ACAN – iScan, and Tecan LiHA Equipment Service Coverage and Preventative Maintenance

ACAN – iScan, and Tecan LiHA Equipment Service Coverage and Preventative Maintenance

REQUIREMENT:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Morden Research Centre located in Morden, Manitoba requires service coverage, and a preventative maintenance plan for their Illumina iScan, and Tecan LiHa liquid handling robot.

The service coverage shall include for the iScan: full coverage for all service parts and labour, comprehensive email support and telephone support (instrument, applications, bioinformatics), with a minimum contractor support availability of Monday to Friday 18 hours/day for telephone support, and a minimum contractor support availability of Monday to Friday 24 hours/day for email requests; three to five business day average of on-site response time, provide critical and non-critical hardware and software updates, applications support, access to online training modules, and any available discounts on optional advanced training programs.

The service coverage shall include for the Tecan LiHa equipment: full coverage for replacement parts, email support, and telephone support, with a minimum contractor support availability of Monday to Friday 18 hours/day for telephone support, and a minimum contractor availability of Monday to Friday 24 hours/day for email requests, provide critical and non-critical hardware and software updates, access to on-line training modules, and discounts on any available optional advanced training programs.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The Illumina iScan and Tecan LiHa liquid handling robot were purchased as a package by AAFC from Illumina in 2013.  This equipment is essential to a number of projects at the Morden Research Centre.  In addition, this equipment processes samples for researchers at other AAFC locations and AAFC research centres.  The SNP genotyping system is highly efficient over other genotyping options.  It offers tremendous savings in labour and reagents, thereby, drastically improving lab productivity.  The equipment is expensive and the most cost effective way to ensure there are no work stoppages is to maintain a service contract which provides efficient response times for any problems arising and includes all service, parts and labour costs.  

CONTRACT PERIOD:

The contract will be for a three (3) year period from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2017

ESTIMATED CONTRACT VALUE:

$111,000.00 USD (plus taxes, if applicable)

PROPOSED CONTRACTOR:

Illumina,  Inc.
5200 Illumina Way
San Diego,  CA   92121-1975
United States

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION:

Illumina Canada is the only company that can provide guaranteed equipment coverage and serving for the Illumina iScan, and Tecan LiHa liquid handling robot.

The equipment is proprietary to Illumina and Illumina does not provide licenses to outside contractors to service Illumina machines/equipment.  The Illumina iScan is a unique piece of equipment that uses proprietary Illumina technology and consumables.  The Tecan LiHa liquid handling robot has been modified by Illumina to work exclusively with the Illumina iScan equipment.  The proprietary nature of the equipment means they have to be serviced by Illumina or all warranties are nullified and Illumina will no longer guarantee the functioning of the equipment.

TRADE AGREEMENTS:
This Procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
World Trade Organization – Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REGULATIONS EXCEPTION:

The Treasury Board’s Government Contract Regulations, Part 10.2.1 Section 6 state there are four exceptions that permit the contracting authority to set aside the requirement to solicit bids.  The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6.(d) “only one supplier, person, or firm is capable of performing the work.”

ACAN NOTICE:

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the Contracting Authority.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the Contracting Authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Inquiries on Submission of Statement of Capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing, either via letter, facsimile or Email to the Contracting Authority 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.

The Solicitation Number, Name of Contracting Authority and closing date of the ACAN must appear within your Statement of Capabilities in block letters.

Closing Date for the submission of the Statement of Capabilities:
May 16, 2014 

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Contracting Authority:

Robin Allen,  Procurement Officer
Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
Western Service Centre
400 – 303 Main Street
Winnipeg,  MB   R3C 3G7

Robin.Allen@agr.gc.ca