66--ABQ Tablet/Capsule Inspection System

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ONLY. It is neither a solicitation announcement nor a request for proposals or quotes and shall not obligate the Government to award a contract. The purpose of this Sources Sought Announcement is for market research to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources interested and capable of fulfilling the requirement as stated and their size classification relative to the North American Classification System (NACIS) Code 333933 with a size standard of 500 employees. BACKGROUND. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center (CSPCRPCC) has a requirement to automate the quality inspection process for a wide variety of solid oral dosage forms of pharmaceutical products - tablets or capsules. The current practice of reliance on human eyes and manual inspection for all quality characteristics is inadequate to ensure the release of quality products for use in clinical trials. SCOPE.Contractor shall provide an Automated Tablet and Capsule Inspection System, perform installation, conduct initial operator training and provide the system qualification documentation (Installation qualifications - IQ, Operational Qualification - OQ) and associated test plans for system validation. This is a salient requirement, and is not flexible. The following are the minimum salient characteristics that must be met. 1). Capability of dosage form handling to include tablets, caplets, hard gelatin capsules and softgel capsules. Ability to process capsule sizes from 1 to 00; oval, round and oblong softgels ranging in size from #2 to #40; and all common tablet sizes. 2). System able to verify capsules and tablets by color, size and shape, and will detect and remove from the acceptable product all foreign, broken, stained doses and those with missing or incomplete coating. Throughput of dosages inspected (min. 50,000/hr). 3) Accuracy of rejection of unacceptable product (minimum = 98.5%) 4). Changeover of the system from one dosage form to another. (Maximum 2 hours). Ease of cleaning product contact parts. 5). Completeness of Qualification Package for validation. (Includes IQ and OQ, minimum) Requested Information:Statement of Capability: Submit a brief description (five [5] pages or less) that shows your company can provide the required services. One additional page may be included explaining experience in fulfilling this requirement to the VA, other government agencies, or for private facilities. Potential sources should identify business name, point of contact, business size and any applicable business socio-econom8ic category (i.e. small business, SDVOSB, VOSB, SB, ect), DUNS number, address, and any additional information felt to be pertinent. All vendors must be registered in SAM https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ prior to contract award. Responses to this notice should be electronically mailed in PDF format or work format to contact@example.gov. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Written responses must be received no later than 3:00 PM (EST), Monday, August 12, 2013. Contracting Office Address: Department of Veterans Affairs; Service Area Office East, 323 North Shore Drive, Pittsburgh PA 15212. Delivery and Place of Performance: Equipment to be delivered and installed by the contractor at: VA Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center 2401 Centre Avenue, SE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106-4180 Type of Contract: Stand Alone Contract. Point of Contact (s): Paula L. Stankovic Contracting Officer +1 (555) 000-0000 contact@example.gov