--Electrospinning unit

The U.S. Army RDECOM - Natick Contracting Division, Kansas Street, Natick, MA on behalf of the United States Army  Soldier Systems Center, Natick, MA has a requirement for commercially available laboratory equipment utilizing FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This requirement will be a full and open competitive buy. This will be a for a Firm Fixed Price type contract. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 423490 and the small business size standard is 500 employees. The Government envisions a single purchase order for this acquisition. This procurement is for the purchase of one (1) Electrospinning unit. The Electrospinning unit must be capable of creating nanoscale (down to 100 nm) fibers from solvent suspension line. Fibers extruded must be versatile; the ability to use various common solvents in the solutions is important, end uses cannot be limited to exclusively water-soluble materials. Typical polymers to be dissolved may be polypropylene, nylon, and polyester based fibers. The unit must have a winding take-up system capable of c ollecting electrospun fiber mats from solution. Capacity of electrospinning system is significant and critical. The end unit must be able to produce in excess of 50 g of electrospun materials per hour. The control system must be available to automate th e process and include the necessary training to allow NSC personnel to operate the electrospinning line. The machine cannot hold a footprint greater than six feet in width or length or greater than nine feet in total height. This notice constitutes the request for quotes (RFQ) and is the only solicitation. Proposals are requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 5.102(a), all documents associated with this acquisition will be available via the Government point of entry (GPE) http://www.fedbizopps.gov, and via the US Army RDECOM-Natick Homepage at https://www3.natick.army.mil (go to Business Opportunities, then to Ongoing Acquisitions, then to this soli citation number). No hard copies will be provided. Firms shall not be reimbursed for any costs associated with proposal preparation. Interested parties should send a request, by e-mail, to [email protected]. Questions concerning this acquisit ion may be addressed via email or telephonically at (508) 233-4025. This announcement expires at 12:00 p.m. EST on August 25, 2006.