Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for a Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (LC) Instrument

AMENDMENT 1: The purpose of this Amendment is to update the "Background" information provided below to include a paragraph that was inadvertently left out. The incorporated paragraph is in italics under "Background" (see second paragraph).  

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This ia a Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for a Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (LC) Instrument

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting market research to identify alternative sources that (a) are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements for the following commercial products and commercial services and (b) would be interested in competing for that requirement.

NIST currently owns two conventional liquid chromatography (LC) instruments that are a discontinued model and will be reaching end of life soon. One is a two-dimensional LC and the second is a one-dimensional LC. Both instruments are fully compatible with the existing Thermo Fisher Orbitrap Fusion LUMOS mass spectrometer and can operate as an integrated system through one computer. The Contractor shall provide a complete system that meets all technical specifications identified below. All items must be new.  The 2D-LC instrument shall offer real-time bidirectional control using Chromeleon® chromatography software or single point control through XCalibur with USB connection. The 2D-LC must be compatible with a Thermo Fisher Orbitrap Fusion LUMOS mass spectrometer.

The contractor shall provide a 2D-LC system and two years of maintenance after the expiration of the initial warranty of the instrument, to meet the following minimum specifications:

    a. Two (2) binary pumps

1. Flow range: 0.001–8 mL/min, in 1 μL/min increments
2. Pressure range: 20–1034 bar, for flow rates below 5 mL/min
3. Flow accuracy: +/- 0.1%
4. Flow precision: <0.05% RSD or <0.01 min SD, whichever is greater
5. Proportioning accuracy: +/- 0.2% of full scale
6. Proportioning precision: <0.15% SD
7. Mixer volume: 200 μL
8. Biocompatible with pH range 1.5–12, chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L

b. One (1) dual split sampler

1. Pressure range: 20–1034 bar
2. Default injection volume range: 0.01–25 μL, min. step = 0.01 μL
3. Injection volume accuracy: +/- 0.5% for 10 μL water
4. Injection volume precision: <0.25% area RSD for 1 μL (caffeine in water)
5. Injection linearity r2 > 0.99999 (caffeine in water)
6. Sample compartment temperature range: 4–40 ˚C
7. Sample temperature accuracy: +/- 2 °C
8. Sample temperature stability: +/- 1 ˚C
9. Dwell volume: 110 μL (25 μL sample loop)
10. Biocompatible with pH range 1.5–12, chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L

c. One (1) column compartment

1. Temperature range: 5–120 ˚C in 0.1 ˚C increments
2. Temperature stability: +/- 0.05 ˚C
3. Temperature accuracy: +/- 0.5 ˚C
4. Heating performance:  From 20 ˚C to 50 ˚C (+/- 1 ˚C) in <15 min; From 25 ˚C to 40 ˚C (+/- 1 ˚C) in 5 min
5. Cooling performance:  From 50 ˚C to 20 ˚C (+/- 1 ˚C) in <15 min
6. Capacity: 2 column slots
7. Column slot dimension:  387 mm × 25 mm
8. Biocompatible with pH range 1.5–12, chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L

d. One (1) variable wavelength UV-Vis detector

1. Light source: Deuterium lamp and Tungsten lamp
2. Wavelength range: 190–900 nm
3. Spectral bandwidth: 6 nm at 254 nm
4. Wavelength accuracy: +/- 1 nm
5. Wavelength repeatability: +/- 0.1 nm

e. One (1) integral fraction collector

1. Sample capacity: Any four of the following options- 54 × 12 mm O.D. vials (≤1.5 mL); 96 × 6, 7 and 8 mm O.D. vials (≤1.2 mL); 16 × 15 mm O.D. vials (≤4 mL); 9 × 22.5 mm O.D. vials (≤10 mL); 96- and 384-position well plates (deep and shallow)
2. Collection modes: Triggered by peak signals or time frames; (Saw)vertical, (saw)horizontal;  Interrupt and continuous collection modes; Collect above or inside vessel; Manual collection, pooling, wrapping and concatenating
3. Delay volume: <19 μL
4. Operating flow rate: 0.05–10 mL/min
5. Temperature range: 4–40 °C
6. Temperature accuracy: -2 °C/+4 °C
7. Temperature stability: +/- 1 °C

f. One PC running Chromeleon software and an associated monitor

NIST has not yet determined its acquisition strategy for this requirement and encourages interested sources to respond to this Notice.

If NIST’s market research indicates there are alternative sources that are capable and interested in competing to fill this requirement, separate and apart from Thermo Electron North America LLC (UEI# KGXJZFLXJ3H5) then NIST will consider conducting a competitive acquisition in accordance with law and regulation. To be clear, NIST’s identification Thermo Electron North America LLC in this Notice does not constitute a binding commitment or obligation for it to conduct a sole source procurement with Thermo Electron North America LLC for this requirement.

Instructions for Responding to Respond to This Notice

Parties that respond to this Notice are requested to voluntarily submit the requested information via email in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and/or Microsoft Excel format to the designated point(s) of contact whose name and email address appears at the bottom of this notice. Please provide only the information requested by this Notice, and do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this Notice.

Information Requested in Response to This Notice: To help NIST with its market research, NIST is requesting that industry sources carefully review this notice and any attachments to it and voluntarily provide the following information: 

1. Company Summary

• Notice Identification: Notice ID and Title of this posting (NB645040-26-01704- Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (LC) Instrument)
• Corporate Details: Company name, physical address, website address, and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).
• Point of Contact (POC): Name, phone number, and email address.
• Company Size Standard: Your company’s size status relative to the NAICS code provided in this Notice. (Refer to the SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards).
• System for Award Management (SAM) Registration: Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in SAM.gov.

      2. Feedback for Draft Requirements

• Review the potential requirements/minimum specifications included with this Notice. Then, please provide suggestions to (a) improve clarity of it; (b) to make it more competitive; (c) to indicate whether there anything in it that may inadvertently exclude domestic involvement; and (d) to indicate how the requirements could potentially be revised to improve the ability for domestic (“Made in America”) end products to be considered.

      3. Information Regarding Your Company’s Products and Services

• Provide specifications, company name of the original equipment manufacturer, and the country of manufacture for products and services that your company is legally authorized to sell and that may meet NIST’s minimum requirements.
• • Indicate whether, in your opinion, the product(s) meet the definition of (a) commercial product or (b) commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item or COTS item as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2 and, if so, which definition applies ((a) or (b)).
• • Indicate whether, in your opinion, the service(s) meet the definition of commercial service as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2.
• Standard Commercial Pricing: Provide your company’s standard commercial pricing information for the identified products and services and explain what is included in those standard prices.
• Estimated Price Range: You may provide an estimated price or price range for the requirements, including a brief explanation of how the price estimate was developed.
• Standard Commercial Terms and Conditions: Provide a copy of the standard commercial terms and conditions for the commercial products and commercial services identified in the response to this notice, including nature and duration of standard commercial warranty.

     4. Regulatory and Supply Chain Compliance

• Indicate whether your company could comply with FAR Clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022) if this acquisition were to be set aside for small businesses. Provide a brief supporting explanation.

     5. Existing Governmentwide Contract Vehicles

• Indicate whether your company has its own GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract or other federal contract vehicles under which NIST could award an order and, if so, provide the contract details (contract number, Contracting Officer name/contact, SOW, terms and conditions, and price lists).

We truly appreciate your company’s willingness to provide the above-mentioned information which NIST will be valuable in helping NIST complete its market research.

Important Notes

This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay respondents to this notice for information provided in response to this Notice. Following a review of the responses and market research, NIST may publish a solicitation on an authorized site, depending on the chosen acquisition strategy. Responses received after the closing date for this Notice may not be considered.

There is no solicitation available at this time.

The Government reserves the right to use information that it receives in response to this Notice as it deems appropriate to establish final requirements or for other legally appropriate purposes.

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).

QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE

For questions regarding this notice, please contact the primary contact identified at the bottom of this notice, no later than 9:00AM EST, July 23, 2026.

THANK YOU

Thank you for taking the time to read this notice and for your interest in helping NIST with its efforts to maximize competition!