THERMO ELECTRON NORTH AMERICA LLC.NOTICE OF INTENT.75N94025Q00048.pdf

RFQ# 75N94025Q00048

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 THERMO ELECTRON NORTH AMERICA LLC for the Acquisition of a Service Contract for Thermo Lumos Mass Spectrometer.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 811210 with a Size Standard of $34.0.

PRIMARY PRODUCT/SERVICE CODE

J066 - MAINT/REPAIR/REBUILD OF EQUIPMENT- INSTRUMENTS AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

PURCHASE ORDER TYPE

This purchase order will be Firm Fixed Price, with payment terms per the vendor allowance being a large business (net 30).

REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2025-03 Effective January 17, 2025.

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: 3/30/2025 – 3/29/2026 Option Year 1: 3/30/2026 – 3/29/2027 Option Year 2: 3/30/2027 – 3/29/2028

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

Place of Performance National Institutes of Health National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes & Kidney Diseases 8 Central Drive Bethesda, MD 20892

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

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.

NIDDK’s Advanced Mass Spectrometry Core Facility (AMSCF) offers important support through a wide but not all-encompassing range of technical areas in protein analysis. For many years this has included analysis of pull-down experiments which help researchers identify important interactions between known and unknown proteins in biological systems. Recently, comparative studies have been performed which detect even small differences in the apparent relative amounts of thousands of proteins. Furthermore, the facility has developed a capability to analyze cross-linked protein samples that should provide researchers with ways of testing structural models. Although sample quality will always be the most important factor in whether a project succeeds, the sensitivity and the analysis speed of the mass spectrometer share in being the next most important factor in analysis. NIDDK AMSCF had supported these activities with two different instruments.

These two instruments were supplanted by a single, more modern instrument in December 2017. The maintenance period of this modern instrument has now passed, and the lab requires service through a service contract. Due to the complexity of this piece of equipment, it requires skilled technicians above and beyond what is typically seen with standard scientific equipment. Interruption of normal analysis support using this instrument can lead to significant delays. Therefore, the procurement of a service contract mechanism is necessary for continued analysis support using this instrument.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The objective of this order is to procure maintenance of a LUMOS instrument installed by Thermo. The Lumos Mass Spectrometer instrument is an advanced, high-speed and sensitive instrument performing a wide variety of experiments.

SALIENT / REQUIRED FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS

Response to instrument problems including remote diagnosis of potential faults and the ability to drop ship multiple “fix kits” is required to avoid interference of service delays with PI section research. On site repair and one PM in the first contract year.

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 – Work will be done on site or through remotely diagnosing problems. One preventive maintenance will occur toward the end of the contract period. –

• Field Service Engineer labor, travel, and parts required for Corrective Maintenance visits with a targeted response time of 3 business days

• Priority status for technical support inquiries with a targeted immediate response time. A certified service engineer will conduct diagnosis and Corrective Maintenance procedures using the latest digital remote support tools

• One (1) scheduled annual standard Preventive Maintenance visit (standard PM kit included)

• Access to Unity Lab Services Online Knowledge Base

• 10% discount on spare parts (not covered by corrective maintenance), accessories, and consumables for the instruments covered under this contract and during the effective period of this contract (please ask for the discount when contacting your local Thermo Fisher Scientific parts ordering department)

• Software and firmware updates upon request and in conjunction with a scheduled Preventive Maintenance or Corrective Maintenance visit (updates are defined as changes of the existing software version that are intended to improve its performance)

• 10% discount off list price for the training classes purchased during the contract validity period. May not be available in all locations or used in conjunction with any other discounts or promotions (please check availability with your local Thermo Fisher sales representative or customer service team)

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 THERMO ELECTRON NORTH AMERICA LLC to be the only reasonable available source to provide a Service Contract for Thermo Lumos Mass Spectrometer.

This acquisition was pursued on a sole source basis centered on the following. The Lumos instrument is a complex, modern instrument that can only be serviced by the certified technicians at Thermo Electron (aside from basic functions and maintenance we are able to do ourselves). 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, Thermo Electron) 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).

This is a highly specialized piece of equipment that requires skilled technicians above and beyond what is typically seen with standard scientific equipment. 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 an may not have access to manufacturer parts for repairs.

Direct service by the vendor is superior to third party insurance-like coverage because third party providers are unable to support a rapid response time to service calls. Failure to use THERMO ELECTRON NORTH AMERICA LLC to service the Thermo Lumos Mass Spectrometer 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 NIDDK’s Advanced Mass Spectrometry Core Facility’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 Monday, March 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