Maintenance and Repair Service for MTS Hydraulic Systems

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 MTS Systems Corp, located at 14000 Technology Dr, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 55344. The purchase order will specifically procure maintenance and repair service for MTS Hydraulic Systems owned and used by the Structural Testing Laboratory (STL) and the National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL). The contractor shall complete all tasks within 5 months of award.

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 811210     Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance with small business size standard of $34 million.

Description
The STL and the NFRL, part of the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), are using Material Testing Systems (MTS) actuators and MTS testing frames of various sizes and capacities, to execute testing for multiple experimental projects executed within their lab spaces. These pieces of equipment, part of the hydraulic testing systems for both labs, require certain repairs and routine services, to continue to operate properly. The Contractor shall provide required hardware components and software upgrades, along with repair and maintenance services.

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

The Hydraulic Testing equipment used in both labs, are all MTS equipment, only parts/equipment components manufactured by MTS will be compatible with the existing Hydraulic testing System. These are sold directly from MTS Systems Corp; no other vendors can sell these MTS products. The components needed for repairs, software upgrades and installation of the MTS equipment cannot be substituted from other companies, as these are not compatible with the MTS system, and it would not function.  Further, repair and maintenance of the existing MTS Systems Corp products must be provided by MTS Systems Corp in order to maintain the warranty on the products.

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 Collin Randall, Contract Specialist, at Collin.Randall@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to Collin.Randall@nist.gov so that they are received no later than July 7, 2025, 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 SAM Universal Entity Identifier (UEI)
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 have an active registration in www.SAM.gov.
5. Capability Statement