CSS_16-04053.pdf

CLASSIFICATION CODE: 66 - Instruments and Laboratory Equipment

TITLE: - Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) System

SOLICITATION NUMBER: SB1341-16-RQ-1019

RESPONSE DATE: September 1, 2016

CONTACT POINTS: Robert Cowins, Contract Specialist, (301) 975-8335

Abdul-Kudus Yahaya, Contracting Officer, (301) 975-8802

DESCRIPTION:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for Administrative and Management Support Services to be utilized by Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL

ITEMS 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. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY

SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A SEPARATE

WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS

BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER THE

AUTHORITY OF FAR PART 13.

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) 2005-89.

1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010)

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to robert.cowins@nist.gov. Questions should be received no later than 3 calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation.

Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

(End of Provision)

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516 with a small business size standard of $20.5 million. This requirement is unrestricted and all interested vendors may submit a quotation.

mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov

All offerors shall provide a quotation for the following line items:

Line Item 0001:

Quantity: 1 Unit of Issue: Lot Description: Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) system Delivery Date: 3 months after receipt of order

Statement of Work

Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) system to be installed on a JEOL 7600F scanning electron microscope (SM17610023) for acquisition EBSD data along with simultaneous backscattered electron and energy-dispersive X-Ray imaging for microstructural characterization of portland cement clinker and cements, aggregates, and hardened concretes.

The system must consist of a minimum of the following items:

1) Two PC-based Workstations

a) 24” wide-screen LCD monitor, at least 1900 x 1200 pixel resolution

b) Windows 7

c) at least 16 GB memory

d) at least a 2 TB 7200 rpm drive

e) at least 4 USB 3 ports

f) at least 4 USB 2 ports

g) DVD/RW drive

h) Keyboard and mouse

2) Ability to control operations of a JEOL 7600F scanning electron microscope, including x, y, z, tilt, and rotation stage movements and scan rates with user-selectable setting and batch processing for acquisition time, stage movement control, data saving in specified formats, and beam blanking for unattended operation,

3) Pin or cylinder mount suitable for standard JEOL 7600F stage to provide the 70 degree inclination of a specimen required for examination,

4) High-resolution camera of at least 1.5 MP with 12-bit resolution, capable of functioning at microscope operating conditions as low as 5 kV and 0.1 nA,

5) Forward scatter and backscatter diodes mounted on detector nose for imaging secondary electrons (topography), composition (phase contrast) and texture (orientation) of a specimen at the high tilts required for EBSD,

6) The ability to shift the EBSD detector screen and the EDS detector inclination while collecting data, to provide improved detection capabilities. Automatic feedback of detector settings for calibrations as well as the means for user-directed calibration,

7) Automatic and manual control of the camera settings to collect properly exposed images,

8) The ability to collect and store EDS data in conjunction with the EBSD data to facilitate the identification of mineral constituents as the data are collected and to provide for off-line re-analysis after the data are collected and stored,

9) Software tools to process and analyze EBSD and EBSD/EDS data including

a) processing and analysis of the EBSD patterns utilizing any of the user-selectable crystal structure databases listed in item #10,

b) Ability to utilize both EDS and EBSD data in the analyses,

c) EBSD pattern simulation of phases from any of the crystal structure databases,

d) the ability to export images in formats in the native resolution of the EBSD camera as gray-scale TIF, PNG, and JPG formats

e) SEM and EDS image archiving as TIF and PNG (at least one format with 8 bit and 16 bit sample depths, single image plane, and option for raw counts), JPG (at least 8-bit single image plane) and raw count data as a TIF or a PNG, or a JPG gray-scale image file from all instrument inputs. Phase index images for single- and multi-phase specimens,

f) additional software license to perform off-line data analysis on a separate computer system

10) Crystal Structure databases

a) Manufacturer supplied crystal structures, installed

b) Permanent ICSD structure license, installation

c) American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database, installed

d) Ability to create a user database through importing crystal structure models using the crystallographic information file (CIF) format

11) System installation and integration with EDS, additional workstation (Windows 7), testing and training in operation and analysis of data. System shall be installed at NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus.

Inspection and Acceptance Criteria

The NIST Technical Point of Contact will evaluate installation for acceptability.

Risk Levels

The requirement has been deemed IT Low Risk.

PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES:

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference. All FAR clauses may be viewed at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/.

Provisions

52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items

Representation by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction Under Any Federal Law (Class Deviation) (March 2015)

(1) In accordance with Sections 744 and 745 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), none of the funds made available by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 funding may be used to enter into a contract with any corporation that-

(a) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, where an awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and has made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government, or

(b) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

(2) The Offeror represents that, as of the date of this offer -

(a) It is [ ] is not [ ] a corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

(b) It is [ ] is not [ ] a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability.

(End of provision)

Certification by Offerors Regarding Federal Income Tax Filing and Federal Income Tax Violations. (Class Deviation) (March 2015)

(a) In accordance with Section 523 of Division B, Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, (Pub. L. 113-235) none of the funds made available by the Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 unless the prospective contractor certifies in writing to the U.S. Consolidated and Further Continuing that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, the contractor has filed all Federal tax returns required during the three years preceding the certification, has not been convicted of a criminal offense under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and has not, more than 90 days prior to certification, been notified of any unpaid Federal tax assessment for which the liability remains unsatisfied, unless the assessment is the subject of an installment agreement or offer in compromise that has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service and is not in default, or the assessment is the subject of a non-frivolous administrative or judicial proceeding.

(b) The offeror’s proposal shall include a signed written certification as follows – To the best of my knowledge and belief, ---(name of offeror)--- has filed the Federal tax returns required during the three years preceding this certification, has not been convicted of a criminal offense under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and has not, more than 90 days prior to certification, been notified of any unpaid Federal tax assessment for which the liability remains unsatisfied, unless the assessment is the subject of an installment agreement or offer in compromise that has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service and is not in default, or the assessment is the subject of a non-frivolous administrative or judicial proceeding.

Firm _____________________________________________ Signature _________________________________________ Name ____________________________________________ Title _____________________________________________ Date of execution __________________________________

(End of Provision)

52.203-98, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements—Representation (DEVIATION 2015-02)

(a) In accordance with section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Resolution Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), Government agencies are not permitted to use funds appropriated (or otherwise made available) under that or any other Act for contracts with an entity that requires employees or subcontractors of such entity seeking to report fraud, waste, or abuse to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

(b) The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this provision does not contravene requirements applicable to Standard Form 312, Form 4414, or any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information.

(c) Representation. By submission of its offer, the Offeror represents that it does not require employees or subcontractors of such entity seeking to report fraud, waste, or abuse to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

(End of provision) Clauses

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 (APR 2010)-- including subparagraphs:

52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government 52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First Tier Subcontract Awards 52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest when subcontracting with Contractor’s Debarred, Suspended or proposed for Debarment 52.209-10 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program 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, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities;

52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving 52.225-13, Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases;

52.232-30, Installment Payments for Commercial Items 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer- System for Award Management.

1352.201-70 Contracting Officer’s Authority 1352.209-73 Compliance with The Laws 1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest 1352.237-71 Security Processing Requirements - Low Risk Contracts 1352.237-73 Foreign national visitor and guest access to departmental resources

(a) The contractor shall comply with the provisions of Department Administrative Order 207–12, Foreign National Visitor and Guest Access Program; Bureau of Industry and Security Export

Administrative Regulations Part 734, and [insert operating unit counsel specific procedures]. The contractor shall provide the Government with notice of foreign nationals requiring access to any Department of Commerce facility or through a Department of Commerce IT system.

(b) The contractor shall identify each foreign national who requires access to any Departmental resources, and shall provide all requested information in writing to the Contracting Officer's Representative.

(c) The contractor shall include the substance of this clause, including this paragraph, in all subcontracts.

(End of clause)

52.203-99, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements (DEVIATION 2015-02)

(a) The Contractor shall not require employees or subcontractors seeking to report fraud, waste, or abuse to sign or comply with internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

(b) The contractor shall notify employees that the prohibitions and restrictions of any internal confidentiality agreements covered by this clause are no longer in effect.

(c) The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this clause does not contravene requirements applicable to Standard Form 312, Form 4414, or any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information.

(d) In accordance with section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Resolution Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), use of funds appropriated (or otherwise made available) under that or any other Act may be prohibited, if the Government determines that the Contractor is not in compliance with the provisions of this clause.

(2) The Government may seek any available remedies in the event the Contractor fails to comply with the provisions of this clause.

Assurance by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction Under Any Federal Law (Class Deviation) (March 2015)

(1) In accordance with Sections 744 and 745 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), none of the funds made available by Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 and subsequent appropriations acts may be used to enter into a contract with any corporation that -

(a) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, where an awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government, or

(b) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

(2) By accepting this award or order, in writing or by performance, the offeror/contractor assures that -

(a) The offeror/contractor is not a corporation convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

(b) The offeror/contractor is not a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability.

(End of Provision)

National Institute of Standards and Technology Clauses.

NIST LOCAL 04 BILLING INSTRUCTIONS

(a) NIST prefers electronic Invoice/Voucher submissions and they should be emailed to

INVOICE@NIST.GOV. (b) Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following: (1)

Contract Number. (2) Contractor Name and Address. (3) Date of Invoice. (4) Invoice Number. (5)

Amount of Invoice and Cumulative Amount Invoiced to-date. (6) Contract Line Item Number

(CLIN). (7) Description, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Unit Price, and Extended Price of

Supplies/Services Delivered. (8) Prompt Payment Discount Terms, if Offered. (9) Any other information or documentation required by the contract. (c) In the event electronic submissions are mailto:INVOICE@NIST.GOV not used, The Contractor shall submit an original invoice or voucher in accordance with the payment provisions of this contract to: NIST: Accounts Payable Office 100 Bureau Drive, Mail

Stop 1621 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1621.

INSTRUCTIONS:

System for Award Management (SAM)

In accordance with FAR 52.204-7, the awardee must be registered in SAM (www.sam.gov) prior to award. Refusal to register shall forfeit award.

Required Information

The Government will not consider any quotation without the information required by this solicitation.

Due Date for Quotations

Offerors shall submit their quotations so that NIST receives them not later than 12:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on Friday, September 1, 2016. FAX and hard-copy quotations shall not be accepted. E-mail quotations shall be accepted at robert.cowins@nist.gov. Offerors’ quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered into the e-mail address inbox set forth above. Late quotes will not be accepted.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Quotation Preparation Instructions

1) Price Quotation: The pricing quotation shall be separate from any other portion of the quotation. The offeror shall propose a firm-fixed-price for each CLIN. Price quotations shall remain valid for a period of 90 days from the date quotations are due.

2) Technical Quotation: The technical quotation shall address the following:

Technical Capability: The offeror shall submit a technical description or product literature for the equipment it is proposing, which clearly identifies the manufacturer, make and model. The offeror must demonstrate that its proposed equipment meets or exceeds each minimum requirement described in the statement of work by providing a citation to the relevant section of its technical description or product literature. Evidence that the Offeror is authorized by the original equipment manufacturer to provide the item(s) should be included in the quotation if the offeror is not the manufacturer. The Offerors shall acknowledge that NIST will not store the equipment onsite before it is installed.

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions: This is an open-market solicitation for equipment as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov solicitation that will include the clauses set forth herein. The quotation should include one of the following statements:

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

OR

“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)

Note: 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:

Evaluation Factors

Award shall be made to the offeror whose quotation offers lowest priced, technically acceptable solution.

Technical Capability: No prototypes, demonstration models, used or refurbished instruments will be considered. Evaluation of technical capability shall be based on the information provided in the quotation. NIST will evaluate whether the offeror has demonstrated that its proposed equipment meets or exceeds all minimum requirements. Quotations that do not demonstrate the proposed equipment meets all requirements will not be considered further for award. If an offeror does not indicate whether its proposed equipment meets a certain minimum requirement, NIST will determine that it does not.

Price: The Government will evaluate price for reasonableness.

1352.233-70 AGENCY PROTESTS (APR 2010)

(a) An agency protest may be filed with either: (1) the contracting officer, or (2) at a level above the contracting officer, with the appropriate agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 Fed. Reg. 16,651 (April 6, 1999)

(b) Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: YAHAYA, ABDUL-KUDUS , CONTRACTING OFFICER

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(c) Agency protests filed with the agency Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO)

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(d) A complete copy of all agency protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority.

(e) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

1352.233-71 GAO AND COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS PROTESTS (APR 2010)

(a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed.

(b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims.

(c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858