1. RFP 457675 2-13-2025.pdf

Procurement & Property Management Division P.O. Box 5000 Upton, NY 11973-5000 lgonzales@bnl.gov

Managed by Brookhaven Science Associates for the U.S. Department of Energy www.bnl.gov

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) NO. 457675

FOR

X-Ray Microscope Instrument (XRM) February 13, 2025

1.0 GENERAL

Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC (BSA), under a Prime Contract for the operation of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), herewith is soliciting proposals to furnish a high-resolution X-ray Microscope (XRM).

This procurement is solicited as Full and Open Competition under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing; with a business size standard of 1000 employees.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, services, materials, and equipment to provide a high-resolution X-ray Microscope (XRM) for Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The XRM instrument shall be designed to study solid samples in transmission geometry under conditions of ambient or vacuum pressure.

3.0 SCOPE OF WORK (SOW)

The Offeror shall furnish all labor, services, materials, and equipment in accordance with the attached Enclosure 1 - BSA Draft Contract including all associated exhibits.

4.0 GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

4.1 Schedule

BSA has established the following schedule for achieving evaluation, selection, approval, and award.

RFP / Proposal Submission Milestones DUE DATE Offeror to Submit all RFP Questions February 20, 2025 Proposals Submission March 5, 2025 Estimated Award Date May 2025

4.2 Form of Proposal and Manner of Submission

4.2.1 A responsive proposal must be received by BSA no later than the due date.

Proposals (including those withdrawn or modified) received after the closing date shall be considered late. Late proposals may be considered if in the best interest of BSA. Proposals will be opened in private, after due date and by the BSA Procurement & Property Management (PPM) Staff.

4.2.2 The Offeror shall submit One (1) Technical Proposal (Volume 1), and One (1)

Business/Price Proposal (Volume 2). Any included options must also be priced.

Volume 2 shall include Enclosure 3 Pricing Sheet. The technical and business/price proposals must be submitted as separate volumes. The proposal mailto:lgonzales@bnl.gov http://www.bnl.gov/ and all supporting documentation which the Offeror believes will fully describe the proposed capability shall be submitted to the Contracts Specialist listed below.

The Offeror must ensure all documents are clearly identified. Emails must be sent to with the BSA RFP Number 457675 in the Subject Line.

Name: Lisa C. Gonzales Title: Contracts Specialist

E-Mail: lgonzales@bnl.gov Phone: 631-344-5965

4.2.3 Proposals must be responsive to this solicitation. Failure to respond or follow the instructions regarding the organization, content, layout, or format of the proposal will result in the Offeror’s proposal being deemed non-responsive. Proposals that are incomplete or partial in any material respect affecting the responsiveness of the proposal will not be considered. BSA reserves the right to postpone the date of submission, and to amend this request as it considers necessary. Proposals received prior to due date, can be withdrawn by written request to the BSA Contracts Specialist at the email listed above. Modifications to proposals shall be submitted in the original format and received by proposal due date.

Proposals shall remain firm for one hundred twenty (120) calendars days, after due date, to allow time for review, selection, and award.

4.3 Explanation of Proposal Documents

Should an Offeror find any discrepancies in, or omissions from, any of the documents, or be in doubt as to the meaning of any document, Offeror should submit questions in writing to the Contracts Specialist named in Paragraph 4.2.2 by or before the due date for questions listed at Paragraph 4.1 Schedule “RFP / Proposal Submission Milestones”.

Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of a contract are discouraged and will not be binding. Any information given to a prospective Offeror concerning this solicitation will be furnished, via SAM.gov, to all prospective Offerors to the solicitation if that information is deemed necessary by BSA to submitting proposals or if the lack of it would be prejudicial to other prospective Offerors.

5.0 CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL

5.1 General Information

The proposal shall be responsive to this RFP. Stating that the Offeror understands and will comply with the proposal requirements is not sufficient, nor is a simple affirmative restatement of the requirements. Similarly, phrases such as “standard procedures will be employed,” or “well-known techniques will be used,” without explanatory detail will be non-responsive and will not be considered for award.

5.1.1 Disclosure of Proposals

Proposals provided to BSA in response to this RFP will not be disclosed except to appropriate BSA personnel and BSA contractor consultants involved in reviewing responses to this RFP, and/or U.S. Government personnel.

Offerors that include in their proposals data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by BSA except for evaluation purposes shall:

(1) Mark the title page with the following legend:

“This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed except to appropriate BSA personnel, its subcontractor consultants involved in reviewing responses to the RFP, and/or U.S. Government personnel and shall not be disclosed, in whole or in part, for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, a contract is awarded to this Offeror as a result of/or in connection with the submission of this data, BSA shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit BSA’s right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]”; and

(2) Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend:

“Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.”

5.2 Technical Proposal – Volume 1

Provide one (1) electronic copy via email of the technical portion of your proposal and any amendments thereto. Volume 1 shall contain technical information only and shall be legible, coherent, and individually tabbed in accordance with the sections noted below.

Each proposal will be evaluated and point-scored in accordance with the associated categories and their points as noted in Enclosure 2 – Evaluation Criteria. Offerors must provide specific detailed descriptions and capabilities for the main and sub-categories which support how the Offeror plans to perform the requirement described in the SOW.

5.3 Business / Price Proposal - Volume 2

Provide one (1) electronic copy via email of the business/price portion of your proposal and any amendments thereto. Volume 2 should be legible, coherent, and individually tabbed in accordance with the sections noted below.

5.3.1 Tab A: Corporate Profile and Financial Capability

The Offeror shall provide a corporate profile of their organization with a current SAM Unique Entity Identification (UEI) Number.

BSA requires all its vendors/contractors to have an active registration (or display evidence of an active registration in-process) in the U. S. Government supplier database entitled System for Award Management (SAM). If not already registered, please register as soon as possible. Failure to register may preclude BSA from doing business with your organization. Please note that there is no charge for SAM registration. When registering, you are strongly urged to copy and paste www.SAM.gov onto your browser address rather than utilizing your search engine. Utilizing your search engine may redirect you to an erroneous site. Assistance with registration may be requested (free of charge) by contacting the APEX Accelerators (formally known as Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC)) or the Federal Help Desk at 866-606- 8220. By signing the attached Pricing Sheet, AMS Form-043 (Enclosure 3), the Offeror is certifying they are registered in SAM.

http://www.sam.gov/

5.3.2 Tab B: Draft Contract with Terms and Conditions

The Draft Contract with Terms and Conditions is provided in Enclosure 1. The

Offeror shall clearly note its acceptance in full. Any exceptions shall be noted by redlining the Draft Contract and Terms and Conditions document with “tracked changes” turned ON, however, the Offeror shall not construe noted exceptions, if any, to be accepted by BSA. The Offeror will be required to execute a Contract in accordance with the provisions of the Draft Contract.

5.3.3 Tab C: Price / Milestone Schedule

The Offeror shall provide pricing and milestone information in strict accordance with this RFP.

Note: All pricing information must be submitted as U.S. Dollar Currency. Offeror must also include pricing on any options offered.

5.3.4 Tab D: Delivery

The Offeror shall clearly note its acceptance in full of the proposed delivery schedule as set forth in Enclosure 1, Draft Contract. Any exceptions shall be noted accordingly, however, the Offeror shall not construe noted exceptions, if any, to be accepted by BSA.

5.3.5 Tab E: Payment Terms and Freight (if applicable)

Freight terms shall be (for North American shipments) FOB BSA National Laboratory, 98 Rochester Street, Upton, Long Island, New York. Freight Prepaid, (for foreign shipments:) “DAP” Delivered At Place, BSA National Laboratory, 98 Rochester Street, Upton, Long Island, New York. Net (TBD) from acceptance, in accordance with an agreed-to milestone schedule. The Offeror shall review and clearly note its acceptance in full. Any exceptions shall be noted accordingly.

5.3.6 Tab F: Small Business Subcontracting Plan

All Offerors certifying that they are other than a “small business or foreign business” and that they expect to submit an offer that will exceed $750,000 must submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9, for BSA’s approval. Firms certifying that they are small or foreign businesses need not complete the plan.

The following BSA small business stretch goals are provided as an example for this procurement. Any exceptions to this requirement shall be noted accordingly.

Small Business Category SB Goals Small Business 50% Disadvantaged 5.5% Woman-owned 5% HUBZone 3% Veteran-owned 3% Disabled Veteran-owned 3%

5.3.7 Tab G: Government Property

Government Property Currently Possessed:

The Offeror shall provide a description of any contemplated use of Government property that is currently in the possession of the Offeror. Provide the name and point of contact of the cognizant Government Contracting Officer. Any proposed use of Government-owned equipment/facilities will be evaluated to negate any competitive advantage. The Offeror shall also note if there is no Government property.

5.3.8 Tab H: Warranty

The Contractor shall provide at least a one-year warranty on all parts and labor commencing with BSA’s acceptance of the installed and tested instrument.

Remote diagnosis and troubleshooting from Contractor shall be available upon request within one (1) business day.

5.3.9 Tab I: Buy American Act

This requirement is subject to FAR Part 25, Buy American Act. The Contractor shall provide if the proposed item(s) are or are not domestic end products. If foreign end products are proposed, the Offeror shall provide the country of manufacture.

6.0 PROCUREMENT TYPE, EVALUATION METHODOLOGY AND CRITERIA

6.1 Type of Procurement

This is a “Best Value” procurement. BSA intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsive, responsible Offeror whose proposal represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the factors, subfactors, and price as noted in this solicitation. The utilization of this procedure is expected to provide the greatest overall benefit to BSA. The trade-off process associated with Best Value involves a comparative weighing of the evaluation factors and sub-factors identified in the RFP. Specifically, the trade-off process involves selecting the most advantageous offer based on an integrated assessment of both technical factors and price. Price will not be rated or scored but will be a significant factor in the Best Value analysis.

An award may be made without discussion or negotiation of proposals received; therefore, proposals should be submitted on the most favorable terms which can be submitted in response to this request. BSA reserves the right to conduct pre-selection site visits to assess the Offerors’ capabilities, to hold fact-finding discussions, and/or to negotiate with any one or all of the Offerors on any aspect of this solicitation prior to making an award; or to make an award without further discussion or negotiation at any time during this process.

BSA may request such supplementary information as determined sufficient, in the opinion of BSA, to assure that an Offeror’s technical competence, business and technical organization, facilities, and financial resources are adequate to successfully perform the contemplated work. BSA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, or to accept any proposal. BSA will not be obligated to award all, or any part of the work solicited, and in any event will not be responsible for the Offeror’s cost of proposal preparation or any other cost incurred in connection with this RFP.

6.2 Methodology

The final evaluation of proposals shall result in a selection of the most advantageous proposal, considering price in determining the Best Value trade-off.

6.2.1 Proposals will be initially evaluated on responsiveness to the RFP requirements in all aspects. The technical proposals will be point-scored by technical members of the Source Selection Board (SSB), in accordance with the criteria as set forth in Section 6.3 herein.

6.2.2 If a selection cannot be made and discussions are required, the Source Selection Board will then recommend to the Source Selection Official (SSO) which proposals are within the competitive range based on results of scoring and analysis of the technical evaluation criteria, along with the proposed prices. The competitive range determination will then be made by the SSO. Those proposals with a reasonable chance of being selected for award, including those that are acceptable as submitted or that could reasonably be made so after clarifications and correction of deficiencies, will be considered in the “competitive” range. Fact-finding discussions and/or site visits may be held with those Offerors in the competitive range. Best and final offers may be solicited at the conclusion of fact finding.

The tradeoff process permits tradeoffs among price and non-price factors (i.e., Technical Factors) and allows BSA to accept other than the lowest priced proposal, or other than the highest technically rated offeror. Under a tradeoff process, the technical benefits of the higher priced proposal shall merit the additional cost in order to receive award. In conducting the tradeoff analysis for this procurement, the Technical Factors, when combined, are more important than price. Offerors are advised, however, that as the range of the overall Technical scores among Offerors narrows, the more important price will become in making the award decision.

6.3 Technical Evaluation Criteria

Each proposal will be evaluated based on how well it meets or exceeds the requirements of this RFP. The proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the following evaluation criteria, listed in order of importance, and more fully explained in Section 5.2 above and Enclosure 2:

1. Performance Requirements and Technical Capabilities

2. Prior Experience and Past Performance

3. Manufacturing Capabilities (Including subcontractors)

4. Quality Assurance

Each Offeror’s strengths, weaknesses, and deficiencies will be addressed accordingly in each resultant technical evaluation.

To be considered technically responsive to the RFP, each Offeror must score a total of sixty-five (65) percent of the points of the proposal overall. Any proposal that fails to achieve this parameter shall be deemed technically non-responsive and will be excluded from further evaluation.

6.4 Final Selection Process

After completion of discussions, if necessary, with Offerors in the final competitive range and receipt of Best and Final offers, if required, the Source Selection Board (SSB) will recommend to the Source Selection Official (SSO) which Offeror the SSB has determined to represent the “Best Value” to BSA based on the evaluation of technical capabilities of the Offerors and the prices being offered. The SSO will subsequently use all Source Evaluation analysis and evaluations as guidelines in making the final selection.

6.5 Basis of Award

Award of the resulting contract will be based on the SSO’s evaluation of the SSB’s recommendation. The SSO will select the Offeror whose proposal represents the overall Best Value to BSA/the best combination of technical evaluation results and price.

7.0 OTHER REQUIRED FORMS AND DOCUMENTS:

At the time of award, the successful offeror may be asked to complete the following forms:

• Vendor ACH Authorization Form, Enclosure 4

• W-9 Form, Enclosure 5

• W-8 Form (completed in lieu of the W-9 Form if Offeror is foreign), Enclosure 6

8.0 CLOSURE

All RFP questions, and replies thereto, shall be addressed to Contracts Specialist Lisa C. Gonzales in writing at lgonzales@bnl.gov.

Enclosures:

1) BSA Fixed Price Draft Contract (including all exhibits)

2) Evaluation Criteria

3) AMS Form 043 Pricing Sheet

4) Vendor ACH Authorization Form

5) W-9

6) W-8 (applicable if Offeror is foreign)