Notice of Intent to Sole Source: Automatic Weighing System for Gravimetric Preparation of Standard Gases

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (1), with the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), 267 Gajeong-ro, Daejeon 34113, Rep. of Korea, for the purchase of an Automatic Weighing System for Gravimetric Preparation of Standard Gases (Korea Patent No. 0495483).

The sole source justification is based on the following:

The Gas Sensing Metrology Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement to purchase an automatic weighing system (AWS) for gravimetric preparation of standard gases in order to support its production of the necessary primary gas standards needed for the Standard Reference Material (SRM) program and the NIST Traceable Reference Material (NTRM) program and other certified compressed gases. As NIST expands its services to include hydrogen standards, the Analytical Chemistry Division at NIST requires an Automatic Weighing System for Gravimetric Preparation of Standard Gas to weigh cylinders for primary standards. KRISS is NIST's counterpart of South Korea and are experts in the field of Gas Standards. This system is a highly complex mechanism capable of weighing gas cylinders to a reproducibility and accuracy of 0.01 mg.  This system is built to precisely align the cylinder on a high accuracy balance, weigh the cylinder, and then move another cylinder. This weighing is repeated many times to obtain a highly accurate weight in order to produce the highest accuracy gas standards.

This requirement is for the delivery of one (1) automatic weighing system (AWS) to NIST.

KRISS is the sole manufacturer and distributor of the Automatic Weighing System (AWS) required to satisfy the Government's minimum requirements.

Given these facts, KRISS is the only reasonably available source to fulfill the requirement. The resulting purchase order will be a Firm Fixed-Price purchase order. The NAICS Code is 334516—Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a size standard of 1000 employees.

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 10:00 AM EST on August 28, 2024, will be considered by the Government. Responses must be submitted via email to the Government point of contacts listed below.

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 be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.