Purchase of the Labcyte Gold Service Plan, part number LSA-550 Gold, 1-year (12 month) preventive maintenance and service plan Government¿s Notice of Intent to Sole Source: NAICS Code: 811219 Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, with Labcyte Inc. (Labcyte), 170 Rose Orchard Way, San Jose, CA 95134-1374, a firm fixed-price purchase order under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) for the purchase of a 1-year (12-month) preventive maintenance service plan (maintenance plan), Base Period + Two 12-month Periods of Performance, for the EPA¿s Labcyte Echo 550 Acoustic Liquid Handler (Echo 550) located at the EPA¿s Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT), Immediate Office (IO), Research Triangle Park (RTP), NC. The Echo 550 instrument is a mission-critical piece of laboratory equipment, utilized daily by NCCT scientists for a variety of different assays, protocols and projects. The hardware, firmware and software associated with the Echo 550, solely manufactured by Labcyte, uses technology that is proprietary to Labcyte. Labcyte service technicians are certified Labcyte factory trained technicians and possess proprietary knowledge and skills pertaining to the Echo 550 which is only available to Labcyte service technicians. Replacement parts, instrument certification, instrument and software fixes and upgrades are proprietary to Labcyte. Due to the proprietary nature of the Echo 550, maintenance and service performed on the Echo 550 by a technician other than a Labcyte certified technician will void all existing warranties and certifications. There are other vendors who can provide/sell a maintenance and service plan (outside plan) for the Echo 550; however, the issue remains one of instrument certification and timeliness. Outside plans are forwarded to Labcyte for execution by a Labcyte certified technician. Outside plans are provided a lower priority status and queued behind Labcyte-issued maintenance plans, thus running the risk of the inability to use the instrument due to a loss of certification or operability. In the event of a lapse in continuity of maintenance and service plans, the instrument would not be certified for use and would need to be re-certified at a significant cost to the Government. Any disruption in service would negatively impact multiple on-going projects resulting in unacceptable delays, loss of experimental continuity and potential loss of time-sensitive experimental material. For these reasons, the maintenance and servicing of the Echo 550 by another organization is not feasible. This purchase order is therefore being directed, without competition, to Labcyte. The circumstances permitting Other than Full and Open Competition at this time is FAR 13.106-1(b) Soliciting from a single source, only one responsible source and no other supplies or service will satisfy agency requirements. The intent of this notice is to state the Government¿s intention to sole source this acquisition and to determine if any other source(s) exist. Therefore, no solicitation (RFQ) is available. All interested parties who believe they can provide the required service should 1) fully explain their capabilities and qualifications in writing and submit same via FedConnect, a government web portal, within 5 days from the date of this announcement; and 2) must submit itemized pricing that is sufficient to make a determination that competition is feasible. Consequently, any responder(s) failing to provide the aforementioned data but instead choosing merely to submit a routine letter requesting a copy of the RFQ will not be honored. Offerors must submit all technical questions / responses concerning this synopsis electronically through FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. This notice and any amendments will be available via the Internet at www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/ . You must register with FedConnect as an interested party to submit questions and to view responses. Vendors can register with FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect technical questions please call the FedConnect Help Desk at (800) 899-6665 or email at
[email protected]. FedConnect is a web portal that connects agencies and vendors to streamline the process of doing business with the federal government. Through FedConnect contractors will be able to receive, review and respond to contract pre- and post-award actions and documents such as correspondence, request for proposals, tasking instruments and contract modifications. The use of FedConnect also furthers the EPA¿s commitment to moving towards a paperless acquisition environment by reducing its carbon footprint and conducting its business in an ecologically friendly manner. There is no charge to use FedConnect. In addition, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), as this facilitates registration for FedConnect. Please note that vendors MUST have their SAM profile set to ¿public,¿ otherwise FedConnect will not be able to access the SAM information required to validate vendor credentials. Registration may be completed and information regarding the registration process may be obtained at http://www.sam.gov. There is no charge for registration in SAM.