Preventative Service and Maintenance contract for Chameleon Ultra II and Chameleon XR Laser Systems

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition.  It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes.  No award will be made as a result of this notice.  The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.  This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Background:  The NINDS Synaptic Physiology Section seeks to understand how neural circuits receive, compute, encode and transmit information. More specifically, we’d like to learn what biophysical and morphological features equip synapses, neurons and networks to perform these tasks. The retina is a wonderful model system for the study of neuronal information processing: We can deliver precisely defined physiological stimuli and record responses from many different cell types at various points within the network; in addition, retinal circuitry is particularly well understood, enabling us to interpret more directly the impact of synaptic and cellular mechanisms on circuit function. We have exploited these advantages to examine how synapses and neurons within retinal circuits perform specific visual computations. Therefore, we need maintain our current laser system to be precise enough to continue our research of retina stimulation.

Purpose and Objectives: The purpose of this acquisition is to procure maintenance support services for Coherent Chameleon Ultra II and Chameleon XR Laser Systems manufactured by Coherent Inc. and owned by NINDS, for the base period of 01/01/25 - 12/31/25 with 4 option years.

Indepedently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below.

Project requirements:

SCOPE OF WORK

General Requirements:

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below.

Specific Requirements:

• The contractor shall provide all labor, travel costs and replacement parts to maintain complete operation of the Chameleon Ultra s/n GDP.1117782.7079 (head s/n GDP.1001H.4200)  and Chameleon XR s/n GDP.1121784.9578
  • This contract shall be awarded for 12 months
  • The contractor shall provide phone support from a certified technician within 1 business day and on-site service within 3 business days after it is determined that the problem cannot be resolved through phone support.
  • The contractor shall provide maintenance support services Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays.
  • Repair service including genuine Coherent replacement parts, also includes Advance Replacement (ARU) of major subassemblies if unit cannot be repaired in the field. (Lasers not under contract with Coherent will be sent to the repair facility in Scotland in the event of a major failure at the contractor’s cost).
  • The ARU must be shipped within 5 business days from the time of failture was communicated to the vendor. A trained service engineer must diagnose the issue within 5 business days
  • Stenographic and clerical errors are subject to correction by the vendor
  • The contractor must cover remote service, labor, travel, and parts
  • The contractor must have unlimited remote diagnostic and phone support 1 business day phone/email response
  • The contractor must have remote assistance for technical support, basic operator and maintenance routine training
  • The contractor must have unlimited on‐site repair service for the government by a certified field service engineer with no cap on on-site repair visits. 
  • Replacements must be Genuine Coherent replacement parts with no substitutions

LEVEL OF EFFORT:

The contractor will be responsible for ensuring that the personnel assigned for service have the technical competence required to complete the service within a reasonable time and maintain the equipment at peak factory performance. The repair work for covered equipment is performed by a Coherent factory certified Service Engineer.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES:

Government will provide Contractor personnel reasonable access to the Equipment for the required service repair. Government will cooperate with Contractor personnel so that Service can be performed efficiently and without interruption. Contractor shall be allowed use of Government equipment which Contractor personnel deem necessary to perform the Services.

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES:

Contractor shall provide all labor and replacement parts to maintain normal operation of the existing Coherent Chameleon Ultra II and Chameleon XR Laser Systems. Service shall be provided between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm, Bethesda, MD local prevailing time, Monday through Friday, unless indicated otherwise.  Contractor shall invoice fixed price maintenance fee on a monthly basis.

Travel: This maintenance contract shall include all travel costs associated with on-site maintenance and repair of this equipment.

Anticipated period of performance:

Base:               01/01/25 - 12/31/25

Option 1:         01/01/26 - 12/31/26

Option 2:         01/01/27 - 12/31/27

Option 3:         01/01/28 - 12/31/28

Option 4:         01/01/29 - 12/31/29

Capability statement /information sought.

Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required products should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately.  Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Small businesses must also provide their Company Name, DUNS number, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information.

Interested small businesses are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number.

The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.

The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein.  A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response is limited to ten (10) page limit.  The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer.  Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Shivani Patel, Contract Specialist, at e-mail address Shivani.patel@nih.gov.

The response must be received on or before 12/16/2024, 3:00 pm, Eastern Time.

Disclaimer and Important Notes:  This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).