REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONREFERENCE NUMBER: 97RFI-J001 Valued Supplier: The Defense Industrial Supply Center (DISC) intends to issue a solicitation and award one, or possibly multiple contracts, to acquire supplies included in the Industrial Hardware Federal Supply Group (FSG) 53 (e.g., nuts, washers, screws, bolts, pins, etc.) of small quantity acquisitions. Therefore, we are issuing this Request for Information (RFI) as a vehicle for industry to provide recommendations/comments. The requisitions have an approximate annual value of $6 million and an estimated volume of 13,000 transactions, are usually for small quantities (<= 10) and as many as one third are for quantities of one (1) each. The range of values for each requisition can fall between $1.00 and $2500.00. There is a possibility that the contract will increase in volume. The strategy is to find one or more sources of supply who can manage a purchasing program for the low volume military purchase requests. This acquisition tactic is structured to allow the government to increase customer support, decrease administrative lead time, and reduce the costs associated within this specific group of requisitions. This strategy will incorporate the best value approach which allows for variation of industry proposals while allowing the government the benefit of comparing these proposals not only on cost and/or price, but on other factors as well. Interested parties should provide only pricing methodology for determining prices; price proposals should not be submitted at this time. You are invited to furnish written comments and recommendations regarding the general approach and any specific provisions, as well as proposing alternate approaches involving different strategies and/or improved commercial practices. The government will not pay for information received under this RFI. After reviewing vendors' comments, the government intends to issue a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) unless there is an indication that further discussion with industry is needed, whereby a pre-solicitation conference will be held. Vendors may address any or all categories within the RFI. It is requested that responses include, as a minimum, Pricing, Contract Type, and Process. Essential Categories Pricing -- Recommend a pricing method (e.g., costs plus Incidental Handling Fee) which includes pricing verification audits and a plan to control costs over time. Contract Type -- State the preferred contracting vehicle as well as the terms and conditions of same [e.g., Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC), Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA), etc.]. Process -- Recommend a procedure from the onset of requisition/purchase request notification to delivery of material to the customer as well as invoicing and other reporting issues. Related Issues Responsiveness -- Recommend a plan to satisfy a significant percentage of the required items. Indicate procedures for processing Part Number changes, Drawing/Revision Verification, and other technical/quality/packaging issues. Indicate problems plus the resolution of sole sourceitems, and MS and NAS items. Timeliness -- Indicate your likely response time (indicating that you can or cannot supply the required item) from the time of Purchase Request notification. Cancellations -- Describe the commercial practice that could be adopted to govern order cancellations. Indicate provisions for Purchase Request cancellations prior to award. Returns and Discrepancies -- Describe the commercial practice that could be adopted to govern returns and discrepancies. EDI Capabilities -- Identify PR notification, award and reporting mechanisms. All interested parties are requested to submit written comments regarding the feasibility of the aforementioned and/or submit recommendations for accomplishing the same. The Defense Industrial Supply Center strives to be our customer's supplier of choice by providing the best available support. We are confident that with your support and cooperation, we will attain that goal. All written responses to this RFI are to be submitted to the following by 4:00 P. M., DISC local time, 9 July 1997. Responses received after this date will be evaluated as time permits. Defense Industrial Supply Center 700 Robbins Avenue ATTN.: ROSEMARY A. CROGNALE, DISC-JCC/44 Philadelphia, PA 19111 (215)697-5933 Fax: (215)697-3641 E-mail: rcrognale@disc.dla.mil. Diane Hale Contacting Officer

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