Peace Corps, Office of Contracts, Rm. 1420E, 1111 2O th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20526

T -- THE PEACE CORPS REQUIRES THE PRINTING, CONSTRUCTION, ASSEMBLING, STUFFING AND MAILING OF TEARCARD POSTERS. SOL PCORPS-99-R-1040 DUE 090899 POC Terry L. Anderson, (202) 692-1623 The Peace Corps seeks the services of a contractor to print, construct, assemble, stuff, and mail 95,000 Tearcard Poster packages. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in the notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation number PCORPS-99-R-1040 is a 100% small business set-aside and will be issued as a Request for Proposals. The Peace Corps intends to award a Firm Fixed Price type contract. The Standard Industrial Classification Code for this acquisition is 2759 and the small business size standard is 500 employees. This combined synopsis/solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-12. The Contractor shall provide such operations as disk output, color separation, film making, proofs, printing, binding, packing and distribution to produce approximately 95,000 Tearcard Poster packages. Each Tearcard Poster package will contain a poster with a padded card deck attached (25 business reply cards (BRC) per deck), a cover letter, and an envelope to be stuffed with a poster and mailed. TEARCARD POSTER: There will be one version of the Tearcard Poster printed on cover stock suited for mounting a padded card deck. Poster size: 11" x 14". Paper: 15 pt coated white, paper must be recycled. Ink: four-color process + gloss varnish overall, the area where the cards adhere will not be varnished. Printing: Bleeds all four edges/pints one side. PADDED CARD DECKS: There are ten (10) different versions of card decks to be printed, padded, and affixed to the poster. Paper: 7 pt Hi-Bulk White Stock and must conform to postal regulations for business reply. Ink: Black + 1PMS. Card size: 4" x 6". Quantity: 2,375,000 BRCs with source codes and 95,000 non-BRCs for a total of 2,470,000. The non-BRCs will be the final card in each of the padded decks (making the deck total 26) and shall read: Call 1-800-... and shall remain affixed to the poster. Printing: Source code cards -- bleeds three (3) sides and prints 2/2. "Call 1-800..." cards -- no bleeds and prints 2/0. Binding: Glue at the top of the 6" length edge of cards/26 total cards in a pack, 25 cards with the same source code to a deck plus 1 card reading "Call 1-800..." adhered to the bottom of the stack. The BRC source codes and quantities are listed as follows: Source code 840 -- 125,000 + 5,000 non-BRCs "Call 1-800-..." cards; source code 841 -- 25,000 + 1000 non-BRCs; source code 842 -- 75,000 + 3,000 non-BRCs; source code 843 -- 10,000 + 400 non-BRCs; source code 844 -- 125,000 + 5,000 non-BRCs; source code 845 -- 1,440,000 + 57,600 non-BRCs; Source code 846 -- 125,000 + 5,000 non-BRCs; source code 847 -- 125,000 + 5,000 non-BRCs; source code 848 -- 250,000 + 10,000; source code 849 -- 75,000 + 3,000 non-BRCs. On quantities of source codes under 150,000, Peace Corps will accept overruns up to 5% and quantities over 150,000, Peace Corps will accept overruns up to 2%. LETTERS: Letter size: 8.5" x 11". Quantity: 95,000. Paper: 60 lb. offset recycled white. Ink: Black, reflex Blue and PMS 185. Printing: No bleeds, print 3/0. ENVELOPES: Envelope size: 12" x 16". Quantity: 95,000. Paper: Recycled white-wove. Ink: Reflex Blue. Printing: No bleeds, print 1/0. CONTRUCTION: Card Decks and Posters should be constructed in such a manner as to insure that padded decks are securely affixed to the face of each poster. The glue and tape used to affix the pad to the poster must provide sufficient strength to guarantee card forms will remain together under normal handling and storage, but permit ready separation of individual card forms one at a time without damage to the form or the remaining pad and poster. COMPOSITION: Output for both film or paper must be from a high-resolution (2400 dots per inch or higher) PostScript compatible printer, alternate typefaces will not be allowed. FILMS: Contractor must make all required films. All halftones are to be 133-line screen or finer. PROOFS: One set of Blueline proofs showing each version of the cards, a contact proof of each halftone in the publication, and one set of Cromalin or MatchPrint proofs of cover. Proofs must clearly show color breaks. Cromalin/MatchPrint proofs must show color, as close a possible, to show how it will look when printed. Proof must be delivered to the Peace Corps. If any contractor's errors require revised proofs, the revised proofs are to be provided at no expense to the Government. No extra time can be allowed for this reproofing. Contractor must not print prior to receipt of written confirmation of an "OK to print". PAPER: All paper must be uniform in shade and texture/composition. Contractors must submit paper samples (10 sheets of 8-1/2" x 11"), for approval, of the paper they are planning to use when printing Peace Corps Tearcards and an example of the envelope. Paper samples must be marked with the manufacturer and brand name. PRESS SHEET INSPECTIONS: Both press and bindery inspections are needed to assure proper printing and assembly of the completed versions of the poster with the card decks. The Press inspection will be on the poster only, and not on the printing of the cards or letters. Three (3) business days notice is required for each inspection. Cost of inspection travel for COR is included in overall cost of contract award. QUALITY: Printer must be capable of printing high quality work and have experience in printing magazines and/or large piece marketing materials. Printer must be capable of printing quality work, at a minimum, comparable to a Government Printing Office quality level 2. Examples of Tolerances -- one half row of dots for multicolor halftone registration; no more than one broken characters per page for type quality; and 1/8" variance for trim size. Note: some imperfections may by themselves render a product unacceptable. The major quality standards are process color match, halftone match, and type quality and uniformity. Process color match refers to the fidelity of color match between the specified standard (original photo, approved proof, approved press sheet) and the printed sample. Examples are fleshtones shifting slightly towards a yellow or magenta hue, green grass taking on a yellow or cyan cast, etc., and overall density change. Halftone match refers to the contractor maintaining dot structure to the specified standard (original halftone on disk, approved press sheet). Because proofs such as dyluxes do not truly reflect the quality of the finished product, their "OK" does not relieve the contractor from maintaining high quality halftones. Type quality and uniformity refers to type density, variation in type density, and broken characters. REJECTION OF WORKMANSHIP: Inferior and unsatisfactory workmanship as determined by the Peace Corps COR shall be rejected and reported to the Contractor who shall correct the deficiency, at no additional cost to the Government, within 48 hours following receipt of written notice of rejection. AUTHOR'S ALTERATIONS/PROOF CHANGES: Changes to proofs may be made on the disk(s) by the Peace Corps; the Contractor is to output the film again and strip into the flat. Contractor must submit a price for the negatives along with the price for re-stripping the negatives. Any other author's alterations must be specifically requested by the Peace Corps and the cost negotiated at that time. Unit price of $______per page. Revised Bluelines $______ per each set of blueline proofs. PACKAGING: The Contractor is responsible for having all copies mailed and delivered. The 25 samples, along with all furnished material, should be delivered to: Peace Corps, 1111 20th Street, NW, 8th floor, Printing Officer, Washington, DC 20526. Inside delivery is required for orders delivering to the Peace Corps. One poster and letter will be inserted into an envelope, sealed and addressed for mailing. Address for mailing along with instructions for marking and distributionwill be provided to the Contractor. The Contractor shall bar code, carrier route, and sort the packages to maximize the postage discounts. The following provisions and clauses are incorporated by reference and apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS (AUG 1998). Offerors shall include in their proposal to the Government at least 5 samples of previous printing products that are close to the specifications of the Peace Corps Tearcard Poster and text stocks, along with description of the offeror's prior experience, facilities, equipment and list of three references. FAR 52.212-3 OFFERORS REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 1998). The Offeror shall include a completed copy with their offer. FAR 52.212-4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS (APR 1998); FAR 52.212-5 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR EXECUTIVE ORDERS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999); FAR 52.222-26 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY; and FAR 52.212-2 EVALUATION-COMMERCIAL ITEMS. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price, and other factors considered. The following factors listed in descending order of importance, shall be used to evaluate offers: 1) Prior Relevant Experience; 2) Quality of samples-Evenness of ink; Reproduction of four color process photos on covers; Reproduction of halftones; Correct registration; Quality of binding and trimming; 3) Price; and 4) Relevant Plant/Equipment. Interested parties should submit their offers by U.S. mail or deliver by courier no later than September 08, 1999, 3:00 p.m. eastern standard time to Terry L. Anderson, Contract Specialist, Peace Corps, Office of Contracts, Room 4447, 1111 20th St. NW, Washington, DC 20526. For additional information, offerors may contact Ms. Anderson at, (202) 692-1623, Facsimile: (202) 692-1621, email: tanderson@PeaceCorps.gov. Posted 08/25/99 (W-SN372441). (0237)

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