C-Trap and HCD Cell upgrades

ThemoFisher Scientific – C-Trap and HCD Cell upgrades

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.

Background: The National Research Council (NRC) operates a mass spectrometry facility in support of internal and external clients requiring identification, characterization and/or quantification of biomolecules. This facility has a suite of mass spectrometers and other analytical instrumentation, from various vendors, which allow NRC to analyze a variety of biological samples, and answer critical scientific questions. The LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD, manufactured by ThermoFisher, is a key mass spectrometer in our suite, supporting critical external client sample analysis.

Requirement: This requirement is to have the (OEM) of one of our mass spectrometers complete a repair, allowing the transmission of ions into the detector of the instrument. Without the next phase of the instrument repair, the LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD will be unable to analyze client samples.

The contractor will be hired to perform the following tasks:

1. Replace a faulty C-Trap with a new C-Trap that will operate at an appropriate frequency, allowing for the transmission of ions within the Orbitrap detector.

1. Replace existing HCD Cell and associated gas control system required to match new version of the C-Trap, thus retaining the ability to perform HCD and ETD fragmentation.

1. Potentially replace the C-Trap RF Control Board which supplies Rf power to the C-Trap (only needed if the new C-Trap Rf frequency doesn’t stabilize near 3.1MHz).

1. Once the C-Trap RF Control Board, the C-Trap, the HCD Cell and gas control system hardware have been replaced, the Orbitrap will be tested for ion transmission, HCD fragmentation, and ETD fragmentation.

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

1. Must be a qualified, trained, engineer with ThermoFisher Scientific.
2. Must have detailed knowledge and understanding of ThermoFisher’s LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD to perform the tasks in question.

1. Third parties must have access to the most recent versions of the LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD C-Trap and HCD Cell in order to perform the repair with brand new, dependable parts.

1. Must have knowledge and understanding of the troubleshooting and repairs done thus far in order to not repeat work already performed.

Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):

World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier:

This requirement is exclusively about repairing a failing C-Trap on an LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD with the following news parts: C-Trap Rf control board, C-Trap, HCD Cell, and gas control system. ThermoFisher currently holds a patent on Orbitrap C-Traps, therefore they are the only supplier manufacturing and installing new C-Traps on LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD systems. Allowing the supplier to continue the repair will reduce downtime through knowledge of what has been done thus far, and what future steps will likely return the LTQ-Orbitrap-XL-ETD to an operational state.

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

Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons
Article 1016: Limited Tendering B: The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the where, for works of art, or for reasons connected with the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, or proprietary information or where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons, the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists

Ownership of Intellectual Property: There are no IP considerations with this Procurement. Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.

Period of the proposed contract or delivery date:
Cost estimate of the proposed contract - $100K - $150K USD

Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:

Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc.

4-2845 Argentia Road,

Mississauga, ON, L5N 8G6

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.

Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities:

Nov 22, 2018 – 2pm Eastern Standard Time

Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities:

Procurement Officer: Katie Homuth – (613) 998-7763

Email: Katie.Homuth@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca