SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Robotic Serial Polishing System
- Notice Date
- 12/13/2010
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, 88 CONS/PK, 1940 ALLBROOK DRIVE, WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 45433-5309, United States
- ZIP Code
- 45433-5309
- Solicitation Number
- FA8601-11-P-0074(S)
- Archive Date
- 1/1/2011
- Point of Contact
- Jennifer R. Begg, Phone: 9375222277
- E-Mail Address
-
Jennifer.Begg@wpafb.af.mil
(Jennifer.Begg@wpafb.af.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The United States Air Force, ASC/Operational Contracting Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-5344 is a preparing to solicit for a firm-fixed price contract for providing a fully automated robotic serial polishing system. We intend to award this contract sole source under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered. The sole source is: UES Inc, 4401 Dayton-Xenia Road, Dayton OH 45432. The contract line items will be firm-fixed price. The system shall meet the requirements contained in the specifications below: The fully automated robotic serial polishing system with etching and cleaning capabilities that is to be integrated into a larger serial sectioning device that contains a scanning electron microscope. These characteristics are required for the system. a. The robotic serial polishing system shall be able to automatically mechanically polish, clean, and dry a single sample for serial sectioning experiments (i.e., the same sample is repeatedly polished, possibly etched, cleaned, and then moved to a transfer point on the polishing system) without any human intervention. The system shall be capable of applying 4 different types of liquid polishing suspension, including one that is capable of dispensing colloidal silica and cleaning the dispenser to avoid clogging, and the combination of polishing platen and suspension solution shall be capable of being defined by the user. The system shall have a minimum of eight polishing platens, and the platen diameter shall be 12" or larger to provide longer lifetime between pad changes. The robotic serial polishing system shall have a mechanism to maximize polishing platen alignment (the platen vertical run-out shall be less than 10 micrometers). In addition, sample polishing conditions such as sample sweep, sample rotation, and platen rotation speed shall be controlled by the user, and the sample load shall be user-defined from 5 to 25 N. The system shall be capable of cleaning between polishing steps using an ultrasonic bath that contains either water or alcohol-based solutions. The system shall be capable of drying the sample using a compressed gas to eliminate spotting on the metallographic surface due to liquid evaporation. b. The robotic serial polishing system shall have a sample holder that has lateral dimensions no greater than 70 mm in diameter, and no greater than 50 mm in height (without sample attached), in order to maintain compatibility with an automated load lock installed on a Tescan Vega XMH Scanning Electron Microscope that is a component of the larger serial sectioning device. c. The robotic serial polishing system shall be supplied with a PC and monitor, as well as software to run the polishing, etching, and cleaning system. The robotic serial polishing system shall be able to be communicated-with-and-controlled via Ethernet networking, and shall allow the user to remotely initiate the polishing, etching, and cleaning sequence, using a user-defined recipe that can be changed and modified via the remote network. d. The robotic serial polishing system shall contain an etching system to selectively reveal microstructural features such as grains or precipitates using acidic solutions (e.g., those containing significant concentrations of nitric, sulfuric, and hydrofluouric acid). The system shall have a pumping system to fill or recirculate the etching solutions. A neutralizing bath shall be available to stop the etching process. The system shall have a ventilation mechanism to vent the gases from the etching system to a user-supplied ventilation duct. e. The robotic serial polishing system shall be capable of automatically loading or unloading the sample holder from the polishing head to a fixed location on the system, to load the sample holder, perform the polishing sequence automatically and without human intervention, and return the sample to the same loading point so that a 3rd party robot manipulator can move the sample holder to other components of the larger serial sectioning device. f. The system shall be provided with a warranty period for a total of 5 years that covers all parts, all labor, and service technician travel expenses, and unlimited emergency service visits. g. A minimum of one week of on-site instruction of the automated robotic serial polishing system shall be provided Delivery for the system shall be 4-6 months after receipt of order (ARO). FOB Destination. At this time no small business set-aside is expected. NAICS Code 334516, Size Standard 500 employees. Refer all questions concerning this synopsis to Jennifer Begg, Contract Specialist, at jennifer.begg@wpafb.af.mil. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development. The purpose of the Ombudsman is to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations to the appropriate director or contracting officer. Accordingly, the Ombudsman does not participate in the preparation of solicitations, the evaluation of the proposals, or the source selection process. Therefore, for routine matters on individual solicitations, please contact Jennifer Begg at the above email. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Department of Defense (DoD) has determined the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) to be the single DoD registration for contractors who conduct business or who are interested in conducting business with the DoD. Contractors must be registered in CCR prior to award for solicitations issued after 21 May 1998. You may contact CCR at 1-888-CCR-2423, fax at 1-703-696-0213. DUNS/CCR website: http://ccr.edi.disa.mil/ccr/cgi-bin/query.pl.
- Web Link
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- Record
- SN02343348-W 20101215/101213234059-975a130619a29b50b3e535443f5edf7e (fbodaily.com)
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