Pre-Solicitation Notice of Intent to Sole-Source

PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE TO NEGOTIATE ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS The Office of Acquisition and Agreements Management (OAAM), Acquisition Management Division (AMD), of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), on behalf of the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory (MML), intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Grenova, Inc. (formerly Peak Analysis and Automation, Inc.), 1900 Ellen Road, Richmond, VA 23230-4213 (UEI: XSCGMEZKBZB9), for the acquisition of a new Living Measurement Systems Foundry (LMSF) automation system and equipment necessary to modernize the existing Government-owned LMSF automation system. NIST requires a complete, integrated laboratory automation solution to expand the capabilities of the existing LMSF. The Contractor shall furnish one new LMSF automation system capable of supporting automated microbial culture, sample preparation, and analytical workflows. The system shall include all required laboratory instrumentation, robotic liquid handling equipment, robotics, automated plate handling and storage equipment, biological containment equipment, computers, software, firmware, licenses, accessories, and other components necessary to provide a complete and fully operational automation system. The Contractor shall also furnish a new Hamilton Company MicroLab STAR liquid handling platform and all associated hardware, software, firmware, licenses, and integration components necessary to modernize the existing Government-owned LMSF. The replacement platform shall be integrated with the remaining Government-owned equipment while preserving the existing system's automation functionality, software operation, laboratory workflows, operating parameters, and measurement methodologies. As part of furnishing the new and modernized LMSF automation systems, the Contractor shall provide all necessary system design, configuration, integration, programming, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), delivery, installation, Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, documentation, operator training, and warranty support necessary to provide NIST with complete and operational systems. The anticipated acquisition will be Firm-Fixed-Price and will consist of an eighteen (18)-month base period for delivery, integration, installation, testing, training, and acceptance of the new and modernized LMSF automation systems. The acquisition is also anticipated to include three (3) one-year option periods for maintenance and support following expiration of the applicable warranty periods. Sole source determination is based on the following: NIST's minimum requirement is not simply for commercially available laboratory instrumentation. The Government requires a second LMSF automation system that functions as a measurement-equivalent and interoperable automation platform with the existing LMSF. The new and modernized systems must preserve compatibility with existing laboratory workflows, automation routines, software functionality, operating parameters, and measurement methodologies. Grenova, Inc. (formerly Peak Analysis and Automation, Inc.) designed, integrated, delivered, installed, and commissioned the Government's existing LMSF automation system and has subsequently provided maintenance, technical support, and system upgrades. As the original system integrator, Grenova possesses unique knowledge of the existing LMSF system architecture, hardware and software integration, automation programming, equipment interfaces, control strategies, and operational characteristics. NIST has operated and characterized the existing LMSF for approximately eight years. During this period, NIST has quantified contributions to measurement uncertainty associated with robotic manipulation, liquid transfers, incubation, spectrophotometric measurements, and other automated operations. The Government therefore requires the second system to reproduce the operational characteristics of the existing LMSF sufficiently to permit the two systems to func…