This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Plains Area Office is issuing this Sources Sought notice as a means of conducting market research to identify any potential sources capable of providing a Sensititre SWIN PC Replacement at the Roman L. Hurska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) in Clay Center, NE. The USMARC currently requires a replacement SWIN PC for their existing Sensititre instrument. _The SWIN PC is a vital tool to USMARC’s mission, so delivery and installation are required within 45 days of award. The Sensititre instrument SWIN PC is part of an existing validated system and is believed to be the only acceptable replacement. The SWIN PC is proprietary to Thermo Fischer Scientific, and is the only instrument known that can interpret and track results, save images to use as reference later, and create epidemiology modules to create custom anti-biograms off the data. Installation shall include at least one trained Thermo Fisher Scientific Engineer in order to maintain factory warranty. The USDA intends to award one firm fixed-price purchase order for the purchase and installation of the SWIN PC.
This notice does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ)/Invitation for Bid (IFB)/Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB or RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the USDA to contract for any supply or service. Further, the U.S. Government is not seeking quotes, bids or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this Sources Sought notice. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. Submittals will not be returned to the responder. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. However, if a competitive solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Governmentwide Point of Entry. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the Governmentwide Point of Entry for additional information pertaining to this requirement.
Capability Statement
Businesses that possess the capabilities necessary to undertake this work should submit complete documentation of their capabilities to the Contracting Officer.
The capability statement should include:
- Name of the firm, point of contact, phone number, email address, SAM uei number, CAGE code, identify business size (large business or a small business), and if applicable, a statement regarding small business status (including small business type(s)/certifications(s) such as SDB, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.) and the corresponding NAICS code;
- Acknowledgement that the company is able to provide the subject supplies/services being requested, to include documentation of a trained Thermo Fischer Scientific Engineer that would perform the installation;
- Identify any condition or action that may be having the effect of unnecessarily restricting competition with respect to this acquisition and identify alternatives or solution solutions. Provide the specific aspects that unreasonably restrict competition and the rationale for such conclusion;
- Any other information considered relevant to this requirement; and
- The government requests that no proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in the response.
Any vendor responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine their 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 review of the responses received, a combined synopsis/solicitation may be published on sam.gov depending on the responses received.
All responses to this Sources Sought Notice must be received by the notice’s POC by the deadline to be considered. Responses may not be returned. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Inquiry. Do not submit pricing information in response to this notice.
