Multi-Laser Metals-Based Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing System

Active

Contract Opportunity

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Engineering Laboratory (EL) System Integration Division (SID) requires a software system to formalize the development of the consistent interpretation of additive manufacturing of metal parts. The software will be used to develop an EXPRESS model for communicating the geometry build parameters for the fabrication of an additively manufactured part in powder bed fusion systems.

Additive manufacturing refers to a class of emerging manufacturing technologies for producing highly-complex, customized components by joining materials to make objects based on three-dimensional (3D) model data, typically built layer upon layer. Parts are fabricated directly from a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) file that is virtually sliced into many thin layers and sent to an additive manufacturing (AM) system where each layer is incrementally formed. Several AM processes and systems have been developed over the past two decades and their capabilities have grown significantly. Generally, metal-based additive processes form parts by melting or sintering material in powder form until all layers are completed. Additive manufacturing is capable of manufacturing parts that are not possible to make with conventional machining. High throughput additive manufacturing builds on these principles with additional considerations such as faster processing times, increased automation, and more streamlined processes achieved through advances in areas such as processing technology, sensor-based process monitoring capabilities, and process modeling and simulation capabilities.

Minimum Technical Requirements:

The Contractor shall provide a software system that meets all technical specifications identified below.

Software & Data Access considerations

• The software shall support development of information models using the EXPRESS Language


• The software shall incorporate ISO 10303 AP242 and AP 238 packages for modeling support.


• The software shall support the customization of ISO 10303 AP242 and AP 238 packages for technology-specific extensions.


• The software shall support the customization of ISO 10303 AP242 and AP 238 packages for technology-specific implementations.


• The software shall support the export of custom technology-specific implementations into the Common Layer Interface format.


• The software shall support the slicing of 3D geometries into two dimensional (2D) areas using ISO 10303 AP242 and AP238 representations.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response: Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Identify the product that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  
  
  
  • Manufacturer name
  
  
  • Model number
  
  
  • Technical specifications
  
  
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)
  
  
  
  

• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
  
  
  
  • Discuss whether the products that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.
  
  
  
  

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why. Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

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  • Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.
  
  
  
  

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  • If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.
  
  
  
  

• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended products such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration). Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended products and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.

• If the recommended products and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar products. Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by December 20, 2024, 3:00 p.m. ET. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

The responses shall not exceed 3 pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!

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