Mass Spectral Analysis of Plant and Animal Compounds

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested, and a separate written solicitation document will not be issued. This solicitation is being issued under the authority of FAR Parts 12 and 13. Simplified Acquisition Procedures will be utilized. This solicitation is a Request for Quotations (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-92 effective 11/18/2016. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541690 with a small business size standard of $15 Million. This acquisition uses unrestricted competition procedures. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Materials Measurement Science Division requires professional technical support to build annotated libraries of unknown spectra using NIST mass spectral data collected from food and plant materials in accordance with the attached Statement of Work. Responsible quoters shall provide a firm fixed price for the following line items: Line Item 0001: Quantity one (1) Year, Performance of tasks as specified in the Statement of Work. Line Item 0002: Quantity one (1) Year, Travel. The contractor shall perform travel required to successfully perform the tasks as specified in the Statement of Work. Please note that this procurement IS NOT being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If a contractor submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the contractor's FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation; EVALUATION CRITERIA The Government intends to award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible quoter whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, results in the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following will be used to evaluate quotations: Technical Capability Experience Past Performance Price Technical Capability, Experience, and Past Performance, when combined, shall be equal in importance to price. TECHNICAL CAPABILITY Technical capability shall be evaluated to determine the Contractor's ability to successfully complete the required tasks. In determining best value to the Government, documentation will be evaluated to determine the feasibility and likelihood for success of the proposed technical approach, including the proposed methodology for identifying compounds of practical importance. EXPERIENCE Experience shall be evaluated to determine the degree of and relevance of experience the Contractor's proposed Key Personnel possesses in completing the same or similar projects to the current requirements and meeting the Government's minimum qualifications. PAST PERFORMANCE Evaluation of Past Performance shall be based on the references provided and/or the quoter's recent (with part of performance occurring within the last three years) and relevant procurement history with NIST, its' affiliates, and/or other relevant references. Past performance evaluation shall determine the overall quality of the services and/or end products provided by the Contractor. The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source and may contact customers other than those identified by the Offeror when evaluating past performance. Quoters with no relevant past performance will receive a neutral rating. PRICE Price will be evaluated to determine whether that total price is consistent with the technical portion of the quotation and is a fair, reasonable and realistic overall price to the Government. CONTRACTOR INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTATION SUBMISSION: Quotations are required to conform to solicitation provisions and be prepared in accordance with this section. To aid in evaluation, the quotation must be clearly and concisely written as well as being neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. All pages of each part shall be appropriately numbered and identified with the name of the quoter, the date, and the solicitation number. The total response inclusive of technical and price volumes shall not exceed 10 single spaced letter size pages. The quotation shall contain the following required submissions: 1. Technical Capability. Contractors shall provide detailed information regarding their approach to completing each task in the statement of work. Contractors shall discuss their methodology for identification and classification of different compounds. 2. Experience. The Contractor shall provide detailed information on their proposed key personnel's experience in performing similar tasks which clearly demonstrates that they meet the required minimum qualifications as described in the statement of work. 3. Past Performance. The Contractor shall provide past performance information regarding all relevant contracts for the PAST THREE YEARS with federal, state or local governments, and international and commercial customers. The information shall describe contracts of a similar type and scope as the current requirement. If the contractor intends to use another firm for part of this requirement, that firm's past performance information must also be provided. If the Contractor has no relevant past performance it must include a statement to that effect in its Contractor. The government reserves the right to consider data obtained from sources other than those described by the Contractor in its Contractor. The description of each contract described in this section shall include the following information: - Contract Number; - Description and relevance to solicitation requirements; - Period of Performance - Indicate the start and completion (or "ongoing") dates for the contract; - Point of contact information of the client responsible for this contract. If a Government contract (federal or state), provide Point of Contact information for the Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer's Representative, if applicable. 4. Price. The contractor shall provide pricing for the following items: a. Line Item 0001; Firm Fixed Price: Performance of the tasks in accordance with the statement of work. Contractors shall submit a firm fixed price this line item. Additionally, the Contractor shall include pricing information detailing a price breakdown for each SOW task/deliverable calculated by multiplying the quoted labor category hourly rate by the estimated number of hours required to complete that task/deliverable. b. Line Item 0002; Travel, reimbursable in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations:. Contractors shall submit a ceiling price for travel to the required conferences in accordance with the statement of work. Along with the ceiling price, the contractor shall submit information detailing how the travel ceiling was determined. 5. Terms and Conditions. A completed version of all required solicitation provisions (see attached provisions/clauses document - required submissions highlighted in blue). If the Contractor objects to any of the terms and conditions contained in this solicitation, the contractor shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:" [Contractor shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)]. It is the sole responsibility of the Contractor to identify in their quote any exceptions to the terms and conditions of the solicitation. If the contractor does not include such a statement, the submission of a quotation in response to this solicitation will be regarded as the Contractor's acceptance of the Government's terms and conditions for inclusion into the resultant purchase order. 6. System for Award Management Requirement. Contractors shall submit their active DUNS number associated with their company's active System for Award Management (SAM) registration. Quoters must have an active registration at www.SAM.Gov to receive an award. DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS E-mail quotations are required. All quotations must be submitted via e-mail to Susan Ruzicka, Contract Specialist at Susan.Ruzicka@Nist.gov. Submission must be received not later than 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday 03 January 2017. A quotation shall be considered received when it is received in the electronic inbox of Susan Ruzicka not later than the date and time identified herein. All questions regarding this notice must be submitted via e-mail to Susan.Ruzicka@nist.gov by 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday 21 December 2016. Questions submitted after this date may not be addressed by the Government prior to the quotation submission deadline. PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES The provisions and clauses applicable to this solicitation can be found under Applicable Provisions and Clauses. The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at https://farsite.hill.af.mil or www.acquisition.gov/far.