US Postal Service, Headquarters Automation Purchasing, 8403 Lee Highway, Merrifield, Virginia 22082-8150

A -- CAMERA SYSTEM FOR HIGH SPEED OCR AND RELATED APPLICATIONS DUE 072699 POC Mark Guilfoil (703)280-7810 E-MAIL: Click here to contact the contracting officer, MGUILFOIL@EMAIL.USPS.GOV. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is seeking sources and qualification statements in accordance with USPS Purchasing Manual (PM) Section 3.5.2 from commercial suppliers who currently have camera systems developed for high speed OCR and related applications. The USPS has a requirement to upgrade the camera systems currently deployed on a variety of postal equipment used for the automated processing of letter mail. It is anticipated that 10,000 to 14,000 new camera systems may eventually be procured from a single, or multiple sources, from the resulting prequalified sources list. Suppliers qualification statements will be fully reviewed for technical capability. Participating firms must be able to provide camera systems which have higher resolution and a higher vertical field of view than currently deployed cameras. The wider field of view is necessary to enable the reading of Information Based Indicia (IBI) postage on full height mail pieces as well as the processing of other postal related data. Suppliers interested in being prequalified must provide a pre-qualification statement that clearly demonstrates and is formatted to address the following criteria: 1) The proposed camera shall have a minimum field of view of 6.25 inches with a resolution of 256 pixels per inch, vertically and horizontally (Note: When deployed, new camera systems will be installed on different families of transports. Each family will operate at one fixed speed. The transports currently deployed operate at the following speeds: 118 in/sec, 142 in/sec, 149 in/sec, and 157 in/sec. All speeds are nominal and may vary by +/- 3% from transport to transport. The supplier shall supply their own tachometer for maintaining horizontal resolution and stability.); 2) The illumination and optics shall be designed to provide images of mail pieces constructed from all colors experienced in typical letter mail; 3) The illumination system and camera shall be designed to minimize the effects of specular reflection from window patchs and glossy and wrinkled mailpiece surfaces; 4) The camera systems shall output an eight bit gray scale image and a binary image for interfacing to existing OCR processors. The camera system shall also output a down-sampled, eight bit gray scale image covering a 4.0 inch field of view, which will be interfaced to the existing WABCR processor. To ensure compatibility with existing USPS systems, the data for up to 2048 pixels is to be organized as four channels of 512 pixels per output; 5) Past Performance: The supplier must supply pertinent information such that the USPS can evaluate Past Performance (ref. PM Section 2.1.7.c). Past Performance information is based on the following: (a) Quality (a record of conformance to contract requirements and standards of good workmanship); (b) Timeliness of Performance (adherence to contract schedules, including the administrative aspects of performance); (c) Business Relations (i.e. a history of being reasonable and cooperative with customers; commitment to customer satisfaction; integrity and ethics); (d) Cost Control (a record of forecasting and containing costs on changes and cost-reimbursement contracts); and (e) Supply Chain Management (the supplier's management of total material flow from all levels of subcontractors). 6) Supplier Capability: Suppliers must provide pertinent information such that the USPS can evaluate Supplier Capability (ref. PM Section 2.1.7.c.3). Supplier Capability information is based on the following: (a) have, or have the ability to obtain, resources (financial, technical, etc.) adequate to perform the work; (b) be able to meet the required or proposed delivery schedule, considering all existing commitments, including awards pending; (c) have a sound record of integrity and business ethics; (d) have, or have the ability to develop, a sound quality control program that complies with solicitation requirements; (e) have the necessary organization, experience, accounting and operational controls, technical skills, and production and property controls; (f) have, or have the ability to obtain, the necessary production, construction, and technical equipment and facilities; (g) be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive and award under applicable laws and regulations. Interested suppliers should prepare a prequalification statement including the above and the most recent financial statements, not to exceed thirty (30) single-sided pages. The qualification statement must be submitted with an original and three (3) copies to the address above not later than c.o.b. on July 26, 1999. Submitters to this notice should be aware for schedule planning purposes that the USPS anticipates inviting a limited number of prequalified sources to participate in a test of their proposed camera system to be conducted at the USPS ERD Engineering facility located in Merrifield, Virginia during the October/November 1999 time frame. All camera systems submitted for the test at Merrifield, Virginia shall have a form factor permitting the mounting of the camera, including illumination system, into the same footprint as the present Wide Area Bar Code Reader (WABCR). These mechanical details will be provided to participants by the USPS Contracting Officer at a later date. The Merrifield test will involve test decks as well as live mail. The test decks will include examples of the Information Based Indicia (IBI) which will be processed using a USPS IBI recognition algorithm. Participants identified to submit camera systems for the initial Merrifield test shall be required to furnish technical data on the system, including power requirements, system spectral response curves, and current form factor. Under a next program phase, it is anticipated that proposals would be requested from identified participants of the Merrifield test to include cost and technical information for selection of camera system(s) to be included in a competitive field test and production award. An overview of the competitive test plan will be made available from the USPS Contracting Officer at the appropriate time. It is anticipated that the competitive field test would commence in the February/March 2000 time frame. The field test would require the use of a pre-production camera system built to production drawings. Posted 06/29/99 (W-SN348334). (0180)

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