SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Mail Meter Leases - Sources Sought Document
- Notice Date
- 4/8/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 491110
— Postal Service
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, 12501 Ardennes Avenue, Suite 400, Rockville, Maryland, 20857, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- PSC0004MF
- Archive Date
- 4/30/2013
- Point of Contact
- Michael T. Fischer, Phone: 3014430728
- E-Mail Address
-
Michael.Fischer@psc.hhs.gov
(Michael.Fischer@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Sources Sought Document This is a Sources Sought notice in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. BACKGROUND The United States Postal Service's (USPS) final rule (39 CFR Part 111) issued on November 27, 1992 called for all federal agencies, including HHS, to establish a system of direct accountability (DA) of the agency's actual postage expenditures. As of October 3, 1994, HHS's primary method of DA has been the metering of all outgoing mail at all agency mail sites nationwide. GSA's interim rule (41 CFR Parts 101-9 and 102-192), published June 6, 2002, directs federal agencies to stop using the Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS) to account for postage and to pay for postage using commercial payment by October 1, 2003. HHS has requested and received permission to continue using federal meters beyond that date. If, during the course of this intended acquisition HHS does change to commercial meters, the contractor will provide the commercial meters in place of the federal meters at no additional charge to the government. The contractor will also prepare all required license applications, associated paperwork, and process these documents with the USPS. When replacing federal meters with commercial meters, the contractor will complete at no charge to the government all accounting associated with this replacement and all USPS license application filings. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Contractor maintenance will include preventative maintenance at manufacturer-recommended intervals or at a minimum one preventative maintenance visit per year. The contractor may perform repair work, at its option, at the government site, or at the contractor's local service branch. If the contractor removes the equipment from the government site for repair, the contractor will provide a comparable loaner machine to the government for temporary use at the time the contractor removes the equipment for repair. The contractor must provide a single central toll-free telephone service number for the sole use of HHS government personnel to use from all installation sites. This number will also be available to HHS installation sites to use for general questions regarding machine operation/maintenance and warranty. Government personnel must be able to access the number Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, local prevailing time. This telephone number must include the availability of TTY access for help desk personnel. The contractor will provide on-site response to service calls at the government facility where the equipment is located within four agency working hours after receipt of the call. The contractor must provide service during normal government working hours for the office site where the equipment is located. If the contractor cannot repair the equipment within eight agency working hours of the initial service request, the contractor must provide a comparable loaner until the equipment is operational. The contractor will maintain a record of all service calls, including the following information: • Date and time the service call is received, • Location of equipment, • The office's Common Accounting Number (CAN), • Name and phone number of the person reporting the problem, • Meter serial number, • Machine serial number, • Description of the problem reported, • The response time, • Meter balance, • The final diagnosis of the problem and • Date and time of the final corrective action. The report must be in EXCEL format, with all service codes defined and each particular action explained. The contractor will provide these records to the government within 5 working days of the Contracting Officer's Representative's (COR's) request. The contractor will, with the COR's approval, replace the equipment with an identical model or with a machine with comparable features and capabilities. The contractor may replace machines after 3 years of service with identical equipment or a previously accepted technology substitution to avoid what it considers excessive maintenance costs. The replacement equipment will be covered under the maintenance meter rental contract (i.e., the replacement would not be treated as new installation, and maintenance and other charges paid for the old equipment would apply to the replacement equipment, etc.) However, if the replacement is a technology substitution for the equipment previously at the site, the contractor will provide at no additional charge with the replacement a 3-month supply of equipment supplies (see Section 6 above) as if it were a new installation. The contractor must give a minimum of 30 days written notice to the COR and to the government site for replacement of the equipment under this provision. The contractor will be responsible for identifying patterns of machine overuse that result in excessive service calls. The contractor will document patterns of overuse and notify the COR when they occur. The contractor will be responsible for submitting the equipment's service history reports to support its claim that the equipment is being overused. Upon contractor notification of excessive use, the government will evaluate, and if necessary, arrange to remove the equipment from service. The contractor will be responsible for the collection and proper disposal of all equipment and supplies deemed waste, excess, or scrap. Proper disposal may include discard, reuse, or recycle. All hazardous materials as defined in 40 CFR 261-Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste must be transported and stored and disposed of following CFR Title 40-Protection of the Environment, Chapter I-Environmental Protection agency, Subchapter I-Solid Wastes (40 CFR 260 through 40 CFR 265). In accordance with 29 CFR 1910.1200, the contractor will evaluate the hazards for all chemicals required for performance of the contract, and will transmit information concerning hazards to contractor employees before introducing the material to government property. The contractor will disseminate hazardous material information using a comprehensive hazard communication program, which shall include container labeling and other forms of warning, material safety data sheets, and employee training. The contractor shall provide copies of all material safety data sheets to HHS no later than the delivery date for the first shipment of the material to government property. RATE CHANGE/SOFTWARE UPDATES The contractor will provide, as part of the maintenance plan, rate change/software upgrade service. In the event of a USPS rate change for any reason (e.g., a general rate change by USPS, a reclassification of mail resulting in rate changes, any restructuring of ZIP codes, zones and related rates), the contractor will provide materials necessary for the equipment (e.g., digital meters, electronic scale, CPU) to reflect the new USPS postage rates or ZIP code zone rates. If an office cannot successfully install the new rate change information, the contractor will provide a courtesy service call to resolve the problem at no additional charge to the government. METER RENTALS All meters must have remote setting capability. Other than, the use of an agency (HHS) installed and operating analog phone line, the contractor will be responsible for all costs associated with establishing and maintaining postage meter connectivity with the vendor for downloading postage, software upgrades, and rate changes on all equipment purchased from this contract. The contractor will be responsible for those costs for the entire duration of the contract The contractor will provide the COR with copies of all pertinent documents relative to meter delivery, installation, meter licensing, and servicing. The COR and the contractor will mutually agree upon such documents after award. CURRENT EQUIPMENT & METER MODELS Currently, HHS/OMHA has approximately 5 mail sites that have mail metering systems and the systems are limited to the following Pitney Bowes models: • DM300 • DM500 Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government 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 qualifications to perform the work. 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 pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). Interested small business firms are highly encouraged to respond to this notice. However, firms should understand that generic capability statements are not sufficient for effective evaluation of their capacity and capability to perform the work required. Responses must directly demonstrate the company's capability, experience, and ability to marshal resources to effectively and efficiently perform the objectives described above. Capability statement /information sought: Interested parties should provide FOH with a white paper detaining how their system would meet the outlined requirements. The following information is to be included in the white paper: • Respondents' opinions about the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement or proposed acquisition, possible solutions and approaches that may currently exist in the marketplace, and information regarding innovative ideas or concepts; • information about their organizations: (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; • respondents' DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUB Zone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code; • technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses Responses shall be delivered, via email, in Microsoft Word format and must be received by 12PM EST April 15th, 2013 Page limitation of responses: Thirty (15) Responses shall be addressed to: Michael T. Fischer Contract Specialist Program Support Center Department of Health and Human Services Office: (301) 443-0728 Email: Michael.Fischer@psc.hhs.gov
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/PSC0004MF/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Various locations across the United States, United States
- Record
- SN03030625-W 20130410/130408233843-c6d815b7ad6a1220d29e0c4d36d5432b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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