Notice of Intent to Issue a Sole Source Purchase Order

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. This procurement will be processed pursuant to FAR part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. No solicitation will be issued.
All responsible sources who believe they can provide the services listed may submit, in writing to the identified point of contact, a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. Responses are to be received within 10 days of this notice. No telephone calls are being accepted.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Research Services (ARS), Plains Area Livestock Arthropod Pest Research, in Kerrville, TX, intends to negotiate and award to Leica Microsystems, Inc., on a Sole Source basis, a Leica M125C stereomicroscope and associated items. Contract type will be a Firm Fixed Price for a period of performance of approximately three years. NAICS Code is 334516.

Award is in accordance with both 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) and FAR 13.106-1 (b)(1)(i)
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The USDA, ARS, Plains Area Livestock Arthropod Pest Research in Kerrville, TX, requires a suite of equipment to complement our existing XenoWorks micromanipulator system and to enable insect microinjection studies that are a major focus of our 2019-2024 project plan. The equipment to be acquired includes:

-a stereomicroscope with 12.5:1 zoom ratio, 8x - 100x magnification, and a resolution of up to 432 line pairs/millimeter, equipped with a 13" x 13" XY manual stage and mounted with a color digital camera.

-a fully programmable, laser-based micropipette puller that is capable of pulling quartz, borosilicate and aluminosilicate glass and can produce 2 useable pipets (needles) per pull.

-a digital microinjector with a built-in compressor, remote user interface and footswitch, high pressure delivery of femtoliter and nanoliter volumes, positive pressure to compensate for high pressure injection to embryos, continuous or pulse delivery of injections, and a function to unclog needles.

For continuity of research, only the Leica M125C stereomicroscope and associated equipment are acceptable.

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