DESCRIPTION:
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking Capability Statements from BOTH Other than Small Business and Small Business organizations with the demonstrated capability of providing support to NINDS/NIMH with qualified engineers who will service the Inveon positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) preclinical scanner and Inveon research workplace.
This is a 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 business sources; (2) the availability of capable 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. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. The established NAICS code is 811219, Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance. The U.S. Small Business Administration establishes a size standard for 811219 as $22,000,000 or less.
BACKGROUND:
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. Among the goals of the agency are to develop, maintain, and renew scientific human and physical resources to ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research, and to exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science. In realizing these goals, the NIH provides leadership and direction to programs designed to improve the health of the Nation by conducting and supporting research in various areas.
Both NINDS and NIMH strive to understand the brain, neurological diseases, and mental illness through basic research. Reproductive Biology and Genetics Core (RBGC) provides NINDS and NIMH investigators with access to marmoset-dedicated preclinical PET/CT in NIH Building 49, Room B2-102, 49 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892. With the addition of PET and CT imaging modalities, investigators can have new tools to study cerebral functions and metabolisms in marmoset models. RBGC’s Inveon PET/CT is a critical component in carrying out the NINDS and NIMH mission by providing a deeper understanding of the functionality and structure of the brain.
REQUIREMENTS:
Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the requirements.
On behalf of NINDS and NIMH, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is conducting market research to identify capable small and other than small businesses that can provide maintenance and service engineers to service the Inveon PET/CT preclinical scanner and Inveon research workplace on an annual basis. After completion of the regular and annual maintenance, the engineer(s) will prepare a field service report, sign it and submit it to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Parts and/or Labor will be provided (as described below), along with system updates. Access to Customer Care Center for technical telephone support will be provided (remote diagnostics, if available to the site and the equipment).
An interested and capable vendor must clearly demonstrate its experience and ability to provide the service described below, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST), Monday through Friday:
- Technical phone response and support during days and hours stated above.
- Annual education allowance which provides dollar credit that is redeemable clinical education program and clinical education services offered by Siemens or equivalent.
- On-site response: on-site Customer Service Engineer shall arrive within four (4) hours after a call for service has been placed with the Contractor’s Customer Care Center. This on-site response shall apply to system/room down situations only.
- Host computer: Service deliverables for the host computer work-station shall match those for it’s associated preclinical scanner.
- Same-day parts delivery if parts are ordered by 12 p.m. EST.
- Safety checks shall be performed to insure compliance with all local and federal guidelines and regulations. This service consists of:
- Tracking and scheduling of required tests
- Mechanical safety checks (e.g. mechanical movements etc.)
- Electrical safety checks (e.g. leakage currents, insulation etc.)
- Reporting of findings and results
- Quality assurance tasks shall be performed to keep the system within the quality specifications as issued by the relevant equipment’s specifications. Quality assurance tasks consist of:
- Tracking and scheduling of required quality assurance tasks
- Check of measuring and image quality parameters
- Verification of specified quality parameters
- Adjustments to factory quality specifications
- Documentation and detailed quality report of system condition
- System updates: Modifications or reliability enhancements to equipment shall include two types: Mandatory (safety and performance-related update instructions) and Non-mandatory (reliability-related service instructions). Labor shall be included during the hours of stated above. Does not include enhancements to the operating systems or additional functionality.
- Application hotline phone support.
- Unlimited coverage of on-site labor.
- General spare parts coverage: Replacement of standard spare parts shall be included. Excludes high-vacuum components (image intensifiers, x-ray tubes, CT tubes, mammography tubes). Excludes consumables (batteries, leads, padding, storage media, cassettes, radioactive sources, etc.), analog persistence scopes, shock wave components, transducers, TEE’s and specialty probes, flat panel detectors, collimators, and waveguides. Excludes non-Siemens parts (injector, laser, printer, chiller, etc.)
- Travel time for Customer Service Engineer to and from NINDS and NIMH site.
- Planned maintenance: Preventive services shall be carried out in accordance with the equipment's specific maintenance plan. This includes: tracking and scheduling of required maintenance tasks; exchange of wear and tear parts according to maintenance plan; care measures; adjustments to factory specifications; verification of specified performance and functionality; documentation and detailed protocol of system condition.
- PET detector coverage.
- CT detector coverage (camera).
- CT x-ray source coverage (tube).
- Inveon Multi-modality CT/PET sources: Annual replacement of calibration and transmission sources.
KEY PERSONNEL:
The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring that the personnel assigned for service have the technical competence required to complete the service within a reasonable time and maintain the equipment at peak factory performance. Service personnel need to have experience deemed appropriate by SIEMENS MEDICAL SOLUTIONS USA, INC.
ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
It is anticipated that this requirement will consist of a Base Period of 12-months, and include the use of Options to Extend the Period of Performance. If exercised the period of performance shall be extended by an additional 8-month Option Period. The estimated Base Period shall be from 5/1/2022 - 4/30/2023. If exercised the estimated Option Period shall be from 5/1/2023- 12/31/2023.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the products and support services specified in this notice. Also, information must be provided in sufficient details of the respondents’ (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) compliance with requirements: Vendors must identify and demonstrate specifically how they will meet the requirements listed above.
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.
Finally, respondents are also encouraged to provide a general overview of the respondent’s opinions about the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement, and any other information regarding innovative ideas or concepts that may be applicable.
Submissions Instructions:
The information submitted must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.
Any business concerns that believe they possess the capability necessary to successfully undertake the work described above must SUBMIT CAPABILITY STATEMENTS ELECTRONICALLY to the Contract Specialist, Shaun Rostad at Shaun.Rostad@nih.gov, NO LATER THAN 1:00 p.m. EST on March 24, 2022. The Subject line for the submission should include this Sources Sought Number and organization name. NIDA will not accept paper or faxed capability statements.
THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any contractual agreement. 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).
