INTRODUCTION
This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a small business social-economic set-aside, competitive or non-competitive method is possible, and to determine the availability of all qualified small business companies technically capable of meeting the Government's requirement. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.

NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The NAICS code applicable to this requirement is 334516 - Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with associated business size standard 500 employees.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI) requires the purchase of the Agilent Technologies PlateLoc automated microplate sealer as well as the Agilent Technologies VSpin microplate centrifuge with Access2 plate loader. These devices will be integrated onto the Wako system used for in-house cherry picking for follow ups on siRNA screens that have been completed. NCATS DPI's ongoing process of cherry picking activities from siRNA screens avoids significant more money and time.

The plate sealer, centrifuge and loader are going to be integrated onto the Wako system used for automated cherry picking for follow ups to siRNA screening. The supply for this potential requirement shall be able to provide an on-adhesive seal using heat to 96, 384 and 1536 plates made of various materials (polypropylene, cyclic olefin and polystyrene for example). Versatile piece of equipment shall be used constantly to prevent evaporation of the particular reagents in the wells associated with a screen/experiment as well as to preserve precious chemical compounds, etc. The plate centrifuge is used to spin down the contents of the plate wells to prevent cross contamination/loss of sample and ensures more accurate pipetting of liquid as well. The contents are pulled to the bottom of the well eliminating air gaps/bubbles. The plate loader is necessary to load the microplates into the centrifuge buckets.

The supply for this potential requirement will be used to swap out existing currently used pieces of equipment manufactured by Agilent Technologies that was temporarily being used from other systems and groups. Offerors to this Small Business Sources Sought notice shall indicate their compatibility to provide equipment that can be compatibilly used in replacement of the currently used existing equipment, such as installation of drivers etc. Positions are already taught for the robotic arm in the Wako system and this system was designed around these particular pieces of equipment and their footprints.

Specifically, the NCATS DPI requires the following:

One (1) Microplate Sealer; and

One (1) Microplate Centrifuge with plate loader.

The microplate sealer will be used to seal the 200 source plates which are currently cherry picked from in any given run as well as the destination plates. The Microplate Centrifuge with plate loader will be used to spin down the source plates after they are thawed from -80C to prevent cross contamination/loss of sample and ensure more accurate pipetting when cherry picking. The centrifuge requires the plate loader to load the plates into the centrifuge buckets.

Delivery of of this potential requirement must be within 30 days of any order placement to the NCATS government facility located at 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850

CAPABILITY STATEMENT / INFORMATION SOUGHT
Interested parties are expected to review this notice to familiarize itself with the requirements of this product or service. Failure to do so will be at your firm's own risk.

The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2" x 11" paper size, with 1" top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.

The information submitted must be must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the product requirement. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response is limited to fifteen (15) page limit. The 15-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

The response must include the respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Hunter Tjugum, at [email protected] prior to the closing date specified in this announcement. The response must be received on or before July 17, 2015 at 4:30 pm, Eastern Time.

CONCLUDING STATEMENTS
Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

Bid Protests Not Available