Notice of intent to sole source: tescan mira-3 fesm

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 TESCAN USA INC., 765 Commonwealth Dr. Suite 101, Warrendale, PA 15086-7520 for repair and maintenance services of a TESCAN MIRA-3 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

The service contract shall cover all the following equipment:

-The TESCAN Mira-3 LMU Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM);

-The Control Panel;

-The Beam Blanker (no separate serial number);

-The Scroll Pump;

-The Turbo Molecular Pump AND

-4 x 30 mm2 Premium SDD detectors;

The service contract is necessary to ensure that the instrument is available to service internal and external NIST customers in a timely manner. The period of performance shall be for a base period of one year with four one-year option periods.

Sole Source Justification is the following:

TESCAN USA Inc. is the equipment manufacturer and sole service provider of the TESCAN MIRA-3 SEM. TESCAN USA Inc.  has proprietary rights to the existing equipment and is the sole manufacturer and distributor of the equipment. TESCAN USA has proprietary rights to the methods, design, and software utilized in these instruments, and they are the only company with access to performance verified component parts, spare parts, software, technical support, qualification methods, validation methods and engineering resources to maintain the original operating specifications of these instruments.

Extensive market research has concluded that this instrument is manufactured by TESCAN Brno s.r.o., a wholly owned-subsidiary of TESCAN GROUP, and that TESCAN USA Inc., also a wholly owned subsidiary of TESCAN GROUP, is the official and sole U.S.A. representative for TESCAN GROUP and TESCAN Brno s.r.o. As such, all TESCAN products, supplies, accessories and parts can only be obtained, installed, and guaranteed in the USA from TESCAN USA Inc. There are no other authorized resellers of their products, and the propriety software needed for TESCAN products, and this software is not made available to outside parties.

Given these facts, TESCAN USA is the only source reasonably available to fulfill the requirement.

The resulting purchase order will be a Firm Fixed Price purchase order. The NAICS Code is 811210 - Repair and Maintenance Services for Electronic Equipment with a size standard of $34M 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 11:00am EST 3/11/2025, 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.