Maintenance Service on Thermo Fisher Scientific Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) Instrument

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

Introduction
This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested. 

Purpose
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with Thermo Electron North America, LLC, located at 1400 Northpoint Parkway, Suite 10, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33407-1976. The purchase order will specifically procure a Maintenance Service contract for an existing liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LCMS) system, manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific. The performance period of the service agreement shall be effective for one 12-month Base year and two 12-month Option Years for a total period of performance of three years if all options are exercised, to be effective on September 23, 2026.
 
Authority
This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of, and in accordance with, FAR RFO Part 12.102(a) and 41 USC 1901, allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 811210 – Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance with a small business size standard of $34.0 million.

Description
The Fire Research Division in the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requires support services for an existing liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LCMS) system, manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific. The LCMS was purchased from Thermo Electron North America, LLC and included an extended warranty. Thermo Electron North America is the authorized distributor for Thermo Fisher Scientific as it relates to distributing the subject LCMS and authorized services to government agencies. The original warranty on the LCMS system is set to expire on September 22, 2026. To ensure continued reliability and minimize disruptions to critical research, an annual comprehensive maintenance and service contract is required.

The contractor shall provide maintenance service on an existing Thermo Fischer Scientific LCMS instrument at NIST and shall provide comprehensive maintenance service for an existing government owned Thermo Fischer Scientific LCMS instrument. The LCMS is composed of a TSQ Altis Plus Triple LCMS and system base vanquish flex high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), (serial # TSQ-A-30287), a vanquish binary pump (serial # 8348188), a vanquish split sampler (serial # 8347145), and a vanquish horizon column compartment (serial # 6516282). The contractor shall provide the following minimum requirements:
•    Field OEM-certified Service Engineer labor, travel, and parts required for Corrective Maintenance visits with a targeted response time of 3 business days
•    Priority status for technical support inquiries with a targeted immediate response time. A certified service engineer will conduct diagnosis and Corrective Maintenance procedures using the latest digital remote support tools
•    One scheduled annual standard Preventive Maintenance visit (standard PM kit included)
•    Access to Unity Lab Services Online Knowledge Base
•    Software and firmware updates upon request and in conjunction with a scheduled Preventive Maintenance or Corrective Maintenance visit (updates are defined as changes of the existing software version that are intended to improve its performance)
•    Provide a service report summarizing maintenance performed no later than one day after service is performed. 

Sole Source Determination
The sole source determination is based on the following: 

All preventive maintenance and service repairs shall be performed in accordance with the manufacturer’s commercial preventive maintenance agreement practices and must be performed by a certified service technician/engineer. The OEM-authorized service provider must have access to OEM parts, software, firmware, and certified technical expertise necessary to ensure proper maintenance, instrument performance, data integrity, and compliance with established quality requirements, and access to certified, factory-trained Field Service Engineers (FSEs). The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the LCMS system, Thermo Fisher Scientific, solely and exclusively authorizes its subsidiary company, Thermo Electron North America, LLC, to distribute and service the LCMS and to provide all performance verified component parts, spare parts, software, technical support, upgrades and engineering resources to maintain the original operating specifications of the LCMS system. Without this service, the LCMS at NIST will risk degraded instrument performance, compromised data quality and comparability, potential noncompliance with quality assurance requirements, and increased downtime due to lack of access to proprietary parts, software, and certified expertise. No other or 3rd parties therefore exist that can achieve this requirement. For purposes of continuity of science and compatibility with existing equipment, the required preventive maintenance and service must be purchased directly through Thermo Electron North America, LLC.

Information for Interested Parties
Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is NOT a solicitation. 

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist, at Hunter.Tjugum@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to hunter.tjugum@nist.gov so that they are received not later than 12:00 PM, Eastern Time, on the 15th day following release of this notice. 

Each response should include the following Business Information:

a.    Contractor Name, Address, 
b.    Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address
c.    Contractor (SAM) Universal Entity Identification (UEI) 
d.    Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, HUBZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must have an active registration in www.SAM.gov. 
e.    Capability Statement