RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION.NOTICE OF INTENT.75N94024Q00041.pdf

75N94024Q00041

INTRODUCTION

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME).

The National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Office of Acquisitions (OA) on behalf of the on behalf of the National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes & Kidney Diseases intends to award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION for the Acquisition of a Silver Service Contract Including: Parts & Labor, Eiger 4M (RP), and Haskris R250 Chiller.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 811210 with a Size Standard of $30.0.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2023-06 Effective December 4, 2023.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000).

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c) under provisions of the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 6.302- FAR 6.302-1—Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1).

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Base Year: 4/1/2024 to 3/31/2025 Option Year 1: 4/1/2024 to 3/31/2025 Option Year 2: 4/1/2024 to 3/31/2025

Place of Performance National Institutes of Health National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes & Kidney Diseases 5 South Drive Bethesda, MD 20892

PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

The Structural Biochemistry Section intends to renew the maintenance service contract covering an Eiger 4M (RP), and Haskris R250 Chiller and associated components.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The mission of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is to conduct and support medical research and research training and to disseminate science-based information on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases, to improve people’s health and quality of life.

The Laboratory of Molecular Biology Structural Biochemistry Section studies the molecular mechanisms underlying protein activity modulation. To function properly, cells must coordinate and choreograph a large number of simultaneous events and processes. Proteins carry out these essential processes. We primarily use X-ray crystallography to study how cells regulate the activity and function of protein-protein and protein-DNA complexes. X-ray crystallography produces high-resolution "snapshots" to visualize subtle changes in protein structure that often accompany functional regulation. With these snapshots in hand, we use a variety of biochemical, biophysical and simulation approaches to relate their structures and biological functions. Specific projects investigate how proteins control the movement of mobile genetic elements, such as transposons or viruses. One of our current areas of emphasis is the Rep protein of adeno-associated virus (AAV). This protein catalyzes the integration of the AAV genome into a specific locus in human chromosome 19, making it an extremely useful tool for gene therapy studies. In addition, we are studying how a ubiquitous group of chaperone proteins known as 14-3-3s are able to direct when and where in a cell to deliver proteins that regulate gene expression.

The objective of this requirement is to renew a service contract to provide reliable and operation X-ray diffraction instrumentation to researchers at NIDDK and collaborating researchers from other ICs.

SALIENT / REQUIRED FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS

The continued operation of all the equipment is essential and mission critical as the X-ray diffraction laboratory is an NIDDK resource and over 40 scientists are dependent on it for their research. The service contract offered by Rigaku Americas Corporation for the period extending between 04/01/2024 - 03/31/2025 covers the essential maintenance needs of these X-ray instruments. Rigaku Americas is the sole source of such maintenance contracts.

• Able to repair or replace all components covered under the service contract so that performance of the systems (such as X-ray flux density, X-ray beam stability and operational reliability) is not compromised but repaired or replaced without any explicit requirements of uptime

• Respond to service calls within in 72 hours

• Service must include 1 preventative maintenance visit during the period. Service must include 1 anode rebuild and balancing per X-ray generator covered (two in total)

• Service must include software support including phone support and upgrades

TASKS AREAS

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the contractor shall perform all of the detailed Task Areas listed below:

Task Area 1 – Shipping: Maintenance will be performed at National Institutes of Health, NIDDK, Bldg. 5, Room 434, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Task Area 2 – Support: Software support includes any available upgrades, phone and email support for assisting with software issues that may be encountered. Remote support is included to assist customers in performing simple tasks (i.e. simple alignments, diagnose system faults and troubleshoot software programs).

Task Area 3 – Warranty: There is a standard one-year warranty.

CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME)

DETERMINATION

The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10—Market Research. Only one source is available: Per FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) the Contracting Officer has determined RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION to be the only reasonable available source to provide a Silver Service Contract Including: Parts & Labor, Eiger 4M (RP), and Haskris R250 Chiller.

This acquisition was pursued on a sole source basis centered on the following. Rigaku Americas Corporation is the manufacturer of the equipment and parts and is the sole vendor who has the necessary expertise to repair, adjust, and calibrate the equipment. In addition, all software controlling the X-ray generators and X-ray detectors are proprietary software produced by Rigaku. They are only vendor offering service contracts with the quoted performance specifications on Rigaku made X-ray generators and X-ray detectors, and other required instrumentation.

RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION is the only company with access to performance verified component parts, spare parts, software, technical support, upgrades, and engineering resources to maintain the original operating specifications by RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION. RIGAKU’s technicians are the only certified and factory trained engineers available to service RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION instruments. The lab does not have the specialized, proprietary training needed to fix this instrument. This leaves us with 3 options; (1) episodic per-event payment for repair, (2) direct contract with the instrument vendor, or (3) contracting with an insurance/service management provider as a 3rd party which would indirectly pay for instrument service.

Because of the limited number of certified technicians and finite number of spare parts, the episodic approach leads to very long delays in instrument servicing. Disincentives for faster, more expensive repair (where excess parts used in addressing potential approaches to fixing the instrument cannot easily be returned to the contract engineer’s company, RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION) will reduce the efficiency of the 3rd party solution. This results in the need for a direct contracting solution, which is the most effective way of maintaining the instrument. The savings between options 2 and 3 are not as significant relative to the internal revenue from cost recovery which would be lost if there were just a few delays in repair (especially as knock-on effects lead to disproportionate delays in many types of project support).

Direct service by the vendor is superior to third party insurance-like coverage because service provided by technicians from the vendor include delivery of multiple fix kits to cover a single issue prior to a service call.

Third party providers are unable to support a rapid response time to service calls. Failure to use RIGAKU AMERICAS CORPORATION to service the Eiger 4M (RP) and Haskris R250 Chiller and its many components may result in voiding any manufacturer warranties on the equipment, delays for software upgrades and repairs, and could result in inaccurate research results that in turn could result in The Laboratory of Molecular Biology Structural Biochemistry Section’s failure to meet its mission.

CLOSING STATEMENT

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: descriptive literature, delivery timeframe, warranties and/or other information that demonstrates that the offer meets all the foregoing requirements, 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 to this notice shall be submitted electronically by 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time, on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 to the Contract Specialist, Amber Harris, at amber.harris@nih.gov .

Assessment of Capability Lowest Price Technically Acceptable http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:amber.harris@nih.gov