Maintenance, Repair & Rebuilding of Equipment / Zeiss Confocal Microscopes

This notice is a combine synopsis/solicitation Request for Quote NIAID-RFQ-19-1950744. Commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect with the Federal Acquisition Circular 2019-02 dated May 6, 2019. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Laboratory of Infectious Diseases is requesting to procure service agreement for seven (7) confocal microscopes Zeiss models LSM 710 - serial #2501000174, LSM 710 - serial #2501000218, LSM 700 - serial #2601000490, LSM 780 - serial #2505000104, LSM 710 - serial #2501000211, LSM 880 - serial #2811000262, and LSM 880 - serial #2802000114. This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR Part 13.501(a)(1).

Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This acquisition will be processed under Simplified Acquisition Procedures as a firm-fixed price type of contract, and is not a small business set-aside. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 811219, with the size standard of $20.5 in millions.

Period of Performance is estimated with a base year and three (3) one-year option periods June 1, 2019 - May 31, 2023. Service shall be performed in Hamilton, MT, Rockville, and Bethesda, Maryland. See attached list of microscopes and there location.

The following apply to this acquisition; FAR Part 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items, FAR Part 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, and FAR Part 52.212-5 - Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Status or Executive Orders - Commercial Items (see attached), and by reference the Department of Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation HHSAR 352.203-70 Anti-lobbying, and HHSAR 352.222-70 Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations.
The Division of Intramural Research (DIR), Research Technologies Branch (RTB) requires a service agreement for seven (7) confocal microscopes Zeiss models LSM 700, 710, 780 and 880. These confocal microscopes are used to obtain high resolution optical images with depth selectivity. The microscopes are constantly in use throughout the day and arrangements for repair and /or upgrades must be immediately available in order to prevent loss of research and to maintain the continuity of experiments. The maintenance agreement must meet the minimum coverage of manufactures Full Coverage Maintenance, Hardware Maintenance Agreement and Proprietary Software Enhancement Agreement Plans. Preventative maintenance must be conducted by certified Carl Zeiss service engineer and any parts must be guaranteed original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the 700, 710, 780, and 880 confocal microscopes that includes: one (1) preventative maintenance (PM) inspection per agreement year, all labor and travel associated with conducting this PM inspection visit, all labor and travel related charges associated with any service visit in additional to the PM visit as may be required during the agreement year, directly provide all covered replacement OEM parts, consumables purchases, instrument upgrades, proprietary software version upgrades when available for LSM service agreements (excludes platform upgrades), scheduled and emergency service performed between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm Monday through Friday, factory trained customer support engineers, and software version upgrades are available on an "as-issued" basis and will be offered upon request. The software upgrade will pertain to minor version upgrades (i.e. 2.0 to 2.1), and do not include platform upgrades (i.e. AIM to ZEN). The software installation will be covered under the service agreement; however, standard time and material rates will apply for the installation of software upgrades to all off-line workstations. NIAID will evaluate quotes to determine the best value to the government. NIAID will make a Best Value Determination based on the capability of each offeror's quote to provide all requested products/services and meet the required technical specifications of service coverage, to provide OEM parts and proprietary software, to provide service in a timely manner, and at a reasonable price. The Government's objective is to obtain the highest quality considered necessary to achieve the project objectives, with a reasonable cost. Non-price factors, when combined, are considered more important than price. In the event quotes are evaluated as equal in non-price factors, price or cost will become a major consideration in selecting the successful offeror. The Government intends to award without discussions but reserves the right to conduct discussions should it be deemed in the Government's best interest.

All responsible sources who can provide the required service agreement may submit a response that could be considered by email (subject line to reference NIAID-RFQ-19-1950744) to Tonia Alexander at talexander@niaid.nih.gov, by 11:00 am eastern standard time Thursday, May 16, 2019. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow NIAID to determine if it can meet the above specifications described herein. By submission of an offer, the Offeror confirms the requirement that a prospective Awardee shall be registered in the System for Award Management (www.sam.gov) database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. [Note: Lack of registration in SAM will make an Offeror ineligible for award.] All responses received by the closing date of this solicitation will be considered by the Government.

. Awarded Vendors: Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC. Contract Award Dollar Amount: $610,675.20. Contract Award Date: 2019-06-27.