Real-Time PCR System

This Notice is being posted as a Notice of Intent to make a sole source purchase using other than full and open competition. The USDA, ARS, NADC, Ames, IA 50011 has a requirement for a Real Time PCR System with Tower meeting or exceeding Brand Name or Equal, Applied Biosystems Catalog No. 4351107 - 7500 Fast Real-time PCR Systemw/ Tower (Quanity 1) Catalog No. 436214 TF Fast Chemical Install Kit, (Quantity 1) Catalog No. 4363619 TF 7500 Fast SDS (Quantity 1) Catalog No. ZG60-SC7500 Fast AB Ext. Warranty Promo (Quantity 1), This system must meet or exceed the following Statement of Work and Salient Characteristics: Statement of Work: This system is required as it is currently being used in our lab for several PCR Assays. These assays have been developed for use with the ABI 7500 platform and their reagents. Changing this platform would severely impact our work. The salient characteristics are: 1) The ability to run in the "fast" mode (30 min. or less) to improve efficiency in the lab. This includes dedicated reagents, protocols, and assays to run the Fast Mode. 2) Calibrated for use of 10 dyes including FAM/SYBR Green, VIC/JOE, NED/TAMRA/Cy3, ROX/Texas Red, and Cy5. 3) Specialized software that collects and analyzes fluorescent data for Absolute Quantification, Relative Quantification, Allelic Discrimination/SNP, Plus/Minus Assays/Pathogen Detection using internal positive controls. 4) Can perform quantitative real-time PCR, conventional PCR and qualitative post-PCR (endpoint) analysis, can also perform non-PCR analysis as a fluorescent plate reader. 5) Five excitation and emission filters. 6) Capable of performing different gene analysis, SNP analysis or pathogen detection in each well of the 96-well plate. This maximizes the efficiency within a run of a single plate. No. AG-518P-S-10-A074 is being issued as a Notice of Intent to make a Sole Source Purchase. This document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-40. The NAICS code applicable to this acquisition is 334516. DESCRIPTIVE LITERATURE: Offerors shall submit 2 copies of the Descriptive Literature describing their proposed equipment in enough detail to ascertain whether the equipment meets the criteria listed above. REJECTION OF PROPOSAL: Failure to demonstrate compliance will be cause to reject the quote without further discussions. All responsible sources may submit an offer which will be considered. The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and can be found in full text at http://www.acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html. FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference are as follows: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items (Provide with Proposal); FAR 52.214-21, Descriptive Literature (Provide with Proposal); FAR 52.204-7, Central Contractor Registration (ALL OFFERORS MUST BE REGISTERED IN THE CENTRAL CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION (CCR) DATABASE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE AN AWARD.) The website address for registration is: http://www.ccr.gov; and FAR 52.222-22, Previous Compliance Report. FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference are as follows: FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items apply to this acquisition. The following FAR clauses cited in 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items are applicable to this acquisition: FAR 52.222-3, Convict Labor (E.O. 11755); FAR 52.222-19, Child Labor; 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans; 52.225-13, Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases; 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer -Central Contractor Registration (31 U.S.C. 3332); 52.232-36, Payment by Third Party (31 U.S.C. 3332) and FAR 52.233, Protest After Award. 52.211-6 Brand Name or Equal. As prescribed in 11.107(a), insert the following provision: Brand Name or Equal (Aug 1999) (a) If an item in this solicitation is identified as "brand name or equal," the purchase description reflects the characteristics and level of quality that will satisfy the Government's needs. The salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics that "equal" products must meet are specified in the solicitation. (b) To be considered for award, offers of "equal" products, including "equal" products of the brand name manufacturer, must- (1) Meet the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristic specified in this solicitation; (2) Clearly identify the item by- (i) Brand name, if any; and (ii) Make or model number; (3) Include descriptive literature such as illustrations, drawings, or a clear reference to previously furnished descriptive data or information available to the Contracting Officer; and (4) Clearly describe any modifications the offeror plans to make in a product to make it conform to the solicitation requirements. Mark any descriptive material to clearly show the modifications. (c) The Contracting Officer will evaluate "equal" products on the basis of information furnished by the offeror or identified in the offer and reasonably available to the Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer is not responsible for locating or obtaining any information not identified in the offer. (d) Unless the offeror clearly indicates in its offer that the product being offered is an "equal" product, the offeror shall provide the brand name product referenced in the solicitation The above FAR clauses may be viewed at http://www.acquisition.gov/comp/far/loadmainre.html. SHIPPING: FOB Destination. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED IN PROPOSAL: In order to be considered for award Offerors shall provide 1) a Quote on company letterhead detailing the item description, unit price and total price; 2) descriptive literature, brochures, information on service and support; 3) at least 3 to 5 references for the proposed equipment. References must have received the proposed equipment within the last three (3) calendar years (Government references preferred but will accept commercial references). References shall be provided for the product proposed and if possible include the email address of the person to be contacted; and 4) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provisions FAR 52.212-3, OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS - COMMERCIAL ITEMS, with this offer; a copy of this provision may be obtained at http://www.acquisition.gov/comp/far/loadmainre.html. DELIVERY TO: USDA-ARS, Ames, IA PRICE MUST INCLUDE any freight or shipping, as well as any applicable duties, brokerage, or customs fees. DELIVERY DATE DUE: The Government requires delivery on or before 30 days after award, however, each offeror shall include their proposed delivery schedule as part of their quote. FAR 52.212.-2, EVALUATION - COMMERCIAL ITEM, the significant evaluation factors, in the relative order of importance, are (i) technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement including delivery date; (ii) past performance; and (iii) price (based on F.O.B. Destination), technical and past performance are more important than price. Award will be made based on overall BEST VALUE to the Government. EVALUATION & AWARD FACTORS - The contract resulting from this solicitation will be awarded to the responsible party whose offer, conforming to the solicitation, is determined most advantageous to the government, cost, and other factors considered. Each Proposal shall respond to each of the evaluation factors identified below. With the exception of past performance, a technical evaluation will be performed on each quote based solely on the information furnished and not on previous knowledge or associations. The evaluation factors are as follows: (1) Technical Evaluation Factors: A) All quotes will be rated against the salient characteristics and minimum requirements. B)Delivery/Installation. C) Training. D) Warranty. The Offeror shall extend to the Government the full coverage of any standard commercial warranty normally offered in a similar commercial sale, provided such warranty is available at no additional cost to the Government. Acceptance of the standard commercial warranty does not waive the Government's rights under the Inspection clause nor does it limit the Government's right with regard to the other terms and conditions of this contract. In the event of a conflict, the terms and conditions of the contract shall take precedence over the standard commercial warranty. The contractor shall provide a copy of its standard commercial warranty (if applicable) with this response. Any amendment and documents related to this procurement will be available electronically at the Internet site: http://www.fbo.gov. Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of those documents related to this procurement, if any. Furnish Proposals to Randa Plotner, Purchasing Agent, USDA, ARS, MWA, Contracting Office, 11 01 W. Peabody Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, no later than May 18, 2010. Proposals and other requested documents may be provided by facsimile to (217) 244-7703 if desired. Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Contracting Officer at (217) 244-3262 or email below. Contracting Office Address: 1101 W. Peabody Drive 180 NSRC Urbana, IL 61801 Place of Performance: USDA, ARS, NADC Ames, IA 61801 United States Primary Point of Contact.: Randa Plotner Purchasing Agent randa.plotner@ars.usda.gov Phone: (217) 244-3262 Fax: (217) 244-7703 General Information Notice Type: Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Posted Date: June 2, 2008 Response Date: Jun 20, 2008 2:00 pm Central Archiving Policy: Manual Archive Archive Date: - Original Set Aside: N/A Set Aside: N/A Classification Code: 66 -- Instruments & laboratory equipment NAICS Code: 334 -- Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing/334516 -- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing Justification for a sole source purchase is provided as follows: 1. Agency and Contracting Activity: USDA-ARS-MWA-NADC2. Nature/Description of Action(s): The purchase of a unit capable of performing both real-time and conventional PCR is required for our lab to perform PCR analyses on milk, feces, tissues, and blood for the detection of a pathogen specific to our research. 2. Description of Supplies/Services: Applied Biosystems FAST Real-time PCR system. This system can perform quantitative real-time PCR as well as conventional PCR and post-PCR analysis. It can also be used as a fluorescent plate reader. The unit uses a tungsten-halogen lamp, a cooled charge coupled device (CCD) camera, and an optical pathway utilizing five excitation and five emission filters. The instrument has the option to use an internal passive reference, such as ROXTM dye, to normalize collected data. Data collected using Fast mode enable runs to be completed in as little as 30 minutes compared to 90 minutes of other Real-time PCR systems. It can run 96 samples at a time. 3. Demonstration of Contractor's Unique Qualifications: Applied Biosystems is necessary for we already have the filters from our current machine that will fit on this machine saving hundreds of dollars. Also this machine is what we currently use just an updated version so we are very familiar with its procedures and usage. If another machine is used we will have to do completely revalidate assays that have taken years to develop and optimize as the reagents for the AB system are dedicated to this machine. This could be time consuming and extra reagents may be needed costing more. In addition, our collaborators on a major upcoming project utilize this system and it is essential that we be able to perform comparative analyses across labs. We also plan on maintaining our current AB Real-time PCR machine as long as possible as we have need for 2 units and we will need to be able to have standardized results using a similar platform and reagents. 6. FedBizOpps (FBO) Announcement/Potential Sources: Synopsis published 05/08/2010 7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost: The Applied Biosystems FAST Real-time PCR is much like the AB Real-time system that we have now, except it will run assays in one third of the time. In the event that our current unit fails, we can use parts for the repair of the new system. Experiments currently in progress will require less time if using a machine very similar to the one we have now vs. using one that we don't have experience in and have to regenerate data and optimize assays. This would be a very time consuming and costly to ARS. 8. Description of Market Research: We are very happy and had much success with the AB Real-time PCR unit. The unit just needs to be updated. It's an older machine. Knowing our luck with the previous machine and have very good support from Applied Biosystems we would like to stay with a company that has been very helpful and easy to reach for assistance when needed. Especially during a critical time within our experiment, if the machine goes down they will try and walk you through steps to get the machine up and running again if necessary. In addition, the popularity of this particular brand within the Center assures that we can continue our studies without interruption in the event of a catastrophic failure of the unit. 9. Listing of Interested Sources: N/A 10. Actions Taken to Remove Barriers to Competition: Current experiments that will be continuing for some time will need to be completed with very similar equipment so that no more discrepancies will occur than necessary. 11. Statement of Period of Performance and/or Delivery Schedule: N/A I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate. For more information please contact: Randa Plotner, Purchasing Agent, USDA, ARS, MWA, Contracting Office, 11 01 W. Peabody Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, no later than 08/18/2009. Proposals and other requested documents may be provided by facsimile to (217) 244-7703 if desired. Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Contracting Officer at (217) 244-3262 or email below. Contracting Office Address: 1101 W. Peabody Drive 180 NSRC Urbana, IL 61801 Place of Performance: USDA, ARS, NADC 1920 Dayton Ave., Bldg. 24, P.O. Box 70 Ames, IA 50010 United States Primary Point of Contact.: Randa Plotner Purchasing Agent randa.plotner@ars.usda.gov Phone: (217) 244-3262 Fax: (217) 244-7703