General Information Short Title: Maintenance support services for BioQuantum energy filter with K2 digital camera on the Titan Krios high resolution electron microscope Document Type: Notice of Intent Solicitation Number: 75N91020R00058 Posted Date: 9/2/2020 Response Date: 9/8/2020 Classification Code: 65 – Medical and Surgical Instruments Equipment and Supplies NAICS Code: 811219 – Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E232 Bethesda, MD 20892, UNITED STATES Description The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center of Cancer Research (CCR), Laboratory of Cell Biology (LCB) intends to procure services on a sole source basis from Gatan, Inc. in Pleasanton, CA. This procurement is being conducted using commercial item procedures pursuant to FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13, specifically FAR Subpart13.106-1(b)(1)(i) allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This will be awarded as a Severable firm fixed price type contract with two option periods. It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement. BACKGROUND The digital camera is one of the most important components in high-resolution electron microscopy. The digital camera produces ultra-high clarity and low noise images of biological specimen at high magnification. This type of camera detects and records electrons instead of light with unprecedented sensitivity and precision. It played a major role in the recent breakthrough in cryo electron microscopy because of the ability to solve the structure of a target protein at atomic resolution. NCI’s microscope in building 37 currently is equipped with a Bio Quantum energy filter and Gatan K2 digital camera and expects to upgrade to a K3 soon. Therefore, a maintenance contract is needed to extend the warranty protection for these precious instruments. SCOPE The Contractor shall provide all labor, material and equipment necessary to maintain and provide preventive maintenance for the BioQuantum energy filter with K2 digital camera on the Titan Krios (D3211). These scopes require high-quality images of biological specimens including cells, viruses, and protein complexes at high resolution. All maintenance services shall be performed on-site in accordance with the manufacturer’s standard commercial maintenance practices. SPECIAL ORDER REQUIREMENTS PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE The Contractor shall perform one planned preventive maintenance service for the camera and energy filter during the contract period. NCI’s manufacturer-appointed on-site engineer or technically qualified factory-trained personnel shall perform the service. The service shall consist of a thorough cleaning, calibration, adjusting, inspection, and testing of all equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s latest established service procedures. All equipment shall be - tested through at least one (1) complete operating cycle at the end of the preventive maintenance inspection to ensure optimum and efficient performance. EMERGENCY SERVICE Emergency repair services shall be provided: unlimited on-site repair visits, including parts, labor and travel expenses, during the service agreement coverage period at no additional cost to the government. Emergency service shall be provided during normal working hours, Monday thru Friday excluding Federal Holidays. Upon receipt of notice that any part of the equipment is malfunctioning the Contractor shall dispatch a qualified factory-trained service representative within one business day to inspect the malfunctioning equipment and perform all necessary repairs and adjustments to restore the said equipment to normal operating condition. Emergency service calls shall not replace the necessity for planned preventative maintenance All labor and travel will be included. REPLACEMENT PARTS The Contractor shall furnish all required replacement parts at no additional cost to the Government. The exception pertains to the main microscope, the parts of which are covered by the microscope service contract. Parts, including cables, digitizer, processors, and control computer components, shall be new to original equipment specifications. If the parts are in stock, the Government expects next day delivery. SOFTWARE UPDATES/SERVICE The Contractor shall provide Software Service and updates in accordance with the manufacturer’s latest established service procedures. This service shall include telephone access to technical support for use of program software and trouble shooting of the operating systems, at no additional cost to the Government. The contractor shall receive Government approval in advance before completing any software updates and/or revisions. Defective software shall be replaced at no additional cost to the government. Remote support is also included to enable troubleshooting on software related issues. SERVICE EXCLUSIONS The Contractor shall not be responsible for any repairs necessitated by abuse, neglect, vandalism, Acts of God, fire or water. These repairs shall be the subject of a separate purchase order and shall not be performed under this contract. PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS Technically qualified factory-trained personnel shall perform the service on the camera and energy filter system on the Titan Krios (D3211) in building 37 room B211, as covered by this contract. All primary service personnel shall have at least one backup support person with at least the same level of expertise on the equipment covered by this contract. Gatan Inc. has been a main manufacturer of microscope digital camera for more than two decades. Although there are two other companies that produce digital camera for electron microscope, Gatan is known for being the leading camera producer in high image quality and hardware stability according to the microscopy research community. Their cameras have been purchased by microscope facilities around the world and delivered many high-impact scientific publications and ground-breaking discoveries in the last five years. NCI’s microscope currently equipped with Gatan BioQuantum Image Filter with K2. After many years of operation, hardware or software error or malfunction could occur, which results in delay of active experiments. This is an annual service contract which is the warranty to ensure the productivity and longevity of these advanced instruments. Due to the complexity of the imaging system, LCB is unable to acquire maintenance services from any other vendor because of the incompatibility. With all the features described above, we have decided to purchase this service maintenance contract as a sole source in order to keep the microscopes configuration optimal. This is a very specialized service. NCI’s microscope is equipped with Gatan BioQuantum image filter so the repair and replacement parts must be fully compatible to this equipment. The competitor camera providers are not compatible and thus cannot provide service and part replacement for this specific microscope configuration. This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party, especially small businesses, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The statement of capabilities and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. Responses must be received in the contracting office by 12:00 PM EST, on September 8, 2020 . All responses and questions must be emailed to David Romley, Contract Specialist via electronic mail at
[email protected]. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. No collect calls will be accepted. In order to receive an award, contractors must be registered and have valid certification in the System for Award Management (SAM) through sam.gov. Reference: 75N91020R00058 on all correspondence.