Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Manufacturing Research Support Services

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be misunderstood as a Request for Proposal or a Request for Quotation or as an obligation on the part of The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary data may be part of this effort. If so, respondents are responsible for identifying proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted / non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. Section I - Sources Sought Information: 1. Synopsis: NIST is seeking information from small business concerns to assist the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) with providing expertise and knowledge in support of a formal review process of the MEP Centers; to serve as a panelist and to develop a training program to support the MEP centers. 2. Background: The MEP establishes cooperative agreements with various organizations across the U.S. and the review process is set up to analyze the organization's performance. The Center Panel Reviews analyze the financial, strategic and operating components of the organization. These reviews are also conducted to improve delivery and quality of the services provided by the organization. The reviews will identify and provide recommendation on issues like center performance, performance measurement, and strategic planning as well. MEP's need to conduct effective and productive reviews is essential to NIST's and the Department of Commerce's mission to help the organizations better aid manufacturers in becoming more competitive in the current marketplace. 3. Statement of Requirements: NIST seeks information from industry sources with current, relevant experience and current expertise in the following: development of the manufacturing research agenda; identification of sources of data and analyses; development of a framework for coordination between, use and sharing of data and analyses by multiple NIST MEP divisions and groups, as well as by MEP Centers; identification of any needed training of NIST MEP and/or MEP Center staff; and communications strategies for increasing the awareness and dissemination of data and analyses to NIST MEP staff and MEP Centers. ========== NIST is seeking responses from all responsible small business sources. Interested small businesses shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the services described above. The small business size standard for the applicable NAICS code of 541618 - Other Management Consulting Services with a size standard of $15.0 million annually. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Contract. Section II - Response Instructions: Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response (see Section II - Responses defined below) describing their abilities to chantel.adams@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name, Address, DUNS number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company. 2. Any information on the company's small business certifications, if applicable. 3. Description of your company's capabilities, experience (within the past three (3) years) and qualifications as they relate to the services described in this notice. 4. A description of your company's previous experience providing the services described in this notice. 5. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts or other applicable contracts and, if so, the applicable contract number(s). 6. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research. 7. Current socio-economic status of your company as it relates to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 541618 - Other Management Consulting Services, with a size standard of $15.0 million annually. 8. Indication of whether your company currently has an active registration in the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/portal/). Responses are limited to a total of ten (10) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8-inch x 11-inch, using 11-Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be evaluated) may be included in the 1" margin space. Please send responses via email to chantel.adams@nist.gov