PURPOSE: SPECIAL NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE PROCUREMENT — PRESOLICITATION NOTICE (RFO 5.101)

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. THE VA IS NOT CURRENTLY SEEKING QUOTES/OFFERS/PROPOSALS AND WILL NOT ACCEPT UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS.

THIS IS A NOTICE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S INTENT TO ISSUE A SOLE SOURCE AWARD PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH RFO 5.101, PRESOLICITATION NOTICE.

Contracting Office: Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 15 (NCO 15) – CMOP Division, 3450 S. 4th St. Trafficway, Leavenworth, KS 66048-5012.

Point of Contact: Michael W. McAlhaney, Contracting Officer, Michael.McAlhaney@va.gov.

Product/Service Code: 3910 (Conveyors). NAICS Code: 333922 (Conveyor and Conveying Equipment Manufacturing).

Set-Aside Status: This action is not a small business set-aside under FAR Part 19. QMSI is registered as a small business under NAICS 333922; however, this action is being conducted as a sole-source award under the "only one responsible source" authority described below, not as a Part 19 set-aside.

This Notice announces that the Department of Veterans Affairs, Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP), Station 764, located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is proposing to negotiate a firm-fixed-price contract with Quality Manufacturing Systems, Inc. (QMSI), a small business, on a sole-source basis, under the authority at 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by RFO 6.103-1 (Only One Responsible Source).

The proposed action is for the modification of the existing tote conveyance and Automated Pharmacy Fulfillment System (APFS) at Mid-South CMOP. The modification will add semi-automated packer (SAP) capability to the existing tote line, including conversion of Labeling Spurs 9 and 10 into Pharmacist Verification (PV) spurs, conversion of PV Spurs 3 and 4 into manual packing stations, integration of three package takeaway conveyors, tote sorter and diagnostic screen updates, and installation of the associated control system hardware and software. The work also requires modification of station workload-balancing logic, additional infrastructure to support the new SAP station (including a pharmacy Ethernet drop and supporting utilities), and development of a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) application enabling independent operator control of puck conveyance separate from tote Hytrol conveyor operations.

The APFS is designed using proprietary software developed by QMSI, including the semi-automated packing machine software, product routing, and machine interface software. This software cannot be modified by any entity other than QMSI. QMSI is the only vendor with full knowledge of the overall system design, workload allocation logic, and the interaction between the tote conveyance, PLC/HMI controls, and APFS subsystems.

Basis for Lack of Competition: Competition is not being sought because QMSI is the sole source possessing the proprietary knowledge, technical capability, and authorized access necessary to modify, integrate, validate, and warrant the existing QMSI-proprietary software, controls, and APFS integration at this facility. This determination is documented in the Government's market research report and single-source justification for Acquisition Plan 36C770-26-AP-0637.

Invitation to Respond: Any firm believing it possesses the proprietary authorization and technical capability to perform the required software integration, controls modification, and APFS-compatible work described above is invited to submit a written capability statement demonstrating such ability. Capability statements must be received no later than 09/29/2026 and submitted via email to Michael.McAlhaney@va.gov. Any capability statement received will be considered by the Government in determining whether to proceed with the intended sole-source award to QMSI.

This is not a request for quotes. Interested parties may also notify NCO 15 of their ability to provide similar upgrades for future needs.