Notice of Intent to Pursue Sole Source - Mass Spectrometer Maintenance

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with Thermo Electron North America, LLC located at 1400 Northpoint Parkway, Suite 50, West Palm Beach, FL 33407 to purchase maintenance services for NIST's MAT 253 Mass Spectrometer.

The sole source justification is based on the following: NIST's Material Measurement Laboratory's Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) provides the measurement science, standards, technology, data and chemical informatics required to support the nation's needs in the determination of chemical composition and chemical structure of gases, organic and inorganic species and in the measurement of a wide variety of chemical properties and processes. To continue the mission requirements, CSD need to procure ongoing maintenance and repair services to maintain NIST's MAT 253 Mass Spectrometer.

The services components include the following:
1. One (1) demand on-site field service visit, with a response within five (5) days of NIST's request.
2. Factory-certified replacement parts included in the on-site visit.
3. Priority response within 48 hours for telephone/email technical support inquiries.
4. One (1) scheduled preventative maintenance visit.
5. Software updates as they are released in order to maintain optimal performance

Market research has shown that Thermo Electron is the sole company who can provide this service, as they are the only company with access to component parts, spare parts, software, technical support, upgrades and engineering resources to maintain the original operating specifications for the instrument.

Given these facts, Thermo Electron is determined to be the only source reasonably available to provide the required equipment and software.

The resulting purchase order will be a Firm Fixed Price purchase order. The NAICS is 811219 with a size standard of 20.5 million dollars.

No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, interested parties who regard themselves as capable of fulfilling these requirements are invited to submit responses to the Government for consideration. Responses received by 11:00am EST 12/5/2016, will be considered by the Government.

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Inquiry POCs:
latish.walker@nist.gov
grace.garrity@nist.gov
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Acquisition Management Division (AMD)
100 Bureau Drive. Mail Stop 1640
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640