DESCRIPTION: THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A SEPARATE WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF FAR PARTS 12 AND 13. This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) FAC 2021-06 effective July 12, 2021. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516 with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees. Quoters must possess an ACTIVE registration in the System for Award Management system, www.SAM.gov, when submitting a quotation and shall continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract resulting from this solicitation. The Contracting Officer will confirm that quoters have an “active” registration at the www.sam.gov website upon receipt of the quotation. If the SAM.Gov registration is not active, the quotation will not be considered for award. This is a Brand Name Only requirement. Quoters must provide the brand name identified within the Statement of Requirement (SOR). The brand name only justification is as follows: The Material Measurement Laboratory’s Biosystems and Biomaterials Division within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) develops and provides methods, reference materials, and reference data for characterizing biological systems. To fulfill this mission, robust characterization of microbial cell samples is required. Within the Complex Microbiol Systems Group, the acquisition of an instrument to efficiently extract DNA from bacterial cells is needed to conduct homogeneity and stability measurements of the samples overtime. Automated DNA extraction is critical for reproducibility of DNA extraction when characterizing reference material. NIST currently utilizes the Qiagen Qiacube. This instrument was selected as an automated platform for DNA extraction using a Qiagen Microbial DNA extraction kit. To date, NIST has spent 2 years and used over 1/3 of the available materials in the characterization. To maintain continuity of the experiment for the ongoing stability studies, NIST must use the same Qiagen protocol and Qiacube technology. Numerous scientific papers have been published on the bias associated with DNA extraction from microbial cells; therefore, it is critical to use the same technique throughout a study to reduce uncertainty (Brooks et al, Greathouse et al, McLaren et al, Nearing et al,). Due to the inherent bias associated with each extraction kit and technology switching to an instrument other than the Qiacube would set us back to the initial step of the project and lead to the loss of all previous data points for the stability and homogeneity study and negate 2 years’ worth of costs in labor and reagents used to develop these materials. In order to complete the characterization of the whole-cell reference materials NIST requires the same Qiacube and Qiagen reagents; no other instrument will allow the continuation of ongoing studies for the reasons detailed above. The objective of this solicitation is to establish a Firm-Fixed-Price purchase order based on the specifications described in the attached Statement of Requirements. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS Responsible quoters shall provide a quotation for the following Contract Line Items (CLINs), in accordance with the specifications outlined in the attached Statement of Requirement. All equipment must be new. Used or remanufactured equipment will not be considered for award.: CONTRACT LINE ITEMS: Line Item 0001: (Quantity 1 Each) Automated DNA Extraction Instrument (QIAcube Connect MDx System PRV-1 model,) inclusive of delivery/shipping and installation, in accordance with the Statement of Requirements. Line Item 0002: (Quantity 1 Year) Warranty, in accordance with the Statement of Requirements. DELIVERY TERMS Delivery terms shall be FOB Destination. The Contractor shall pack and mark the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements, deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the purchase order, be responsible for loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt and acceptance of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the purchase order; and pay all charges to the specified point of delivery. EVALUATION CRITERIA & BASIS FOR AWARD: The Government intends to award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Contractor whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, provides the lowest priced, technically acceptable quote. Technically acceptable means that the quote : Meets or exceeds the brand name only minimum equipment specifications listed within the Statement of Requirements; Meets training, warranty, and installation requirements as applicable; and Meets the required delivery schedule. Price: The price evaluation will determine whether the quoted prices are fair and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements. Quoted prices must be entirely compatible with the technical quotation. INSTRUCTIONS: Completed Solicitation Provisions A completed version of all required solicitation provisions (see attached provisions/clauses document – required submissions highlighted in blue). Due Date for Quotations and Questions All quotations must be submitted, via e-mail, to Sadaf Afkhami, Contract Specialist, at
[email protected] with a carbon copy to Donald Graham, Contracting Officer, at
[email protected]. Submissions must be received no later than 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 2, 2021. FAX quotations will not be accepted. Quoters must reference the RFQ number in the subject line of the e-mail submission. Quotes shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation has entered the e-mail inbox of the individual(s) set forth above. Questions: All questions regarding this notice must be submitted via e-mail to Sadaf Afkhami, at
[email protected], with a carbon copy to Donald Graham, Contracting Officer, at
[email protected], no later than 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 24, 2021. Quotation Preparation Instructions Each quotation shall consist of two (2) separate electronic files: (1) Technical Quotation and (2) Pricing Quotation. Technical Quotation : (1) Technical description and/or product literature. Quoters shall include the manufacturer, make and model of the product, manufacturer sales literature or other product literature which CLEARLY DOCUMENTS that the offered products meet the brand name only specifications outlined in the statement of requirements. It is the responsibility of the quoter to ensure that submitted documentation clearly addresses all specifications and requirements. (2) The quoted delivery timeline for the contract line item. (3) A description of the quoted training. (4) A description of the quoted warranty. Price Quotation : (1) All Quoters shall submit a firm fixed price, FOB Destination, price quotation for the contract line items. The quotation must include a unit price and total amount for each line item and the aggregate price for all contract line items. (2) The price quotation shall include a cover page with the following information: The solicitation number 1333ND21QNB640489; The name and address, of the Quoter; The name, phone number, and email address of the Quoter’s point of contact; DUNS # for Quoter’s active SAM.Gov registration. Any applicable discount terms. A statement that the Contractor agrees to all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. If the Contractor objects to any of the terms and conditions contained in this solicitation, the Contractor shall state “The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:” [Contractor shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)]. It is the sole responsibility of the Contractor to identify in their quote any exceptions to the terms and conditions of the solicitation. A statement that the quotation is valid for a minimum of 60 days from the response deadline of this solicitation. Please note that this procurement IS NOT being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If a contractor submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the contractor’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation. PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES: The clauses and provisions applicable to this solicitation can be found under Applicable Clauses & Provisions. The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at https://farsite.hill.af.mil or www.acquisition.gov/far. The full text of a CAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at https://farsite.hill.af.mil or http://www.osec.doc.gov/oam/acquistion_management/policy/. ATTACHMENTS: The following attachments apply to this solicitation: 1. The Statement of Requirements 2. Applicable Clauses & Provisions