SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- OPERATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SERUM REPOSITORY (DoDSR)
- Notice Date
- 9/7/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 532420
— Office Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing
- Contracting Office
- RDECOM Acquisition Center - Aberdeen, ATTN: AMSSB-ACC-A, 4118 Susquehanna Avenue, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-3013
- ZIP Code
- 21005-3013
- Solicitation Number
- W91CRB-6250-1000
- Response Due
- 9/22/2006
- Archive Date
- 11/21/2006
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The US Army Research Development Evaluation Command (RDECOM) Acquisition Center, Aberdeen, MD intends to negotiate on a sole source basis in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 and 6.302-2. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements and under statutory authority of 10 U.S.C., Section 2304 (c) (2) or 41 U.S.C. 253 (c) (2). The RDECOM Acquisition Center intends to negotiate and award a contract to Thermo Electron Corporation, 81 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 024 54-9046 2.1. Specimen Processing Specimen processing consists of accepting the shipment of specimens from frozen transport, verifying the contents of the shipment, accessing the specimens into the inventory by performing data entry on the individual card board containers or by performing data entry on the individual specimens, performing quality control checks, and placing the cardboard containers of specimens in precise locations in the large walk-in freezers for storage. Currently, shipments from the co ntract laboratory and the Air Force testing laboratory occur on a quarterly basis. It is anticipated that during the contract period, shipments from these laboratories shall occur on a more frequent basis, requiring weekly or bi-weekly specimen processing. Currently, each shipment from the contract laboratory (currently Viromed Labs, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota) and the Air Force testing laboratory (currently at Brooks City Base, Texas) contains approximately 350,000 specimens. Shipments are currently recei ved in pallets containing cardboard containers with the specimens inside. It is anticipated that during the contract period, shipments from these laboratories may be received in non-palletized form, or be shipped to the DoDSR from one or more laboratories via commercial courier. Shipments from other laboratories may be received in non-palletized form or shipped via commercial courier. The cardboard containers containing specimens from the contract laboratory and the Air Force testing laboratory are approxim ately 6 x 18 x 3.5 in size and contains 308 specimens, each consisting of approximately 2.5mL of frozen serum. Specimens from other laboratories may be received in loose form, or in non-standard cardboard containers, requiring manual resorting and place ment into standard containers. All specimen processing steps will be performed in a timely manner. Care will be taken during specimen processing to minimize specimen temperature fluctuations. The contractor shall store the specimens at 25?C immediately af ter the specimens are accessed into inventory system. 2.2. Laboratory Operations The contractor shall perform laboratory operations to prepare specimens for shipping to other facilities for studies when requested by the Contracting Officer or his represe ntative (COR or COTR). Laboratory operations shall include thawing retrieved frozen specimens, preparing and labeling aliquots of serum from the retrieved specimens, preparing a determined number of aliquots for shipment, preparing and labeling aliquots o f remaining serum for further frozen storage, and reshelving of the aliquots. To support laboratory operations, timely manual retrieval and reshelving of specimens and aliquots shall be required.Currently, the single automated liquid handling platform at t he DoDSR can produce aliquots from specimens at a rate of approximately 60 per hour. With production of aliquots as the rate-limiting step, approximately 500 specimens can be aliquoted per work day in preparation for studies. It is expected that during the contract period, the contractor shall support an increased specimen throughput of 1,000 specimens per day. To support proper laboratory operations, the contractor shall maintain the laboratory to standards defined by Good Laboratory Procedures. The contr actor shall have a Medical Laboratory Technician Certification (MLT) or a Medical Technologist Certification (MT). 2.3. Data Entry The contractor shall perfor m data entry in support of specimen processing, laboratory operations, and to support the conversion of a backlog of historical paper manifest records into electronic format. During specimen processing the contractor shall perform data entry to access the specimens into the inventory system. Data entry steps may include manually entering container number, manually entering individual specimen number and location data, and performing quality control checks. Currently, for specimens received from the contract laboratory, inventory information, including container number, the specimen numbers and the location of each specimen number within each box, is provided by the contract laboratory. This information is automatically entered into the inventory system in pr eparation for specimen accession. Currently, for specimens received from the Air Force lab and for specimens received from other laboratories, specimen number and location information is not automatically entered into the inventory system, requiring manual data entry during processing. During processing, quality control checks will be performed to verify the accuracy of data entry. During laboratory operations, the contractor shall perform data entry to record retrieved and reshelved specimens, to track ste ps in the specimen aliquotting process, to track aliquots prepared for shipment, and to track aliquots reshelved in the inventory. The contractor will enter data from a backlog of historical paper manifest records into the computer system as time permits d uring the operations of the DoDSR. During the data entry, quality control checks will be performed to verify the accuracy of data entry. 2.4. General Repository Operations The contractor shall provide management of the DoDSR personnel and repository oper ations. The contractor shall provide a Point of Contact for the monitoring system, who shall be available to answer an alarm 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Upon notification from the monitoring system, the designated contractor staff shall immediately repo rt to the repository to correct the problem or alert maintenance personnel. The contractor will provide a Point of Contact for the government with regard to operations of the contract. The repository personnel shall assist the Project Officer with procurin g repository supplies through government channels. The contractor must provide dry ice for shipment and FedEx delivery of specimens, if required. The contractor must have the ability to provide specimen storage boxes, if required. The contractor must have the ability to provide miscellaneous supply items, if needed. The contractor shall be responsible for the security system (Datawatch), telephone and internet services (Verizon). 2.5. Transportation of Specimens The contractor shall provide transportation of specimens from the contract laboratory (currently Viromed Labs, Eden Prairie, Minnesota) and the Air Force testing laboratory (currently at Brooks City Base, Texas) to the DoDSR in Silver Spring, MD. Currently , specimens from these laboratories are loaded onto pallets and are packaged in shrink-wrap by the contract lab prior to transport. Currently, shipments are prepared for transportation approximately once every two months. It is expected that during the con tract period, the frequency of specimen transportation shall increase to once every two weeks. It is anticipated that should shipment frequency increase, the volume of specimens transported per shipment shall decrease proportionally. The contractor shall p rovide local transportation of specimens and shipments of aliquots to locations within a 70 mile radius of the repository. The contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, and supplies necessary to transport and deliver the specimens or shipments of aliq uots. During all transportation operations, the contractor shall ensure that the storage container and material within a box is maintained at a temperature 25?C or below. The contractor shall provide fo r redundant cold storage capability to maintain specimen temperature in the event of primary freezer failure occurring during transport operations. The contractor shall obtain all necessary Department of Transportation and other government exemptions and p ermits for the transportation of biological materials, including bio-hazardous materials, and for the operation and maintenance of the truck. If leased vehicles are utilized during transport operations, the contractor shall obtain proper insurance document ation, including vehicle insurance and material insurance, prior to use of the vehicle for transport. The contractor shall report the location and status of shipments under transport, and the estimated arrival or delivery times to the Project Officer, as r equested. The contractor shall ensure all problems encountered during transportation operations are documented and reported to the Project Officer immediately. 2.6. Equipment Maintenance The contractor shall provide 24 hour, seven days per week emergency service for the freezer units and shall provide routine maintenance of the freezers, compressors, generators, and the air conditioner. All maintenance requests for emergency repair must be answered within 4 hours. In the event of equipment failure all rep airs or parts replacement must be complete within 6 hours. The contractor shall provide personnel with maintenance experience of walk-in freezers, compressors, and freezer monitoring systems. 2.7. Specimen Reconfiguration and Off-Site Storage The contract or, at the direction of the COR and in the event of the DoDSR exceeding its specimen storage capacity, shall adjust the storage configurations of specimens in one or more freezers to accommodate high-density, boxed specimen storage. In adjusting storage co nfiguration to high-density, boxed specimen storage the contractor shall ensure that consecutive cardboard containers are placed in sequential order into larger storage boxes, and that these boxes are stacked in the walk-in freezers in a manner that permit s maximal storage density, while ensuring specimen integrity. Upon exhaustion of DoDSR specimen storage capacity, the contractor shall provide off-site, temperature monitored, and fully maintained walk-in -25C freezer storage space as necessary, and shall provide transportation of boxed specimens to the off-site facility. Interested firms have 15 calendar days from the date of publication of this synopsis to submit in writing clear and convincing documentation of their companies capability to provide req uired service. The contractors proposal should address the following: The contractor shall present its ability to manage a large biospecimen repository. The contractor must provide proof of experience in transporting large quantities of biological speci mens and maintaining a desired temperature during transportation operations. The contractor must provide in the bid proposal the type of truck(s) to be used to transport specimens to and from the DoDSR. The cooling system on the truck(s) must be detailed a s well as the type of back-up permanently installed on the trucks(s). The contractor must include any special training or experience that personnel may have in conducting such transportation, and include any licenses and insurance that the corporation may have to conduct transportation of this nature. If this task is to be accomplished by a sub-contractor, the contractor must furnish all information pertinent to the sub-contractor to conduct this task. The contractor must provide proof of experience in pro viding maintenance and repair of large walk-in freezers/cold rooms.The contractor shall furnish, upon request, one reference for a project similar in scope. Submissions should be received NLT 22 September 2006 by 12Noon to the US Army RDECOM Acquisition C enter, 4118 Susquehanna Avenue, ATTN: AMSRD-ACC-CS / Paula Kestler, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-3013. Such documentation will be utilized solely for the purpose of determining whether to proceed on a competitive basis. Responses received after 15 calendar days or without the required documentation will be considered non-responsive and shall not be considered. The Government will not pay for any documenta tion provided in response to this synopsis and documentation received will not be returned to the sender. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement on a full and open competitive basis, based upon responses received to their synops is, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Questions and request for the full Statement of Work can be directed to Paula Kestler @ paula.kestler@us.army.mil.
- Place of Performance
- Address: RDECOM Acquisition Center - Aberdeen ATTN: AMSSB-ACC-A, 4118 Susquehanna Avenue Aberdeen Proving Ground MD
- Zip Code: 21005-3013
- Country: US
- Zip Code: 21005-3013
- Record
- SN01136657-W 20060909/060907221340 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |