NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 215, Greenbelt, MD 20771

66 -- VACUUM BRAZING FURNACE SOL RFO5-05571-238 POC Simone N. Rollings, Contract Specialist, Phone 301-286-8688, Fax 301-286-1720, Email srolling@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov -- Elizabeth Austin, Contracting Officer, Phone (301)286-6843, Fax (301)286-1720, Email Elizabeth.J.Austin.1@gsfc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/GSFC/date.html#RFO5-05571-238. E-MAIL: Simone N. Rollings, srolling@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov. This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; offers are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This notice is being issued as a Request for Offer (RFO) for the purchase of a Vacuum Brazing Furnace including start-up and on-site training (1 day) by the vendor field engineer. The Vacuum Brazing Furnace will be used to: (1) develop and qualify brazing procedures for the upcoming Goddard flight and research projects, (2)perform vacuum brazing of the actual flight components, and (3)support vacuum brazing needs for other NASA installations. It is anticipated that the item will be used continuously to support on-going research and development efforts as well as to meet the vacuum brazing needs of the flight projects. 1. Construction The furnace shall be a horizontal loading type vacuum furnace constructed from a corrosion resistant alloy. Doors shall be hinged and have two viewing ports that provide direct view paths into the hot zone. Water cooling shall be arranged in such a way as to provide extremely efficient and uniform cooling. 2. Chamber All stainless steel chamber shall have internal surfaces ground and polished to allow for high purity contamination free vacuum performance. The chamber shall be configured with the array of ports, flanges and assorted penetrations to allow for the convenient field installation of future additions of such accessories as hydrogen process gas accessory (approved by Factory Mutual), residual gas analyzer head, arc melting, induction melting, weld box, glove box, and assorted interchangeable high temperature hot zones configured for different insulation packages and temperature ranges to be compatible with future heat treat and high temperature process applications. The chamber shall be vibration free, i.e. the vacuum system shall be vibration isolated from the chamber. Hot zone shall be of a box type at least 20" long with the working volume no less than 0.7 cubic foot. Hot zone shall be capable of maintaining any temperature within the range between ambient and 1300 degrees Celsius. The temperature uniformity within the hot zone shall be within 15 degrees Celsius. The hearth and radiation shields of the hot zone should be constructed of heat resistant material, preferably molybdenum. In addition to overtemperature thermocouple, the hot zone shall have at least one control thermocouple flexible enough for placement on or near the work piece anywhere within the hot zone. Atmosphere The furnace shall be capable of providing a rapid, hard and clean vacuum of the 10-6 torr range. The furnace shall have a capability of providing automatic inert gas backfill. The backfill gas shall be able to stay within the specified flow or pressure range. The furnace shall have a capability to reach specified temperatures while back filled with the inert gas at or slightly below atmospheric pressure. Controls Furnace shall have programmable multi-channel digital process controller and recorder for automatic operation and recording of the system performance. The furnace shall have a communication interface/board for remote operation via desk top personal computer. The furnace shall have a manual shut-off switch that can override the running program. The furnace shall include all NFPA required safety features with build in alarms and overtemperature protection. The provisions and clauses in the RFO are those in effect through FAC 97-11. This procurement is a total small business set-aside. See Note 1. The SIC code and the small business size standard for this procurement are 3567 and 500 employees,respectively. The offeror shall state in their offer their size status for this procurement. All qualified responsible business sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. Delivery to GSFC is required in accordance within ninety (90) days ARO. Delivery shall be FOB Destination. The DPAS rating for this procurement is DO-C9. Offers for the items(s) described above may be delivered to Goddard Space Flight Center, Bldg. 11, Rm S215 Attn: Simone N. Rollings, Code 215, Greenbelt, MD 20771 by 15 calendar days from the posting date of this synopsis/solicitation. Offers must include, solicitation number, FOB destination to this Center, proposed delivery schedule, discount/payment terms, warranty duration (if applicable), taxpayer identification number (TIN), identification of any special commercial terms, and be signed by an authorized company representative. Offerors are encouraged to use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items form found at URL: http://procure.arc.nasa.gov/Acq/Forms/Index.html to submit a offer. In addition, offeror's total proposal is limited to five (5) pages, excluded from the 5 pages is the offeror's Certifications and Representations and Standard Form 1449. one original and one copy of the proposal are required. Offerors shall provide the information required by FAR 52.212-1. Addenda to FAR 52.212-1 are as follows: (b)(4)A technical proposal addressing how the start-up and 1 day onsite training would be performed. If the end product(s) offered is other than domestic end product(s) as defined in the clause entitled "Buy American Act -- Supplies," the offeror shall so state and shall list the country of origin. FAR 52.212-4 is applicable. FAR 52.212-5 is applicable and the following identified clauses are incorporated by reference: 52.222-3 Convict Labor (August 1996),52.233-3 Protest after Award (August 1996), 52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Jul 1995), 52.203-10 Price of Fee Adjustment for Illegal or Improper Activity (Jan 1997),52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside(Jul 1996),52.219-8 Utilization of Small, Small Disadvantaged Business and Women Owned Small Business Concerns(Jun 1997),52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (Dec 1996),52.222-26 Equal Opportunity, 52.222-35 Affirmative Action for Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era, 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Disabled Workers, 52.227-37 Employment Reports on Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era, 1852.215-84 Ombudsman ** Insert " Mr. William F. Townsend, (301) 286-8764" and " Before consulting with any ombudsman, interested parties must try to resolve their concerns with the Contracting Officer. Do not call the ombudsman for solicitation requests/information." 1852.246-72 Material Inspection and Receiving Report (June 1995). Questions regarding this acquisition must be submitted in writing no later than Jun 30, 1999. Award will be based upon overall best value to the Government, with consideration given to the factors of proposed technical merits, price, and past performance; other critical requirements (i.e., delivery) if so stated in the solicitation will also be considered. Technical merit will be assessed based on the offeror's approach to meeting the requirements. The critical factor to be considered in past perfomance will be the offeror's experience in the successful design, construction, delivery, and customer support associated with the sale of Vacuum Brazing Furnaces. For selection purposes, technical, price, and past performance are essentially equal in importance. It is critical that offerors provide adequate detail to allow evaluation of their offer. (SEE FAR 52.212-1(b)). Offerors must include completed copies of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items with their offer. These may be obtained via the internet at URL: http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/msfc/pub/reps_certs/midrange/. These representations and certifications will be incorporated by reference in any resultant contract. An ombudsman has been appointed. See Internet Note "B". Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the following Internet site for the release of solicitation amendments (if any): http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/GSFC/class.html Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of this combination synopsis/solicitation and amendments (if any). Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html Posted 06/22/99 (D-SN345794). (0173)

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