Notice_of_Intent_1.pdf

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

Solicitation Number: 75N94024Q00079 Solicitation Type: Sole Source (Non-Competitive) Title: NIAAA: Service: Service and Maintenance for Siemens Medical Systems

3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Prisma Scanner NAICS / Size Standard: 811210 / 34 Million

Introduction

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Office of Acquisitions (OA), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive sole source basis to Siemens Medical Solutions USA to provide a service and maintenance agreement for the Siemens Medical System 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Prisma Scanner.

Background Information

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which owns and operates a Siemens 3T Magnetom Prisma MRI Scanner. The servicing of this instrument requires specialized knowledge of a variety of pieces of equipment that are Siemens products.

These include, but not limited to, the following equipment: Large bore superconducting magnet, gradient/shim/RF coils, gradient/RF amplifiers, RF receivers, T-R switches and data processing units. This MRI scanner is essential to the NIH MRI Research Facility (NMRF) to provide the resources for the NIH scientific community for the study of neurological and psychiatric diseases using high-field MRI techniques.

Purpose and Objectives

The institute needs to procure a new service agreement for the MRI Scanner that will ensure timely service and maintenance by specially trained Siemens service engineers.

Period of Performance

The period of performance is September 24, 2024 through September 23, 2025.

Contractor Requirements

The contractor shall provide service and maintenance for all portions of the above Siemens 3T Magnetom Prisma MRI scanner in order to ensure operation of the scanner at maximum performance.

This includes but is not limited to the scanner computer system, gradient and RF amplifiers, transmit and receiver subsystems, peripheral gating modules, shim coils, magnet, cryogen monitoring and cryogen fills, power supplies, gradient and RF.

Specifically, the contractor shall:

1. Supply all replacement parts as required on an exchange (good-as-new) or new part basis in order to maintain the equipment at Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM’s) specifications.

2. Locate a service engineer during the coverage period 8am-6pm, Monday through Friday to assure efficient service of the scanner.

3. Standard Coverage: The Contractor shall provide on-site remedial service and maintenance during normal working hours (from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM local prevailing time, Monday through Friday). On-call backup service support shall be provided when the on-site service engineer is not available (e.g. holidays, vacations, illness, and training periods). The on-call backup service engineer shall be on the site within three hours of the NIH placing a telephone service request.

4. Regular scheduled maintenance inspections and adjustments shall be performed as specified by the manufacturer for all subsystems of the scanner. Scheduled maintenance shall be performed at a mutually agreed upon time Monday through Friday).

5. Technical support and remote diagnostics shall be provided by the Contractor 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. This telephone support shall be available within one hour of the NIH placing a service request.

6. The Contractor shall provide a daily check of the system error logs. The Contractor assumes the responsibility for correcting problems as noted therein.

7. The Contractor shall provide upgrade services for the scanner and accessories on an as needed basis. The upgrades shall be subject to the Changes Clause, FAR 52.243-1, Alternate II. Upgrade services include, but are not limited to: delivery/installation of hardware or software, and reconfiguration of the system. The Contractor shall provide all hardware and software necessary for requested upgrades. The Contractor shall continue to provide maintenance of the system as upgraded.

8. Contractor Responsibilities: The Contractor shall provide all necessary documentation, repair parts, spare parts, accessories, maintenance supplies, all special tools, test and support equipment, travel and transportation, personnel skill requirements, and other related services required in performance of maintenance tasks to keep the equipment in good operating condition, except for costs of repairs occasioned by fault or negligence of the Government or its agent.

9. Interchangeability of parts is required, (NRCC Wash C8)(Oct 1992). All replacement/spare parts and supplies to be furnished by the Contractor under this contract shall be guaranteed to be equal in all respects (including performance, interchangeability, durability, and quality) to parts specified by the OEM.

10. The contractor shall provide the Evolve upgrade to the latest XA30 platform and MARS.

Sole Source Justification

The Prisma 3T MRI scanner is expensive state-of-the-art equipment. To ensure the safety of patients, it must be maintained at factory specifications. If the scanner is not maintained properly all the following can occur: 1) serious damage to the instrument; 2) malfunctioning; 3) miscalibration; 4) longer downtime; 5) wrong imaging results; 6) incorrect diagnosis; and, 7) increased risk to patients (RF burning and ferromagnetic hazard). All MRI scanners in the NMR center are serviced only by the corresponding manufacturer to ensure patient safety. To achieve this high standard, Siemens dedicates an MRI engineer onsite for 10 hours, Monday through Friday, to maintain scanners in Building 10.

Regulatory Authority

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 13.106-1(b) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, or industrial mobilization).

FAR Clauses

The provision at FAR clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items, is applicable. The Government will award a contract resulting from this notice to the offeror listed above. The following factors shall be used to evaluate the offer: The contractor shall demonstrate its ability to provide the detector listed that meets the specifications provided above.

FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, is applicable. The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through

(v) of this provision.

FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Products and Commercial Services applies to this acquisition.

FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Products and Commercial Services applies to this acquisition.

Additional Information

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 811210 and the Small Business Size Standard is 34 Million. This acquisition is being conducted under FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, therefore the requirements of FAR Part 6, Competitive Requirements, are not applicable and the resultant award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal

Acquisition Circular 2024-04 effective April 1, 2024.

This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

All responses must be received by April 9, 2024 12:00 PM ET and must reference solicitation number 75N94024Q00079. Responses shall be submitted electronically to nicole.freid@nih.gov. Responses will only be accepted if dated and signed by an authorized company representative. All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.

http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:nicole.freid@nih.gov