*****************This solicitiation is amended to take out the small business set aside language. This solicitation is full and open competition. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.*******************************

Description

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR 12.6. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation and a written solicitation will not be issued. This synopsis, NAICS code 334516, is to notify contractors that the government is seeking competition in accordance with FAR Part 13.106 for the following statement of work, under the simplified acquisition procedures and the resultant purchase order will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 05-26. Prospective offerors are responsible for downloading the solicitation and any amendments. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the FedBizOpps website for the release of any amendments to this solicitation. Hard copies will be provided to individuals eligible under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act upon request. The Government reserves the right to award a contract without discussions if the Contracting Officer determines that the initial offer(s) is/are providing the Best Value and discussions are not necessary.



Test System Required Specifications

Introduction

This document defines the specifications and requirements for a testing system capable of testing materials and components to enable diagnostics and characterization of these materials as well as to establish performance of the components.

The test system shall be integrated and capable of performing to enclosed specifications.



The test system shall be integrated with all the necessary components to make it fully functional.



Vendor Response

All vendors shall provide a proposal that includes a line-by-line detailed response to each section of this specification.



All vendors shall provide evidence of current system installations where equipment similar in nature to the equipment specified by this solicitation have been supplied and maintained.



Load Frame:

• The load frame shall have an all-digital servo control system and DC motor drive for controlling crosshead motion.

• The load frame shall have a test speed range of at least 0.00004 to 40 in/min (0.001 to 1000mm/min). The speed accuracy over this range shall be +/- 0.1% of set speed or better.

• The load frame shall be capable of a return speed of 40 in/min. (1000mm/min) with built-in deceleration.

• The load frame shall be capable of operating at full load rating up to 20 in/min. Clutches or gear changes in the drive system will not be acceptable.

• The load frame shall be a dual, preloaded ballscrew design with precision crosshead guidance and no backlash when transitioning through zero load.

• The load frame shall have a maximum crosshead travel of 48.6 in (1235mm) and a vertical test opening 51.5 in (1309mm).

• The load frame and testing system shall be rated for 50kN. (11,250lb) load capacity.

• The load cell(s) shall have automatic self-identifying and also be capable of self-calibration to ensure data integrity for all tests being conducted.

• The load cells shall be designed to tolerate off-axis loading typically associated with specimen tearing at failure. “S” type load cells will not be acceptable.

• The load cells should mount through the top of the moving crosshead in order to maximize test space.

• The load frame shall provide accessory mounting hard points such as T-slots in the column covers.

• All rotating machinery shall be fully enclosed for safety.

• The load frame shall have both mechanical and electronic safety limits.

• The load frame shall have an ISO approved emergency stop button.

• The load frame shall provide service access for in-place servicing of electronics and mechanical components without lifting or tipping the frame from the support table.



Control Electronics:

• High speed computer interface with a data transfer rate between the controller and PC of at least 7.7 Mbytes/sec continuously.

• Communication between the load frame controller and PC must be through an industry standard IEEE interface.

• Data sampling rate at least 5kHz on all transducer channels; data acquisition on all channels must be synchronous to avoid data skew.

• Controls must allow closed loop control of position and load channels with the ability to loop shape both manually and automatically.

• Data resolution must be at least 19 bits per channel (1 part in 524,288) across the full scale of all transducers (i.e. no ranging).

• Waveform generation to be at least 32bit resolution (1 part in 109).

• The on-screen control display provided must always be clearly visible; it should not be possible to minimize or obscure this area of the screen.

• The control system must support, and the relevant software packages should be available to enable, the user to write and run their own application packages directly within a NI LabVIEW environment, without any additional compiling being required.

• A fixed position emergency stop should be provided on the frame.

• The controller should have at least a 6 term control loop (i.e. P, I, D, Lag, Feedforward, Notch filter)

• As standard the controller should offer Serial, Parallel or Cascade control modes.

• Adaptive Control updating of the control loop at 1kHz based on dynamic specimen stiffness measurements should be offered as standard.

• Transducer automatic recognition and calibration. The controller must have the facility to recognize virtually any number of transducers once they are fitted with the correct recognition/calibration plug without having to reconfigure either the controller or transducer.

• The controller must prevent any test proceeding with an un-calibrated transducer to prevent incorrect data being gathered.

• Any software supplied must be able to run under Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP.

• The electronics shall include automatic overload protection for the load cell to prevent inadvertent damage from overloading.

• The sensor electronics shall provide automatic recognition and calibration of load cells and extensometers to prevent calibration errors.

• The operator panel shall have automatic calibration of either load cells or extensometers via one designated button.

• The operator shall be able to balance any load or strain on the system with one designated button.

• All sensor conditioner and control electronics shall be installed in the load frame, not in the PC to reduce susceptibility to electronic noise.

• The system shall have built-in self-test diagnostics with an external status display.

• A minimum of four data displays shall be provided for real-time monitoring of load, extension, strain and cycle count. The displays shall provide a selection of current value, peak value, or break value.

• The load accuracy shall be +/- 0.5% of reading down to 1/500 of load cell capacity. This accuracy shall be maintained when load cells or sensor conditioners are changed.

• Display of the load cell full-scale value, strain extensometer full-scale value, test speed, and cycle count shall be provided on the control panel.

• A break detector shall be available for stopping or returning the test instrument’s crosshead when triggered.

• Selectable units for display shall include US Customary, Metric, and Standard International.

• The system shall have a load frame mounted control panel that works in conjunction with the software to provide ease of use to the operator for functions such as starting and stopping a test. This panel shall also have a crosshead return function. Jogging of the crosshead shall also be available through this panel with the ability of fast and slow jog.

• The test system shall have a specimen protection feature that prevents unwanted loads from being applied to the test specimen during test setup and jogging.

• System must include a strain conditioner channel for use with self identified, rationalized extensometers. Strain conditioner must also be capable of accepting +/- 10V DC inputs. Strain channel must be configurable to calibrate and name channel for use such as temperature.

• Control electronics to have a user selectable bandwith from 1hZ to 100hZ

• Control waveforms must include sine, square, and triangle shapes



Load Cells for Load Measurement

• Tension/Compression Load Cell, Static, Capacity: 50kN (11,250 lb), Drop through crosshead design with self identification and electrical calibration. Accurate within 0.5% of reading from 100N up to 50kN

• System should be able to use existing FDA load cells with complete mechanical and electrical compatibility including verified accuracy of +/-0.5% of reading down to 1/500 of cell capacity.



Grips and Fixtures:

• All existing FDA grips and fixtures must be compatible with system without the need for additional adapters.

Software Control, Data Collection and Data Reduction

• A Tension Test Application must be supplied that provides test control and result calculations required for most tension testing requirements. Test control functionality must include pre-cycling, pre-loading, dual test speeds with automatic changeover at user specified values, creep and relaxation control, pre-tension grip control and test end/break detection control. Available test results and calculations must include 7 types of modulus, 4 types of yield, break, pre-set point detection, peak values, slack correction and creep/relaxation (total and delta).

• A Compression Test Application must be supplied that provides test control and result calculations required for most compression testing requirements. Test control functionality must include pre- cycling, pre-loading, dual test speeds with automatic changeover at user specified values, creep and relaxation control, pre-tension grip control and test end/break detection control. Available test results and calculations must include 5 types of modulus, 4 types of yield, break, pre-set point detection, peak values, slack correction and creep/relaxation (total and delta).

Software Control, Data Collection and Data Reduction cont’d

• A Flexure Test Application must be supplied that provides test control and result calculations required for most flexure testing requirements. Test control functionality must include pre-loading, creep and relaxation control, and test end/break detection control. Available test results and calculations must include 6 types of modulus, outer fiber stress and strain, 4 types of yield, break, pre-set point detection, peak values, and creep/relaxation (total and delta). Both three and four point flexure tests must be supported.

• A Peel, Tear and Friction Test Application must be supplied that provides test control and result calculations required for most PTF testing requirements. Test control functionality must include pre-loading, speed control and test end detection control. Available test results and calculations include tear, static and dynamic coefficient of friction, average peel/tear, load displacement at first peak, energy at first peak, energy between limits, peel length and more.

• A Block/Cyclic Application must be supplied that allows you to create custom test control sequences (profiles) with a simple, user friendly interface.

• An Enhanced Control Application must be supplied that allows control movement of the crosshead as a function of load, stress, strain or true strain in addition to position control.

• A Cyclic loading/block program with graphical setup must be supplied to that allows test control and result calculations of the test. This program must allow the user to set up ramps, holds, and cyclic tests with the ability to change control modes between blocks.

• Must have the availability of a set of LabVIEW software drivers and an example program for use with National Instruments LabVIEW verson 4.1.0 or greater. These drivers will support machine control and data acquisition and provide a shell program from which the user can develop custom software applications.

• A Reporting and graph application with the ability to easily add text, pictures, company logos and the ability to easily move plots and results date in the template. Reports must be able to be directly saved in PDF, Microsoft Word, or HTML format. System must have the ability to automatically e-mail report.

General:

• System must include a standard one year warranty which includes priority technical telephone support for hardware, software, and application related questions. Warranty must include all travel costs of a field service engineer to the facility when needed.

• Included with the system will be on-site installation by a factory trained service engineer. Installation is to include the hook up of all hardware, PC, and software. Installation to include 1-day of on-site training

• Installation must also include verification of the load weighing system to meet or exceed ASTM-E4 specifications.

• The system will also include two (2) days of factory training on the system and software. Training facility should be within driving distance and not require an overnight stay of employees to reduce costs.



Shipping/Rigging:



Vendor must be responsible and include in quotation, shipping of the system from vendors factory and rigging and installation of new system and also rigging and removal of existing system.



BASIS FOR PURCHASE ORDER AWARD

The Offeror should demonstrate in its proposal that the objectives in the statement of work are understood and offer a logical approach to their achievement. Award will be made to the offeror who is deemed most responsive, whose proposal conforms to all requirements, and is judged to represent the best value. To conduct a best value assessment, FDA will evaluate the offerors proposal submission based on Technical Elements, Price, and Past Performance as described below. Technical, Past Performance, and Price are of equal importance. As this is a best-value selection, the government may make tradeoffs in the factors below to arrive at a best value decision. The Government may award a purchase order on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the Offeror's best terms from a cost and technical standpoint.



EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation will be based on the completeness, thoroughness and demonstrated capabilities of the prospective Offeror in relation to the needs of the project as set forth in the RFQ. Each proposal must document the feasibility of successful implementation of the requirements of the RFQ. The Offeror should show that the objectives stated in the proposal are understood and offer a logical program for their achievement. Offerors must submit information sufficient to evaluate their proposals based on the detailed criteria listed below.



Offerors should provide information on all of the following criteria.



A). Technical Solution

Offerors shall demonstrate a thorough understanding of the scope and complexity of the Performance Work Statement. The Offeror shall, through a detailed technical proposal, be able to thoroughly explain the product the Government is seeking to obtain through this requirement. The Offeror, through its proposal, shall explain how it intends to obtain this product within the given time frame and in the most efficient and cost-productive manner. The Offeror must also show in its proposal the efforts required by the Government in order for the contractor to complete this task. Offerors must demonstrate that their share of savings reflects the risks involved and market conditions.



Corporate Capability and Expertise



Offerors must demonstrate the organizational resources, capability and experience to efficiently manage a requirement of this magnitude. Proposals must demonstrate substantial and successful corporate experience in performing other efforts of a similar nature and magnitude. Proposals must also include resumes for all staff proposed that clearly demonstrate the requisite level of experience and expertise to accomplish the requirements of this task order.



Past Performance Evaluation

FDA will evaluate the offeror's past performance in the conduct of similar tasks and their relevance to this acquisition.



Price

FDA will evaluate the offeror's submission/proposal on their ability to provide support at a reasonable and realistic price (to include any discounts offered).



Offerors are advised that award will be made to that offeror whose quotation provides the combination of features that offers the best or greatest overall value to the Government. The Government is more concerned with obtaining performance capability superiority rather than lowest overall cost. However, the Government will not make an award at a significantly higher overall cost to the Government to achieve only slightly superior performance. Overall cost to the Government may become the ultimate determining factor for award of a contract as quotations become more equal based on the other factors.



CCR: Vendors must be registered in the Central Contractor Register (CCR) prior to the award of a contract. You may register by going to www.ccr.gov. You will need your Dun & Bradstreet number and banking information.



QUESTIONS DEADLINE: All questions are to be submitted via email to karen.petty@fda.hhs.gov no later than Friday, September 12, 2008, 12:00pm EST.



QUOTATIONS DUE: All quotations are due, via email to: karen.petty@fda.hhs.gov, no later than 12:00pm, EST on Tuesday, September 16, 2008.



PROVISIONS and CLAUSES: The provision at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items applies to this solicitation. The following agenda has been attached to this provision: None. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items. The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions, Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The following agenda has been attached to the clause: None. The clause at FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders, Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The following FAR clauses cited are applicable: FAR 52.217-8, FAR 52.222-26, FAR 52.222-35, FAR 52.222-36, and FAR 52.232-33. Clauses and provisions are incorporated by reference and apply to this acquisition.



Responses to this notice must be sent via email to Karen.petty@fda.hhs.gov. No phone calls will be accepted.