MODIFICATION
36 -- LASER MARKING SYSTEM (LMS)
- Notice Date
- 5/31/2002
- Notice Type
- Modification
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), Office of Procurement, 14th & C Streets, S.W., Washington, DC, 20228
- ZIP Code
- 20228
- Solicitation Number
- RFQ29-2PB8PJ
- Response Due
- 6/7/2002
- Archive Date
- 6/22/2002
- Point of Contact
- Rosher Gilbert, Purchasing Agent, Phone (202) 874-3145, Fax (202) 874-3135, - Jennifer Sellers, Contracting Officer/Manager, Phone (202) 874-3148, Fax (202) 874-3135,
- E-Mail Address
-
rosher.gilbert@bep.treas.gov, jennifer.sellers@bep.treas.gov
- Description
- The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is providing this AMENDMENT to the former Announcement RFQ29-2PB8PJ (which closed on March 21, 2002), to incorporate questions and answers to the technical specifications for the turnkey installation of a state-of-the art, Computerized Numerical Control (CNC), LASER MARKING SYSTEM (LMS) used for part number serialization of metal printing dies, as was specified in the initial announcement. OFFERORS WHO HAVE ALREADY SUBMITTED THEIR QUOTATIONS MAY SUBMIT A REVISED QUOTATION BASED ON BOTH THIS AMENDMENT AND THE INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. --QUESTION 1: Parts may be fed into the LMS as single units or lots of 36 pieces. Is this 36 of any part configuration including rectangular, circular and cylindrical? -- ANSWER 1: Yes. --QUESTION 2: Should the system be able to support and automatically transport 36 each, 8 inch x 10 inch x 4 inch steel plates weighing hundreds of pounds? --ANSWER 2: A lot of 36 pieces will be at the smallest end of the size range; 1.5 inches long (38.1mm) by .05 inches wide (12.7mm) by 0.150 inches thick (3.81mm). --QUESTION 3: LMS shall be capable of marking parts on convex, concave and irregular surfaces. Laser marking systems can only mark on a flat surface. To mark irregular or convex/concave surface, the part and/or the laser marking head must be moved to track the surface. To cover any and all possibilities, this will be a very expensive 5-axis motion system. What are the dimensions of the irregularities and curvature dimensions of concave/convex parts? --ANSWER 3: The Bureau is interested in purchasing a LASER marker that has the capability of marking parts of various geometries. The minimum part radius of curvature is 0.5 inches for concave and convex surfaces. The equipment should be a commercially available design. The Bureau does not expect that the items to be marked will need to be rotated by the system. --QUESTION 4: The laser marked depth of the alphanumeric characters shall range from 0.003 inches to 0.100 inches. This is not possible at a specified character height of 0.100 inches. Printing dies are normally not laser engraved deeper than 0.010 inches. Was this a typo? --ANSWER 4: No. As stated in the specification, the laser marked depth of the alphanumeric characters shall range from 0.003 inches to 0.100 inches. The specification also states, that the LMS shall be capable of producing alphanumeric characters 0.100 inches high (2.54mm) by 0.050 inches wide (1.27mm) for unique sequential serial numbers. These two statements are separate requirements and were not intended to imply that a laser marker must at least be able to mark all stated font sizes and at all stated depths. The Bureau has need for a LASER Marker that can burn to a range of depths and that is capable of producing alphanumeric characters of various commercially available fonts. The Bureau is not interested in a LASER Marker that is capable of marking to only one specific depth or producing only one type of font. --QUESTION 5: ...capable of marking...at a rate of 70 parts per hour. This is probably not possible at a depth of 0.100 inches. This is very possible at the shallower depths. --ANSWER 5: We agree. Our specification did not intend to imply that the rate of marking of 70 parts per hour applied to the full range of depths sited in the specification. Offerors should provide information on what size font and/or depth their equipment is capable of marking at 70 parts per hour. --QUESTION 6: It would be very helpful to understand the end-users concept of what they are looking for in terms of specific part handling and fixture and to understand more about the steps of the parts that are not flat. As the RFQ is written, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be spent to address these undefined, irregular surfaces. Do they envision an operator manually loading parts into the system, perhaps loading a magazine of parts into the system for batch marking, perhaps a rotary chuck for marking around cylinders? Is this what they meant by round or is the round part still a flat marking surface? Does it really require a five-axis system to mark any possible surface irregularity and convex/concave shapes with significant variations in the height of the marking surface? Please respond to the above and we will try to conceptualize a cost-effective solution for you. -- ANSWER 6: The proposed equipment shall be capable of being tooled to accept parts currently manufactured from hardened tool steel. These parts range in size from 1.5 inches long [38.1mm] by 0.5 inches wide [12.7mm} by 0.150 inches thick [3.81mm] to 10 inches long [254mm] by 8 inches wide [203.2mm] by 4 inches thick [101.6mm]. The parts may be manually loaded into the LASER Marking System as single units or lots of 36 pieces. Since the Bureau utilizes parts of various sizes and shapes, which are not specifically defined, manual loading of parts as single units or lots of 36 pieces is all that is required. --QUESTION 7: Part geometries may vary from circular segments to rectangular prisms within the sizes listed and may require fixtures to hold the parts. BEP will provide the Fixtures? Please clarify. --ANSWER 7: Yes, BEP will provide the fixtures. -- OUESTION 8: Parts may be fed into the LMS as single units or lots of 36 pieces Please clarify. -- ANSWER 8: Parts will be manually placed on the fixture and then manually loaded into the LMS. --QUESTION 9: Portability of the various software packages is required. Please clarify, portable software? --ANSWER 9: Software that can be transported from one computer to another. Quotations are due on June 07, 2002. QUOTATIONS SHALL CONTAIN ALL OF THE REQUIRED INFORMATION STATED IN BOTH THE INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND THIS AMENDMENT AND SHALL BE SIGNED, SIGNED AND SUBMITTED BY FAX, BY FAX ONLY, to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), Office of Procurement, Materials & IT Division, Attention Ms. Rosher Gilbert at (202) 874-3135. All quotations are due on Friday, June 07, 2002.
- Record
- SN00086248-W 20020602/020531213503 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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