Sources SoughtPosted Jul 20, 2026·Responses due Aug 3, 2026

Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for a Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (LC) Instrument

Commerce (all) · DEPT OF COMMERCE NIST

Stage
Early notice (sources sought, presolicitation or special notice)
NAICS
334516
Value
Not stated
Solicitation
NB645040-26-01704
Set-aside
None stated
PSC
Not stated
Place
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Contact
Sadaf Afkhami (Sadaf.Afkhami@nist.gov)
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CSV Email

Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.

Where this opportunity stands

Every notice posted under solicitation NB645040-26-01704 in this department, oldest first.

Early notice
  • Jul 20, 2026 · this notice
    Sources Sought
  • Jul 23, 2026
    Sources Sought
    Open
Solicitation
None posted
Award
Not yet. Typical award: Sep 15, 2026 to Nov 24, 2026, middle of the range Oct 8, 2026.
Measured from 19 past early notices at National Institute of Standards and Technology that later posted an award (middle half of cases, counted from Jul 20, 2026).

Next steps for this stage

Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.

  • Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
  • Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
  • Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.

What the notice says

This ia a Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for a Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (LC) Instrument BACKGROUND The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting market research to identify alternative sources that (a) are capable of meeting NIST�s minimum requirements for the following commercial products and commercial services and (b) would be interested in competing for that requirement. The contractor shall provide a 2D-LC system and two years of maintenance after the expiration of the initial warranty of the instr… (show all)

ument, to meet the following minimum specifications: a. Two (2) binary pumps Flow range: 0.001�8 mL/min, in 1 ?L/min increments Pressure range: 20�1034 bar, for flow rates below 5 mL/min Flow accuracy: +/- 0.1% Flow precision: <0.05% RSD or <0.01 min SD, whichever is greater Proportioning accuracy: +/- 0.2% of full scale Proportioning precision: <0.15% SD Mixer volume: 200 ?L Biocompatible with pH range 1.5�12, chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L b. One (1) dual split sampler Pressure range: 20�1034 bar Default injection volume range: 0.01�25 ?L, min. step = 0.01 ?L Injection volume accuracy: +/- 0.5% for 10 ?L water Injection volume precision: <0.25% area RSD for 1 ?L (caffeine in water) Injection linearity r2 > 0.99999 (caffeine in water) Sample compartment temperature range: 4�40 ?C Sample temperature accuracy: +/- 2 �C Sample temperature stability: +/- 1 ?C Dwell volume: 110 ?L (25 ?L sample loop) Biocompatible with pH range 1.5�12, chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L c. One (1) column compartment Temperature range: 5�120 ?C in 0.1 ?C increments Temperature stability: +/- 0.05 ?C Temperature accuracy: +/- 0.5 ?C Heating performance: From 20 ?C to 50 ?C (+/- 1 ?C) in <15 min; From 25 ?C to 40 ?C (+/- 1 ?C) in 5 min Cooling performance: From 50 ?C to 20 ?C (+/- 1 ?C) in <15 min Capacity: 2 column slots Column slot dimension: 387 mm � 25 mm Biocompatible with pH range 1.5�12, chloride concentration up to 1 mol/L d. One (1) variable wavelength UV-Vis detector Light source: Deuterium lamp and Tungsten lamp Wavelength range: 190�900 nm Spectral bandwidth: 6 nm at 254 nm Wavelength accuracy: +/- 1 nm Wavelength repeatability: +/- 0.1 nm e. One (1) integral fraction collector Sample capacity: Any four of the following options- 54 � 12 mm O.D. vials (?1.5 mL); 96 � 6, 7 and 8 mm O.D. vials (?1.2 mL); 16 � 15 mm O.D. vials (?4 mL); 9 � 22.5 mm O.D. vials (?10 mL); 96- and 384-position well plates (deep and shallow) Collection modes: Triggered by peak signals or time frames; (Saw)vertical, (saw)horizontal; Interrupt and continuous collection modes; Collect above or inside vessel; Manual collection, pooling, wrapping and concatenating Delay volume: <19 ?L Operating flow rate: 0.05�10 mL/min Temperature range: 4�40 �C Temperature accuracy: -2 �C/+4 �C Temperature stability: +/- 1 �C f. One PC running Chromeleon software and an associated monitor NIST has not yet determined its acquisition strategy for this requirement and encourages interested sources to respond to this Notice. If NIST�s market research indicates there are alternative sources that are capable and interested in competing to fill this requirement, separate and apart from Thermo Electron North America LLC (UEI# KGXJZFLXJ3H5) then NIST will consider conducting a competitive acquisition in accordance with law and regulation. To be clear, NIST�s identification Thermo Electron North America LLC in this Notice does not constitute a binding commitment or obligation for it to conduct a sole source procurement with Thermo Electron North America LLC for this requirement. Instructions for Responding to Respond to This Notice Parties that respond to this Notice are requested to voluntarily submit the requested information via email in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and/or Microsoft Excel format to the designated point(s) of contact whose name and email address appears at the bottom of this notice. Please provide only the information requested by this Notice, and do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this Notice. Information Requested in Response to This Notice: To help NIST with its market research, NIST is requesting that industry sources carefully review this notice and any attachments to it and voluntarily provide the following information: Company Summary Notice Identification: Notice ID and Title of this posting (NB645040-26-01704- Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (LC) Instrument) Corporate Details: Company name, physical address, website address, and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Point of Contact (POC): Name, phone number, and email address. Company Size Standard: Your company�s size status relative to the NAICS code provided in this Notice. (Refer to the SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards). System for Award Management (SAM) Registration: Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in SAM.gov. 2. Feedback for Draft Requirements Review the potential requirements/minimum specifications included with this Notice. Then, please provide suggestions to (a) improve clarity of it; (b) to make it more competitive; (c) to indicate whether there anything in it that may inadvertently exclude domestic involvement; and (d) to indicate how the requirements could potentially be revised to improve the ability for domestic (�Made in America�) end products to be considered. 3. Information Regarding Your Company�s Products and Services Provide specifications, company name of the original equipment manufacturer, and the country of manufacture for products and services that your company is legally authorized to sell and that may meet NIST�s minimum requirements. Indicate whether, in your opinion, the product(s) meet the definition of (a) commercial product or (b) commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item or COTS item as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2 and, if so, which definition applies ((a) or (b)). Indicate whether, in your opinion, the service(s) meet the definition of commercial service as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2. Standard Commercial Pricing: Provide your company�s standard commercial pricing information for the identified products and services and explain what is included in those standard prices. Estimated Price Range: You may provide an estimated price or price range for the requirements, including a brief explanation of how the price estimate was developed. Standard Commercial Terms and Conditions: Provide a copy of the standard commercial terms and conditions for the commercial products and commercial services identified in the response to this notice, including nature and duration of standard commercial warranty. 4. Regulatory and Supply Chain Compliance Indicate whether your company could comply with FAR Clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022) if this acquisition were to be set aside for small businesses. Provide a brief supporting explanation. 5. Existing Governmentwide Contract Vehicles Indicate whether your company has its own GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract or other federal contract vehicles under which NIST could award an order and, if so, provide the contract details (contract number, Contracting Officer name/contact, SOW, terms and conditions, and price lists). We truly appreciate your company�s willingness to provide the above-mentioned information which NIST will be valuable in helping NIST complete its market research. Important Notes This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay respondents to this notice for information provided in response to this Notice. Following a review of the responses and market research, NIST may publish a solicitation on an authorized site, depending on the chosen a

Who won similar work

114 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same office (DEPT OF COMMERCE NIST), same NAICS 334516.

Single-winner award sizes (114): middle half $48K to $200K, median $85K; range $8K to $5.7M.

WinnerAwardsValueLast
TECHNICAL COMMUNITIES, INC.6$1.5MOct 7, 2026
TOPTICA PHOTONICS INC6$614KOct 7, 2026
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC4$2.7MSep 24, 2026
GOVERNMENT SCIENTIFIC SOURCE INC3$136KSep 22, 2026
BRISTOL INSTRUMENTS INC3$91KSep 24, 2025
Montana Instruments Corporation2$440KSep 8, 2026
STABLE LASER SYSTEMS INC2$277KSep 15, 2026
SPINNER ICT INC2$196KOct 7, 2026
LIQUID INSTRUMENTS INC2$176KSep 15, 2026
NKT PHOTONICS INC.2$48KSep 30, 2025

Value counts single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling; that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's last annual revenue from its 10-K.

Latest awards

Competitive landscape

For the 8 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.

  • 0 of these past winners lobbied Commerce, Dept of (DOC) since 2024 (0 filings)
  • 0 of their lobbyists list a past Commerce, Dept of (DOC) job
  • No corporate PAC money from them to the overseeing committees since 2024
  • 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
See who and the source records with Pro

Policy around it

Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.

  • 0 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
  • 372 rules from the department in the last 12 months
  • 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
See who and the source records with Pro

Market

For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.

  • 0 of the past winners are listed companies
  • 0 insider buys and 0 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
See who and the source records with Pro

Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.

Companies are matched to tickers by exact name only. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.