Manufacturing Execution System Development

This is a request for a Firm Fixed Price quotation for commercial products. This solicitation is issued in accordance with the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) Part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the RFO. 

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541511 - Custom Computer Programming Services. The small business size standard is $34.0 Million. This is an unrestricted competition. Both small businesses and other than small businesses under the applicable size standard are eligible to respond.  

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS

Background
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) supports the advancement of Additive Manufacturing (AM). As AM transitions from prototyping to industrial production, the seamless integration of AM machines with enterprise software specifically Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) is the primary enabler for increasing throughput and addressing scalability issues. However, the standards are missing for interoperable AM and MES integration. The research team at the System Integration Division has a research objective to develop a neutral information model that can be standardized for AM and MES integration. As part of the efforts to develop standard information model to integrate AM and MES systems, the Information Modeling and Testing group will conduct a six-month benchmarking study to compare (a) a standards-based AM-MES integration approach using a neutral information model and validation, versus (b) an AI-assisted point-to-point integration approach using Large Language Model (LLM)-driven documentation ingestion and code generation, and (c) test the performance and efforts using existing NIST-owned AM machines, including EOS 290 and Renishaw RenAM500. The goal is to quantify effort, reliability, and semantic accuracy, and to produce a practical roadmap for AM-MES interoperability.

Objectives
II. PURPOSE The purpose of this acquisition is to obtain contractor support for developing custom MES software, conducting the integration of their MES with NIST’s EOS 290 and Renishaw RenAM500, using both neutral model-based methods and AI-assisted methods, and quantifying the integration performance and efforts.

Scope of Work 
Please see the attached Statement of Work Document.
 

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE / DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS

The period of performance shall be from October 1, 2026, through March 31, 2026.
 

CONTRACT TYPE & PAYMENT TERMS
A firm fixed price purchase order is anticipated.

APPLICABLE PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES
Please see the attached document for applicable provisions and clauses.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (DEVIATION April 2026):

QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD

CAR 1352.215-73 INQUIRIES (APR 2010):
 

Quoters must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing electronically to Mr. Collin Randall, Contract Specialist, at Collin.Randall@nist.gov and Ms. Lauren Roller, Contract Officer, at lauren.roller@nist.gov Questions must be received by or before Monday August 24, 2026, at 12:00 PM ET. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. 

(End of Provision)

DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS

All quotations must be submitted via email to Mr. Collin Randall, Contract Specialist, at Collin.Randall@nist.gov and Ms. Lauren Roller, Contract Officer, at lauren.roller@nist.gov. Submission must be received not later than Monday August 31, 2026, at 12:00 PM ET.

Note: Quoters must have an active registration at www.SAM.gov at time of offer submission to be considered for award. “ID Assigned” is not acceptable; registration must be “Active.”

Please reference the RFQ number in the subject line of all email communications. Quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government unless the quotation is received in the e-mail inboxes set forth above by the required date and time. Quotations which do not reference the RFQ number in the subject line of email communications may not be considered for award.

INSTRUCTIONS TO QUOTERS

Quotations shall be submitted electronically via email and shall consist of two volumes as detailed below. Each quotation volume shall include the Quoter’s name, System for Award Management Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, and point of contact information in a cover page, header/footer, or other easily identified location.

The Quoter’s quotation shall be clearly divided into the following distinct volumes:

Volume I – Technical Quotation

Volume II – Price Quotation

Volume I: Technical Response

The Quoter shall submit one (1) copy of their technical response electronically via E-mail to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer identified above. The technical response shall not exceed five (5) single-spaced, single sided pages. Text shall be no less than 12-point font in read-only Microsoft Word or searchable Adobe PDF format. The technical quotation shall address the following:

1. Technical approach to performing each of the required tasks
2. Confirmation of the quoter’s ability to meet the required period of performance.

Volume II: Price Quotation

The quoter shall submit one (1) copy of their price quotation electronically via E-mail to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer identified above. The price quotation shall address, at minimum, the following information:

1. The solicitation number
2. The name, phone number, and email address of the quoter's/contractor’s point of contact;
3. Unique Entity Identifier # for quoter's/contractor’s active SAM.Gov registration.
4. A firm fixed price for The required services. Please also provide a breakdown of pricing, including level of effort and labor hours as applicable, to assist NIST in evaluating the quoted pricing.
5. Any applicable discount terms.

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation- Commercial Products and Commercial Services (DEVIATION Jan 2026)

1. Evaluation factors. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Quoter whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, is the lowest price technically acceptable quotation.

The Government intends to award a single firm fixed price purchase order (PO) from this solicitation utilizing FAR part 12 of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul. The Government reserves the right not to award a PO and to make an award based solely upon initial quotes.

Basis for Award: 

This requirement will be evaluated using the trade-off best value method. Award will be made to the Quoter who submits the quotation determined to offer best value to the Government amongst competitive quotations. The following factors, listed in descending order of importance, will be used to evaluate quotations.
 

(1) Technical Capability: The Government will evaluate quotations for understanding of requirements and for appropriateness and expected effectiveness and efficiency of the quoted technical approach for achieving the Statement of Work requirements.

(2) Schedule: The Government will evaluate the degree to which the quotation meets or exceeds the schedule requirements. Meeting requirements will be evaluated as “satisfactory.” An expedited schedule may be evaluated more favorably.

(3) Price: Pricing will be evaluated but not rated. The Government will evaluate quoted pricing for fairness and reasonableness in the current marketplace.

A quoter's failure to address any factor may be considered indicative of the quoter's lack of understanding of the Government's requirements and may result in the quote being determined unacceptable.