Intent to award to a single source - maintenance for miseq, illumina

INTENT TO AWARD TO A SINGLE SOURCE

NOAA's NMFS, Alaska Fisheries Science Center intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (1), Illumina, Inc.

The Auke Bay Laboratories Genetics Program uses a plethora of next-generation sequencing

protocols, including but not limited to environmental DNA (eDNA), Genotyping-in-Thousands by

sequencing (GT-seq), and restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq), all of which are

run on an Illumina MiSeq Sequencing Instrument. Annual preventative maintenance on this instrument by highly-trained specialist engineers is crucial for continued production of high-

quality, reproducible next-generation sequencing for fish species identification and genetic stock identification, which are crucial to our agency’s mission.

An award will be issued for annual preventative maintenance service contract (with three additional option years) for the Illumina MiSeq DNA sequencing platform (Serial number: M05569). The service requirement is to include full support within 72 hours for all parts failures due to normal wear and tear (parts, labor, travel), one preventative maintenance visit per year (parts, labor, travel), unlimited software and firmware updates, and unlimited telephone support. Preventative

maintenance includes travel to and from the site, annual inspection, re-calibration, performance

verification of subassembly and electro-mechanical components, and certification that the

instrument is performing to specifications.

The required service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing

systems or equipment and the source is uniquely qualified to meet the requirement. Illumina is the only company that offers maintenance for the MiSeq platform, which is highly specialized scientific equipment. Illumina is uniquely qualified and offers exceptional experienced technical support and service. Third Party Service Providers will not be considered.  Highly specialized instruments such as the MiSeq require consistently-timed annual maintenance and a rapid response to address malfunctions in order to benefit from the high quality results the instrument is designed to produce.

Award for this requirement will be in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. Anticipated value will be under the Simplified acquisition procedures with an estimated value of less than $150,000.00. THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. No known potential alternate sources exist which could satisfy these requirement. 

Questions regarding this notification can be emailed to the attention of Heather Mahle at heather.mahle@noaa.gov.   Subject line should include reference number ABL-23057.