SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Mail Distribution Services for Memorial Programs Service
- Notice Date
- 8/28/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Attn: Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administrati= on, Chief, Centralized Contracting Division, (402D3), 5105 Russell Road, Qu= antico, Virginia 22134-3903
- ZIP Code
- 22134-3903
- Solicitation Number
- 786-19-03
- Response Due
- 9/30/2002
- Point of Contact
- Point of Contact - Diane L. Campbell, Contracting Officer, (703) 4= 41-4011, Contracting Officer - Diane L. Campbell, Contracting Officer, (703= ) 441-4011
- E-Mail Address
-
Diane L. Campbell
(dcampbell@cem.va.gov)
- Description
- This is a Request For Information (RFI) for an anticipated procuremen= t project to revamp the mail distribution activities at Memorial Programs Services, Washington, DC. The acquisition team for this project is presently conducting market research into all possibilities of revamping this function. Contractors interested in participating by providing feedback: recommendations, questions, solutions, etc concerning this project should send their comments, name, address, phone number, fax number and email addresses to: Diane Campbell, Contracting Officer; Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, Centralized Contracting Division (402D31), 5105 Russell Road, Quantico, VA 22134-3903. The following is a brief description of the objectives of this project: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Cemetery Administration, Memorial Programs Service (MPS) is currently seeking ways to contract out it's mailroom and document imaging operations. These operations, to be performed at a contractor's facility within a 50-mile radius of Washington, DC, include: =20 *picking up mail delivered to VA facilities in Washington, DC *setting up a new mailing address, and accepting delivery of US Postal Service mail on behalf of MPS *opening, date stamping and sorting all incoming mail *converting documents to electronic images for delivery to VA in a format compatible with the VA Information Systems currently being used by MPS to process and manage the documents (see below) *developing and implementing a quality control methodology *storing and disposing of paper documents *providing daily, weekly and monthly management reports. =20 =20 It is estimated that 1,108,000 documents will require processing during the first year.=20 Electronic images forwarded to MPS will be received by the Systems Integration Center (SIC). Technical representatives from the SIC will assist the contractor in developing the transfer methodology. Due to an increase in security regulations placed on non-government elements in accessing federal systems it has not been determined at this time what form of file transfer will be utilized for this initiative. One of the intents for this RFI is to establish the methodology that would eventually be implemented to accomplish this goal. Security, cost and efficiency of the process are the major areas of interest.=20 The following is a general overview of the data criteria required for the contractor to provide a format compatible with the VA Information Systems currently being used by MPS. The terms =91Bin=92 and =91Batch=92 wi= ll be used periodically. The term =91Bin=92 is used instead of file directory. A =91Bin=92 is a file directory that will hold the stored images (batches) that are scanned. A piece of mail (one envelope) may include one or more pages. The content of each envelope is considered a =91Batch=92 after it has been scanned. Each batch will contain one or more images which coincide with the number of pages contained in the original envelope. Mail that is to be converted to image will be categorized prior to the transfer to MPS. There are three categories of mail. These categories include the =93Presidential Memorial Certificates=94,=20 =931330 Applications for a Headstone or Marker=94 and the third category =93Other=94. =20 Mail which falls under the category of =93Other=94 will be scanned and transferred to MPS in one bin. The two remaining categories of mail to process will require a preliminary review of each piece to determine what =91Bin=92 the image should be stored. There are approximately 12 Bins that will exist. One of these is the PMC bin.=20 All PMC correspondence will be placed in this bin. The remaining bins will be used for storing the last category =931330 Applications for a Headstone or Marker=94. Visual inspection of the mail will determine which =93Bin=94 each should be placed (scanned). The file format of these images will be =91TIFF=92. A determination on the use of a multi-page or single page tiff for each =91piece=92 of mail will be made after responses / comments to the RFI have been received. Maintaining the integrity of the batch is of great importance. An envelope that contains 5 pages must be linked in some manner so that only one page would have to be viewed for the purpose of forwarding / processing all 5 pages.=20 As previously stated the solution shall provide a file transfer format compatible with the VA Information Systems currently being used by MPS to process and manage the documents. The purpose of this RFI is to allow contractors to provide alternative processing methods for the delivery of these mail images to the VA that meet the required criteria. Minimizing the changes VA IT resources would be required to make to the existing systems will enhance the attractiveness of the proposal. The benefit MPS is looking to experience by maximizing the compatibility of the file transfer is they will not require additional staff to =91screen=92 the images before they are moved to the production storage platform within the SIC.=20 The current scanning process utilizes software that creates a text file for each scanned batch. This text file contains a list of the associated tiff files and the bin that the batch is to be stored. This text file is processed by an existing VA imaging system. The tiff files listed in the text file are then stored in the appropriate bin. A solution that provides this compatibility would require limited SIC resources to implement and would not require additional MPS staff.
- Web Link
-
RFI 786-19-03
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/VA/VANCA/VANCA/786-19-03/listing.html)
- Record
- SN00152963-F 20020830/020828221839 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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