Force/Torque Sensor Upgrade for Yaskawa Motoman SIA20F Robot

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE
Force/Torque Sensor Upgrade for Yaskawa Motoman SIA20F Robot
 

Contracting Opportunities Announcement Type: Special Notice
Announcement Number: NIST-NOI-20-01542
Subject: Force/Torque Sensor Upgrade for Yaskawa Motoman SIA20F Robot
 

Introduction
This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued and quotations will not be requested.

Purpose
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with Yaskawa America, Inc. located at 100 Automation Way, Miamisburg, OH 45342-4962. The purchase order will be for a force/torque sensor upgrade to one Motoman SIA20F Robot.

Authority
This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106(b)(1) allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. The small business size standard is 1,000 employees.

Description
Please see the attached Statement of Need/Required Specifications document for details.

Sole Source Determination
The sole source determination is based on the following:

The NIST Engineering Laboratory (EL) Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) owns and operates a Motoman SAI20F Robot which is proprietary to its original equipment manufacturer, Yaskawa America, Inc. The NIST EL ISD now needs to add a force/torque sensor to the end effector of the Motoman SAI20F Robot to have the capability to accomplish the NIST EL ISD's robotics-related mission.  It is imperative that the upgrade be fully compatible with the existing robot to ensure continuity and integrity of research data, and the continued full operational performance of the robot.

Only Yaskawa America, Inc., the original equipment manufacturer of the Motoman SIA20F robot, makes a force/torque sensor that is fully compatible with the Motoman SIA20F robot.  Accordingly, only Yaskawa America, Inc. is capable of meeting this requirement and a sole source acquisition is necessary.

Information for Interested Parties
Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Ms. Lauren Roller, Contract Specialist, at Lauren.Roller@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to Lauren.Roller@nist.gov so that they are received no later than April 13, 2020 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time.

Each response should include the following Business Information:

1. Contractor Name, Address,
2. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address
3. Contractor DUNS
4. Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, hubZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must register in the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/#1
5. Capability Statement