Notice of Intent to Sole Source - Hamilton Extraction STAR Workstation

This notice announces the intent by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) in support of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES), Division of Forensic Toxicology (DFT) to procure one (1) Extraction STAR Workstation without competition as prescribed in FAR 13.106-1. Specifically, the Government will procure the workstation manufactured by Hamilton Company.
Hamilton Company is the manufacturer and sole distributor of the Extraction STAR Workstation. A key function of the Hamilton system is its ability to seamlessly interface with other existing Hamilton STAR systems, the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), laboratory IT infrastructure, and utilize custom reports. The Extraction STAR Workstation has the capability of providing the identical instrument model, software, and instrument layout necessary to augment the automated specimen preparation systems currently being implemented at DoD Drug Testing Laboratories, per DODI 1010.16 Extraction Requirements. If a different system is procured, the laboratory will have to revalidate every method (no abbreviated validations could be used), all IA requirements would have to be addressed with a different system (per DoDI 1010.16), custom reports would be required, additional actions would be required to integrate the systems into the LIMS, additional consumables would be required, the laboratory would need to establish additional laboratory operating procedures, and all staff would need to maintain knowledge for the operation and maintenance of two separate instruments. This would result in unacceptable work slowdowns and stoppages that would adversely affect DFT's mission as well as cost the Government additional money operating multiple platforms. Additionally, the Hamilton Extraction Workstation is the only system with the required features to meet mission goals as it provides unique characteristics that are not available in the other systems. The Hamilton specimen preparation system is capable of pipetting urine specimens from test tubes and performing all specimen manipulations steps to execute an extraction including delivery of reagents, plate incubation/shaking/centrifugation/sealing and producing a final extract in either a 96-well plate or individual specimen vials. The system also includes a barcode reader to ensure positive specimen identification and tracking. This requirement includes option years for maintenance as provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Hamilton Company.
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 334516 with a size standard of 1,000 Employees.
This announcement fulfills the synopsis requirements under FAR 5.102(a)(6) and 5.203(a). USAMRAA intends to publish a solicitation no sooner than 15 days after publishing this synopsis. This Special Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive quotes. Information received in response to this notice will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement is in the best interest of the Government. If no written responses are received by the date listed below, which reflects at least fifteen (15) days after the publication of this notice, the solicitation will be issued as brand name sole source only.
All questions and responses concerning this notice shall be emailed to Jeffrey Sprecher at Jeffrey.b.sprecher.civ@mail.mil.
Interested concerns must identify their capability in writing to the above email address listed above no later than 12:00 PM ET, 5 September 2019.
Amendment 1 to this notice updated the response date from 4 September 2019 to 5 September 2019. No other changes.
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