Service Contract for TECAN Instruments in ADME

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii) The solicitation number is 75N95019Q00117 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5-Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12-Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition.

THIS IS A NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME).

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA), on behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (including brand-name) to Tecan US, Inc., 9401 Globe Center Drive, Suite 140, Morrisville, NC 27560-6211, for maintenance services.

This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive for a commercial item or service and is conducted pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). The rationale for this sole single-source justification is: Tecan does not allow third party vendors to purchase their parts or perform any authorized service on their equipment. The software and hardware configurations are proprietary and there are no substitutions available that can meet our needs. Parts and accessories must be compatible with existing equipment to protect the integrity of the data already accumulated by our research using this important equipment.

(iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2019-01, with effective date January 22, 2019.

(iv) The associated NAICS code is 811219 and the small business size standard is $20.5 million. This requirement has no set-aside restrictions.

(v) This requirement is for the following services:

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) needs maintenance services for two installed Tecan Freedom EVO 200 lab robots and the INFINITE 200 PRO plate reader in ADME laboratory.

(vi) The purpose of the NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program (TRND) is to develop new candidate drugs for individuals with rare and neglected diseases. TRND activities will build upon the NIH Roadmap to accomplish its goals including the successes of NCATS. Our group facilitates drug discovery from the basic research lab to the pre-clinical stage. In doing so, TRND will help bridge the wide gaps in time and resources that often exist between basic research and clinical testing of new drugs. NCATS needs maintenance services for all Tecan instrumentation in our lab which covers preventive maintenance (PM), emergency repairs, and parts.

SCOPE OF WORK
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:
• One (1) scheduled preventive maintenance visit per year
• On-site repairs in case of instrument failure
• Update installations
• Telephone support between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm local time Mondays through Fridays, excluding statutory holidays
• Services performed by original equipment manufacturer (OEM) certified field service engineers or application specialists
• General response time within 48 hours

The Contractor shall provide the following services:

Specifically, NCATS requires maintenance services for two installed Tecan FREEDOM EVO 200 lab robots and the INFINITE 200 PRO plate reader. Each service intervention shall be documented in a service report provided by the contractor to the NCATS Point-of-Contact (POC). The service technician shall present a service report briefly detailing the work performed during the service visit to the POC for signature and provide a copy of the report to the POC.

For the installed Tecan FREEDOM EVO 200 lab robots, the contractor must provide the following:

One (1) scheduled preventive maintenance visit per year including:
• Cleaning and greasing
• Wear and tear parts: these typically include, but are not limited to, valves, syringes, tips, tip assemblies, and tubing
• Adjustments
• Instrument specific tests as outlined in the Service Manual
• Service Report
• Travel costs and labor

On-site repairs in case of instrument failure including:
• Spare parts, as required
• Travel costs and labor
• Service Report

Update installations at the time of scheduled preventive maintenance visits to be installed on the instrument to maintain reliability, usability and/or safety as recommended and required by the manufacturer (this would not include providing upgrades):
• Essential Hardware updates
• Essential Firmware updates
• Essential Software updates

Other included services:
• Telephone support between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm local time Mondays through Fridays, excluding statutory holidays
• Services performed by original equipment manufacturer (OEM) certified field service engineers or application specialists
• General response time within 48 hours

For the installed Tecan INFINITE 200 PRO plate reader, the contractor must provide the following:

Depot repair in case of instrument failure including:
• Function check and error analysis
• Calibrations and adjustments
• Spare parts, as required
• All labor costs
• Shipping documents and outbound shipment cost
• Service Report

Loaner instrument may be provided, as available, in the instance that the instrument should need to be sent in for repairs. When applicable, loaner shall be shipped UPS next day.

Other included services:
• Telephone support between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm local time Mondays through Fridays, excluding statutory holidays
• Services performed by OEM certified field service engineers or application specialists

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
NCATS will provide access to the equipment.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The Contractor shall be responsible for all its travel costs.

(vii) The period of performance will be September 27, 2019 through September 26, 2020, with three (3) one-year option periods. If the Government exercises its option(s), the period of performance will increase as follows:

Option Period 1 (Year 2): September 27, 2020 through September 26, 2021.
Option Period 2 (Year 3): September 27, 2021 through September 26, 2022.
Option Period 3 (Year 4): September 27, 2022 through September 26, 2023.

(viii) The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html

(End of provision)

The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:
• FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018)
• FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Jul 2016)
• FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
• FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
• FAR 52.222-48, Exemption from Application of the Service Contract Labor Standards to Contracts for Maintenance, Calibration, or Repair of Certain Equipment-Certification (May 2014)
• FAR 52.225-6, Trade Agreements Certificate (May 2014)
• HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015)

The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses:
https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html

(End of clause)

The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:
• FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018)
• FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Jul 2016)
• FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (Oct 2018). Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached.
• FAR 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000). Subparagraph (a): ...within the current period of performance...at least thirty (30) days...
Subparagraph (c): ...shall not exceed four (4) years.
• HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015)

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text:
• FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
• NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (2/2014)
• Service Contract Labor Standards / Wage Rate Determination. Area: Maryland Counties of Frederick, Montgomery; No. 2015-4269; Revision No. 8; Dated 12/26/2018; 10 pages.

(ix) The Government will perform a comparative evaluation of responses in accordance with FAR 13.106-2(b)(3) and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose response meets the solicitation's requirements and, as a whole, will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The comparative evaluation will include: Technical Capability of the services to meet the Government requirement, Price, Terms and Conditions, and Past Performance.

Responses may exceed capability or performance characteristics of the solicitation's requirements. The Government reserves the right, but is not required, to award to a response that exceeds capability or performance characteristics of the solicitation's requirements if it provides a benefit to the Government.

Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(x) The Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer.

(xi) The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached.

(xii) The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is attached in full text.

(xiii) There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition.

(xiv) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

(xv) Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price quotation must include separately priced line items corresponding to the price quote template (see Attachment 6). Each line item must include all applicable costs and be for a firm fixed-price amount.

The Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.

All quotations must be received by 12:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on Monday, April 22, 2019, and reference Solicitation Number 75N95019Q00117. Responses must be submitted electronically to Mark McNally, Contract Specialist, at mark.mcnally@nih.gov.

Fax responses will not be accepted.

(xvi) The name and telephone number of the individual to contact for information regarding the solicitation:

Mark McNally, Contract Specialist, 301-827-5869, mark.mcnally@nih.gov

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