP processer and Biomerieux Microbiology Equipment. This equipment would save on technologist time, improve standardization of testing, and improve turnaround time for microbiology cultures. The introduction of automated and electronic culture monitoring transforms the microbiology lab by providing a number of benefits, including standardization and significant reduction in the amount of technologist time needed for negative cultures. The biggest payoff for clinicians is the potential to screen Microbiology specimens more easily 24/7 and release those results. The VASTLHCS lab is looking to create a lease to own option for this equipment, consisting of one base year and four option years. Minimum Technical Specifications: The operating system must be compatible with VA IT standards. The system must have the ability to be connected to VISTA via Data Innovations. Vendor must meet VA security requirements to be able to remotely connect and service the instrumentation. The system must allow for full sample traceability using uniquely barcoded disposable culture plates. The system must be able to connect to and communicate with the WASP specimen processor currently installed in the laboratory. Instrument installation must include all upgrades, databases, etc. included in initial purchase. Instrument must be capable of adding future advancements and additions to the laboratory system. Vendor led training must be provided. Training shall include system operations as well as basic trouble shooting and repair. If training is to be conducted off site, the cost shall be all-including, (e.g. air fare, auto rental, room and board, training materials, etc.) for each participant. Traceability of each agar plate(s), gram slide (as applicable), or other testing is easy. The system shall not require cleaning materials or decontamination other than what is included in periodic maintenance but can be easily cleaned/decontaminated if necessary. The contractor shall provide applicable manuals and schedules upon delivery and installation of equipment. The contractor shall provide a technical expert capable of unpacking the instrument and all required materials to perform installation. The contractor shall provide upgrades to both the equipment hardware and software in order to maintain the integrity of the system and the state-of-the-art technology at no additional charge to the customer after the initial install of the system. These must be provided as they become commercially available and at the same time as they are being provided to commercial customers. This requirement only applies to system upgrades that enhance the model of equipment being offered, i.e. new version of software, including database upgrades, correction of hardware defect, upgrade offered to commercial customers at no additional charge, upgrade to replace model of equipment no longer vendor supported, etc. Instrument can be serviced/calibrated remotely. Instrument should be custom per the laboratory s needs, and automate tasks as they are currently performed by microbiology staff Instrument should include a track system to move from specimen processor to incubators where they are automatically loaded and photographed at programed intervals for easy review by technologists via a computer screen. Incubators should automatically monitor temperature, CO2 (as applicable) and humidity via NIST calibrated devices and records those values. Camera s contained in the laboratory system must be able to take high quality digital pictures at different angles and/or lighting conditions and store them for comparison. Reading times can be customized for each laboratory. Additional work up for positive cultures can be ordered at each workstation, and additional culture work up should become as automated as possible (automatic preparation of ID or AST panels or MALDI-TOF slides or gram stains). Electronic culture logs can easily be reviewed and remove the need for the laboratory to possess paper logbooks. System footprint should fit within the current laboratory layout and not require the laboratory to be remodeled. The operator must provide these items within 90 days of purchase Optional/Value Added Features: Have the capability for CO2, non-CO2, and anaerobic incubators. Have touch screen monitors for easy use and navigation. Laboratory system contains automated microscopes to aid in the reading and visual storage of gram stain results. Capability to incubate tubed media Required Interfaces: Instrument/software must be able to communicate with the following instruments/interfaces: Data Innovations, Vista, and eventually MYLA. Important information: The Government is not obligated to, nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this sources sought synopsis request. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued. Currently a total set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms is anticipated based on the Veterans Administration requirement with Public Law 109-461, Section 8127 Veterans Benefit Act. However, if response by Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms proves inadequate, an alternate set-aside or full and open competition may be determined. The North American Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516 ( Analytical Laboratory Instrumental Manufacturing). The small business size standard is 1,000 employees. Notice to potential offerors: All offerors who provide goods or services to the United States Federal Government must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM located on the web at www.sam.gov). Additionally, all Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses or Veteran Owned Businesses who respond to a solicitation on this project must be registered with the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise VetBiz Registry located at http://vip.vetbiz.gov. All interested Offerors should submit information by e-mail: to michael.murphy7@va.gov. All information submissions should be received no later than 11:00 AM CST on Friday 12/24/2021. After review of the responses to this announcement, the Government intends to proceed with the acquisition and a subsequent solicitation will be published.