6515--Automatic Tablet Cutter

THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) / SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE IS ISSUED  SOLELY FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION ABOUT PRICING, DELIVERY, THE MARKET, AND CAPABILITIES IS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED AND ALLOWED UNDER THIS RFI FOR PLANNING PURPOSES IN ACCORDANCE WITH (IAW) FAR 15.201(e). DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. IAW FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. SOURCES SOUGHT/RFI DESCRIPTION This is NOT a solicitation announcement. This is a Sources Sought Notice / RFI only. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice / RFI is to gain information about potential qualified sources and their size classification relative to NAICS 339112 (size standard of 1,000 Employees). Responses to this Sources Sought Notice / RFI will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. After review of the responses to this Sources Sought Notice / RFI, further RFIs and/or a solicitation or other announcements may be published. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is seeking sources capable of providing Automated Tablet Cutter equivalent to Swisslog ezCut Tablet Cutter.
STATEMENT OF WORK
Background: The VA Greater Los Angeles Inpatient Pharmacy Department is required to prepare and distribute medications in their final form. There are occasions when patients require doses that are not commercially available and therefore tablets are required to be split. Current practice is for pharmacy staff to manually split tablets using a plastic, disposable tablet splitter. Time spent splitting tablets could be better utilized in another task. Pharmacy splits over 5000 tablets a quarter, resulting in many hours of pharmacy technician time that can be utilized for other tasks that require close attention. Procurement of an automatic tablet splitter would allow for precise tablet cutting and increased workflow efficiency, cutting down time required to split. An automatic device can perform in a minute what a technician would typically dedicate an hour of time to produce
Objective: Department of Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System Pharmacy Department is looking for a contractor who can provide an automatic tablet splitting device that is capable of accurately splitting and then sorting split oral solid medications. Procurement of an automatic tablet splitter shall enable reallocation of labor to focus on less manual and tedious tasks and accurately split tablets with efficiency.
Scope: The contractor shall provide Swisslog ezCut Tablet Cutter or an equivalent standalone equipment solution that meets the capabilities and specifications mentioned under salient characteristics.
Place of Performance: VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System 11301 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90073
Period of Performance: 90 days after receipt of order (ARO)
Deliverables: CLIN Description Qty UOM 0001 Swisslog ezCut Tablet Cutter or equivalent Automated Tablet Cutter that meets or exceeds listed salient/functional characteristics 1 EA
Salient Characteristics: Must be robust stand-alone system Must be compact; must be within 1 of 9.9 H x 9.4 W x 16 D Must not exceed 35 pounds Must have Automatic shape recognition Must be Canister-free operation Must have irregular tablet identification capable of recognizing faulty tablets (e.g., irregular shapes, damaged tablets, unregistered shapes) Must automatically separate rejected pills into a separate collection cup, ensuring only accurate doses are dispensed Must have a capability of pill counting Hygienic workflow what is determined to be hygienic workflow? Cutting speed must go up to 20 tablets per minute at minimum Must demonstrate precise cutting accuracy with no more than 5% variance Must count a minimum of 60 to 80 tablets per minute Must identify and recognize round and oblong tablets at minimum; any additional shape identification is acceptable Must have a minimum of 12 months warranty at no additional cost to the Government
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