Brand Name Thermo Chromatograph Maintenance

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this Notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation for which quotations are being requested. Another written solicitation will not be issued.

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.5— Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services; and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items and is to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

The solicitation number is DJA-24-ALAB-PR-0027 and the solicitation is issued as a request for proposal (RFP).

This RFP document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-05, effective 08/08/2023.

The associated NAICS code is 811210 – Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance and the size standard in millions of dollars is $34.0 million. This requirement is non-competitive with no set-aside restrictions.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Office of Science and Technology/Forensic Science Laboratory – Washington (FSL-W) and Forensic Science Laboratory – Atlanta (FSL-A) has a requirement for the procurement of firm-fixed price purchase order for preventative and corrective maintenance for two (2) ion chromatograph-mass spectrometer (IC-MS), one (1) high temperature gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (HTGC-MS), three (3) GC-MS, one (1) liquid chromatograph- mass spectrometer (LC-MS), one (1) high performance-liquid chromatograph (HPLC), and one (1) gas chromatograph (GC) systems including their accessories.

Additional requirements are documented in the Statement of Work (SOW) and attached documents.  Please read all attachments carefully when submitting your response.  Any proposal responses that do not meet the minimum requirements of the SOW will not be considered for award. 

This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive for a commercial item or service and is conducted pursuant to FAR13.501(a).

The rationale for the Brand Name justification:

There are no other vendors that can provide maintenance to the Thermo chromatography instruments, which is proprietary in nature to Thermo Electron North America LLC. Thermo has proprietary rights to the design and software utilized in the instruments. Thermo is the only company with access to performance verified component parts, spare parts, software, technical support, upgrades, and engineering resources to maintain the original operating specifications for the instruments. Thermo Field Service Engineers (FSE’s) are the only certified and factory trained engineers available to service the instrument and are part of an organization that is International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified.  Using another company’s engineers would void all warranties.

ATF will award to the responsible firm whose quote conforming to the RFP will be the most advantageous/best value using the Lowest-Price-Technically-Acceptable (LPTA) method. ATF may review the past performance/delivery of the seller to help determine its technical capability.

Offerors MUST be registered and Active in the System for Award Management (SAM) system (www.SAM.gov) at the time of quotation submission, pursuant to FAR 52.204-7.

OPEN MARKET Quotes should be submitted via email to brian.palmer@atf.gov by the Close of this RFP, 01:00pm EDT, Monday, 11/20/2023. The RFP # (DJA-24-ALAB-PR-0027) must be clearly displayed on the Proposal and in the Subject of the email. Proposals MUST be good for 30 calendar days after the close of the RFP and should be submitted in Good-Faith in order to be responsive. 

The selected vendor must comply with the following FAR commercial provisions and clauses, which are incorporated herein by reference: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, paragraph (a) and the following clauses in paragraph (b): 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.225-13, 52.232-34. The selected vendor must also comply with FAR 52.203-18, 52.209-11, and 52.211-6. The full text of these clauses may be viewed via https://www.acquisition.gov/far/.

Update 1: Attachment 3 - Evaluation Criteria has been corrected to include Past Performance.