SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- R - Professional, Administrative, and Management Support Services (Agency International Mail Services)
- Notice Date
- 10/31/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 491110
— Postal Service
- Contracting Office
- Broadcasting Board of Governors, Director, Office of Contracts, Office of Contracts (M/CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 2500, Washington, DC, 20237, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- BBGCON3508S6594-PKL
- Response Due
- 11/30/2007
- Archive Date
- 12/15/2007
- Point of Contact
- Patricia Ludlow, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-205-9664 , Fax 202-260-0855, - Herman Shaw, Contracting Officer , Phone 202-205--8412, Fax 202-260-0855
- E-Mail Address
-
pludlow@IBB.GOV, hshaw@ibb.gov
- Description
- THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR A COMMERCIAL ITEM PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN SUBPART 12.6 AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. (ii) Solicitation No. BBGCON3507S6594 is issued as a Request For Proposal (RFP) and a contract will be awarded using the contracting by negotiation procedures in FAR Part 15. (iii) This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect from the Federal Acquisition Regulations 2005-020, dated September 17, 2007. (iv) This is a full and open procurement to prepare International Priority/Mail (IAP), International Surface Airlift (ISAL) and Valuepost Canada pre-sort mailings, under NAICS 491110. (v) The contractor shall be required to provide the following Contract Line Items as shown in the uploaded Item Description Pricing to provide the BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BBG), INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING BUREAU (IBB), has a requirement for a contractor to handle its international mailing services. Contractor shall provide all personnel, vehicles, equipment, mail sorting facilities, and transportation services (except as furnished by others as specified herein), required to prepare International Priority/Airmail. (vi) STATEMENT OF WORK: The contractor shall provide all personnel, vehicles, equipment, mail sorting facilities, and transportation services (except as furnished by others as specified herein), required to prepare International Priority/Airmail (IPA), International Surface Airlift (ISAL) and Valuepost Canada presort mailings. The contractor shall pick up all international mail from the Board of Governors (BBG), International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), located at 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Room G-649, Washington, DC 20237, in accordance with the procedures described herein below. The agency may include or exclude other locations. The contractor will be given a minimum of one (1) week notice when additional locations are added or removed. The contractor must have the capacity to ship international mail utilizing the most cost effective methods. Mail must be processed in the following manner: 3-9 days (First Class) and 7-14 days (Standard) delivery timeframe from the processing facility to overseas locations. There shall be a 24-48 hour processing allowance to prepare the mail at the contractor?s facility. The contractor should be certified as a ?Postal Qualified Wholesaler? through the USPS. This means that they have passed certain criteria, are open to inspection by the USPS, and meet minimum volume requirements. The contractor must pick up, transport, and process BBG international mail originating from specific locations at designed times based on mail volume; as well as the process international mail directly sent or presented at the contractor?s processing facility from printing companies contracted by the BBG. The contractor shall pickup international mail from Covington, KY, and Austin, TX, on an as needed basis. The pickup schedule for these locations will be mutually established. Pickups shall be once a day; Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays, at mutually agreed times to be determined at the post-contract award orientation conference. Mail services during holidays must be pre-arranged with the identified BBG AR/CO. Federal holidays are identified as: New Year?s Day; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; President?s Day; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; and Christmas Day. At the time of pickup, the contractor's representative shall verify the number of pieces and weight (in bulk) of the shipment in the presence of an Agency employee. The Agency employee will complete an airway bill/manifest for International Priority Airmail (IPA). International Surface Airlift (ISAL) and/or Valuepost mail. The airway bill/manifest will state the weight, number of pieces and mail service requested (IPA, ISAL or Valuepost) for each category. Both the contractor?s representative and the Agency employee shall sign the airway bill/manifest, which the contractor employee must retain a copy. All non-contract mail (domestic mail or foreign mail designated to countries where IPA, ISAL or Valuepost service is not available) shall be returned to BBG the following day. At the Agency's request, the contractor shall provide additional pickups or pick up at other than established times in the event of an unusually large shipment or unexpected situation. The contractor may be required on occasion to pick up international mail from private contractors within the metropolitan Washington, DC area and transport it to the contractor's sorting facility for processing at the same price per pound as stated in the Item Description Pricing. The contractor?s mail processing facility is to be located within the Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC area to allow for the BBG to conduct physical inspections of the mail being processed by the contractor. The contractor shall process and apply postage to international mail in order to obtain the greatest postage savings available at the overall lowest cost to the BBG. The contractor shall be required to perform one or more of the following tasks: pick up, commingle, sort, convert classes of mail (when practical), tray, sleeve, band, and weigh, manifest, apply postage, track, and provide proof of delivery to the destination country. Contractor shall be responsible for meeting all USPS and international mail acceptance requirements. The contractor shall process mail according to the following procedures: Upon arrival of the mail at the contractor's facility, it shall be weighed to ensure that the contents received are equal to the amount picked up at BBG facilities. Mail shall be processed (sorted) in accordance with the USPS specifications for IFA, ISAL or Valuepost mail. The contractor shall apply the appropriate piece rate postage to each mail piece based on USPS rate groups and pound postage as required. All postage fees for piece rate and pound charges are to be billed directly to the Agency through the USFS Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS.) The contractor will not be reimbursed for postage costs. All processed (sorted) mail shall be delivered to the address below, no later than 10:00 AM the day after pickup from BBG facilities: United States Postal Service Air Mail Facility, John F. Kennedy Airports - Building No. 250, Jamaica, NY 11430. The contractor shall provide the BBG at no additional cost a Web based, real-time electronic mail processing system for the purpose of identification of cost by the BBG, and overall daily mail preparation. The Web based system must be able to generate and print the daily contractor?s waybill manifest for pickup. The system must be able to produce the actual cost of each job at time of entry by department. The system must be able to generate and provide immediate as well as historic reports for all mail activity to include a) USPS comparative savings analysis and resulting savings; b) contractor?s total activity by individual waybill; and c) complete departmental identification of costs and resulting savings. All time sensitive and/or dated mail, regardless of the postage payment, must be deposited in a manner that guarantees all services commitments are met. Any mail that is undeliverable or returned shall be delivered back to the BBG at no fee to the BBG. The contractor is required to be able to provide complete address record data preparation. The contractor must have in its local mail processing facility both high-speed poly wrap and video jet capability for fulfillment support to the BBG. The contractor shall provide for, and guarantee, the security of all mail picked up at each BBG facility. The contractor shall take all necessary precautions to insure against damage, loss, or theft while in possession of BBG mail, or at any time while the mail is the contractor?s responsibility (as in the case where a subcontractor might be used). The contractor shall be responsible for maintaining proper control and handling of BBG mail in order to prevent access to the mail by unauthorized individuals. The contractor shall provide a building that is properly secured in order to ensure adequate protection against theft of agency mail. The minimum-security requirements for the contractor?s facility must have physical security and access control systems in place and working. Contractor employees must be qualified but not limited in the methods/procedures for processing and transporting each class of mail; familiar with and understanding of commonly used mail terminology; and use and operate mail-handling equipment and motor vehicles to meet all of the contract requirements. Contractor employees must meet physical demands to be able to effectively make mail collections and deliveries, handle mail bas, and hampers, which often weigh in excess of forty (40) pounds. Contractor shall ensure that all personnel operating motor vehicle(s) in performance of the requirements hereof, shall possess a valid license for the type(s) of vehicle(s) they operate, have good vision, and no uncorrected physical impairments. Contractor employees shall not process classified mail. All contractor employees working on this contract shall be required to successfully pass a background investigation. Contractor employees must be recognizable as such while in the Agency?s building by wearing clearly visible appropriate badge(s). Contractor employees must maintain satisfactory standards of competence, conduct, appearance, and integrity. Contractor employees shall observe the following internal security and Privacy Act regulations that apply to this requirement: a) Privacy Act of 1974 and any amendment; and b) Executive Order (EO) 12958 amended by EO 13292. (vii) The contract terms will begin with service beginning on or about February 1, 2008, through January 31, 2009, with four (4) subsequent 1-year option periods beginning on February 1st of each option period, if exercised. The contractor shall invoice and report according to the following procedures and guidelines: At the time of presentation of processed (sorted) mail to the USPS, the contractor shall submit USPS Form 3650 (ISAL), USPS Form 3652 (IPA) and/or USPS Form 3651C (ValuepostlCanada), along with the contractor airway bills/manifests signed by an Agency employee to the USPS. Forms shall contain only BBG shipment data and reflect all USPS postage fees. The Agency will pay postage directly to USPS. The contractor shall provide to BBG on a daily basis, a copy of each USPS Form 3650, 3651C and/or 3652 exclusively identifying each BBG shipment, which has been completed and stamped by the USPS mail facility. An original or copy of each form shall be provided to BBG on the next workday after pickup of the mail from BBG. Within 5 days of the end of the USPS monthly accounting period, the dates of which are established by the USPS, the contractor shall provide to BBG an analysis of the activities for that period a minimum, the analysis shall include the following: (a) Dates covered; Agency cost; (b) IPA total pieces; weight in pounds; total consolidation price; (c) ISAL total pieces; weight in pounds; total consolidation price; (d) Valuepost total pieces; weight in pounds; total consolidation price; (e) Total USPS 3652 charges; total USPS 3650 charges, total USPS 3651C charges, estimated savings realized as compared to mailing via USPS conventional non-consolidated mailing methods in dollars saved and in percentage saved for each mailing type and total) combined savings. The contractor shall submit an invoice showing its prices for the IPA, ISALN, and Valuepost sorting services; and (f) Accepted Quality Control Plan report on the objectives met by the measurable performance standards identified by the contractor to meet all of the contract requirements. (viii) The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-1 Instruction to Offerors?Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. FAR provisions and clauses may be obtained from the Internet Web address at: http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html. Interested contractors who are capable of providing these services should submit a proposal identifying capabilities as noted below. The contractor shall demonstrate the ability and experience in providing the required services. Interested contractors must provide in their proposal a narrative about how they will address security requirements, in addition of listing similar projects with the same or like requirement, budgetary estimates, and the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of references who have direct knowledge of the contractor?s skills and experience. Contractor qualifications shall included but not be limited to: a) prior experience in processing international mail of similar size and complexity to this acquisition; b) a successful international mail processing operation is currently being accomplished in such a manner as to ensure acceptance by its customers; and c) sufficient personnel and equipment to process the daily volume of mail is available to comply with all contract requirements. Offerors responding to this solicitation shall submit the following items to the contracting officer: [1] Resumes of Key Personnel (offerors must identify key personnel who will support BBG for the duration of this project); [2] Narrative and detailed information on service requirement and identified in the contractor?s Quality Control Plan, the proposed commitment in meeting the specific timeframe hours/days and the performance measures that the offeror will take to meet all contract requirements; [3] Detailed information on past performance, including recent (within last 3 years from date of this notice) and relevant contracts for similar services and other references including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers, email addresses and other relevant information; and [4] Prices for all of the listed CLINS must be provided in English and United States dollars on the Item Description Pricing sheet uploaded to the FedBizOpps with this combined synopsis/solicitation. (ix) The Government will award a Commercial Item, Firm-Fixed-Price, IDIQ Requirements contract resulting from this RFP to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the RFP will be most advantageous to the Government, based on price, technical, past performance, and other factors in the solicitation. When combined, technical evaluation factors are approximately equal to cost/price. The following factors shall be addressed in the technical proposals and shall be used to evaluate proposals: 1) The contractor must provide a description of the approach that they will take to meet the requirement (Management Approach); 2) The contractor?s understanding of the requirements and ability of the contractor to provide the required services meeting the technical requirements stated herein (Contractor Qualifications); 3) A description of their organization and its demonstrated capabilities in performing the service requirement and schedule (Capabilities Statement); 4) Detailed information on past performance and relevant contracts for similar services with a minimum of three (3) references including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers, email and other relevant information (Past Performance); 5) Individual resumes of contractor personnel to work on this contract (Key Personnel); and 6) A separate Price Proposal showing a breakdown of the price for the above CLINS (Price). Offerors are cautioned that failure to address each of the above factors may deem their proposal unacceptable. (x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications?Commercial Items with its offer. Proposals must also include contractor?s DUNS Number, prompt payment terms, and correct remittance address, if different from mailing address. The contractor must be registered on-line with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Web site at: http://www.ccr.gov/Start.aspx. The successful Offeror will be required to complete and submit an ACH form, for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), to the Contracting Officer before submitting their first invoice. (xi) The FAR clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions?Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition with no addenda to the clause. (xii) FAR clause 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders?Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation by reference and proposed subsequent contract as well as the following clauses contained within FAR clause 52.212-5: 52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government with Alternate I (41 U.S.C. 253g and 10 U.S.C. 2402); 52.216-24 Limitation of Government Liability; 52.216-25 Contract Definitization; 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)); 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(14)); 52.222-3 Convict Labor (E.O. 11755); 52.222-19 Child Labor?Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (E.O. 13126); 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity (E.O. 11246); 52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (29 U.S.C. 793); 52.222-37 Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.223-9 Estimate of Percentage of Recovered Material Content for EPA-Designated Products (42 U.S.C. 6962(c)(3)(A)(ii)); 52.225-3 Buy American Act?Free Trade Agreements?Israeli Trade Act (41 U.S.C. 10a-10d, 19 U.S.C. 3301 note, 19 U.S.C. 2112 note, Pub. L 108-77, 108-78, 108-286, 109-53 and 109-169); 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (EOs, proclamations, and statutes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury); 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer?Central Contractor Registration (31 U.S.C. 3332); and 52.239-1 Privacy or Security Safeguards (5 U.S.C. 552a). (xiii) Additional FAR provisions and clauses incorporated by reference and applicable to this solicitation and the proposed subsequent contract are: 52.203-2 Certificate of Independent Price Determination; 52.204-3 Taxpayer Identification; 52.209-5 Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Proposed Debarment, and Other Responsibility Matters; 52.209-6 Protecting the Government?s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment; 52.215-6 Place of Performance; 52.216-18 Ordering; 52.216-21 Requirements; 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services; 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract; 52.219-1 Small Business Program Representations; 52.222-22 Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports; 52-222-25 Affirmative Action Compliance; 52.228-5 Insurance?Work on a Government Installation; 52.232-1 Payments; 52.232-11 Extras; 52.232-19 Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year; 52.232-25 Prompt Payment; 52.233-1 Disputes; 52.233-2 Service of Protest; 52.333-4 Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim; 52.237-3 Continuity of Services; 52.246-4 Inspection of Services; 52.246-25 Limitation of Liability?Services; 52.247-35 F.o.b. Destination, Within Consignee?s Premises; 52.252-1 Provisions Incorporated by Reference; and 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference. (xiv) A Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) assigned rating is not applicable to this acquisition. (xv) Notice of Delay ? If the contractor becomes unable to complete the contract work at the time(s) specified because of technical difficulties, notwithstanding the exercise of good faith and diligent efforts in the performance of the work called for hereunder, the contractor shall give the contracting officer written notice of the anticipated delay and the reasons therefore. Such notice and reasons shall be delivered promptly after the condition creating the anticipated delay becomes known to the contractor but in no event less than forty-five (45) days before the completion date specified in this contract, unless otherwise directed by the contracting officer. When notice is so required, the contracting officer may extend the time specified in the schedule for such period as deemed advisable. (xvi) There are no additional contract requirement(s) necessary for this acquisition other than those consistent with customary commercial practices. NOTE: See government-wide numbered notes 13 and 25. (xvii) Failure to provide any of the above-required CLIN may result in the rejection of your proposal. Full text of all FAR clauses and provisions are available electronically at the following Internet address: (http://www.arnet.gov/far). Proposals shall be in writing and must be signed by an official authorized to bind the organization. Oral proposals will not be accepted. Questions must be submitted in writing to the contract specialist at the email address or facsimile number provided at the end of this notice. Please note that the deadline for submission of questions is November 14, 2007, by 4:30PM, Eastern Time. Questions must be submitted in writing by email to: pludlow@ibb.gov. Proposals shall be submitted is an original and three copies must be sent via courier or overnight delivery prior to the deadline. Proposals are due at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, 330 C Street, SW, Room 2527, Washington, DC 20237 on November 30, 2007, at 4:30PM, Eastern Time. (xviii) Contact: Patricia Ludlow, Contract Specialist, Telephone: 202-205-9664, Facsimile 202-260-0855, email: pludlow@ibb.gov. All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by the Agency.
- Record
- SN01443639-W 20071102/071031223116 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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