Department of State, Office of Acquisition, P. O. Box 9115, Rosslyn Station, Arlington, VA 22219-0244

J -- DISASSEMBLY, TRANSPORT, UPGRADE, RE-INSTALLATION OF MAIL PROCESSING SYSTEM AND TRAINING SOL S-ALMAQM-99-R-MAIL DUE 092999 POC Martha Loverde, Contracting Officer, 703-875-4801 E-MAIL: Click here to contact the contracting officer via, loverdeml2@state.gov. This is a COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION for Commercial services prepared in accordance with information in FAR Part 12 as supplemented with the additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. Solicitation Number is SALMAQM99RMAIL and is issued as a Request for Proposal (RFP). The U.S. Department of State has an opportunity to acquire an almost new 1995 Bell and Howell J9000 mail sorting optical character reader from another U.S. Government agency for no charge. If the Department of State accepts this machine it will be necessary to disassemble and crate it and ship it from the Washington D.C. area to Chicago, reassemble the machine in Chicago, and perform upgrades to bring the machine to "like new" status. This machine cannot be moved directly to the Department of State mail facility without upgrades. It will be necessary to disassemble and crate the machine, and ship it tothe Department of State mail facility where it will be reassembled and installed. This solicitation documents and incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-13. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is 7490 with a small business size standard of $5.0 million. This procurement is being advertised as a sole source procurement for the disassembly of a Bell & Howell flat/letter sorter from NSA facilities in Fort Meade, Maryland, transport to Bell & Howell facilities in Chicago, Illinois for overhaul and upgrade of hardware and software, and transport to U.S. Department of State facilities in Dulles, Virginia, and installation and training. The Department of State requires the OEM to make the upgrades at its Chicago plant before delivering the machine to the Department's mail facility. The OEM owns the copyrights on all hardware and software and no other company can perform the upgrades required. The system sorts flat mail and letters. It can sort on office symbols, zip codes, or barcodes located almost anywhere on the envelope. Bell and Howell, who is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), will be required to do some equipment upgrades. These include adding 10 bins to handle larger volumes of mail with fewer passes, year 2000 compliance upgrades, a front-end upgrade, and software upgrades. They will also overhaul the inkjets. The Department of State has special addressing considerations for sorting mail. The J-9000 should: A) Sort by post-name located anywhere in the address. B) Sort on office symbols. C) Sort on zipcodes. It is up to the OEM to ensure the above order of precedence is programmable. This machine will handle 12 inch by 15 inch flats up to .375 inches thick, and 3 inch by 5 inch letters .25 inches thick. After it is installed at the Department of State mail facility it will be acceptance tested. Training operators and technicians will also be part of this contract. The cost of this project to the government is the cost of disassembling, shipping, technical upgrading, installation and training. The Department of State, Office of Logistics Management, Diplomatic Pouch and Mail requests proposals for the disassembly; crating; shipping to Chicago, IL for refurbishing and retransporting to The Department of State, (Dulles, Virginia) and reinstallation and training. The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Bell & Howell, is the only company that can provide the disassembly of the system and its removal, refurbishment and transfer, and installation services. The commercial services shall include: the overhaul of 2 inkjets; front end upgrades of 30 bins; 1 year license for incoming mail; upgrade of Winsort software; crating; shipping to Dept. of State (Dulles); reinstallation of system; training and installation; on site service training (3 techs). The following tasks comprise the statement of work: (1) The contractor will disassemble the system at its current USG location, crate it, and ship it to Bell & Howell's Chicago plant. (2) The contractor will overhaul 2 inkjets. (3) The contractor will do a front-end upgrade that will bring the equipment up to Bell & Howell's latest standards. The equipment must also meet Y2K specifications (see attachment). In addition, the current PC must be upgraded to a Pentium-based Y2K compliant PC. (4) The contractor will issue a one-year license for incoming mail. (5) The contractor will upgrade software with current Y2K compliant version. (6) The contractor will disassemble, crate, and ship equipment to the Dept. of State mail facility (SA-32). (7) The contractor will assemble and install the equipment at SA-32. (8) The contractor shall provided monthly progress reports to the COR during execution of this contract. (9) The contractor shall provide a test plan that is approved by both parties. (10) All equipment must be year 2000 compliant. The contractor will test this again after it is installed at SA-32. (11) The contractor will honor a 1-year warranty for parts and software. (12) The contractor willfurnnnish a complete set of maintenance documentation complete with illustrated parts breakdowns and part numbers. (13) The contractor will provide a complete set of operator manuals, hard and soft copies. (14) The contractor will proovide on-site operator training which includes and database and sort plan modifications and creations. (15) The contractoor will provide on-site maintenance training to 3 technicaiannns. The technicaianns will also attend operator training. (16) The Dept. of State has special addressing considerations of sorting mail. The J9000 should: A) Sort by post-name located anywhere in the address. B) Sort on office symbols. C) Sort by zip code. The precedence shoulld be programmable. (17) Any special training necessary to create sort plans unique to Dept. of State addressing shall be included as part of this contract and conducted on-site. (18) Factory support and replacement parts for this system shall be available from Bell & Howell for a minimum of 10 years after delivery. (19) Disassembly and removal of the flat/letter sorter shall occur within 30 days of contract award and installation at the State Department facility in Dulles, Virginia shall occur within 60 days of contact award. The following warranty shall apply to the contract: The contractor warrants that each hardware, software, and firm ware product delivered under this contract shall be able to accurately process date data (including but not limited to calculating comparing and sequencing) from, into, and between the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, including Leap Year calculations when used in accordance with the product (e.g. hardware, software, firm ware) used in combination with a listed product properly exchange data with it. If the contract requires that specific listed products must perform as a system in accordance with the foregoing warranty, then that warranty shall apply to those listed products as a system. The duration of this warranty and the remedies available to the Government for breach of this warranty shall be as defined in, and subject to, the terms limitations of the contractor's standard commercial warranty or warranties contained in this contract, provided that notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in such commercial warranty or replacement of any listed product whose non-compliance is discovered and made known to the contractor in writing within ninety (90) days after acceptance. Nothing in this warranty shall be construed to limit any rights or remedies the Government may otherwise have under this contract with respect to defects other than Year 2000 performance. Proposal evaluation will be based upon best value. Contact information: Martha Loverde, Contracting Officer, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management, Office of Acquisition Management, 2201 C Street N.W., Washington DC 20520; telephone and voicemail: 703-875-4801; email loverdeml2@state.gov. Posted 09/22/99 (W-SN383408). (0265)

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