Maintenance Plan for Titan Krios G4 Microscope

Introduction

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding:

(1) Availability and capability of qualified small business sources;

(2) Whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; women-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and

(3) Size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition.

Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible or through full and open competition. All size organizations are encouraged to respond. Small business organizations must have their size status certified by the small business administration. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code is 811210 (formerly 811219) and the business size standard is 34.0 million.

Project Summary

The Electron Microscopy (EM) Unit of the Research Technologies Branch (RTB) is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art technologies to support the ultrastructural imaging needs of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) scientists both in the Bethesda, Maryland, area and at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. The facility provides sample preparation and analysis ranging from basic to high-resolution structural studies to immuno-localization of selected antigens for a wide array of specimens. A variety of methods, protocols, and equipment are employed to accommodate different preparative and imaging needs. Real-time viewing of samples by video image-sharing is available to NIAID users, enabling scientists at distant locations the ability to view samples simultaneously with microscopy staff. To continue to provide for the needs of NIAID researchers, the RTB must continue to maintain its instruments.

The EM Unit currently utilizes a Thermo Fisher/FEI Titan Krios G4 cryo-electron microscope, which is equipped with a Ceta 16M camera 300kv, phase plate, and Falcon 4 300kv direct electron detector camera, Gatan K3 BioContinuum imaging filter, and X-FEG unit 300kv. It is essential that this highly specialized equipment be maintained in peak operating condition at all times to achieve high-resolution ultrastructural data. To assure  optimal performance and reliability, the equipment requires maintenance by specially trained and experienced service engineers. The microscope requires annual preventative maintenance and check-ups for laser alignment and general maintenance. To ensure rapid repair to allow research to continue, it is essential to have a full-service contract on this machine that provides for preventive maintenance and covers the cost of what would be extremely expensive repairs if they were paid for on a non-contract basis.

Specifically, NIAID, RML is seeking maintenance service agreement for various Titan/Krios G3 equipment. The service of the Titan/Krios G3 equipment must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Full coverage for OEM replacement parts, labor, and travel. Coverage includes all fees associated with repairs (labor and replacement parts) for any service or repairs performed.
• Priority scheduling and onsite response for all repairs during the period of performance. Priority is defined as giving priority scheduling equal to a direct contract and guaranteeing the equivalent manufacturer’s priority onsite response. service provider, the priority scheduling and/or response time, must be listed on your response.
• OEM Trained Certified Technician must be available during normal business hours. Documentation of OEM trained technicians required.
• One (1) Preventive Maintenance Inspections to be performed during a twelve-month period including one (1) PM kit
• 48-hour targeted response time for onsite applications support (troubleshooting and repairs)
• 48-hour targeted response time for all emergency repairs and all on site visits
• Instrument control software and hardware proprietary updates (can occur during scheduled preventative maintenance visits, unless critical for operation of instrument) software and firmware updates upon request, and in conjunction with a scheduled Preventive Maintenance or Corrective Maintenance visit, including software revisions. Provide End User License Agreement (EULA) if applicable
• Unlimited service visits during normal business days hours, excluding Federal holidays
• Unlimited telephone support for instruments and applications and Remote Technical Support during business hours. Remote technical support involves the service engineer logging on remotely and troubleshooting the microscope over a secured RAPID connection that has been vetted by NIAID’s IT department.

Anticipated Period of Performance

It is anticipated that an award will be made on or about May 8, 2023. The estimate total period of performance is from date of award through March 27, 2024.

Capability Statement/Information Sought

If your organization has the potential capacity to provide two transmission electron microscopes which meets the minimum requirements and performance capabilities listed above, please provide the following information:

1. Organization name, address, point of contact, email address, website address, telephone number, UEI number
2. Company location(s) and number of years company has been in business
3. Small Business Classification /Socio-Economic Status  pursuant to the applicable NAICS code
4. Type of ownership for the organization
5. Identification of any Best-In-Class contract vehicles including Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) (e.g., GSA schedule) they may possess or are aware of that would support this possible requirement. If your organization does not provide the products/services under a GWAC, please identify availability as OPEN MARKET ONLY.
6. Tailored capability statement addressing the capability of the microscopes to meet all NIAID’s minimum requirements. Capability document shall be no more than six pages.  The priority scheduling and/or response time must be provided with your response.

Submission Instructions

Interested small businesses who consider themselves qualified to provide the above listed maintenance service for this project are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by April 10, 2023 at 4:30 PM EST. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice shall be emailed to Hershea Vance at hershea.vance@nih.gov.

Disclamer and Important Notes

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities.  However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.
Confidentiality

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).