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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Cold Regions Research Laboratory (CRREL) intends to award a contract on a sole source basis to Netzsch Instruments North America, LLC upon the basis of the authority provided at FAR 13.106-1(b)(1).

ERDC-CRREL requires one (1) benchtop light flash analyzer (LFA) for the measurement of thermal diffusivity and specific heat capacity of ice with additives, paints, coatings, metals, and ceramics in accordance with various ASTM E1461-13, DIN EN 821-2:1997, and ISO 18755:2022 and 2207-4:2017 standards. The LFA shall measure thermal diffusivity (0.01 mm2¬/s to 2000 mm2/s), thermal conductivity (0.1W to 4000W) and specific heat of materials between -100°C and 500°C with light pulse energy of at least 10 Joules/pulse adjustable with pulse widths between 10 to 1500µs is required to investigate thermal properties of ice, paints & coatings, and metal alloys & ceramics.

Netzsch Instruments North America, LLC has been identified as the only company capable of offering a product meeting the requisite specifications and interoperability requirements of CRREL’s existing sensors and accessories comprising their current Materials Characterization Instrumentation System. The new benchtop xeon bulb light flash analyzer (LFA) must be fully interoperable with the existing Netzsch CC 300 Multi-Modal Nitrogen Cooling Device and associated software (i.e. Netzsch Proteus) used for controlling and reading sensors from the cooling device. Netzsch Instruments North America, LLC is the manufacturer and does not have any US distributors who sell this product line.

The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334516 Analytical Instrument Manufacturing Services was determined to best represent this requirement. The small business size standard is 1000 employees.

This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive quotations. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. Any interested party that believes they can fulfill this requirement should submit a capability statement to be reviewed. All submissions will be considered, however there is no guarantee that submissions in response to this notice will in any way alter the Government's acquisition strategy.

Responses to this notice shall be submitted NLT 12:00 PM CST, Thursday, 2 March 2023 to ERDC-CRREL-QUOTES@usace.army.mil

Telephone responses will not be accepted.

Responses to this notice will not be considered as a response to any solicitation, a request to be added to a prospective offerors list, or to receive a copy of any solicitation. A determination by the Government not to compete the contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Note: In order to be eligible for award of a government contract, vendors must be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), have no active exclusions, and complete the FAR and DFARS representations and certifications.