Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Sole Source for Piston Gauge Base with Three Piston/Cylinder Modules

Active

Contract Opportunity

***THIS IS A COMBINED SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE***

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fundamental Thermodynamics Group of the Sensor Sciences Division in the Physical Measurements Laboratory is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a piston gauge base with three piston/cylinder modules. If no alternate sources are identified, the Government intends to issue a sole source award to Fluke Electronics Corp of 6920 Seaway Blvd, Everett, WA 98203 US (SAM UEID: YA5LYT9J7TX5) under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334513.

NIST is upgrading its piston-gauge pressure standards for the first time in about 40 years and the piston gauge base with three piston/cylinder modules will become working standards used to disseminate the NIST pressure scale from 200 kPa to10 MPa. This project is being pursued to satisfy the needs of NIST’s customers in the US military branches and in US industry. NIST’s goal is for its piston-gauge pressure standards to be competitive with those of the best National Metrology Institutes in the world. Upgrading piston gauge standards requires purchasing piston gauges with the highest sensitivity and reproducibility available today. To accomplish the upgrade, NIST needs a new piston gauge that is compatible with existing ones that NIST already owns.

The NIST Fundamental Thermodynamics Group has a need for a piston-gauge system that fulfils the goals above and meets the following draft minimum specifications:

1. The system must have a pressure sensitivity of better than 0.5 parts per million (ppm) over most of its range.


2. The system must have a reproducibility of 3 ppm or better


3. The piston gauge must function over the range 20 kPa to 10 MPa.


4. The system must be compatible with the existing piston-gauge mass sets and automatic mass handlers that NIST currently owns from Fluke Electronics Corp.


5. The system shall consist of the following components
   
   
   
   • One Piston cylinder module which functions over the range 100 kPa to 10 MPa
   
   
   • Two nominally identical piston cylinder modules which function over the range 20 kPa to 2 MPa
   
   
   • One base unit which is compatible with the piston cylinder modules 5a and 5b
   
   
   
   


6. Phase noise must be less than -90 dB((Rad/√Hz)/m) at 10 Hz


7. Must include power supply and all communication electronics


8. Software control via USB


9. Include 1-year warranty
   
   

NIST conducted market research from March to April 2025 by performing internet searches, searches of GSA, searches of FPDS and DSBS, and speaking with colleagues and various companies to determine what sources could meet NIST’s minimum requirements. The results of that market research revealed that only Fluke Electronics Corp (SAM UEID: YA5LYT9J7TX5) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response. Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements.

• Whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization.

• Identify any aspects of the description of the requirements in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or create unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your firm’s ability to fully participate in a procurement for such services and explain why. Please offer suggestions for how the requirements could be organized or structured to encourage the participation of small businesses.

• For the NAICS code

• Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.


• If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.

• If your firm has existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts for products or services against which the Department may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Describe your firm’s experience (as a prime, subcontractor, or consultant) providing the products or services described in Background section.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for the Government to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• Please let us know if you would like to engage to get a better understanding of the requirement or need additional information about the Government’s requirement for the products or services described in the Background section.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 calendar days prior to the close of this notice. Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that the NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future.

This notice should not be construed as a commitment by the NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.

This notice is not a request for a quotation. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations.

No award will be made as a result of this notice.

NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and appropriate.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!

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