The U.S. Government Printing Office, Specialized Procurement and Sales Section, Mail Stop MMPS, Washington, DC 20401

35 -- PASSPORT PRODUCTION LINE SOL 1065998 POC Carol S. Giles; fax 202-512-1354; email cgiles@gpo.gov E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contract Specialist via e-mail., cgiles@gpo.gov. Concerns having the ability to furnish the following equipment are requested to give written notification (including the telephone number for a point of contact) to the acquiring office listed in this notice within 30 calendar days from the date of this synopsis. The contractor shall design, fabricate, supply and supervise the installation of the passport production line. It is the contractor's responsibility to ensure that the various pieces of equipment that comprise the system function properly together to achieve the minimum production goal of 70 books per minute. The production line shall perform all of the operations required to produce a finished passport. This process can be summarized as follows: The gatherer shall begin by collecting end-sheets, pages and plastic laminate which will then be sewn together to form the book. Cover material shall be fed from a hopper, stamped and glued in place. The assembled 3-up book shall be folded and cut into individual books which shall then have a bar codeprinted on the inside back cover and electronically scanned for accuracy. The completed books shall be stacked, wrapped and packaged into cartons. This production line shall consist of two distinct units of automated equipment (Machine'A' and Machine 'B'). Machine 'A' consists of the gatherer, sewing, cover station, and folding operations. Machine 'B' shall consist of the cutting, bar coding and packaging operations. Each of these two machines will have a master control panel. The system shall be delivered FOB destination to Washington, DC. Machine 'A' is to be delivered within 12 months of award; Machine 'B' within 15 months of award. It is the belief of the Government that this is a sole source procurement, and that only one company is capable of providing the specified equipment. The system described above must be fully compatible with the existing passport line. The existing system was built and installed by UNO Seisakusho Co., LTD., of Japan. This is not a formal solicitation. However, concerns that respond should furnish detailed data concerning their capabilities and may request a copy of the solicitation if and when it becomes available. Responses may be mailed to the office address listed above, attention Carol Giles, or faxed. The Government does not intend to pay for information received. No solicitation document is available at this time. (0357)

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