National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div.,100 Bureau Drive Stop 3572, Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572

66 -- MICROPLATE STRIP WASHER AND MICROPLATE READER SOL 53SBNB060058 DUE 032700 POC Teresa A. Reefe, Contracting Officer (301) 975-6364, FAX (301) 975-5007 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. THIS 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; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. The solicitation number for this requirement is 53SBNB060058 and it is being issued as a request for quotation (RFQ) using simplified acquisition procedures (FAR Part 13). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-15. This requirement is unrestricted; however, the assigned Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code is 5084 and the related small business size standard is 500 employees. The Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) and items, quantities and units of measure are as follows: CLIN 0001, Microplate Strip Washer, which meets the specifications listed below, 1 each; and CLIN 0002, Multilabel Microplate Reader for Fluorescence, Absorbance, Chemiluminescence, & Time Resolved Fluorescence with Temperature Control, which meets the specifications listed below, 1 each. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory has a requirement for a Microplate Strip Washer and Plate Reader which will be used to assess the biocompatibility of a bone graft at NIST. The minimum specifications for the Microplate Strip Washer are as follows: 1) Shall be operated by a keypad with an alphanumeric display; 2) Shall have the ability to store up to 30 wash protocols for easy recall and run; 3) Shall efficiently wash all brands and types of plates; 4) Shall have the ability to select crosswise aspiration, bottom washing, and overflow washing (overflow washing assures the lowest possible backgrounds by washing the entire well, including the rim); 5) Shall have the ability to continuously wash wells with an unlimited volume of liquid; 6) Shall have built-in pumps to eliminate the need for an external vacuum and air source; 7) The unit shall be a maximum of 11.2" wide and 15.6" deep; 8) Shall have the ability to use any type or volume reagent bottle; 9) Shall have the ability to use two different wash liquids at the same time, and shall accommodate 2 additional channels if necessary in the future; 10) Shall have a 12 channel manifold, but shall be able to accommodate 8 and 16 channel manifolds if necessary in the future; 11) Switching between liquids shall be automatic; 12) Shall have the ability to define and store settings for up to nine different plate types; 13) Shall have the ability to select soak time, dispensing speeds, aspirating speeds, and bottom positions; 14) Shall have the ability to choose between four different rinse modes; and 15) Shall have the ability to program it to wash only certain strips in a plate. The minimum specifications for the Multilabel Microplate Reader with Temperature Control are as follows: 1) Shall have the ability to read fluorescence,absorbance, chemiluminescence and time-resolved fluorescence in a single compact unit; 2) Time-resolved fluorescence shall be extra high density with a minimumized excitation beam; 3) Shall have the ability to take readings from 340-700 nm; 4) The temperature control for the unit to improve the reproducibility of measurements shall be from ambient +2 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius; 5) Shall have the ability to take readings from both the bottom and the top of the wells; 6) Shall have the ability to read 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 384, 864, and 1536 well plates that are clear, white or black; 7) Shall have the ability to read Petri dishes, slides, filters, filter plates, Terasaki plates and PCR tubes; 8) Shall have the ability to add on stacker robotics hardware, syringe injectors for fast kinetics and an IR-sensitive photomultiplier tube (up to 850 nm) if these options become necessary in the future; 9) The instrument employ photon counting technology shall guarantee excellent short term and long term stability; 10) There shall be no need for manual calibration or gain setting or automatic gain switching to complicate interpretation of the results; 11) Shall have the ability to define two excitation/emission filters for one label; 12) Shall provide quick measurement using a single PMT; 13) Shall have the ability to take multiple readings of the same membranes, chips, and slides; 14) Shall have the ability to freely set the number of readings and their spacing; 15) Shall have the ability to take 100 readings of the same plate; 16) Shall have the ability to read the same well 55 times for fast kinetics; 17) Shall have the ability to distribute readings in a squared or rounded area; 18) Shall have the ability to perform both fast and slow kinetic measurements; 19) Shall have the ability to define specific delays and repeats by plate, row or well; 20) Shall have the ability to shake the plates; 21) Shall have the ability to program the plate shaker for linear, orbital, or double orbital mixing; 22) Shall have the ability to shake plates at three speeds with an adjustable amplitude; 23) Shall have the ability to define measuring height as a parameter in the protocol; 24) Shall have the ability to adjust the focus point for a 96 well plate from the very bottom to the very top of the plate, which is beneficial when measuring filter plates, cell layers, membranes, etc. It also allows the user to efficiently reduce sample volumes; 25) Shall have the ability to operate the instrument under Windows 95, 98, and NT; 26) The protocol setting and instrument operation for counting all four label types (fluorescence, absorbance, chemiluminescence and time-resolved fluorescence) shall be the same; 27) Shall have the ability to automatically save data; 28) Shall have the ability to open the files directly in Excel or transfer as ASCII text files to other software programs; 29) Files shall be compatible with Macintosh programs; 30) The lamp intensity and the aperture defining the amount of light reaching the PMT shall be software adjusted and saved with the counting protocol; 31) Sample positions in each plate of an assay shall be identified in a plate map; 32) Shall have the ability to code samples with names such as Background, Spontaneous Release, Total Release, Positive, Negative, Unknown, etc.; 33) Shall have a live plate display to show the results of counting each well; and 34) Shall have the ability to count europium, samarium, terbium, and dysprosium chelate labels for time-resolved fluorescence under optimum conditions. Delivery is required FOB Destination, Gaithersburg, Maryland, and all shipping charges shall be included in the quoted price. Desired delivery time is 14 days after award, and required delivery time is 28 days after award for both CLINs. A minimum of a one (1) year warranty shall be included in the offer. The Government reserves the right to award multiple purchase orders on a item-by-item basis, however, vendors may submit quotations for all-or-none pricing. In addition to the other factors, quotes will be evaluated on the basis of advantages and disadvantages to the Government that might result from making one or more award(s). It is assumed, for the purpose of evaluating quotes, that $100 would be the administrative cost to the Government for issuing and administering each purchase order awarded under this solicitation. The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (NOV 1999), applies to this acquisition. The following evaluation factors will be used to evaluate quotations: 1) Technical capability to meet or exceed the government's needs; 2) Performance Demonstration; 3) Past Performance; and 4) Price. Quotations will be evaluated as follows: Go/No-Go Factor -- Technical: All quotations will initially be evaluated for compliance with the required specifications listed above. Quoters who do not meet the mandatory minimum required specifications will be deemed technically unacceptable and will not be evaluated further. Those quoters, which are found to be technically acceptable, will be called by the Contract Specialist to set up a date and time to provide a demonstration of their product at the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Past performance will be evaluated simultaneously with the demonstrations (Quoters shall provide at least 2 references of Government or commercial clients who have purchased similar equipment). The Government anticipates awarding a purchase order resulting from this combined synopsis/solicitation to the responsible quoter whose quotation will offer the BEST VALUE to the Government, price and other factors considered. The Government reserves the right to make an award without discussions. Quoters shall address ALL requirements herein, and shall provide clear evidence of understanding, ability and willingness to comply with the Government's specifications. Failure to address a specification/requirement will be construed by the Government as inability to meet the need, or the quoter's taking exception to it. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (FEB 2000), with its offer, which can be accessed at: http://www.arnet.gov/far. The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (MAY 1999) applies to this acquisition. The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (FEB 2000), applies to this, including: (11) 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities, (12) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, (13) 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era, (14) 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities, (15) 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era, (17) 52.225-3, Alternate I, Buy American Act-North American Free Trade Agreement-Israeli Trade Act-Balance of Payments Program, (22) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer -- Central Contractor Registration, and.52-227-19, Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights also applies to this acquisition. The Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level Above the Contracting Officer applies to this acquisition, which can be downloaded from the following web site: http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm. Year 2000 Warranty-Commercial Supply Item applies to this acquisition. The Contractor warrants that each hardware, software and firmware product delivered under this contract and listed below shall be able to accurately process date data (including, but not limited to, calculating, comparing and sequencing) from, into, and between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including leap year calculations, when used in accordance with the product documentation provided by the contractor, provided that all listed or unlisted products (e.g. hardware, software, firmware) used in combination with such listed products properly exchange date data with it. If the contract requires that specific listed products must perform as a system in accordance with the foregoing warranty, then that warranty shall apply to those listed products as a system. The duration of this warranty and the remedies available to the Government for breach of this warranty shall be as defined in, and subject to, the terms and limitations of the contractor's standard commercial warranty or warranties contained in this contract, provided that notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in such commercial warranty or warranties, the remedies available to the Government under this warranty shall include repair or replacement of any listed product whose non-compliance is discovered and made known to the contractor in writing within ninety (90) days after acceptance. Nothing in this warranty shall be construed to limit any rights or remedies the Government may otherwise have under this contract with respect to defects other than Year 2000 performance. All offerors shall submit the following: 1) Three (3) copies of quotation which addresses CLINs 0001 and 0002; 2) Description of commercial warranty; 3) Two (2) copies of the most recent published price list(s); 4) A copy of the current software license agreement applicable to the offered products; 5) A list of two (2) past performance references with the following information: Name of contracting activity, contract number, contract type, total contract value, contracting office and telephone number, and program manager and telephone number; and 6) A completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items which may be downloaded from http://www.arnet.gov/far. Quotations shall be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition and Assistance Division, Attn: Teresa A. Reefe, Building 301, Room B117, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 3572, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572. For information, call the POC identified above. Submission must be received by 3:00 p.m. local time on March 27, 2000. FAXED OFFERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Posted 03/16/00 (W-SN435184). (0076)

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