Department of the Treasury (DY), Bureau of Engraving and Printing Office of Procurement, 14th & C Sts., SW, Room 708-A, Washington, DC 20228

93 -- PLASTIC PALLETS SOL BEP-98-30(N) DUE 062298 POC Cindy Duncan, Contract Specialist, (202) 874-2539 or Jennifer Sellers, Contracting Officer, (202) 874-3148 E-MAIL: jennifer.sellers@bep/treas/gov, cindy.duncan@bep/treas/gov. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 in conjunction with the procedures set forth in Subpart 15, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested, however, a written solicitation will not be issued. This Request for Proposal (RFP) is identified by No. BEP-98-30 (N). This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-04. This acquisition is 100% set aside for small business. Therefore, the clause at FAR 52.219-6 applies. The applicable SIC for this procurement is 3089 and the associated small business size standard is 500 employees. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing intends to procure, by negotiation, 24,000 plastic pallets within 24 months. The contract type will be firm fixed price. Upon contract award, the awardee will be required to manufacture the pallets in accordance with a BEP drawing. The drawing is available upon request. Please contact Cindy Duncan on (202) 874-2539. It is the supplier's responsibility to insure that the design, materials, and workmanship provided are in accordance with the local state and federal codes in which the pallets will be used. The following design requirements shall be met; (1) Pallet must be designed to accommodate 4-way fork truck and 4-way pallet jack entry, (2) Pallet surface must maintain a minimum .256 COF (Coefficient of Friction) rating for cardboard boxes, (3) Pallet must be designed to operate between the temperatures of 20 degrees F and +140 degrees F, (4) Pallet design must be self-draining to prevent the accumulation of dirt, liquids and other foreign matter, (5) Pallet must be easily cleanable on a regular basis by manual or mechanical methods with mild detergent at 140oF without loss of pallet performance, (6) Pallet design must incorporate means for electronic identification of the pallet, such as bar codes, RF tags, transponders, etc., (7) Pallet should not have any protruding fasteners that could potentially cause damage to the product it is conveying, (8) Pallet must be identified with the manufacturer's name and manufactured date, and (9) All external surfaces of the pallet must have a finish that is free from sharp edges, burrs and mold flash. The following material requirements must be met; (1) Pallet must be identified with plastic material used in the manufacture of the pallet, (2) Pallet must be recyclable and made of at least 30% recycled materials and still meet all performance and manufacturing tolerances, (3) Pallet must not contain heavy metal colorants or any other materials that are considered as hazardous waste, (4) Materials used in the pallet manufacture must not absorb odors from spills or surroundings, (5) Materials used in the pallet manufacture must not contribute to product damage. The manufacturing tolerances must be met as set forth below and in the BEP drawing: (Note:All measurements taken at room 70-degree temperature) (1) Pallet dimensions must be uniform and true in length, width and height measurements, must not exceed tolerance of +0/-0.25", (2) Pallet must be square. Diagonal measurements from top and bottom surfaces must not vary by more 0.125", (3) Top and bottom decks must be parallel and flat. Top and bottom surfaces must maintain flatness within +0/-0.187", and (4) Pallet weight must be uniform throughout the flow and not vary by more than 5%. The following performance requirements must be met; (1) Pallet must support a minimum dynamic load of 1,650 pounds and static loads of up to 6,000 pounds, (2) Maximum deflection of the pallet while racked in Automatic Sorting Racking System must not exceed 0.625" under the heaviest load, (3) Pallet must have a minimum useful life of 5 years, (4) Pallet color shall not be affected due to sun light exposure or other ultraviolet radiation for a minimum of 5 years. The BEP pallet shall be "Mint" green in color, with white striping at the bottom of the top deck locating the two strapping detents. (5) Pallet must be capable of being regularly cleaned with a mild soap detergent at 140 degrees F without loss of pallet performance. (6) Pallet must have a recess to accommodate all bundled currency. (7) Pallet must have detents to protect mechanical strapping when used, and (8) Pallet must partially nest. The awardee will be required to submit five (5) first article pallets for Government testing in accordance with FAR 52.209-4 with Alternate I within three (3) weeks after contract award. The Bureau will require two (2) weeks for review and approval of the first article samples. The first article samples shall not be considered part of the production deliveries. All deliveries shall be FOB Destination within consignees' premises. The delivery of the production pallets shall being eight (8) weeks after first article approval. The delivery rate shall be 1000 pallets per month for 24 months, 500 each to be delivered to the BEP, "D" Street, Between 13th and 14th Sts., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20228 and 500 each to be delivered to the BEP Western Currency Facility, 9000 Blue Mount Raod, Fort Worth, TX 76131. Note the following dock limitation for the Washington, D.C. Facility; over the road vehicles having an overall height exceeding 12'6" empty, or an overall length exceeding 40' cannot be accommodated at our receiving platform. FAR 52.212-1, "Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items," applies to this acquisition with the following addenda; subparagraph (b)(4) is deleted. Offerors are advised to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3, "Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items," with its offer. FAR 52.212-4, "Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items," will be incorporated into the resulting contract. FAR 52.215-5, "Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders Commercial Items" will be incorporated into the resulting contract and the following clauses cited in the clause are applicable: 52.203-6 with Alt I, 52.203-10, 52.219-8, 52.219-14, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, and 52.222-37. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation on the basis of the lowest price proposal meeting the acceptability standards for non-cost factors. Therefore, price or cost will be the determining factor in the award selection between acceptable proposals. The non-cost factors are; (1) Acceptability of the Offer. The Government will determine the acceptability of each offer on a pass or fail basis. An offer is acceptable when it manifests the offeror's assent, without exception, to the terms and conditions of the solicitation. and (2) Past Performance. Evaluation of past performance will be on a pass or fail basis considering all relevant facts and circumstances. The Bureau will evaluate the offeror's reputation for conforming to specifications and to standards of good workmanship; for adherence to contract schedules; for reasonable and cooperative behavior; andcommitment to customer satisfaction. In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom past performance is not available, the offeror will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. For evaluation purposes, the proposed unit price shall be multiplied by the quantity of 24,000 for a total contract price. The Government will evaluate the reasonableness of the total price of each acceptable offer in relation to other acceptable offers. Offers may be submitted on letter head stationary and, at a minimum, provide: (1) the solicitation number (BEP-98-30 (N); (2) the name, address, point of contact and telephone number of the offeror; (3) terms of any express warranty; (4) price and discount terms; (5) "remit to address, if different from mailing address; (6) a completed copy of the representations and certifications (FAR 52.212-3); (7) a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions and provisions of this solicitation; and (8) a listof at least 3 contracts completed during the last three years for custom made plastic pallets providing the name of the contracting office or company name, point of contact and telephone number. Offers shall be mailed to: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Office of Procurement, Room 708-A 14th and C Streets, SW, Washington, D.C. 20228-0001, Attn: Cindy Duncan. Offerors that fail to submit a complete offer or take exception to the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer (not less than 30 days), shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer, whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. All responsible sources may submit an offer,which shall be considered by the agency. The above referenced FAR clauses are available on the Internet at www.arnet.gov/far/. OFFERS ARE DUE BY JUNE 22, 1998, 2 PM LOCAL TIME. (0155)

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