81 -- UNIVERSAL DELIVERY & COLLECTION BOX UNIT

Notice Date

March 19, 2001

Contracting Office

U.S. Postal Service, Headquarters Purchasing, Room 4541, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260-6230

ZIP Code

20260-6230

Solicitation Number

102590-01-A-0042

Response Due

May 21, 2001

Point of Contact

Paul E. Ross-202 268-3372

E-Mail Address

pross1@email.usps.gov (pross1@email.usps.gov)

Description

The proposed solicitation provides for the development of a Universal Delivery & Collection Box Unit (UDCBU). The supplier will be required to develop a UDCBU in accordance to the statement of work, deploy it within a test/pilot environment and produce the UDCBU for selected areas or as specified within the terms and conditions of the contract and delivery orders. USPS contemplates issuing an Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Delivery type contract with options. The USPS designed the UDCBU concept anticipating that such will generate revenue through third party agreements with various suppliers (the third party agreements are not part of the effort in solicitation 102590-01-A-0040). Suppliers submitting offers in response to the subject solicitation, UDCBU, 102590-01-A-0042 should consider submitting a revenue share arrangement for the production of the UDCBU beyond the test/pilot. There will be two preproposals conferences. The first preproposal conference shall be on or about April 03, 2001 and is designed for suppliers to address basic questions regarding this effort. The second preproposal conference shall be conducted approximately two weeks after the first. The second preproposal conference shall be conducted in order to allow suppliers to submit more in depth questions. All questions that arise prior to or after the preproposal conferences shall be addressed in writing to the contracting officer to the email address provided herein. Those interested in receiving a copy of solicitation 102590-01-A-0042 should contact Paul E. Ross, contracting officer at pross1@email.usps.gov . Please be advised, the character after the second 's' in pross is a number 1, not a letter 'l'. The following background information is offered: Background The Postal Service has been delivering mail to the customer's mailbox for over 100 years. Little has changed in the practice of our Carriers putting mail into a small metal box that sits by itself on a post in front of a house. Although certain dynamics of delivering the mail have changed -- - high-density housing; centralized delivery; urban sprawl, -- - the basic methodology is the same. The small receptacle we refer to as the "mailbox" has served us well. However, although the size and functionally of the box has remained constant, the American household it serves has drastically changed. The household of the new Millennium is vastly different than the household of the past when the design and functionally of the mailbox was conceived. Most modern families have both adult members working. Social demands placed on families have expanded and available free time is continuing to erode due to increased household and workplace obligations. Entire new industries have emerged that help families make better use of their free time or provided more free time by making routine tasks easier. These same industries have made inroads into the "brick & mortar" businesses that we all grew up with as "the place to shop". These new industries; Internet shopping, catalog sales, grocery delivery, expedited mail, home office delivery, dry cleaning services, etc., all help counter the ever increasing burden of household chores by making our lives easier by giving us the one thing we all wish we had more of -- - "free time". However, the one drawback to all of these services is the fact that current households do not offer a secure place for items delivered by these services to our home. Many of these businesses are still developing. New concepts like "Secure First Class Mail Delivery", "Pack & Send Pick-up", "Pharmaceutical Controlled Substance Delivery" and "Video Return" are still in the development stage. However, all of these could start growing by an order of magnitude if there was someway households could have items delivered and secured without having a household member present and we could alleviate the worry of theft and pilferage by unauthorized personnel. We feel the Universal Delivery & Collection Box Unit is the answer. Because of the reasons listed above and a new cadre of services the Postal Service anticipates offering, the time is right for a change in the design and functionality of the "mailbox". This new mailbox idea will be called the "Universal Delivery & Collection Box Unit" (UDCBU). Although we feel confident that there is a demand for offering such a product as this to the public, without a Market Test, it is just an idea. Therefore, the Postal Service plans on conducting a Market Test to determine the feasibility and profitability of pursuing this concept before it becomes a nationwide Postal Service program. Plans are to test this concept in one Market Test area, with different configurations and modeling for consumer acceptance. Since this concept has never been tested before, the new UDCBU will have to be developed and tested.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010321/81SOL003.HTM (W-077 SN50G5H9)