Maintenance of Zeiss Confocal Microscopes at CCR Confocal Microscopy Core Facilities

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Confocal Core Facilities intends to procure on a sole-source basis with Carl Zeiss Microscopy of One Zeiss Drive Thornwood, NY 10594 for a service and maintenance agreement for twenty (20) Government owned Carl Zeiss instruments.

This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) and 13.501-(a)(1) using simplified acquisition procedures for commercial acquisitions. The North American Industry Classification System code is 811219 and the business size standard is $19.0 Million.

This will be awarded as a firm fixed price type contract. It has been determined that there is no opportunity to acquire green products or services under this procurement.

The CCR Confocal Core Facilities has a need for a service contract to maintain Government-owned Carl Zeiss equipment used for confocal analysis of a wide range of biological specimens. As Core Facilities, they need to provide over 700 users with "state-of-the-art" confocal imaging for a wide range of applications. The twenty (20) Zeiss Instruments are listed below:

1. LSM 510 NLO META w/one scope S/N 851383 M200507
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through September 30, 2016
2. LSM 710 w/one scope S/N 2501000152 M200606
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
3. LSM 780 w/one scope S/N 2504000385
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
4. LSM 780 w/one scope S/N 2504000601
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
5. LSM 510 VIS META S/N 2435000182 M200519
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through September 30, 2016
6. AxioObserver Z1 Inverted Scope S/N 3834003359
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
7. LSM VIS/405 scan module S/N 2439000124 M207444
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through September 30, 2016
8. LSM 780 w/one scope S/N 2504000540
Period of performance shall be from January 28, 2016 through November 27, 2016
9. LSM 710 W/ spectral detection & NLO ready S/N 2501000105
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
10. LSM 510 META VIS/405 w/one scope S/N 2435000465 M207373
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through September 30, 2016
11. LSM 700 Scanning Newton w one scope S/N 2601000226
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
12. Axio Observer Z1 Inverted Scope S/N 3834000305
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
13. Axio Observer Z1 Inverted Scope S/N 3834002193
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
14. Axio Observer Z1 Definite Focus S/N 3834004401
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
15. Imager Z2 with MetaSystem S/N 3534000529 M210317
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
16. LSM 710 one photon w/ one scope S/N 2502000471
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
17. Axio Observer Z1 Inverted Scope S/N 3834004197
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
18. Axio Observer Z1 Inverted Scope S/N 3851000227
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
19. LSM 780 w/one scope S/N 2504000383
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016
20. Axio Observer Z1 Inverted Scope S/N 3834003122
Period of performance shall be from December 28, 2015 through November 27, 2016

The contractor shall provide: 1) one (1) preventive maintenance inspection; 2) unlimited emergency repair within seventy-two (72) hours of first call; 3) all required replacement parts will be at no additional cost to the Government with the exception of consumable parts; and 4) free software upgrades where applicable. Contractor personnel shall have a minimum of two (2) years specialized factory training on Zeiss equipment or instruments within the last five (5) years in order to perform service to these instruments. Contractor shall provide current software updates to the operating system and shall provide Carl Zeiss parts and accessories if required during service.

These Carl Zeiss confocal instruments were designed by Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC and require professional maintenance including scheduled service visits and periodic part replacement. Zeiss confocal models have internal components and mechanisms that are proprietary and thus, Carl Zeiss LLC is the only known source capable of fulfilling the service contract on these instruments.
Carl Zeiss service engineers have the highest qualification for repairing the Zeiss confocal microscopes; they are specially trained in Germany on the latest models of the instrument. Carl Zeiss holds multiple patents on these instruments and is the sole source of most of the replacement parts. The parts of the confocal instrument require special handling and this handling needs the approval of Carl Zeiss in order to obtain warranty replacements. CCR is constantly upgrading this confocal system with the newest versions of their software and hardware; these new pieces require fine-tuning, which is only available if done as part of the service contract.

Furthermore, only a Zeiss maintenance agreement provides access to unlimited phone support and onsite training by qualified service engineers and application specialists including preparation of macros for specialized experiments. Such support and continuous training are essential because of the sophistication level of the equipment. A maintenance agreement also guarantees elective enhancements and upgrades to existing equipment followed by complete performance check of the entire system. In addition to this, a maintenance agreement with Zeiss covers reinstallation of software if necessary. For the aforementioned reasons, Carl Zeiss is the only known source for this procurement.

This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party especially small businesses, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The responses and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. Responses must be received in the contracting office by 11:00 AM EST on December 2, 2015. All responses and questions must be in writing and faxed 240-276-5401 or emailed to Reyes Rodriguez, Contracting Officer at reyes.rodriguez@nih.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. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award, contractors must have valid registration and certification in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) through the System for Awards Management (sam.gov). No collect calls will be accepted. Please reference solicitation number N02RC62510-57 on all correspondence.