Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for Automated Inverted Microscope

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting market research to identify alternative sources that (a) are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements for the following commercial products and commercial services and (b) would be interested in competing for that requirement:

The Biophysical and Biomedical Measurement Group within the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division of the Physical Measurements Laboratory will acquire an inverted microscope to advance measurement science for its Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC)/ Microphysiological Systems (MPS) program. Therefore, we require an inverted microscope system that is relatively easy to use, capable of maintaining live cell culture incubation conditions, and compatible with other existing Zeiss microscopes in the lab.  The microscope will be used to image biological cells on substrates ranging from microscope slides to multi-well plates to our custom-made OoC/MPS platforms. 

The project aims to monitor cell behavior under drug and other stimuli to detect changes in cell state. Therefore, continuous automated imaging of cells before, during, and after exposure to different stimuli for hours to days on different substrates, thus the requirement of cell culture incubation components is required. The substrates expected to be used (but not limited to) are: microscope slides, multi-well plates, and our custom-made OoC/MPS platforms, is required. The areas within these substrates to be imaged will vary depending on what is analyzed in and around the cells. 

The microscope must fulfill a wide range of requirements as outlined above. It most supports various imaging modalities such as brightfield imaging, widefield fluorescence, and phase contrast microscopy with high spatial resolution and fast scan rates (20 fps or more at the highest resolution). Additionally, the microscope should be part of a complete system that includes filter sets for multi-color imaging and light sources for bright field imaging and widefield fluorescence imaging from ≈385 nm to 735 nm to enable its use with common fluorophores.

The system should feature a high level of automation, allowing image capture in multiple modes, and be programmable for continuous monitoring over several days. The automation should also allow integration of other microscope features, such as focus tracking, to enhance long-term monitoring alongside image capture. Automation should also extend to microscope features such as motorized sample stages, nosepiece to allow changes in objectives and filters.

See Attachment 1 for required minimum technical specifications.

NIST has not yet determined its acquisition strategy for this requirement and encourages interested sources to respond to this Notice.

If NIST’s market research indicates there are alternative sources that are capable and interested in competing to fill this requirement, separate and apart from Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC (UEI: H41JAKKNEXY1), then NIST will consider conducting a competitive acquisition in accordance with law and regulation. To be clear, NIST’s identification of Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC in this Notice does not constitute a binding commitment or obligation for it to conduct a sole source procurement with Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC for this requirement.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

Parties that respond to this Notice are requested to voluntarily submit the requested information via email in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and/or Microsoft Excel format to the designated point(s) of contact whose name and email address appears at the bottom of this notice. Please provide only the information requested by this Notice, and do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this Notice.

Information Requested in Response to This Notice: To help NIST with its market research, NIST is requesting that industry sources carefully review this notice and any attachments to it and voluntarily provide the following information: 

  1.  Company Summary

• Notice Identification: Notice ID and Title of this posting.

• Corporate Details: Company name, physical address, website address, and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

• Point of Contact (POC): Name, phone number, and email address.

• Company Size Standard: Your company’s size status relative to the NAICS code provided in this Notice. (Refer to the SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards).

• System for Award Management (SAM) Registration: Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in SAM.gov.

  2.  Feedback for Draft Requirements

• Review the potential requirements/minimum specifications included with this Notice. Then, please provide suggestions to (a) improve clarity of it; (b) to make it more competitive; (c) to indicate whether there anything in it that may inadvertently exclude domestic involvement; and (d) to indicate how the requirements could potentially be revised to improve the ability for domestic (“Made in America”) end products to be considered.

  3.  Information Regarding Your Company’s Products and Services

• Provide specifications, company name of the original equipment manufacturer, and the country of manufacture for products and services that your company is legally authorized to sell and that may meet NIST’s minimum requirements.
  • Indicate whether, in your opinion, the product(s) meet the definition of (a) commercial product or (b) commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item or COTS item as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2 and, if so, which definition applies ((a) or (b)).
  • Indicate whether, in your opinion, the service(s) meet the definition of commercial service as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2.

• Standard Commercial Pricing: Provide your company’s standard commercial pricing information for the identified products and services and explain what is included in those standard prices.

• Estimated Price Range: You may provide an estimated price or price range for the requirements, including a brief explanation of how the price estimate was developed.

• Standard Commercial Terms and Conditions: Provide a copy of the standard commercial terms and conditions for the commercial products and commercial services identified in the response to this notice, including nature and duration of standard commercial warranty.

  4.  Regulatory and Supply Chain Compliance

• Indicate whether your company could comply with FAR Clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022) if this acquisition were to be set aside for small businesses. Provide a brief supporting explanation.

  5.  Existing Governmentwide Contract Vehicles

• Indicate whether your company has its own GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract or other federal contract vehicles under which NIST could award an order and, if so, provide the contract details (contract number, Contracting Officer name/contact, SOW, terms and conditions, and price lists).

We truly appreciate your company’s willingness to provide the above-mentioned information which NIST will be valuable in helping NIST complete its market research.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay respondents to this notice for information provided in response to this Notice. Following a review of the responses and market research, NIST may publish a solicitation on an authorized site, depending on the chosen acquisition strategy. Responses received after the closing date for this Notice may not be considered.

There is no solicitation available at this time.

The Government reserves the right to use information that it receives in response to this Notice as it deems appropriate to establish final requirements or for other legally appropriate purposes.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE

For additional information, please contact the primary contact or, if named, secondary contact identified at the bottom of this notice.

THANK YOU

Thank you for taking the time to read this notice and for your interest in helping NIST with its efforts to maximize competition!