SOLICITATION NOTICE
T -- EPS Supplies Fulfillment and Operations
- Notice Date
- 11/21/2003
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- United States Postal Service, Supplies and Services Purchasing, Services Purchasing (Headquarters), 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW Room 4541, Washington, DC, 20260-6237
- ZIP Code
- 20260-6237
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-2APSER-04-EPSSUPPLIES
- Response Due
- 12/10/2003
- Point of Contact
- Joseph Han, Purchasing and Supply Management Specialist, Phone 202-268-6987, Fax 202-268-2595, - Michael Whisler, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 268-5619, Fax (202) 268-2595,
- E-Mail Address
-
jhan@email.usps.gov, michael.c.whisler@usps.gov
- Description
- 1) Overview The United States Postal Service’s Package Services group intends to implement a turn-key solution for expedited packaging supplies fulfillment that reduces costs, increases efficiencies and improves the overall customer ordering experience with regard to supplies. A vendor will be selected to warehouse packaging supplies inventory, interface with a USPS customer care center to accept orders and communicate order status, act as a liaison on behalf of the Postal Service with various manufacturers of packaging supplies for direct-vendor delivery, and ship orders from its own facilities. The selected vendor will be further required to maintain order information, and produce summary reports to facilitate product assortment and operational decisions. ‘Expedited packaging supplies’ refers to those items offered to customers at no additional charge for use with premier USPS services—Express Mail, Priority Mail, and global delivery services. The Postal Service offers customers a series of unique packaging solutions ranging from corrugated boxes and envelopes, to a range of pressure sensitive tape, labels, and decals. Currently, the Postal Service offers customers a total of 68 different packaging-related items. On average, approximately 162,000 supplies orders, which contain 3.82 items per order, are fulfilled each month. Of these, approximately 29,000 are orders for one of five different custom-imaged labels. These items are offered to further enhance customer convenience, and are imaged with 7 to 20 lines of variable text. The average label order contained 249 labels. The expedited packaging supplies program is a significant source of customer value and affects customer perception toward the premier offerings of the Postal Service. Customers place orders for supplies via multiple channels, and this important experience—from order placement through receipt of the supplies order—affects the customer’s perception toward the use of the services themselves. The supplies fulfillment process, depending on the speed and accuracy with which it is administered, can serve to enhance, or detract from, customer retention. The fulfillment center is an important part of this dynamic. Though an important selling tool, the supplies program also carries considerable costs to administer. For this reason, customer value must be balanced against the cost to the Postal Service of achieving it. The solution planned seeks to achieve this balance, minimizing costs, while maintaining solid customer support. To this end, Package Services seeks to pre-qualify suppliers who demonstrate extensive experience in the fulfillment industry, with world-class operations, comprehensive information systems, and a commitment to quality. A comprehensive competitive solicitation will allow for overall reconfiguration, and afford opportunity for one or more strategic partnerships. 2) Required Supplier Criteria and Other Information The USPS intends to pre-qualify respondents capable of providing an innovative and commercially available fulfillment services. Respondents included in any subsequent pre-qualified group may be invited to participate in follow-up pre-qualification processes, a discovery process or to provide proposals in response to the USPS Request for Proposal. However, the USPS reserves the right to terminate this process if it is deemed that the availability or maturity of the commercial solutions does not fit the current need or vision of the USPS. Responding to this notice does not guarantee pre-qualification or participation in future USPS activities. 3) Selection Process The USPS decision to pre-qualify respondents is a business decision of the USPS Purchasing team. Pre-qualification does not constitute an award. Pre-qualification will be based on a composite of all responses, not any single item, that demonstrate a respondent’s capability to provide an innovative and commercially available fulfillment services. All qualified respondents may not be placed in the pre-qualified group if the purchase team determines that a smaller group may provide adequate competition or that some respondents are considerably more qualified than others, thereby precluding opportunities for others less qualified. Respondents whose responses to this notice indicate that their solution is (1) not commercially available, (2) beyond the current or immediate experience level or resources of their firm, or (3) deemed unrealistically incompatible with the USPS environment and vision, may not be considered for pre-qualification. 4) Notification to Selected Suppliers The contracting officer will notify all respondents of their pre-qualification status. The list of pre-qualified candidates will be publicized. 5) Request for Information Instructions 1. This entire document should be saved and emailed to Joseph.S.Han@usps.gov NLT 12:00 P.M. EST, December 10, 2003. If email is unavailable, documents should be mailed to: Joseph S. Han, USPS, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW Room 4541, Washington DC 20260-6237. 2. No faxed copies will be accepted. 3. The limit is 10 pages and it should be concise and focused on the solicited questions. 4. Sales Brochures, videos and other marketing information materials are not solicited and will not be reviewed. 5. Do not submit cost or price information with response. 6. The Contracting Officer for the Postal Service may accept responses after the due date. Acceptance will be at the sole discretion of the Contracting Officer and in the best interest of the Postal Service. 6) Minimum Requirements The following is a current non-exclusive set of constraints (minimum requirements) that should be met for any suppliers seeking pre-qualification. 1. Currently in the warehousing and fulfillment business. 2. Able to accept orders and interface with customer contact center via Inter/Extranet. 3. Ability to comply with the current version of the Domestic Mail Manual. 4. Capable of networking with multiple manufacturers. 5. Ability to imprint and fulfill the volume of label orders in a twenty-four (24) hour period. 6. Ability to manage the customer database and generate daily reports. 7) Capabilities 1) Please provide a brief summary of your firm’s experience/current fulfillment services. This information should include as many of the following that are relevant to your past experience: a) Describe your firm’s Quality Control and Problem Resolution processes. b) Please provide years of experience in the fulfillment business, total number of sites, total and per site revenue for the past three (3) years. c) Please provide statistical data for average time from order receipt to shipment, accuracy of orders fulfilled, on-time delivery rate, inventory turns rate and stock out rate. d) Please provide total and per site data for the past three (3) years for the following: number of SKU’s managed, number of SKU’s for top five (5) clients, number of transactions and order/fulfillment volume. 2) Describe how your system interfaces with other sites, including order acceptance, entry, verification, confirmation and fulfillment, as well as updating order status and handling returns. 3) Please provide a brief summary of your firm’s Customer Care Interface, electronic interface between customer and client. 4) Describe your experience in label printing and imprinting. 5) Describe briefly your firm’s distinct competitive advantage in the fulfillment industry. 6) Please provide five (5) largest clients and contact information 8) General Company and Contact Information 1) Company Name: 2) Contact Name and Title: 3) Contact Phone Number: 4) Contact Fax Number: 5) Contact Email Address: 6) Company Internet Website Address: 9) Finance Resources Please provide your firm's most recent 10(k) or annual audited financial statement. Provide in electronic format as an attachment to this document. NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO FEDBIZOPPS.GOV ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (21-NOV-2003). IT ACTUALLY APPEARED OR REAPPEARED ON THE FEDBIZOPPS SYSTEM ON 10-MAR-2004. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/USPS/SSP/SPHQ/Reference-Number-2APSER-04-EPSSUPPLIES/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: TBD
- Country: USA
- Country: USA
- Record
- SN00541823-F 20040312/040310231937 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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