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FBO DAILY ISSUE OF AUGUST 17, 2005 FBO #1360
SOLICITATION NOTICE

D -- STRUCTURED AUTHORING FOR TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS

Notice Date

8/15/2005
 

Notice Type

Solicitation Notice
 

NAICS

519190 — All Other Information Services
 

Contracting Office

United States Postal Service, Supplies and Services Purchasing, Chicago PSC, 150 S Wacker Dr Ste 200, Chicago, IL, 60606-4100
 

ZIP Code

60606-4100
 

Solicitation Number

Reference-Number-2DPSCC-05-STRUCTUREDAUTHORING-NORMAN
 

Response Due

9/7/2005
 

Archive Date

9/22/2005
 

Description

August 15, 2005 To: All Potential Suppliers Re: Request for Information ?RFI- Reference # 2DPSCC-05-RFI-StructuredAuthoring- The U. S. Postal Service is seeking information regarding increases in the development and lifecycle support costs for documentation of new mail processing equipment. Over the last decade the U.S. Postal Service?s new mail processing equipment has greatly increased in quantity, physical size, and complexity. The corresponding increase in the quantity of the maintenance documentation, the complexity of the documentation, its various formats, and its increase in lifecycle costs has led to this Request for Information (RFI). Attachment A provides information regarding this initiative, including minimum requirements that should be met by each responder. Your response to this RFI must specifically discuss Attachment A requirements as they correspond to structured authoring of technical documents and creating an improved process of constructing and managing electronic maintenance documents. This is not a prequalification and may or may not result in a solicitation. If a solicitation is issued, it shall be posted in FedBizOps. The contracting officer will notify all respondents of any determinations or findings. We would appreciate your responses by September 7, 2005 indicating your Capabilities and ability to meet the Minimum Requirements as described in Attachment A to this RFI. Send your responses via U.S. Mail to: William C. Matthei, C.P.M. United States Postal Service Chicago Purchasing Service Center 150 South Wacker Drive, Suite 200 Chicago, IL 60606-4100 Ph: (312)424-2454 Attachment A Overview: The United States Postal Service (USPS) Maintenance Technical Support Center (MTSC) provides maintenance documentation for mail processing equipment and building systems in various formats to approximately 40,000 maintenance employees. MTSC seeks to accomplish two objectives as a result of this Request for Information (RFI). Firstly, MTSC desires to move to a structured authoring environment for technical publications. Secondly, MTSC desires to investigate and create an improved process of constructing electronic maintenance documentation. Reason for Change: The amount and complexity of field maintenance documentation has greatly increased over the last decade due to the amount, size, and complexity of new mail processing equipment. This has caused an increase in both development and lifecycle support costs. This initiative is designed to reduce those costs, and at the same time add additional benefits in the form of quality, access, distribution, and usage. Expected Benefits: Utilizing a single data source for multiple media formats; Greater control and consistency in formatting; Time savings in formatting; Flexibility in publishing electronic documents; Reduced time in converting to electronic documents; Additional features available for electronic documents; Consistency with changing technology. Potential suppliers: USPS desires to contract with a supplier who has significant expertise in the following: Implementation of the move to structured authoring Implementation of the move from unstructured to structured FrameMaker software. Experience in developing electronic documentation. Experience in creating electronic documentation (HTML, XML, etc.) from unstructured and structured FrameMaker software. The intent of this RFI is to determine who the suppliers for this service are. Notification to Respondents: The contracting officer will notify all respondents of their status. Minimum Requirements: The following is a current non-exclusive set of constraints (minimum requirements) that should be met for any responder seeking pre-qualification: 1. Creation of Structured Environment The respondent must propose how they will create the structured authoring environment. This shall include the creation of structure definition, creation of templates, creation of conversion files, etc. 2. Creation of Electronic Conversion Process The respondent must propose various options to convert maintenance manuals to electronic versions for posting to the MTSC web site. The proposal shall include options for converting legacy FrameMaker documents and structured FrameMaker documents. 3. Implementation Planning The respondent must propose a plan that depicts the implementation of both short term and long term goals and objectives. The plan shall outline the most beneficial method of achieving improvements over time. The plan should outline both MTSC and supplier activities to reach objectives and show how and when the activities interact. Plan shall specify all resources required for full implementation (supplier personnel, MTSC personnel, and hardware/software). The plan shall also insure that any system developed will easily interface with future growth and technology. 4. Training The respondent must propose a training program that will accomplish moving MTSC to authoring in structured FrameMaker and the creation of electronic manuals. Supplier shall describe training materials, classroom instruction, self-guided learning, and other potential options. Capabilities: 1. The respondent must provide a brief overview of the company?s size, structure, number of years in business providing services such as those required by USPS. 2. The respondent must provide the name of three (3) structured authoring environment document conversion projects which are comparable or larger than USPS including a brief overview of the process performed for each project. 3. The respondent must discuss their approach to quality assurance.
 

Place of Performance

Address: U.S. Postal Service, Maintenance Technical Support Center, 600 West Rock Creek Road, Norman, OK

Zip Code: 73070

Country: USA
 

Record

SN00870910-W 20050817/050815212628 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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