Preventative Maintenance and Service Agreement for Nikon A1R Scanner

DESCRIPTION

THIS IS A  NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE/PROPOSALS.

The Nikon A1R scanner is utilized routinely by the NIMH Systems Neuroscience Imaging Resource (SNIR) users and requires routine preventative maintenance. This contract is required to maintain this research equipment in operable condition. The Nikon A1R scanner provides SNIR users to program unattended image acquisition from multiple tissue sections on multiple slides. This microscope system was purchased in 2020 and is utilized routinely in the NIMH Systems Neuroscience Imaging Resource and requires routine preventative maintenance. This contract ensures minimal downtime due to hardware and software malfunction. Additionally, the contract is required in order to maintain this research equipment in operable condition and prevent costly repairs.

Service shall be performed by a factory trained Field Service representative. Service shall consist of, but not limited to, examination of all functioning parts, replacement, or repair of worn or unserviceable parts, adjustment and calibration made with the expressed intent of maintaining the instrument to the manufacturer’s original specifications. When necessary, this includes complete dismantling, parts replacement, reassembly, and thorough testing and adjusting. Additionally, one preventative maintenance visit per year is required.This work specified in the Nikon Service Contract Agreement, includes parts, labor, travel, and on-site service maintenance. Additionally, proprietary software updates and access to software technical experts are available.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and the procedures prescribed in FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b)(1), Soliciting from a single source.

The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses of the FAR in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2021-07, dated September 10, 2021.

ANTICIPATED SOURCE

NIKON INSTRUMENTS INC. 

1300 WALT WHITMAN RD FL 2

MELVILLE, NY 11747-3001

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance is one 12-month base year with three 12-month option years.

Proposed Base Year- December 1, 2021 – November 30, 2022

Proposed Option Year One- December 1, 2022 – November 30, 2023

Proposed Option Year Two- December 1, 2023 – November 30, 2024

Proposed Option Year Three- December 1, 2024 – November 30, 2025

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

49 Convent Drive

Bldg. 49, Room 3A07

Bethesda MD 20852

REASON FOR NON-COMPETITIVE ACTION

The essential characteristics of the annual preventative maintenance and service agreement for the Nikon A1R scanner that limit the availability to a sole source are the ability of this contractor to provide on-site service, use of replacement parts from the original manufacturer, prioritized on-site response time for remedial services, and provide any necessary proprietary software updates for the confocal microscope system in question. Furthermore, the software support provided can only be obtained from experts in Nikon software. Field service representatives are experts in the hardware components, their functionality, and connections; and thus, are capable of quickly diagnosing and correcting any errors in performance. Only this suggested source can furnish the requirements, to the exclusion of other sources, because only this source is able to satisfy all procurement requirements.

CLOSING STATEMENT

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD ON A SOLE-SOURCE BASIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. 

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must provide evidence that they can provide equipment that meets all of the
requirements in this announcement.

All responses must be received by 11:00 AM Eastern Time on November 8, 2021 and must reference the solicitation number, NIMH22000041.Responses must be submitted electronically to Morgen Slager at morgen.slager@nih.gov. U.S. Mail and Fax responses are not accepted.