RFQ No. 75N95022Q00136 .pdf

REQUEST NUMBER: 75N95022Q00136

DATE ISSUED: May 11, 2022

ISSUED BY CONTRACTING OFFICE:

NIDA Section

Contracts Management Branch Red Office of Acquisition

National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institutes of Health

301 N STONE STREET, MSC 6012

Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9559*

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andrew Varley, Contract Specialist Email Andrew.Varley@nih.gov , Phone: 301-827-5851

NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE:

334516 –Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARD:

N/A

SET-ASIDE STATUS:

N/A

Competition Status:

This requirement is solicited on a competitive basis.

All responses to this request for quote must be received by 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, on May 16, 2022, and must reference the request number cited above. Responses must be submitted electronically to the contact person cited above. Fax and hard copy responses will not be accepted.

(i) The solicitation number is 75N95022Q00136 and the solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ) on a competitive basis under provisions of the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 13.104 – promoting competition. A fixed price purchase order is contemplated for this requirement.

mailto:Andrew.Varley@nih.gov

(ii)The solicitation document, the incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2022-06 dated 05-01-2022.

DESCRIPTION

Title of Project:

Epifluorescence Microscope Upgrade for Zeiss AxioImager. Z2.

Background Information:

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Spinal Circuits and Plasticity Unit relies heavily on microscopy for the analysis of spinal cord tissue to understand the function of the intact and injured spinal cord. There is a particularly heavy focus recently on molecular identification of spinal cord neurons, which requires high throughput microscopy at a relatively high resolution. Automated microscopy frees investigators who would otherwise be spending time managing the microscope. Until now, a confocal Zeiss LSM-800 microscope has fulfilled these demands but is currently overwhelmed. A cost-effective option is an epifluorescent microscope with slide-scanning abilities. Such a system is of lower cost than a confocal microscope, but which combines automated slide-scanning with faster imaging and the ability to load many slides for batch imaging, which allows for high throughput work. The need exists to acquire an epifluorescence microscope with 1) ability to image Cy7 far-red dyes (including both microscope filter sets and a compatible camera); 2) with software and hardware allowing for automated slide scanning; 3) with a software or hardware option for deconvolution to approximate the image quality of a confocal microscope; and 4) an accompanying computer system with all software and hardware necessary for the above functions.

Purpose or Objective of the Requirement:

The Spinal Circuits and Plasticity Unit needs additional microscopy resources to meet the needs of projects screening large numbers of biomarkers in full spinal cord sections at high resolution which has saturated the available microscope resources, while freeing up staff resources for other tasks.

Period of Performance:

NIDA anticipates a firm fixed price purchase order. The delivery lead time shall be within ninety (90) of purchase order award.

Provided below is the delivery information for the purchase order.

Delivery Address:

Ariel Levine, NIDA/NINDS

35 Convent Drive., Building 35, PNRC I

Room 2B-1002

Bethesda, MD 20892

General Requirements:

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all necessary services, qualified personnel, materials, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government, as needed to perform the Purchase Description.

The Contractor shall provide:

1. One Epifluorescence slide-scanning microscope- see Attachment #1- Purchase Description and Attachment #2- Sources Sought Notice.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The government owns the scientific instrumentation.

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES

Documentation shall be provided by the vendor to show they successfully delivered the Epifluorescence slide-scanning microscope.

QUOTER TERMS AND CONDITIONS (To be completed by the contractor):

1. Period of Performance: through

2. Any payment discount terms:

3. Open Market; GSA FSS Contract Number; Other Government Agency (OGA) Contract Number, Government-wide Agency (GWAC) Contract Number; or National Institute of Health (NIH) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Number:

4. DUNS No:

5. Name of Company:

6. Street Address, City, State, Zip code:

7. Name of Person Authorized to Provide Quote:

8. Telephone Number and Email Address of Person Authorized to Provide Quote:

9. Description of personnel to provide services, i.e. installation, etc

ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, PROVISIONS, AND REPRESENTATIONS

The FAR Clauses are incorporated by reference and are provided in full text at https://www.acquisition.gov/

1. The provisions of FAR Clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Items (NOV 2021) is applicable to this solicitation.

2. The provisions of FAR Clause 52.212.2 Evaluation—Commercial Items (NOV 2021) is applicable to this solicitation.

3. The provisions of FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications— Commercial Items (NOV 2021), is applicable to this solicitation. An offeror shall complete only paragraphs (b) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certificates electronically via http://www.sam.gov. If an offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at the System for Award Management (SAM) website, the offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (p) of this provision.

4. The provisions of FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items (NOV 2021) with Addenda: Stop Work Order, FAR Clause 52.242-15 (August 1989) is applicable to this solicitation. See attachment #3

5. The provisions of FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Items (JAN 2022) is applicable to this solicitation. See attachment #4

The following are additional contract clauses:

FAR 52.225-25 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Certain Activities or Transactions Relating to Iran—Representation and Certifications (JUN 2020)

FAR 52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations (JUN 2013)

FAR 52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (NOV 2021)

Publications and Publicity: Contractor shall not, nor is required to, publish any articles of data because of fulfilling this requirement.

Confidentiality of Information: The contractor will hold in confidence and not disclose any information they obtain by means which is designated by NIDA-IRP as confidential or proprietary. The contractor will use reasonable efforts to protect against any such disclosure

Contracting Officer’s Representative:

To be provided at time of contract award.

The COR is responsible for: (1) monitoring the Contractor's technical progress, including the surveillance and assessment of performance and recommending to the Contracting Officer changes in requirements;

(2) interpreting the statement of work and any other technical performance requirements; (3) performing technical evaluation as required; (4) performing technical inspections and acceptances required by this contract; and (5) assisting in the resolution of technical problems encountered during performance.

The Government may unilaterally change the COR designation at any time throughout the performance period of this contract through modification of Article G.3.

The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following is provided as an addendum to clause 52.212-2 as it relates to FAR Subpart 15.304 Evaluation Factors (Price or Cost; Past Performance; Technical Factors / Criteria).

(a) 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. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers technical criteria, price, and non-price factors. The technical criteria are: technical approach, past performance, and key personnel.

1. Technical Approach:

a) NIDA will evaluate the offeror's quote in terms of whether or not the offeror is an authorized reseller of the Epifluorescence slide-scanning microscope.

b) NIDA will evaluate the offeror's quote in terms of how well it demonstrates the offeror's ability to meet the prescribed timeline.

2. Past Performance:

a) Offerors must demonstrate relevant and recent performance of the offeror and any proposed subcontractors on current and past contracts of similar size, scope. "Recent" means active contracts or contracts completed within five years from the issuance date of the NIDA solicitation.

3. Key Personnel:

a) NIDA will evaluate proposed personnel and consultants, if any, on their experience and ability to provide authorized trained technicians which will perform the repair and/or installation of associated scanning machines.

b) Although technical factors are of paramount consideration in the award, price is also important to the overall award decision. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantly more important than price. However, 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 price.

A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, emailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract with Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

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. Offerors may respond with a proposal indicating their ability to provide the technical specifications stated in this solicitation. Responses will be evaluated based on the contractor’s ability to meet the government’s requirements stated in this notice and on ability to deliver required services and supplies.

(xi) The provision of FAR Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. See attachment.

The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

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. The Offeror's technical approach shall indicate compliance with the Scope of Work and describe an essential understanding of the requirements involved in accomplishing the work.

Basic cost and price information in the Offeror’s quote must contain sufficient information to allow the Government to perform a basic analysis of the reasonableness of the price and the ability of the Offeror to supply the required 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.

Respondents that believe that they are manufacturers or authorized resellers of the 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.

Offerors MUST include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items, with their offer, OR provide a copy of 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 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.

http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/

SUMMARY STATEMENT:

Responses to this notice must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The response shall include: the unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s); product description; and any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision. Such factors may include past performance; special features required for effective program performance; trade-in considerations;

probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item; warranty considerations;

maintenance availability; and environmental and energy efficiency considerations.