Ultra-High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response.

This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.

NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.

Requirement

The Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group (STCAG) of the Materials Measurement Science Division (MMSD) of the Materials Measurement Laboratory (MML) has significant research efforts in the fields of analytical chemistry and mass spectrometry, targeting the forensic science, public health, and homeland security communities. These efforts revolve around the chemical classification, identification, and characterization of relevant compounds, including drugs, metabolites, and explosives. This also includes differentiation of isomeric and isobaric species and structural characterization of novel compounds. To enable these capabilities, MMSD require a liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometer. Procuring such a system will allow us to classify, identify, and quantify novel drug compounds while also determining accurate mass, fragmentation pathways, and structural elucidation. This instrument will expand the current capabilities of division programs and the NIST Forensic Science program.

NIST is seeking information on vendors who can provide the following:

The Vendor shall supply an ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography system coupled with a quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometer (UHPLC-QTOF-MS). The system shall be a benchtop system that is capable of fitting on a laboratory bench that is 30 inches deep. The system shall be no higher than 50 inches tall. The system must be equipped with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source and must be capable of interfacing with a direct analysis in real time (DART) ionization source. In addition to the system, the vendor must also provide all necessary manuals, software, a computer to run the system, training, and a minimum 1-year warranty.

Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the instrument/system described above.

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 334516, is 1000 employees. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.

After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such an instrument/system are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to Sadaf.Afkhami@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.

The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:

1. Name, Address, Unique Entity ID #, and point of contact information of your company.


2. Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.


3. Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the instrument/system described in this notice.


4. A description of your company’s previous experience providing the instrument/system described in this notice.


5. Indication of whether the instrument/system described in this notice is currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.


6. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.


7. Place of Manufacture (foreign or domestic- and provide name of country) of the instrument/system described in the notice.


8. 
   

   Based on the estimated value of the requirement, the Non-Manufacturing Rule may apply. As such, if you are a small business under the associated NAICS code, you must either provide information detailing:

   
   

• whether your company manufactures the instrument/system; or


• whether your company is a reseller for another small business manufacturer of the instrument/system.

Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.