Automated parallel synthesis platform

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

23-58208/A

Automated parallel synthesis platform

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of the requirement

o The National Research council of Canada has a requirement for the supply of 1x automated platform that is capable of solid and liquid material handling for the synthesis of mixed-metal oxides in a high-throughput method via parallel handling, mixing, and isolation tasks.

3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its product/equipment/system (as appropriate) meets the following requirements:

A robotic platform that is capable of:

a. Liquid handling capable of up to 4 different liquids of volumes of between 1 mL and up to 10 mL dispension. Capabilities to be sources from at minimum 1 L solvent reservoir bottles, with the option for septa tips to be used as part of the liquid dispension
b. Overhead sub mg/mg (0.1 mg) gravimetric solid dispensing directly into vials and/or reactors while processing with fine dosing up to 20 g total contents, with accuracy of 0.1 mg, of solid powders, and capable of sample switching among various powders to dispense at minimum 8 different solids without human intervention
c. Gravimetric pick and dispense of ug to mg for solid handling and moving / characterization preparation
d. Capabilities to perform a) and b) within as little as 8 mL test tubes/crucibles, but up to 60 mL vials and crucibles, and capabilities to easily program/switch for this functionality
e. Shear and/or stir mixing capabilities in each individual vial/crucible with rinsing/washing capabilities
f. Transfer of said crucibles into a heater/cooler orbital shaker rack that can cool to at minimum 5°C and maximum up to 120°C
g. Pick and place tools for automated exchange of robot tools to perform a-f above
h. A blow down tool with inert gas supply
i. A hood to contain all of the above-mentioned devices and operations, with vents/ducts for ventilation and capabilities to place under an inert atmosphere. The hood must be able to be opened from at minimum two directions (eg. Front / back) for ease of access, and must have safety features for manual emergency stop and/or automated shutdown in case of collision
j. All contained within a base system that a) the user can access, b) is equipped with inert gas lead lines, temperature and monitoring, status monitoring (ie. system on, system running, system error etc.) to be visible to all nearby parties, and emergency stop function

Installed software on a stand-alone PC to control and program the robotic platform. The software must also allow for data to be saved in a .csv file (or other open source equivalent) and contain, at minimum, a synthesis log and characterization data, allow for at minimum 2 different user profiles, configurable platform workflows (to control all the requirements in (a) that can be saved and recalled at a later date.

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
o Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
o Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
o Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
o Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
o Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA)
o Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)
o Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA)
o Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA)
o
5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

Based on the specifications outlined above, the identified supplier is the only vendor capable of supplying the specific platform as it required IP-protected technology that only this vendor can supply. In brief, these are related to pick-and-dispense of solid material from ug to mg, overhead gravimetric dispension directly into a multi-array of reactors, as well as automated exchange of tools to perform the actions of the described workflow within a single automated unit/platform.

6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work".

7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:
a. Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
b. World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
c. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
d. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article 15.10 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
e. Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article Kbis-16 (2) (c): necessary to protect intellectual property;
f. Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement – Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
g. Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement – Article 17.11 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
h. Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement – referencing the WTO Protocol Amending the GPA, Article XIII (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
i. Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement – Article 16.10 (1) (b) (iii): because of the absence of competition for technical reasons;
j. Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) –Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
k. Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) – Annex 10-6 (2) (a): any form of preference, including set asides, to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises; and
l. Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement: refer to CETA as the provisions of CETA are incorporated by reference into and made part of this Agreement. (CETA) Article 19.12 (b) (iii).

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

The Crown will have the right of use for normal business operations of the system once purchased. The design and system’s intellectual property are solely owned by the contractor.

All IP generated on this instrument during its use by the NRC would belong entirely to NRC and its Research partners.

8. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date

NRC expects the equipment to be delivered within 12 months given the contract award date.

9. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier

Chemspeed Technologies Inc.
113 North Center Drive
North Brunswick
NJ 08902, USA

10. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

11. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is January 24th 2024 at 14:00hrs EST.

12. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Paul Hewitt
343-573-1068
Paul.Hewitt@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
1200 Montreal Road, K1A 0R6, Ottawa, ON, Canada