SOURCES SOUGHT
T -- NLM Public Reading Room Photocopier/Printing Services
- Notice Date
- 7/1/2008
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894
- ZIP Code
- 20894
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-NLM-08-155-UHP
- Archive Date
- 8/30/2008
- Point of Contact
- Uyen H Phuong,, Phone: 301-496-6127
- E-Mail Address
-
phuongu@mail.nih.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION Request For Information Title: Public Reading Room Photocopier/Printing Services Release Date: July 1, 2008 Eastern Standard Time (EDT) Response Due Date: August 15, 2008 Eastern Standard Time (EDT) Submit responses to: phuongu@mail.nih.gov NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) Issuing Institute or Center: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE (NLM) This Request for Information (RFI) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as either a solicitation or obligation on the part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), its Institutes or Centers. The purpose of this RFI is to help the NIH understand market availability, technical characteristics, and functionality of photocopier and printing products capable of satisfying the technical, functional, and/or operational characteristics described in this RFI. NIH will use this market research information in its evaluation of potential solutions for planning a Request For Proposal for photocopier and printing solutions for the main Reading Room at the National Library of Medicine. NIH welcomes comments from all interested parties on each or all of the questions contained in this RFI. NIH does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted or NIH’s use of such information. Acknowledgment of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the NIH's evaluation of the information received. Description of Objective NIH seeks information on how to set up and maintain a vending card based photocopier and printing service for public users in the main Reading Room of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Description of Environment NLM’s main Reading Room serves the research needs of the general public. NLM, which is the largest medical library in the world, is located on NIH’s secure campus in Bethesda, MD. Visitors to the Library may not remove materials from the main Reading Room. Thus, all hard copy resources must be photocopied onsite. Additionally, the Library subscribes to many electronic resources, which users may either print or download to their own electronic storage media. On average, the public make approximately 146,000 copies or prints each month in the main Reading Room. Currently, the Library provides copying and printing services through a multi-year government contract. The Library’s current contractor provides onsite staff, all equipment, maintenance, and a card vending system which interfaces with the Library’s circulation system. Additionally, the contractor operates a patron ID card registration system on the behalf of NLM, and the supplies for this system are paid for by the contractor. The contractor has also established a Pharos printing solution for the Library. The contractor is paid through the receipts generated by onsite copying and printing customers. Currently, the Library is investigating alternatives to provide these same services, possibly with a reduced presence of onsite staff, moving away from stand alone copiers and printers to multifunctional devices – which can serve as both copiers and printers --while still utilizing Pharos and a similar card vending system. Description of Project NLM seeks information on all possible configurations of photocopying and printing solutions within the following criteria: The information gathered through this market research, will provide NLM with important decision support information. •Compatibility with the Library’s current patron ID card – which serves as a debit card for the current vending system, as well as carrying a barcode patrons need to authenticate with the Library’s circulation module and Pharos printing system. •Compatibility with and possible improvement upon the Library’s current Pharos print management system – which currently utilizes several public workstations as Pharos release stations and dedicated printers. NLM seeks to stream line its current printing set-up by utilizing Pharos or Pharos-compatible technology to allow patrons to print jobs directly at integrated multifunctional devices which are also used for photocopying. •Card vending equipment that is compatible with NLM’s current patron ID card. •Appropriateness of equipment – NLM seeks a recommendation for integrated multifunctional devices based on a variety of factors including: first copy time, copying speed, printing features offering both PCL and PostScript, two separate output areas, compatibility with Pharos Uniprint software, ability to scan jobs and cost. Book-friendly machines are of special interest to this project. NLM is not interested in office – oriented finishing options such as duplexing, stapling, booklet making, etc. Additionally, one color multifunctional will be required for this project. The project also needs to provide users with a solution to copy microfilm. •Flexibility – the photocopying and printing solution should enable NLM to respond to the changing needs of the main Reading Room – specifically as it is difficult to predict the exact volumes of copies that patrons will make from year to year. However, it is an accepted fact that hard copy photocopying and printing is decreasing in favor of downloading. •Fit with existing NIH standards, technologies, and systems – any known interoperability issues a potential standard may have with existing technology standards. •Cost and efficiency – NLM seeks a copying and printing solution that will enable it to provide a page per copy cost that is a good value to patrons, and which is the result of the most efficient configuration of equipment, supplies, maintenance and availability of customer service staff. The Library is also interested in project proposals that utilize remote equipment maintenance monitoring, in conjunction with an onsite customer service presence to assist patrons with equipment and vending issues. Creative combinations of remote and onsite staffing would be of particular interest to the project. •Usability and Accessibility – the photocopying and printing solution should enable NLM to deliver an excellent customer service experience to main Reading Room patrons. It is important to reiterate that this RFI is not intended to gather information needed to address each of the decision criteria above. Received data will be combined with information gathered through other research and analysis methodologies to support NIH’s overall evaluation. Request for Information: To support the NIH’s market research, the NIH requests responses to the following questions. Please limit your response to no more than 15 pages (not including illustrations) in Microsoft Word format. Please provide your responses directly in this RFI template. Additionally, please complete the Microsoft Excel attachment that accompanies this RFI (responses to the Excel attachment are to be entered directly into the spreadsheets and submitted in Microsoft Excel format). Submit both documents together and send to phuongu@mail.nih.gov. All responses must be received by 4:00 PM EDT on August 15, 2008. General Information 1)Please provide the following: a.Your organization’s name b.Your organization’s website c.Contact Name d.Contact Telephone e.Contact E-mail address f.Number of employees in your organization g.Your organization’s current annual revenue h.Are the products you are considering included in the GSA Schedule? Are they available on another GWAC such as NITAAC? 2)To what extent are you limited to conduct business under the Buy American Act with the Federal Government? Product Information 3)Given the definition and scope of this project, please identify any product(s) or solution(s) you believe would offer most of what NLM is looking for. For each product/solution you identify, please provide the following information as available/applicable: a.Integrated multifunctional device name and model b.Description of how IMD device would utilize current ID cards and interact with Pharos system c.Description of Pharos or Pharos compatible solution that would allow patrons to print or photocopy at the same device. 4)Please discuss how your product(s) or solution(s) satisfy the evaluation criteria described above. 5)Please discuss your experience providing solutions of a similar nature in other settings? Costs and Fees Structure 6)Pricing and implementation. a.Provide an overview of the costs and fee structure associated with your solution b.Provide a proposed per page cost for copying and printing, including for color c.Provide specific solution cost information, including software licensing, annual maintenance, discount schedules (if applicable), implementation and deployment costs. d.Please explain your pricing model(s) (i.e., license-based, unit-based, usage, etc). Services 7)Please discuss your onsite staffing solution? 8)Please discuss your vending solution to provide payment options for Reading Room patrons? 9)Please discuss your plan for equipment maintenance – including any remote device management plan or solutions 10)Provide an overview of your experience supporting implementation of Pharos printing solutions Technical 11)Provide an overview of your solution’s architecture and technology components vis a vis offering fully networked multifunctional copying and printing solutions. 12)Describe the software and hardware infrastructure requirements associated with implementation of your solution. 13)What client-side software is required for the implementation of the tool? 14)Provide an overview of how your solution leverages current industry best practices or future trends as these relate to printing and copying technology? 15)Please describe how your product supports federal government usability and accessibility requirements as described in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. 16)Please disclose any known security vulnerabilities inherent in your product(s) and current mitigation plans. NIH welcomes responses from all individuals and organizations on each or all of these questions. Responses are due, in MS Word format, by 4:00 PM EDT on August 15, 2008. Responses will not be accepted after this time.
- Web Link
-
FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=75dd9eb78d4748931b5e2574bd7921db&tab=core&_cview=1)
- Place of Performance
- Address: National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Building 38, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, United States
- Zip Code: 20894
- Zip Code: 20894
- Record
- SN01605124-W 20080703/080701222035-75dd9eb78d4748931b5e2574bd7921db (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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