The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs, and to identify if the proposed equipment is MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES and, if not, the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.
BACKGROUND
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Engineering Laboratory (EL), Materials and Structural Systems Division (MSSD), serves as the world-class resource for developing and promoting the use of science-based tools – measurements, data, models, protocols, and reference standards – to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. industry through innovations in building materials and construction technology; and the safety, security, and sustainability of the nation's buildings and physical infrastructure.
The purpose of this potential requirement is to obtain a new cut-off machine, High Precision Cutting Saw, designed for wet, abrasive cutting of metals and cementitious materials for further material investigation and testing. The Contractor shall supply and deliver a High Precision Cutting Saw having the capabilities of cutting and sectioning samples for further analysis described below. Installation and training are required.
The High Precision Cutting Saw shall meet, or exceed, all minimum technical specifications below. The Contractor shall perform installation of the saw at the NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus, and provide training, either onsite or virtual, to NIST staff for operation and maintenance of the equipment. Contractor is responsible for any travel associated with performing the required tasks.
NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives identified in this notice.
ANTICIPATED REQUIREMENTS
The Contractor shall provide one (1) High Precision Cutting Saw cutting machine meeting, or exceeding, the minimum specifications identified below.
1. The cutting XY table of the saw shall be designed with T-slots that facilitate clamping of specimens using appropriate clamping tools. The minimum nominal size area of the T-slotted cutting table shall be 220 in2”.
2. The saw shall accommodate blades with an initial diameter of at least 10-in to 14-in. with an arbor size of 1.25-in.
3. Power input to the saw shall not exceed 480 VAC, 50/60Hz, 3-phase.
4. The recirculating system shall fit within the cabinet of the saw, and the cutting fluid tank shall be readily removable from the saw to ease fluid replacement and/or tank cleaning.
5. Interior surfaces of the saw shall be constructed from corrosion resistant materials, including the saw table, to protect saw components inside the cabinet from corrosion.
6. The saw shall not require drying of the cabinet inside between uses to prevent corrosion.
7. The saw shall have a guard/cover that prevents cutting fluids and metal shavings (or debris generated from a sample) from escaping during normal saw operations.
8. The saw shall have an easily accessed Emergency Stop mechanism that can be quickly activated by the Operator. Once the Emergency Stop mechanism is engaged, all saw operations shall remain inactive until the Emergency Stop is released by the Operator.
9. Interior surfaces of the saw shall be illuminated by LED lighting to provide lighting and vision of the saw’s cutting area.
10. The saw shall have a door, hatch or any type of sealable opening on both sides of the cabinet to permit insertion of overly long items into the cabinet.
11. The saw shall be a free-standing cabinet that fits within a nominal footprint of 55-in by 55-in to meet laboratory space constraint requirements.
12. The saw shall be warranted for a minimum of 12 months from date of government’s acceptance.
PREFERRED ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATIONS
The following specifications are preferred but not required.
1. The saw automatically decreases the feed rate of the blade if motor overload is sensed during the cutting process.
2. The Operator can create specific cutting programs that will operate the saw automatically by following a series of operating steps.
3. The saw maintains a database of previous cutting methods used that can be accessed from the control panel.
4. The Operator can select saw operating parameters, such as feed rate, feed pressure, cutting length and stop position of saw blade, and these operations can be stored as programs for repeated cuts.
5. The saw has a utility program that can be activated by the user to clean the inside of the working chamber when cutting operations have been completed.
6. The cutting table of the saw allows for automatic movement in the X and Y planes to allow for repeated, serial cuts.
7. The saw can accommodate blades larger than 14-in diameter with an arbor size of 1.25-in.
8. The position of the saw blade on the cutting table is indicated by a laser line indicator.
9. The Operator can move the cutting table through manipulation (e.g., of buttons, knobs and / or a joystick) located on the control panel.
10. The saw can control feeding speeds as low as 0.05 mm/s (0.002 in/s).
11. The saw, with the adequate cutting wheel size (the wheel not required), can cut material up to 6-in depth.
HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE
In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the information described below, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or Adobe .pdf format.
Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice, or by 5 business days after issuance of this notice. Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response. “ID Assigned” is not acceptable.
• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.
• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).
• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
o Manufacturer name
o Model number
o Technical specifications
o If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)
• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
o Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.
• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why. Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.
• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.
• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:
o Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards (located at www.sba.gov) and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.
o If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.
• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services. Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.
• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.
• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.
• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.
QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE
Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by two days after SSN issuance. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.
IMPORTANT NOTES
This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.
This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.
NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.
Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.
Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.
After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).
The responses shall not exceed five (5) pages including all attachments, charts, etc.
Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!
