Bench-top Mixing System with RAM technology
(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in 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 75N95019Q00128 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 Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5-Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12-Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is NOT expected to exceed the simplified acquisition teshold at $250,000.00. THIS IS A NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA), on behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (including brand-name) for a PharmaRAM II benchtop mixing system manufactured by Resodyn Acoustic Mixers, Inc. located at 130 N Main Street, Ste 630, Butte, MT 59701. This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive for a commercial item or service and is conducted pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect tough Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2019-01, with effective date January 22, 2019. (iv) The associated NAICS code is 334513- Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables with associated small business size standard of 750 employees. This requirement is solicited on a Total Small Business Set-Aside basis. (v) This requirement is for the following general requirements: to obtain quantity one (1) PharmaRAM II Benchtop Mixing System containing Resonant Acoustic Mixing (RAM) technology, 750 gram to 1000 gram payload, 110 VAC and standard vessel hold-down tooling that is manufactured by Resodyn Acoustic Mixers, Inc. The following features are deemed essential that this requirement shall achieve: 1. Process any combination of: solids or powders (from nano-scale and higher), liquids, gases and viscous or slurry material; 2. Coat, mill and grind; 3. Develop, store and save up to 100 recipes; 4. Monitor mixing paraments in real-time and download processing data for analysis; 5. Include capacity of no less than 1000 grams; 6. Fully enclosed, interlock-able mix chamber; 7. Height adjustable vessel holder; 8. Multiple level security and access control; 9. Have the following accessories available: automated/manual vacuum system, jacketed vessel temperature control, and in-vessel spray coating system 10. Bench scale mixer must have Resonant Acoustic Mixing (RAM) technology. Specifically, the Offeror shall quote the following Item Number; Product Name; Quantity: 1. 902900; PharmaRAM II; 1 2. 902054; Back Panel (Vac/RTD/Jkted/Spray); 1 (vi) BACKGROUND: This requirement is on behalf of the Chemistry Group at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at NIH within the Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation (DPI) at NCATS. The DPI plans, conducts and uses both internal and contract resources to advance collaborative research projects across the pre-clinical phases of the translational science spectrum. The goal of this procurement is to to obtain a bench-top mixing system that meets the growing quality, safety and productivity in identifying suitable recipes for small molecule formulations and many other applications. Currently, bench top mixing is done manually at NCATS, and the subject requirement will help to automate this process and save time for many chemists. Automating this process will reduce the cost and time over the period and bring efficiency. The instrument will also find use in solid dispensing in automatic chemistry platform. The key process capability essential feature that the bench scale mixer must have is called Resonant Acoustic Mixing (RAM). RAM technology mixes by generating frequencies, nominally between 58 and 62 Hz. It is constant when at rest but is continually monitoring, adjusting, and changing when in operation. Using RAM technology, a Bench-top Mixing System can mix at a g-force equal to 100 g. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE Offerors should indicate an estimated delivery time in full after receipt of an order including if training or warranty provisions are applicable. Inspection and acceptance will be performed at NCATS, located at 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. (vii) The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of provision) The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Jul 2016) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Oct 2018) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Oct 2018) FAR 52.222-48, Exemption from Application of the Service Contract Labor Standards to Contracts for Maintenance, Calibration, or Repair of Certain Equipment-Certification (May 2014) HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015) The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of clause) The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Jul 2016) The provisions of FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (OCT 2018) is applicable to this solicitation: 52.222-3 Convict Labor (June 2003) 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation With Authorities and Remedies (Jan 2018) 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Apr 2015) 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity (Sep 2016) 52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (Jul 2014) 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons (Jan 2019) 52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (Aug 2011) 52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases (Jun 2008) 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-- System for Award Management (Oct 2018) The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated as an attachment: NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (2/2014) (viii) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Responses received to this RFQ will be evaluated on a Trade-Off basis. The award will be made on a competitive best value basis, using "tradeoff" among price-cost and non-price-cost factors. The Government may elect to award to other than the lowest priced offeror, or other than the offeror with the highest rated non-price-cost proposal. In either case, a tradeoff will be conducted. The government reserves such right of flexibility in conducting the evaluation as necessary to assure an award with the contractor providing the best value to the government. Although technical factors are of paramount consideration in the award, cost or price is also important to the overall award decision. All evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price. However, cost or price may become a critical factor in source selection in the event two or more offerors are determined to be essentially equal following the evaluation of all factors other than cost or price. Quotations will be evaluated based on the factor of Technical Capability: Offerors shall clearly indicate possessing the technical capability to achieve the essential salient characteristic features of this requirement. The Offeror must indicate in its quotation the ability to provide all of the requirements. The Offeror must indicate in its quotation the ability to meet the delivery requirements and evidence of possessing the technical knowledge, qualifications and capability and management structure needed in successfully achieving this requirement. Quotations will be evaluated using adjective ratings and no numeric point system will be used. Excellent (Risk level: Very low); Good (Risk level: Low); Acceptable (Risk Level: Neutral); Marginal (Risk level: High); Unacceptable (Risk level: Very high). Cost: The Offeror(s) cost/price quotation will be evaluated for reasonableness and best value to the government. Basic cost and price information in the Offerors' quote must contain sufficient information to allow the Government to perform a basic analysis of the reasonableness of the Offeror to supply the required services and/or supply. 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. The Government intends to make an award(s) to that offeror whose proposal provides the best overall value to the Government. Discounts may be taken into account for this selection criterion, however the government reserves the right to make a selection decision with tradeoffs. Respondents that believe that they are manufacturers or authorized resellers of any BRAND-NAME product specified in this announcement must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the purchase description; quantity; estimated price or cost; shipping, handling, and/or installation charges; and delivery date after receipt of order. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (ix) The Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer. (x) The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Oct 2018), applies to this acquisition. (xi) The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is incorporated in full text. (xii) The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the contracting officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. (xiii) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. (xiv) Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include a Fixed-price quote including unit pricing, quantity, and total price proposed and all other relevant information and documentation that the item(s) quoted meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in this solicitation. The Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), 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 quotations must be received by 12:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on May 13, 2019 and reference the subject solicitation number. Responses must be submitted electronically to Hunter.Tjugum@nih.gov. Fax responses will not be accepted. (xv) The name and telephone number of the individual to contact for information regarding the solicitation: Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist, 301-827-5304, hunter.tjugum@nih.gov.. 75N95019Q00128 Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health
5/10/19, 3:00 PM Bench-top Mixing System with RAM technology
INTRODUCTION This is a Small Business Sources Sought (SBSS) 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 small business sources; (2) whether they are 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. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. This notice is issued to help determine the availability and type of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting this potential government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. The notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. The information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method including small business socio-economic set-aside possibilities and to determine the availability of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting the Government's potential requirement. All Small Business companies with the capability and availability to perform the requirement under the applicable NAICS code are invited to submit a response to this notice. NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The NAICS code applicable to this requirement is 334513 Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables with size standard 750 employees. BACKGROUND 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. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is a translational science center whose mission is to catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will enhance the development, testing and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and conditions. The Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation (DPI) at NCATS plans, conducts and uses both internal and contract resources to advance collaborative research projects across the pre-clinical phases of the translational science spectrum. Specifically, the chemistry group at NCATS has a potential requirement for a Bench-top Mixing System fulfilling the essential features described herein. Purpose and Objectives This Small Business Sources Sought notice seeks to determine eligible sources capable of achieving the essential features of this potential requirement. The purpose of this potential requirement is to obtain a bench-top mixing system to meet the growing quality, safety and productivity in identifying suitable recipes for small molecule formulations and many other applications. Currently, bench top mixing is done manually at NCATS, and the subject requirement will help to automate this process and save time for many chemists. Automating this process will reduce the cost and time over the period and bring efficiency. The instrument will also find use in solid dispensing in automatic chemistry platform. Project Requirements The key process capability essential feature that the bench scale mixer must have is called Resonant Acoustic Mixing (RAM). RAM technology mixes by generating frequencies, nominally between 58 and 62 Hz. It is constant when at rest but is continually monitoring, adjusting, and changing when in operation. Using RAM technology, a Bench-top Mixing System can mix at a g-force equal to 100 g. Specifically, the following features are deemed essential that this potential requirement shall be capable of acheiving: 1. Process any combination of: solids or powders (from nano-scale and higher), liquids, gases and viscous or slurry material; 2. Coat, mill and grind; 3. Develop, store and save up to 100 recipes; 4. Monitor mixing paraments in real-time and download processing data for analysis; 5. Include capacity of no less than 1000 grams; 6. Fully enclosed, interlock-able mix chamber; 7. Height adjustable vessel holder; 8. Multiple level security and access control; 9. Have the following accessories available: automated/manual vacuum system, jacketed vessel temperature control, and in-vessel spray coating system Contractors submitting a response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall possess the ability to achieve the salient government essential features of this potential requirement. Specifically, Offerors to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall document evidence of being able to provide the subject supply that will allow for the essential features described herein to be accomplished. Delivery/Warranty Offerors should indicate an estimated delivery time in full after receipt of an order and any other training or warranty considerations that apply. Inspection and acceptance will be performed at NCATS located at 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20852. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS SOUGHT Interested parties are expected to review this notice to familiarize itself with the requirements of this project. Failure to do so will be at your firm's own risk. Respondents must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in this announcement; (d) quantity; (e) shipping, handling, and/or installation instructions, and/or any special delivery conditions after receipt of an order. Respondents that believe that they are manufacturers or authorized re-sellers of the equipment specified in this announcement must provide, as part of their response: (a) product, catalog, model, and/or part number(s); (b) product description; (c) all relevant information and documentation that the item(s) offered meets the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics as specified in the purchase description; (d) quantity; (e) estimated price or cost; (f) shipping, handling, and/or installation charges; and delivery date after receipt of order. The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements. The information submitted must be in outline format that addresses each of the elements of this requirement. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. The response is limited to ten (10) pages. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested. The response must include the respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. Respondents must reference the announcement number on all correspondence related to this Small Business Sources Sought notice. The response must be submitted to Hunter Tjugum electronically, at hunter.tjugum@nih.gov, and be received prior to the closing date specified in this announcement. CONCLUDING STATEMENTS Disclaimer and Important Notes. 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 in Federal Business Opportunities. 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).. 75N95019Q00128 Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health
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