ACTION CODE: SPECIAL NOTICE

CLASSIFICATION CODE: J066 - Maintenance Instruments and Laboratory Equipment

SUBJECT: Upgrade, Maintenance, Training, and Repair of TA Instrument ARES G2 Rheometer

SOLICITATION NUMBER: NB643100-18-01004

RESPONSE DATE: 3/7/2018

DESCRIPTION:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with TA Instruments, located in New Castle, Delaware to upgrade, maintain, train, and repair an ARES G2 Rheometer.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) Security Technologies Group (STG) develops measurement science in support of performance-based standards for technologies used by law enforcement, corrections, emergency response, and the military; and advances such technologies to support the needs of the stakeholders.

The Contractor shall install, upgrade, and provide training on the Orthogonal Superposition (OSP) accessory for the ARES G2 Rheometer. The contractor shall install software and firmware upgrades for the purposes of instrument optimization, provide help desk support to troubleshoot performance issues, respond to an unlimited number of service calls, and provide any replacement parts needed to return a piece of equipment to operational status in the event of performance failure. Repair and maintenance to the Rheometer shall be performed by certified personnel approved by TA Instruments. The Contractor shall only employ parts, software, firmware updates, tools, test apparatus, methodologies, techniques, and practices approved for use with the instrument by the manufacturer. The service protocols, and instrument specifications shall be adhered to at all times.

Sole Source justification is based on the following:

The TA Instrument ARES G2 Rheometer at NIST is critical to several projects, including alternative ballistic witness materials, viscoelastic characterization of nanocomposite armor, and fundamental measurements of shear thickening and jamming fluids for blunt trauma protection. The ARES G2 Rheometer is the most advanced for materials research based on a dedicated and separate actuator and transducer. The OSP measurement accessory provides a unique capability to independently control oscillatory motion of the transducer independent of the separate actuator, which is only offered by the manufacturer, TA Instruments.

In order to provide the required maintenance services, the contractor must be trained in performing repair and maintenance, and have access to TA Instrument parts, software and firmware updates. The manufacturer, TA Instruments/Waters LLC, has stated and provided a letter confirming that only TA Instruments/ Waters LLC is authorized to install, service, or maintain their instruments due to the proprietary nature of these resources.

The resulting order will be a Firm-Fixed Price purchase order.

NAICS code for this requirement will be 811219 - Other Electronic and Precision Repair and Maintenance with a small business size of 20.5M

No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, interested parties who regard themselves as capable of fulfilling these requirements are invited to submit responses to the Government for consideration. Responses received by 03/7/2018 will be considered by the Government.

Inquiry POCs

[email protected] Primary
[email protected] Secondary
National Institutes of Standards and Technologies NIST
Acquisition Management Division (AMD)
100 Bureau Dr. Mail Stop 1640
Gaithersburg, MD. 20899-1640