National Institue of Standards and Technology, Acquistion and Assistance Division, Procurement Office, Bldg. 301, Room B152, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

70 -- INVENTORY CONTROL HARDWARE/SOFTWARE SOL 980420 DUE 052298 POC Randy Schroyer (301) 975-6314 The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) is soliciting tailored capability statements from qualified companies offering off-the-shelf or customized inventory control systems. Based on the responses received from this sources sought announcement, the proposed acquisition may be solicited. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) & DOES NOT COMMIT THE NIST TO AWARD A CONTRACT NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. NO RFP IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. REQUESTS FOR AN RFP WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE. The Standard Reference Materials Program is an organizational unit at NIST comprised of approximately 30 individuals who provide the core functions for the management and distribution of Standard Reference Materials to industry. These are technical artifacts which are certified for their specific chemical or physical properties. They are used to help develop accurate methods of analysis to calibrate measurement systems, assure the long-term adequacy and integrity of measurement quality assurance programs.These SRMs also constitute part of the National Measurement System infrastructure of the United States and, as such, are essential transfer mechanisms for the national and international measurement traceability. Our inventory currently consists of approximately 1200 different items and are sold at the rate of 43,000 units per year. Our orders are received by telephone, fax and e-mail into our sales office staffed by 4 full-time and 2 part-time positions. One third of our orders are delivered to foreign customers. Some of our goods are perishable and/or considered hazardous for shipping purposes and therefore require special shipping procedures and paperwork. Key documents produced as part of our order entry/shipping procedures include standard packing slips, labels, commercial customs invoices, Canadian customs forms, Mexican customs forms, Export Declaration forms, invoices, and hazardous shipping documents. We publish a catalog, price list and advertise our products and services on a NIST WEB page. For the past nine years we have been running our order/inventory process on an AS400, model D35. In addition, we have data going back to 1982 that was carried over from our previous Texas Instruments mid range system. Other business functions utilize the capabilities of an NT server running Microsoft Office suite consisting of WORD 95, EXCEL 95, and POWERPOINT 95 which is considered to be the NIST defacto standard. In addition we maintain an image server running IBM's VISUAL INFO software to archive historical documents. It aslo acts as an input mechanism for publishing WEB documents on a UNIX web server maintained in another organization at NIST. It is our intent to replace in the near future the hardware and software used to run our core business function, order entry and inventory control. It is our intent to implement state of the art technology encompassing electronic commerce including a storefront web page. We would also like to implement bar coding of our inventory and better mechanisms for tracking problems and statistics of our customer base. If interested, please submit information related to your companies capability to provide this equipment/software, pricing structures, & any other market information which will assist the Government in the preparation of a solicitation. An original (1) & (2) copies of your capability statement & supplemental information specific to this announcement must be submitted within 10 business days from the date of this announcement. Submissions should be directed to: NIST, Purchasing Office, Bldg. 301/Rm. B152, Rt. 270 & Quince Orchard Rd., Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 referencing Announcement #Q980420/Schroyer. CONTACT: Randy Schroyer, Contracting Officer TEL: (301) 975-6314 FAX: (301) 869-0459 or (301) 926-2148 (0131)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0346 19980514\70-0014.SOL)