66--Cage Washer

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; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This is a Request for Quote (RFQ) and the solicitation number is VA240-16-Q-0129. The government anticipated awarding a firm-fixed price contract resulting from this combined synopsis/solicitation. This solicitation is issued as a 100% set aside for small business concerns. This solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-89. It is the responsibility of the contractor to be familiar with the applicable clauses and provisions. The clauses may be accessed in full text at www.acquisition.gov. STATEMENT OF NEED (SON) 1.0 CONTRACT DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS The Charleston VAMC has a requirement to purchase Gentinge Cage/Rack washer or equal equipment for the existing Research Office Building. A Firm Fixed Price contract will be awarded for the purchase of Brand Name or Equal equipment in accordance with all terms, conditions, provisions, specifications and schedule of this solicitation herein. Quotes shall contain the Offeror's best terms for cost/price and technical capabilities of the required Gentinge Cage/Rack washer or equivalent equipment. The government reserves the right to award without discussions. 1.1 PRICING The Offeror shall submit price quotes for the required brand name or equal equipment, to the specifications listed in Section 1.2 below. Please enclose the established price list and description of capabilities and product specifications for the required equipment. The Offeror shall submit a separate price sheet for equal items to include Manufacturer Name, Stock/Part #, Unit of Issue and Price. Items offered that are brand name or equal shall identify items as being on GSA schedule and reference the contract number for each item. Note: The Offeror should include a description of any support services or warranty information in the technical quote. 1.2 REQUIRED PRODUCTS & SPECIFICATIONS. The Gentinge VT 3350 DL cage and rack washer or equal equipment for the Charleston VAMC animal laboratory. Line item# Vendor Catalog Number Description Qty Unit Unit Price 1 VT 3350 DL VT 3350 DL Gentinge cage & rack washer 1 EA 2 De-installation/removal De-installation 1 JB 3 Installation Equipment Installation 1 JB 4 Product Hook up/Testing Product Hook up/Testing 1 JB 5 Onsite Training Onsite Training 1 JB BACKGROUND/SCOPE: New contract for removal of existing cage and rack washer in the Veterinary Medical Unit, purchase of a new cage and rack washer, installation (including final hook-ups by factory-trained and employed personnel), completion of ceiling trim around the newly installed unit, and on-site staff training provided by factory-trained employees of the manufacturer. Request Getinge VT 3350 DL or equal equipment must have (46"x 85"x 188" internal chamber) cage and rack washer or equivalent, including floor-mounted with ramps, detergent solutions tank, tempered discharge water (less than 140F), instantaneous hot water, automatic watering rack flush, rabbit pan racks on internal walls, double door pass-through design, dryer, integral exhaust fan, capability of 10 minute or less cycle time, emergency disconnect pull wire or bar inside chamber, and emergency off button externally. Energy and water conservation features are highly valued with a goal of cutting current energy and water consumption by 30-50% per load. Support after the sale must include factory trained and employed personnel located within 75 miles of the facility. An emergency response time of 1 hour for return phone call and on-site service time within 24 hours is needed to ensure reliable daily operation of equipment. Animal research facilities must provide regularly cleaned and sanitized caging, racks, carts, water bottles, feeders and accessories to ensure animal health and welfare for the integrity of Veteran-centric VA-funded research. A cage and rack washer, very much like a drive-through car wash, is the workhorse of the cage washing core facility. Our current unit is approximately 20 years old and generates excessive steam with poor exhaust from the chamber. Therefore, when the door is opened at the end of a cycle, steam rushes out of the chamber and into the room, coating the ceiling and walls with moisture. This has created chronic and repeated damage to the ceiling and walls in the cage wash area that is unacceptable for maintaining accreditation by AAALAC International. This is a serious problem since all VA animal research facilities are required to maintain AAALAC accreditation. A new cage and rack washer is needed of the double length custom size we currently have. This size allows for maximal throughput and optimization of work flow and use of personnel. This size also ensures that the hole that will be present in the ceiling when the current unit is removed will be filled by the new unit, reducing ceiling renovation costs. The new cage and rack washer must have drying capability and an integral exhaust fan that will push steam through building exhaust ducts to the outdoors regardless of whether the house exhaust is functioning or not. These upgrades should alleviate the excessive steam issues we are experiencing now. In addition, in order to provide cutting edge service to VA investigators, we need wall shelves for rabbit pans, bottle washing capability, short cycle times (10 minutes or less) and water and energy conservation. For personnel safety, the equipment should have internal chamber lighting, multiple safety features to shut down the unit in an emergency (e.g., prevention of personnel entrapment in chamber), and doors that are labeled where to push them for easy opening from inside the chamber. 1) Prompt response and repairs after the sale are very important. Our facility operations depend on this equipment working every single day possible. Therefore, factory trained and employed service technicians who respond to trouble calls by phone within 1 hour and visit the site to effect repairs within 24 hours is required. 2) Size of the unit should closely match current unit's size in order to fit the space, decrease ceiling gap and renovations afterwards to eliminate it, and optimize work flow and capacity. A double length model like our current one should have internal chamber dimensions approximately 46" wide x 85" high x 188" deep. 3) There is no pit, so the unit must be floor-mounted with ramps. Current ramps are 12" tall. We need to reduce this height as much as possible to ensure ergonomics for employee safety. A maximum height of 10 inches is allowable. 4) We must reduce the release of steam from the current cage and rack washer into the room to address facility damage that results. Therefore, the new unit must have drying capability and an integral exhaust fan to ensure that steam from the washing cycles is discharged from the space whether the building exhaust is running or not. 5) The vendor should remove existing equipment, install new, fashion and place ceiling trim to eliminate any remaining gap in the ceiling, provide final hook-ups by factory trained and employed technician(s), and provide in-service training to our staff on site by factory trained and employed technician(s). SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS: The vendor shall supply all or equal options that we have requested for the equipment. a. Emergency repair service must be available as follows: -factory trained and employed technician -return phone call within 1 hour -technician on site within 24 hours b. Vendor must be able to remove existing equipment, install new equipment, make final hook-ups by factory trained and employed technician(s), and fashion and place ceiling trim to close all ceiling gaps. c. Training must be provided on site by factory trained and employed personnel with extensive knowledge of equipment operations and safety features. d. A double length (188 inches long) cage and rack washer with double door pass-through is required and must be installed in the space occupied by the existing equipment and allowing adequate servicing area. e. Floor mounted unit with ramps required. There is no pit. Desire ramp height to be 10 inches or less. Loading and unloading equipment from the unit must be safe and ergonomically feasible when working with hot items. f. Largest disassembled pieces must fit on the service elevator (48" x 84") for transportation to the site (7th floor). g. Cage and rack washer internal dimensions of at least 46" wide by 85" high by 188" deep that can hold 2 ventilated racks end to end is needed. h. Bottle washing capabilities are required. i. Automatic watering rack flush unit must be included. j. Chamber walls should be designed to hold rabbit pans to efficiently utilize space. k. Control panel that is comparable to existing tunnel washer, autoclaves and glassware washer to minimize training time and maximize safety of personnel. l. A dryer and exhaust fan integral to the unit are needed to prevent steam escape into the room when cage washer doors are opened. m. Safety features such as emergency off buttons at each exit, red de-energization cords extending the length of each side of the internal chamber, and audible alarms are required. n. Desire to achieve cycle time durations of 10 minutes or less. o. Energy and water saving features are desired with the goal of decreasing current consumption by 30-50%. p. De-install and remove existing cage and rack washer q. Install new cage and rack washer r. Move equipment from loading dock to site on 7th floor through service elevator s. Make final hook-ups by factory trained and employed technician t. Verify proper functioning, set cycles, quality control verification u. Provide on-site user and safety training by factory trained and employed technician v. Capable of service support after the sale to specifically meet the following requirements: factory trained and employed technician to return phone call within 1 hr of client reporting equipment problems and on-site evaluation with attempts to repair within 24 hrs. The product capabilities and salient characteristics identified above by a "brand name or equal" description are intended to be descriptive, not restrictive, and to indicate the quality and characteristics of the product that will be satisfactory. Quotes offering "equal" products (including products of the brand name manufacturer other than the one described by the brand name) will be considered if such product is clearly identified in the quote and is determined by the VA to meet fully the salient characteristics on above products. If offering an equivalent product, the brand name of the equivalent product shall be clearly identified in the quote. Unless visibly identified as an equivalent product, offered items shall be considered as the brand name product referenced in this announcement. The evaluation of quotes and the determination as to the equality of the products shall be the responsibility of the Government and shall be based on information provided by the Offeror. The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information not provided in the quotation by the Offeror. To ensure that sufficient information is available, the Offeror must furnish, as a part of the quote, all descriptive material necessary for the purchasing activity to determine whether the products meet the salient characteristics of this requirement. Vendors proposing to modify a product to make it conform to the requirements of this announcement shall include a clear description of the proposed modification and clearly mark any descriptive material to show the proposed modification. Offers that do not have descriptive material will not be considered for award. Instructions to the Offeror Basis for award resulting from this RFQ will made to the Best Value Offer that provides a complete package pursuant to the preparation requirements set forth in 52.212-1. FAR 52.212-2 (Evaluation- Commercial Items) will be incorporated in full text into the RFQ and will be evaluated on the following factors. Evaluations will be in accordance with FAR 13 Simplified procedures. Evaluation Factors for Award: Factor 1- Technical Capabilities All offerors must meet or exceed all requirements and salient features and all aspects of the Statement of Need as written. Factor 2- Past Performance Past Performance will be based on the most current PPIPRS report. Factor 3- Veterans Involvement Factor 4- Price The following FAR provision and clauses apply to this solicitation and are incorporated by reference. The solicitation document, incorporated provision and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-89, Effective July 2, 2015. It is the responsibility of the contractor to be familiar with the applicable clauses and provisions. The clauses may be accessed in full text at www.acquistion.gov. 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. FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation- Commercial Items FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Or Executive Orders-Commercial Item 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (Nov 2011) 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2014) 52.233-3 Protest After Award (Aug 1996) FAR 52.211-6 Brand Name or Equal FAR 52.233-2 Service of Protest VAAR 852.215-71 Evaluation Factor Commitments VAAR 852.215-70 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Veteran-Owned Small Business Evaluation Factors Quotes shall be submitted via email to contact@example.gov and Offerors must reference Solicitation# VA240-16-Q-0129 in the subject line of the email. No telephone request for information will be considered. Incomplete packages will be considered nonresponsive. All offers must be received by the closing date September 29, 2016 NLT Noon EST.