SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Diplomatic Pouch and Mail
- Notice Date
- 1/31/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 492110
— Couriers and Express Delivery Services
- Contracting Office
- U.S. Department of State, Office of Logistics Management, Acquisition Management, P.O. Box 9115, Rosslyn Station, Arlington, Virginia, 22219
- ZIP Code
- 22219
- Solicitation Number
- SAQMMA11R0039
- Archive Date
- 2/22/2011
- Point of Contact
- William J. Corson, , Deborah J. Koplen,
- E-Mail Address
-
corsonwj@state.gov, KoplenDJ@state.gov
(corsonwj@state.gov, KoplenDJ@state.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Solicitation Number: SAQMMA11R0039 Notice Type: Sources Sought Synopsis: U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management (A/LM), is issuing a Sources Sought request to seek information and capability statements from qualified firms to provide Diplomatic Pouch and Mail services. This request is for planning purposes only and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids or a Request for Proposals. The Government does not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with submission of the information being requested or reimburse expenses incurred to interested parties for responses to this Sources Sought. The purpose of this Sources Sought is to receive feedback and capability statements from industry and is in support of market research. Background: This requirement is for the U.S. Department of State (DoS), Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management's (A/LM), whose mission is to support U.S. diplomacy by providing efficient, economical, high-quality logistics and services to customers worldwide, so they, in turn, can create a more secure, prosperous, and democratic world for the benefit of the American people. Simply put, A/LM is the logistics manager for DoS. The vision is to become DoS customers' partner of choice for reliable and innovative logistics and business management solutions for America's diplomacy. A/LM provides the logistics support needed to sustain those personnel and their organizations directly responsible for carrying out the mission of the Department of State. Though A/LM is in a supporting role, its importance is paramount because the overall mission of DoS could not be accomplished without the material and services support provided by A/LM. The A/LM exists to support its customers worldwide. Customers are primarily from DoS, such as embassies, consulates, and DoS domestic offices, but also include members of other U.S. Government Agencies involved in foreign affairs and operations. Diplomatic Pouch and Mail (DPM) interfaces with the air cargo industry, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Defense Military Postal Service Agency, citizens, and private wholesale and retail suppliers. The DPM operation is arguably the largest single federal mail operation outside of the USPS (more than 10 million pounds per year) and its volume is growing. It is, in large part, a multi-agency operation serving about 260 overseas customer locations and jointly funded through an inter-agency council. It is A/LM's expressed desire to provide the highest quality service to its over 20,000 customers, such that when given the choice or when comparisons are made, customers will view A/LM as the premier service provider for all of their logistics support requirements. The Diplomatic Pouch and Mail Services acquisition provides support to three current lines of business within A/LM: 1) the unclassified diplomatic pouch operations, in a Dulles area 73,000SF warehouse, 2) the classified diplomatic pouch operations, in a Springfield, VA area warehouse of 30,000SF, and 3) the DoS interoffice mail operations to State Annexes in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Diplomatic Pouch and Mail Services DoS A/LM plans to award a performance-based professional services contract to lead the effort to deliver diplomatic pouch and mail services to its customers and compliment the work of Agency staff. The applicable NAICS code is 492110 - Couriers and Express Delivery Services. The objectives of this effort are to: • Form a cooperative relationship with a contractor to provide proactive solutions, cross-functional training, and values continuous process improvement. • Provide insight into mail operations and process engineering including a deep understanding of addressing schemes, bar-code technology, mail metering, zip codes and sorting techniques. • Provide receiving, sorting, pouching and handling resources for processing packages and mail to the correct customer in a timely, consistent, secure, undamaged and accountable way at a reasonable cost. • Effectively operate Government developed safety and security screening procedures. • Provide dispatch to Government provided freight forwarders and in the case of classified diplomatic pouch operations, the Diplomatic Courier Service. • Provide efficient local mail transportation services in the National Capital area. • Provide efficient integration and utilization of Government provided automated sorting technology over the term of the contract period including letter, flat mail and package sorters and the DoS Integrated Logistics Management System (ILMS), a logistics tracking IT system. • Align workforce to seasonal volume fluctuations, changes due to sorter automation and ILMS development • Adjust quickly to emerging terrorist threats affecting diplomatic pouch and mail activities or facilities Constraints: • Security -- The workforce deployed to process classified diplomatic pouches will require Top Secret -Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS-SCI) security clearances for the classified pouch operations. TS clearances are required for the DOS interoffice mail operation. The unclassified pouch and mail operation will require background check, however no clearance is required. • Executive Order 13514 - Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance imposes requirements for "green" contracting. Compliance with this executive order will be assessed and evaluated with respect to the small fleet (currently five vehicles) of mail vehicles the contractor will be responsible to provide and operate. • Small Business -- effectively utilize subcontract and teaming arrangements to meet various federal program goals for Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, and HUBZone Small Business. As-is conditions: • Current transportation services utilize three box trucks, three cargo vans and a minivan utilized for 400+ miles and 20 runs per day. • Current direct labor totals 100+ FTEs in the unclassified pouch operations, supporting the interoffice mail operations and the classified pouch operations. • Current letter sorter is a Pitney Bowes Olympus II. The parcel sorter and flat sorter are planned to be operational in the base year. The Government seeks and encourages innovative and creative solutions to meet these objectives. Period and Place of Performance The base period of performance will be one year from date of award with four one-year options. The place of performance will be at Government facilities in the metro DC area. An unclassified mail facility is located near the Dulles airport. A classified mail facility is located near Springfield, VA. Interoffice mail operations are distributed between those two locations and DoS headquarters in Washington, DC where most activity is located and distributed to State Annex mailroom locations within the metro DC area. Scope of Sources Sought: Potential sources either alone or with appropriate teaming partners must have demonstrated expertise and capability to provide the full range of services identified above. This includes demonstrated experience, qualifications, and capable staff to assume full operational responsibility after a 30 day period of transition. Vendor Submission Instructions: Industry sources who believe that they possess the expertise and experience to fulfill these requirements are invited to submit technical and management capabilities, and experiences addressing each of these areas in writing. Please send responses via e-mail to CorsonWJ@state.gov by date and time specified. Please limit your response to no more than ten pages (size: 8.5"x 11" pages, with 1" margins) all inclusive, using Times New Roman 12 pt font or equivalent. Also include information such as: Company name, address, email, telephone number, points of contact, size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). To the maximum extent possible, please submit Non-Proprietary Information. All information received in this Sources Sought that is marked "Proprietary" will be handled accordingly. Responses to this Sources Sought will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this Sources Sought are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Primary Point of Contact.: William Corson Contract Specialist CorsonWJ@state.gov Secondary Point of Contact: Deborah Koplen Contract Specialist KoplenDJ@state.gov
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