Colorimeter Instrument

USDA, AMS, has a requirement to provide one (1) Colorimeter Instrument operating with Xenon illumination and photoiodes to the AMS Cotton & Tobacco Program located Memphis, TN. Contractor/supplier must be able to provide the complete stand-alone piece of equipment along with the software necessary to operate according to the requirements set forth in the statement of objectives. We are seeking interested sources from small-business concerns that are capable of providing the following work: Color shall be measured by illuminating a sample of cotton and measuring the percent reflectance and yellowness of a 10.5 square-inch area within+/- 0.1 square inches. The length of the area measured shall not be less than 2.75 inches. Results will be displayed and reported in Hunter's Rd to the nearest one-hundredth unit and in +b to the nearest one-hundredth unit. The Instrument shall also display the color grade and code for the American Upland and American Pima grades. The color grade and code reported by the instruments must conform to the current Cotton and Tobacco Program’s instrument Color Grade Lookup Charts, which are based on the Rd and +b readings. The color measurements must calibrate using USDA, AMS, C&T calibration materials within +/- 0.10 of the established standard values for Rd and +b. Percent area of trash shall be measured on a minimum 9 square-inch area within +/- 0.1 square inches. The length of the area measured shall not exceed 3.75 inches and the width of the area measured shall not be less than 2.4 inches. Trash measurements shall be reported in percent to the nearest one-hundredth, except values greater than 5.00 will be reported as 5.00. The instrument shall provide the capability to display and output percent area measurements to the nearest one¬ hundredth. The Trash Percent Area measurement must calibrate using USDA, AMS, C&T calibration materials within +/- 0.02 of the established standard values. The trash particle count will be measured by the "cluster" method and reported to the nearest whole number. A cluster is defined as a group of trash pixels connected on the same or adjacent scan lines. A single piece of trash, regardless of its size, will have a cluster count of one. The instrument shall provide the capability to display and output particle count measurements to the nearest whole number. The Trash Particle Count measurement must calibrate using USDA, AMS, C&T calibration materials within +/- 5 of the established standard values Trash Percent Area. The Xenon colorimeter system shall have a pneumatic hand with a fully adjustable air pressure regulator with a pressure gauge showing the regulated air pressure located near the point of adjustment. From the instrument operating position, the operator shall have easy and directly reachable access to the regulator adjustment control and clear unobstructed vision of the pressure gauge. The hand shall be capable of exerting any desired force between 25 and 125 pounds. The instrument shall display the amount of force at the point of the measurement. The Xenon colorimeter system must utilize Xenon illumination and photodiodes to measure Color Rd and Color +b to the hundredths of a unit for the testing of cotton fiber samples. The Xenon colorimeter system must utilize Xenon illumination and photodiodes to measure Trash Percent Area to the hundredths of a unit and Trash Particle Count to one unit for the testing of cotton fiber samples. The Xenon colorimeter system must have the ability to measure, display and report Color Rd and +b only; Trash Percent Area and Particle Count only; and Color Rd, +b and Trash Percent Area and Particle Count simultaneously. The Xenon colorimeter system must calibrate to specified USDA Color and Trash materials within USDA’s Master Colorimeter tolerances. The Xenon colorimeter system must measure reference verification standards within the required tolerances. The Xenon colorimeter system must have operator interface to identify item(s) being tested, show/output test results on a monitor and have the capability to save and retrieve the data from files that can be accessed and imported into other file formats including Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. Implementation of this project cannot disrupt ongoing program activities and will require a high degree of coordination of work with the facility manager and the technical staff. The current instrument will remain in continuous operation throughout the period of performance. Outages for implementing the new colorimeter shall be minimized. Use of the existing colorimeter may be used to ensure calibration and standards meet the standard required of the new colorimeter. The government estimated magnitude for this project is $250,000. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334516 with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees. This is not a request for proposals or quotes, but instead market research to determine interested small-business concerns prior to issuing a solicitation. A determination by the Government on the method of competing this requirement has not been established. The Government will not award a contract based on this Sources Sought Notice or the information received, nor will it reimburse participants for the information they provide. If you are an interested small-business concern, please provide the following information: 1) Small business name and point of contact; 2) UEI code; 3) Evidence of small business concern status; and 4). A brief Statement of Capability (no more than three pages) which demonstrates the ability to meet the specialized work requirements above. Include any past performance information on contracts of similar size and scope, and indicate the degree of work self-performed (not subcontracted out). Electronic responses are preferred. Information provided will not be used as a part of any subsequent solicitation requirement. Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract action based on this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses are due no later than 10 a.m., Central Standard Time, on Monday, June 5, 2023, to the attention of Jeremy Pouliot, Contracting Officer, via e-mail to [email protected].