RFQ_SB1341-13-RQ-0271.pdf

TITLE: X-RAY DIFFRACTION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

SOLICITATION NO.: SB1341-13-RQ-0271

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL SERVICES

PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6 –

STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR

COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. FAR PART 13 SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES

ARE UTILIZED IN THIS PROCUREMENT. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE

ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN

SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-66.***

*** The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 811219 with a small business size standard of $19.0M. This acquisition is 100% set-aside for small business***

***The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requires a maintenance service agreement for an array of X-ray diffraction equipment which is used on a routine basis by researchers.

***All interested small businesses may provide a firm fixed-price (quarterly, in arrears) quotation for the following:

BASE PERIOD: 05/01/2013 through 04/30/2014

CLIN 0001: Annual XRD Systems Service Agreement, to include one (1) routine service call per year and unlimited emergency service visits, as outlined in the Statement of Work (SoW).

QUANTITY: 4 QR

STATEMENT OF WORK

Maintenance of X-ray Diffraction Systems

I. BACKGROUND

This requirement is for maintenance of X-ray diffraction equipment that is used on a routine basis by approximately 20 researchers in NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory [MML] (Materials Measurement Science and Materials Science & Engineering Divisions). The equipment is used for routine screening, analysis, and identification of crystalline solids which is a critical component of at least six research activities in the MML. The equipment is more than

15 years old and includes instruments supplied by different manufacturers. Most of the instruments have been extensively customized by NIST staff to enhance their measurement capability. The equipment requires repair parts that sometimes are available new, but are often no longer manufactured or were supplied by companies that no longer exist; therefore, the Contractor must have prompt access to the used-equipment market in order to obtain used repair parts in a timely manner and keep the equipment functional. Because projects often cannot proceed to the next step until materials and products are identified, this will prevent delays in completing project goals.

II. OBJECTIVE

The objective is to maintain each of the instruments in good operational condition to ensure availability for measurements at all times.

III. SCOPE

Maintain a suite of X-ray diffraction instruments, routinely used by numerous NIST researchers, to ensure each remains operational and is available for measurements.

The Contractor shall provide a performance-based service maintenance agreement, which shall include the use of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) equipment/components (when available), for X-ray diffraction systems located in Bldg 223, Rooms B221 & B215, at the NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, campus, consisting of:

A. Siemens D-500 diffractometer (S/N T05-1145) including K710H generator, NIM measuring system, sample changer, DACO-MP interface

B. Four (4) Norelco Phillips goniometers/diffractometers (customized by NIST staff) Model No S/N

42273 1 PPHC

42271 0 60-261 42267 0 51-123 42270 0 57-263

C. Four (4) Spellman Generators:

model no. DF60N3X2803, S/N’s: C24392-002, C23917-001, C16613-037 model no. DXR3000, S/N C009575

D. Four (4) Norelco detector measuring electronics S/Ns: HN511170, HN101387, S20609, S206100

E. Two (2) Maxwell Electronics Stepper Motor Controllers S/Ns: 851113, 851039

F. Six (6) RADIX Databox Interfaces S/Ns: 83030, 83032, 83033, 83031, 83032a, 83075

External computers and water chillers are not included.

IV. DELIVERY

The service agreement shall include one (1) routine service visit annually and unlimited emergency service visits.

ROUTINE SERVICE: The Conractor shall take action necessary to ensure that equipment covered under the agreement is functioning properly and shall inspect, clean, make minor adjustments, verify operation, and perform general system tests for one annual routine visit.

UNLIMITED EMERGENCY SERVICE: shall be provided by the Contractor on an unscheduled basis when notified by NIST that the equipment is inoperable.

V. GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED PROPERTY, MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT, AND/OR

INFORMATION (GFP, GFM, GFE, AND/OR GFI)

NIST will provide access to the X-ray diffraction systems in this SoW post contract award.

NIST will order and pay for parts (i.e., electronic boards/power supplies/mechanical gears/X-ray tubes, etc.) that require replacement on the x-ray diffraction systems – these are ancillary components and are not part of this requirement.

VI. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Routine and emergency services shall be conducted at the NIST, Gaithersburg, MD campus M-F during the period 8AM-6PM, excluding Federal holidays.

VII. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS OF KEY PERSONNEL

Certified and trained specialist in high-voltage X-ray diffraction equipment with 15-yrs. min.

experience.

VIII. PERFORMANCE STANDARD

a) The X-ray diffraction systems shall function according to manufacturer’s specifications and applicable controlling standards at all times during the maintenance period, unless maintenance or repairs are being performed.

b) Response time for emergency repairs shall not exceed 48 hours (two business days) from the time a call is placed for an appointment to be scheduled.

c) Field service reporting shall be applicable for documenting any on-site visit for maintenance/repair; each report shall include: name of service technician, date of service, description of service required, description of service performed, time log, and listing of expenses and charges.

IX. ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL)

a) Functional X-ray diffraction systems performing during the service period in accordance with generally accepted standards prevailing in the instrument maintenance/repair industry applicable.

b) Adequate response times not to exceed that stipulated under the above performance standard.

c) A properly completed field service report submitted to the NIST Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) immediately after any maintenance/repair has been performed.

X. QUALITY CONTROL PLAN (QCP)

All remedial and planned maintenance service provided shall be performed efficiently and effectively by factory-trained and certified technicians according to Contractor’s established periodic maintenance procedures for the equipment as recorded in the instruments field service manuals, to ensure optimal performance of the systems, and help maintain maximum uptime. A properly documented field service report shall be presented to the NIST COR upon completion of each service call.

XI. MONITORING METHOD

The NIST COR will be the designated Government representative monitoring the level of service, response times, and reporting provided during the term of this service contract agreement.

At no time is the Contractor to remove any equipment from the NIST facility without the written authorization of a Government representative.

***The above performance standards, quality control plan, acceptable quality levels, and monitoring method will apply to the base period and all option years***.

***END OF STATEMENT OF WORK***

OPTION YEAR 1: 05/01/2014 through 04/30/2015

CLIN 0002: XRD Systems Service Agreement, to include one (1) routine service call per year and unlimited emergency service visits, as outlined in the Statement of Work (SoW) above.

QUANTITY: 4 QR

OPTION YEAR 2: 05/01/2015 through 04/30/2016

CLIN 0003: Annual XRD Systems Service Agreement, to include one (1) routine service call per year and unlimited emergency service visits, as outlined in the Statement of Work (SoW) above.

QUANTITY: 4 QR

OPTION YEAR 3: 05/01/2016 through 04/30/2017

CLIN 0004: Annual XRD Systems Service Agreement, to include one (1) routine service call per year and unlimited emergency service visits, as outlined in the Statement of Work (SoW) above.

QUANTITY: 4 QR

OPTION YEAR 4: 05/01/2017 through 04/30/2018

CLIN 0005: Annual XRD Systems Service Agreement, to include one (1) routine service call per year and unlimited emergency service visits, as outlined in the Statement of Work (SoW) above.

QUANTITY: 4 QR

***INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS***

***All vendors shall submit the following:

Technical Quotation (Vol. I), Past Performance/References (Vol. II) and a Business/Pricing Quotation (Vol. III), as three (3) separate electronic files. Incomplete quotations may be considered non-responsive and removed from further consideration. Quotations shall be clearly and concisely written as well as being neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. All pages of each part shall be appropriately numbered and identified with the name of the offeror, the date, and the solicitation number. A one-page transmittal letter signed by an individual authorized to commit the organization shall be transmitted with the quotation to the Government. Each quotation shall be on 8.5” x 11” paper, in a commercially standard font, not smaller than 12 point font. Each page in the quotation shall be separately numbered. The quotation shall be limited to ten (10) single-sided, single-spaced pages (excluding the letter of transmittal, resumes, certifications, cover letter, and past-performance [reference] information).

Overall Arrangement of Documents

Technical Quotation addressing all technical subfactors (Volume I) - No pricing information shall be included in the technical quotation Past Performance/References (Volume II) Business/Pricing Quotation (Volume III)

VOLUME I: TECHNICAL

1. Key Personnel Qualifications

The offeror shall provide training certification and demonstrate the proposed key personnel’s level of experience as defined in Section VII in maintaining X-ray Diffraction Systems.

2. Technical Capability

The offeror shall provide sufficient information to demonstrate: a) its ability to fulfill the Government’s requirement for servicing customized X-ray Diffraction Systems residing in a research environment at a large private, government, or university laboratory; and, b) it’s ability to readily access the used-equipment market for the purpose of obtaining used repair parts for older components.

VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE/REFERENCES

The offeror shall provide past performance information for work of the same or similar nature performed within the last three (3) years of contracts for relevant work of a similar type and scope as the current requirement with federal, state or local governments and/or commercial customers. If the offeror has no relevant past performance it should include a statement to that effect in its quotation. The government reserves the right to consider past performance data obtained from sources other than those provided by the offeror in its quotation.

The description of each reference described in this section shall not exceed a half page. For each of the contracts, the offeror shall provide the following information:

• Contract number

• Client’s name and address and point of contact, including telephone number and e-mail address

• Dollar value

• Period of performance

• Narrative describing the requirement and its relevance to the current requirement

• Name of contracting officer or point of contact, telephone number and e-mail address

The offeror may include: a) past performance information regarding any problems encountered on the contracts described above and corrective actions taken to resolve those problems; and b) Any quality awards or certifications, letters of appreciation, commendations, industry recognition of excellence or special awards received with respect to performance of services.

The offeror shall describe when the award, certification, etc. was received, and may provide as an attachment to this part.

VOLUME III: PRICE

1. Price - firm, fixed-price, quarterly in-arrears, for the required maintenance services. Advance payment will not be considered. Offerors shall include the appropriate page(s) from its established service contract price list, applicable to the instrumentation defined herein.

***CLAUSES

The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html

The following provisions apply to this acquisition:

http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html

52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items;

52.217-5 Evaluation of Options;

52.222-22 Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports;

52.222-25 Affirmative Action Compliance;

52.225-25 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Sanctioned Activities Relating to Iran – Representation and Certification

All interested offerors must be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) website located at https://www.sam.gov and must complete annual representations on-line in SAM in accordance with FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items. If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required.

The following clauses apply to this acquisition:

52.204-9 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel;

52.204-99 System for Award Management Registration;

52.217-8 Option to Extend Services;

52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract;

52.223-5 Pollution Prevention and Right-to-Know Information;

52.232-18 Availability of Funds;

52.232-99 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors;

52.245-1 Government Property;

52.237-2 Protection of Government Buildings, Equipment, and Vegetation;

52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference;

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items;

52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders— Commercial Items including subparagraphs:

52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards;

52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment;

52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside;

52.219-13 Notice of Set-Aside of Orders;

52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Re-representation;

52.222-3 Convict Labor;

52.222-19 Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies;

52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities;

52.222-26 Equal Opportunity;

52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities;

52.223-18 Contractor Policy to Ban Text Messaging While Driving;

52.225-1 Buy American Act—Supplies;

52.225-3 Buy American Act—Free Trade Agreements – Israeli Trade Act;

https://www.sam.gov/

52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases; and 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration

52.222-51 Exemption from Application of the Service Contract Act to Contracts for Maintenance, Calibration, or Repair of Certain Equipment—Requirements

The following Department of Commerce (CAR) provision applies to this acquisition:

1352.213-70 Evaluation Utilizing Simplified Acquisition Procedures

The following Department of Commerce (CAR) clauses apply to this acquisition:

1352.201-70 Contracting Officer’s Authority;

1352.201-72 Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR);

1352.208-70 Restrictions on Printing and Duplicating;

1352.209-72 Restrictions Against Disclosure;

1352.209-73 Compliance with the Laws;

1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest;

1352.237-71 Security Processing Requirements—Low Risk;

1352.237-75 Key Personnel;

1352.246-70 Place of Acceptance;

1352.270-70 Period of Performance; and

Other appropriate clauses as needed

Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level above the Contracting Officer is also incorporated. It can be downloaded at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm

***This is an Open-Market Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for services as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this Combined Synopsis/Solicitation that will include the terms and conditions that are set forth herein. In order to facilitate the award process, ALL quotes shall include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows:

The Offeror shall state “The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition.”

OR

The Offeror shall state “The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:

Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s).

http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm

Offerors that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration.

***Please note that this procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an Offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the Offeror’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

***QUOTATION EVALUATION***

The Government will award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quotation is the most highly rated, and conforming to the solicitation, results in the best value to the Government, non-price and price factors considered. NIST reserves the right to make award to other than the lowest-priced offeror or to the offeror ranked highest technically, if it determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government.

The Government intends to make a single award but reserves the right to make multiple awards or make no award as a result of this RFQ.

The Government intends to evaluate quotations and award a purchase order without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial quotation should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any and or all quotations if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest price quotation; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in quotation received.

Non-price factors are listed in descending order of importance. Technical is more important than Past Performance. Technical subfactors are of equal importance. Technical and Past Performance, when combined, are more important than price. The relative importance of price will increase with the degree of evaluated equality of the technical factors.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

***Technical

1. Key Personnel Qualifications

Resume’s/Certification’s of the proposed key personnel will be evaluated to determine the extent to which their background, education, work experience, and accomplishments demonstrate their ability to effectively service customized X-ray Diffraction Systems.

2. Technical Capability

The Government will evaluate the offeror’s ability to: a) service X-ray Diffraction Systems, residing in a research environment at a large private, government, or university laboratory; and,

b) source the used-equipment market for the purpose of obtaining used repair parts for older components.

***Past Performance

The Government will evaluate the offeror's past performance information to determine its relevance to the current requirements and the extent to which it demonstrates that the offeror has successfully completed relevant contracts in the past three years. In assessing the offeror's past performance, NIST may evaluate the quality, timeliness, and ability to control cost and schedule of the past work. The Government will assign a neutral rating to offerors with no relevant past performance in the past three years. Past performance will be evaluated by contacting appropriate references, including NIST references, if applicable.

***Price

The Government will evaluate the offeror's proposed in-arrears prices and compare to the offeror’s established price list pages to determine whether the proposed prices comply with the instructions articulated above and are realistic, complete, and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements. Discounts from the Contractor’s established price list are allowable.

The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

***Offerors shall e-mail their quotation to randy.schroyer@nist.gov so that it is received by the response date/time for this solicitation. It is the responsibility of the offeror to confirm NIST’s receipt of its quotation. Each quotation shall include sufficient data to allow the Government to determine the amount, realism and consistency of the quoted fixed price.

***All questions regarding this solicitation shall be submitted in writing via e-mail to the Contract Specialist, Randy Schroyer, at randy.schroyer@nist.gov no later than March 27, 2013.

***The due date and time for receipt of quotations is April 3, 2013 no later than 4:00PM EST.

mailto:randy.schroyer@nist.gov mailto:randy.schroyer@nist.gov