Sources Sought Notice.docx

Public Health Service

April 26, 2021

Sources Sought Notice/ Notice of Intent # HHSNIHODOLAOSGDryIce04262021

This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This pre-solicitation, sources sought/notice of intent that is being conducted in part as a market survey to find other qualified organizations that could fulfill this requirement.

Small business concerns, 8(a) small businesses, Woman-owned, small disadvantaged businesses, HUBZone small businesses and Service-disabled Veteran small business concerns with the appropriate corporate infrastructure and operational capabilities to adequately provide the services described in the Statement of Work should respond to this notice. The intended procurement will be classified under NAICS 325120.

This procurement will provide National Institutes of Health Supply Center (NIHSC) Dry Ice Program with Dry Ice services for throughout the NIH main campus and Off Campus buildings.

BACKGROUND

A. Background Information Dry ice is a critical item to the majority of the NIH research community. The community depends on the NIHSC GDC to meet their respective dry ice requirements by having ice delivered to their locations the day after their requisition is submitted. Dry ice has applicability in virtually every building in which NIH employees work. Approximately 45,000 boxes of crushed pellets and 1,500 boxes of block slabs were ordered and delivered during fiscal years 2019 and 2020.

Dry ice is utilized internally at NIH for a myriad of applications. Those applications include the preservation and storage of tissue cell cultures, transporting various samples, cold temperature stabilization, research preservation purposes, as well as back-up in the event of a power outage affecting refrigerated and/or frozen items. Failure to provide the community with reliable and/or dependable dry ice support could prove devastating and could also result in the loss of years of accumulated research, or a substantial monetary loss. These tissue cell cultures are at risk of being destroyed if not adequately stored on dry ice. Even a 24-hour delay in the delivery of dry ice could result in the loss of research, the value of which would be immeasurable.

OBJECTIVES

This procurement will provide NIH Dry Ice Program with dry ice services throughout the NiH Main Campus and off-campus buildings.

Respondents should email their organization’s capability statements to the address below by Wednesday May 10, 2021 @ 5:00PM. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. “The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).” This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public on betaSAM.GOV. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Submission of Capability Statements:

Virus free capability statements should be e- mailed to shawn.glen@nih.gov by the deadline.

Point of Contact:

Shawn Glen, Contracting Specialist, email: shawn.glen@nih.gov

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

National Institutes of Health Supply Center (NIHSC) Gaithersburg Distribution Center (GDC) Dry Ice Program

1. Background:

The NIHSC GDC serves as a staging area for receipt, storage and distribution of consumable products used in furthering the mission of NIH. The GDC warehouse primarily receives, stores and distributes material used in furthering the medical and/or research mission of the NIH Community. Products include but aren’t limited to consumable items for use in research laboratories, cleaning supplies, office products, chemicals, medical supplies and animal food and bedding. Additionally, the GDC manages and maintains a Dry Ice Program and a Compressed Gases (cylinders) Program. The GDC is seeking a contract with a qualified and capable partner (contractor) who will support the GDC with the necessary products and operational expertise necessary to efficiently maintain the Dry Ice Program.

The NIHSC currently offers a convenient ordering mechanism for Supply Center customers relative to dry ice. Customers are able to submit their respective dry ice requirements via NBS throughout (M-F) the week between the hours of 7:00am – 3:00pm. A dry ice order report is generated shortly after 3:00pm, and is subsequently faxed, emailed, or called in to the contractor. The dry ice is then delivered by the contractor during the next morning of the next business day, which includes deliveries to varying on/off campus locations prior to 5:00am.

Dry ice is a critical item to the majority of the NIH research community. The community depends on the NIHSC GDC to meet their respective dry ice requirements by having ice delivered to their locations the day after their requisition is submitted. Dry ice has applicability in virtually every building in which NIH employees work. Approximately 45,000 boxes of crushed pellets and 1,500 boxes of block slabs were ordered and delivered during fiscal years 2019 and 2020.

Dry ice is utilized internally at NIH for a myriad of applications. Those applications include the preservation and storage of tissue cell cultures, transporting various samples, cold temperature stabilization, research preservation purposes, as well as back-up in the event of a power outage affecting refrigerated and/or frozen items. Failure to provide the community with reliable and/or dependable dry ice support could prove devastating and could also result in the loss of years of accumulated research, or a substantial monetary loss. These tissue cell cultures are at risk of being destroyed if not adequately stored on dry ice. Even a 24-hour delay in the delivery of dry ice could result in the loss of research, the value of which would be immeasurable.

2. Statement of Work (SOW

2.1 This Statement of Work (SOW) is for the dry ice requirements of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The period of performance for this pending award will be December 2021 thru November 2026.

The contract line items (CLINS) will be ordered by SC Inventory Management Section (IMS) personnel and will be delivered to the respective activities listed in the schedule. The quantities shown in the schedule are estimates of each activity’s annual purchase.

2.2 The period of performance for this contract award will be (1) one base year and (4) one-year option(s) periods.

3. Purpose:

3.1 The purpose of this SOW is to describe requirements for the contractor to support the Dry Ice Program of the NIHSC. Historical and projected workloads are defined in the narrative portions of this SOW, which also include performance indicators identified that the NIHSC intends to monitor during the execution of these contract terms.

3.2 Please be advised that there will be no price modifications to the contract post-award, with the exception being in cases where the service and/or deliverable terms change. There will be no in-contract price adjustments to accommodate and/or alleviate changing market conditions (i.e. raw material cost increases, CO2 sourcing surcharges) for any contract awardee, so any/all potential offerors should submit their (price) proposals at pricing levels that allow them to offset any potential cost increases associated with sourcing and/or market volatility.

4. Objective:

4.1 The objective of this contract is to provide the NIH Community with products and delivery services of equal and/or better value than those currently provided, while supporting the unique dry ice requirements of the community at the best available price. These products and services should be provided in a timely and dependable manner.

4.2 The contractor shall be responsible for the furnishing and delivery of crushed pellets and (slab) block-type dry ice to multiple buildings on the NIH Main Campus, off-campus locations, and the GDC. Deliveries shall be made on Monday-Friday, excluding federal holidays and/or closings, and no later than 6:00am.

5. Ordering:

5.1 Dry Ice orders will be transmitted to the contractor by email, and the Dry Ice Report is generated daily at approximately 2:30pm daily.

5.3 The dry ice report is generated by the Inventory Management Section (IMS) at approximately 2:30pm daily. The report shall be transmitted to the contractor no later than 3:30pm daily. In the event of problems with Microsoft Outlook (email), the order will be transmitted via facsimile. The dry ice report is a summary of all dry ice scheduled for delivery the following day.

5.4 The daily dry ice report includes a “summary report” noting only the total quantities (of 50lb boxes of crushed pellets and block slabs) of dry ice (boxes) scheduled for delivery the following day; and a “detailed report” that includes the customer contact information (building, room, order #) in addition to the type of dry ice (pellet/slab) ordered. The reports will be grouped according to delivery locations, and will consist of:

(1) Bldg 10, Clinical Center (2) Bldg 50, Louis Stokes Laboratories (3) GDC (comprised of off-campus deliveries like Fisher Lane, Poolesville, and Parklawn) (4) All other main campus deliveries.

6. Deliveries:

6.1 Deliveries shall be made to the respective location (building) loading docks specified on the dry ice report (breakdown) sheet. The individual customer order sheets are to be left by the contractor with each loading dock delivery to identify the customers due to receive the delivered dry ice. The individual customer order sheets will then be used by the NIH dock master to deliver the dry ice to individual customers and obtain signatures.

6.2 The contractor shall submit and/or provide the delivery ticket each day for deliveries made on the previous day to the project officer and/or Contracting Officer Representative (COR). Delivery tickets shall include (at a minimum) the contractor’s name, contract number, and the total number of dry ice boxes (crushed pellets and block slabs).

6.3 Deliveries are to be from Monday thru Friday to the delivery point specified, excluding federal holidays. Deliveries are to be completed by the contractor no later than 6:00am.

6.4 See attached documentation ability to add new locations as needed.

7. Specification and Item Descriptions:

7.1 Unless otherwise indicated in the schedule of all medical gases, we expect the following products to adhere to the standards prescribed in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America:

Solicitation and/or Contract award CLINS:

NSN: 6830-01-164-7430, Description: 50lb Box of Dry Ice Crushed Pellets CO2 ¼” Tech Dry Ice Pellets, 50lbs Crushed Carbon Dioxide Rice Pellets Shall be Fed Spec: BBC104, Unit of Issue: Box, Standard Packaging: 50lb box 15-5260 NSN: 6830-01-165-6174, Description: 50lb Box of Dry Ice Cut Blocks/Slabs CO2 2” Tech Dry Ice Block Slabs, 50lbs (Sliced into 2” slabs, wrapped and sealed with 5 (slabs) per package for a total of 50lbs, Shall be Fed Spec: BBC104, Unit of Issue: Box, Standard packaging: 5 10lb packages/box

a) Quantity: 5,000 Boxes – Monthly (avg) Dry Ice Pellet demand

b) Quantity: 50 Boxes – Monthly (avg) Dry Ice Block/Slab demand

8. Reconciliation:

8.1 The contractor shall submit a monthly summary report to the Project Officer and/or COR by the 10th calendar day of each month, for the previous month’s completed deliveries. If the 10th calendar day of the month falls on a weekend and/or holiday, the contractor shall submit their monthly summary report to the Project Officer/COR the next working day. Upon completion of the monthly reconciliation by both the Project Officer/COR and the contractor, the order covering the period of performance will be finalized for payment.

20850

9800 Medical Center Dr 9615 Medical Center Dr Bldg 10 Dock

Bethesda

MD MD

MD

20850 20850 20892

Bldg 10A Dock Bldg 13 Dock

Bethesda

MD

MD

20892 20892

Bldg 29B Dock Bldg 30 Dock

Bethesda

MD

MD

20814 20892

Bldg 35A Dock Bldg 37 Dock

Bethesda

MD

MD

20892 20892

image1.png