Laboratory Animal Feed and Bedding Supplies

Introduction This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. Background, Purpose, Objectives The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Comparative Medicine Branch (CMB), is currently seeking sources capable of providing laboratory animal feed and bedding to multiple facilities located on the main NIH campus at 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD. The Comparative Medicine Branch (CMB) is a branch within the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). The CMB is responsible for care, housing, and husbandry for all DIR/NIAID research animals. The CMB operates within 5 animal care facilities located on the NIH campus at 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD, and 1 animal care facility at 12735 Twinbrook Parkway in Rockville, MD. The animals housed and fed at any point in time may include mice, rats, ferrets, rabbits, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, and non-human primates. On average, NIAID houses 135,000 animals at any given time. However, this number fluctuates based on current research priorities and funding. Project Requirements Successful offerors must have the knowledge, skill, ability, and resources to reliably provide animal feed and bedding for the CMB. The CMB generally places orders on a weekly basis to accommodate existing populations of research animals and in anticipation of new animal arrivals. These orders support all NIAID vivarium's on the NIH campus. All research animals require routine feeding and cage bedding changing. Maintenance of these animals must be in accordance with research protocols and AAALAS certification requirements. Specific items for each weekly order will vary but will be submitted by NIAID staff to the vendor at least 5 business days prior to delivery. The orders will be submitted via the NIH IntraMalls system. Responsible vendors will need to be registered to accept orders in this system as part of a successful award. Feed and bedding selections require prior scientific justification from the Primary Investigators and facility veterinarians as any variation in diet may change study variables and negatively impact research results. Therefore, once awarded, this acquisition will accept no substitutions of product. Any delays in shipping or backorders must be communicated to the requester prior to the shipping date. Products specifications are listed in an attachment to this notice. (See attachment 1: Statement of Work (SOW). Other Requirements: Potential, capable vendors shall be able to prove the following: Proof of chain of custody for delivery vehicles to show direct from food manufacturer to feed provider to NIH locations; no external shipping company, leased trucks or trucks shared with other products or animals Quality Assurance (QA) at manufacturing plant, to include receipt of raw materials, production facilities and transportation of product QA of raw materials and finished product Food safety and quality plan, to include food safety certifications and ISO certification status as well as HACCP participation Experience in pandemic planning and continuity of operation Location of local warehouse and storage capabilities Contingency plan for local as well as national emergencies to encompass possible disruption in production and/or delivery The Government anticipates awarding a firm fixed price purchase order, after solicitation for this requirement. Anticipated Period of Performance It is anticipated that an award will be made on or before June 01, 2021 for the base period of June 01, 2021 - May 31, 2021 with up to four option years. Capability Statement/Information Sought All capable vendors should respond with a brief capability statement by May 05/2021 at 3:00 PM EST. Capability statements must reference similar work that has been performed by the contractor, the dollar value of that work and any past experience with contracts of similar size and scope. If your organization has the potential capacity to support this requirement, please provide the following information: 1) organization name, address, point of contact, email address, website address, telephone number, DUNS number and size and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of capability. Respondents shall indicate if they are the manufacturer or the distributor of feed products and shall include basic information on product specifications and quality control standards. Capability statements should also include documentation indicating that offerors business size as determined by the Small Business Administration's Table of Size Standards located at: (https://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-size-standards) for NAICS 311119. This SBA size standard is currently 500 employees but is subject to change. Prospective offerors may also note whether they meet any other socio-economic business categories such as 8(a), Hub-Zone, or Service Disabled Veteran when submitting their capability statement. Submission Instructions Interested businesses who consider themselves qualified to perform the above-listed services are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by May 05, 2021 at 3:00 PM EST. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be emailed to Bevin Feutrier: contact@example.gov. Disclaimer and Important Notes This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. 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 qualifications to perform the work. 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 pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).