BRAND NAME ONLY: Replacement Cesium Beam Tubes

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN SUBPART 12.6, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. Solicitation number NB688000-24-01066 is a Request for Quotation (RFQ) conducted under the authority of FAR 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures.

This RFQ, incorporated provisions, and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024-02. The associated NAICS 334515 code has a small business size standard of 750 employees. This requirement is being competed as an Unrestricted, Brand Name Only requirement. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Time & Frequency Division requires two (2) high-performance cesium beam tubes for 5071A frequency standard to replace cesium beam tubes that have outlived their viability.

The cesium beam tubes are part of the ensemble atomic time scale that generates the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time and frequency standard. NIST requires Microsemi Corporation / Microchip Technology, Inc. manufactured cesium beam tubes as it is the only known manufacturer of this item and, if NIST were to go with a different product or material, it would require NIST to unnecessarily purchase two new atomic clock chassis, which would waste Government monetary resources and time.

Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance and FOB point are required in accordance with the attached Requirements and Specifications document. All offerors shall submit their quotation on letterhead to the email address stated herein by the date and time specified herein. All quotations shall contain, at a minimum, the information specified in the RFQ. If a quotation is missing any of the elements listed in the RFQ, the quotation will be deemed to be unacceptable and may not be evaluated further.

Basis of Award is Lowest Price Technically Acceptable, meaning NIST will evaluate the lowest-priced quotation first, and then stop evaluating quotes when NIST has identified the lowest-priced quotation that is technically acceptable.

Vendors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation via email to the Contracting Officer, Aaron Ritter, at aaron.ritter@nist.gov no later than 10:00 a.m. (MT) on February 28, 2024. Quotations shall be sent to the Contracting Officer, Aaron Ritter, at aaron.ritter@nist.gov no later than the submission deadline listed in this posting. Fax quotations shall not be accepted. Please reference the RFQ number in the subject line of email communications and attachments. Vendors' quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation enters the email box set forth above.