2025-055 Fire _ Emergency Services Uniforms_RFP.pdf

RFP# 2025-055

Fire & Emergency Services Uniforms

THE PROJECT: The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners Purchasing Department (County) is requesting competitive sealed proposals from qualified suppliers to provide Nomex uniforms, administrative clothing and other related uniform accessories to Fire & Emergency Services Department and a comprehensive online ordering program to allow for ease of ordering, tracking, receiving, and returning (if necessary), meeting the specifications and as described herein.

There will not be a mandatory meeting to review the requirements.

All times in the solicitation are local times to Cherokee County, Georgia in the Eastern Time Zone.

This Request for Opportunity Description is one of two documents making up this solicitation. The second document is Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, which contains all the standard forms potentially required to accompany a submission. Both of these documents together constitute the entire solicitation at the time of issuance.

The County reserves the right to reject any or all bids/proposals, to waive technicalities and to make a selection and final award as deemed to be in the best interest of the County, including using any form of contract it deems most advantageous to the County.

SCHEDULE:

Issued August 19, 2025

Questions Due August 26, 2025, by 4:00 PM

Answers Due August 29, 2025

Bids/Proposals Due September 12, 2025, at 10:00 AM

Anticipated Award Date October 7, 2025

Cherokee County Board of Commissioners Purchasing Department

1130 Bluffs Parkway, Canton, GA 30114 Phone: (678) 493-6000

Fax: (678) 493-6035

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Solicitation Requirements & Instructions, THE EXPECTED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

The base period of performance is broken down into two areas; Physical Delivery of Product(s) and Service Delivery. This is a function of the Statement of Work (SOW) and/or specification and reflects if there is physical item or items to be delivered and / or delivery of services. An X in the box corresponding to item 1 below, Physical Delivery indicates a physical item or items are to be delivered and an X in the 2. Delivery of Services indicates that Services are to be performed. Either or both may apply to the work contemplated by this solicitation.

Additionally, should there be an X in the box corresponding item 3. Option Grant, then the County requests the right to extend the period of performance beyond the Base Rate as specified.

1. NO PHYSICAL ITEMS/GOODS PHYSICAL DELIVERY OF ITEMS/GOODS REQUIRED:

For Physical Delivery solicitations, the period of performance for an award shall begin with either the placement of Purchase Order or the date indicated on the Agreement. All items to be delivered are to be FOB Cherokee County at the address indicated in the solicitation.

Performance shall be complete upon final acceptance by the County. Time is of the essence for the delivery of each item specified. Warranty requested as below:

Warranty Term Requested: ____

2. No SERVICES REQUIRED PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES:

For Performance of Services solicitations, the period of performance shall begin with the placement of either a Purchase Order or the date of the Agreement unless the Agreement, the SOW or the Solicitation Terms indicate that performance shall begin upon the issuance of a Notice to Proceed (NTP), in which case the NTP would represent the beginning of performance. Term of services requested are as below:

Services Term:

One Year Two Years Three Years Other: With the option to automatically renew for an additional two, one-year terms

3. OPTION GRANT:

This solicitation contains requested options; please see Statement of Work for details.

SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Interested Bidders/Proposers should carefully review the requirements defined herein and provide complete and accurate submissions that should include the following items:

Appendix A: Information and Addenda Acknowledgement Form Appendix B: Non-Influence and Non-Collusion Affidavit Appendix C: E-Verify Affidavit Appendix D: References* Appendix E: Acceptance of County’ Standard Professional Services Agreement**

(Sample provided) Appendix F: Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other

Responsibility Matters Primary Covered Transactions.

Insurance: Evidence of/ability to provide Insurance at the limits identified herein,*** Registered: To do business in GA or other Certifications, Licenses or Registrations as required by law.

Pricing: Pricing on the pricing form provided “Uniform List (Price List)” Other: Any other requirements as requested under the scope of work

Notes:

*The County reserves the right to contact not only those references provided, but may also use previous performance for the County, other contacts it identifies and other sources of information believed to be viable to evaluate capability, viability and performance.

**If Acceptance of County’s Standard Agreement is checked, all work/items defined herein are to be quoted according to these requirements. Copies of these agreements can be located at the County’s Procurement web page.

***Insurance levels requested are those identified in the County’s Standard Agreement, section “I.”

****Standard Solicitation Terms Refer to Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Bids/Proposals that contain options or additive work above and beyond the base bid will be evaluated financially according to the criteria described in the solicitation. However, should the use of options or additive work proposed exceed the County budget, the County retains its rights to address such situations as described in its Standard Terms For Bid and Proposal Solicitation as well as the right to award based on the base bid only or the base bid plus quoted additive work that is within its budget.

Bids determined to be Responsive and Responsible will be ranked based Bid Form Criteria.

OR

Proposals determined to be Responsive and Responsible will be evaluated on the following criteria:

40% Price 60% Technical - Service delivery plan, website functionality, ordering system, designated account manager, proven performance with similar contracts, years in industry, demonstrated ability to deliver items on time, quality of offerings*, location of storefront, ability to come onsite, compliance with NFPA requirements.

100% TOTAL

CCFES may request samples to be used for evaluation purposes.

Suppliers unable to provide onsite fitting at least 3 times per year will not be evaluated.

Alternates will not be accepted for the Nomex clothing made by Workrite.

Proposal shall include the following information necessary for evaluation:

Comprehensive online ordering program to include details on ordering, tracking, receiving, and returning.

Customer specific website

Detailed website specifications

Account management

Item specifications – clearly state any exceptions or alternate item numbers.

Tracking process

Delivery

Quality control

Additions

Invoicing and payment

References may be contacted should the evaluation team deem them necessary.

Proposals will be scored on the above evaluation criteria. Failure to provide information necessary to evaluate proposal, may result in a lower scoring proposal.

The County reserves the right to reject the bid of any vendor who has previously failed to perform properly or complete on time contracts of a similar nature, or who upon investigation shows is not in a position to perform the contract.

HOW AND WHERE TO SUBMIT BIDS AND PROPOSALS:

The County has two methods for receiving bids and proposals that are mutually exclusive; either electronically or by physical receipt. The box with the “X” below indicates how and where bids or proposals are to be submitted. The County will NOT accept proposals by fax, or e-mail unless authorized, in writing, by the Procurement Director. The solicitation submission deadline will be strictly enforced; no late bids/proposals will be accepted for any reason, please plan accordingly.

A. Electronic Submissions Only:

Bids and Proposals are to be submitted electronically ONLY to BidNet Direct. Physical copies are not to be submitted unless approved in advance by the Purchasing Director.

Proposals and all requested documentation to be provided electronically should in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) as ONE file unless otherwise indicated in these solicitation instructions. Documents provided in response to this solicitation are to be named according to the following naming convention:

a. [Solicitation Number]_[Vendor Name]_[Document Type] Example: “2017-111_ABC Company_Proposal”

QUESTIONS/ADDENDA:

Only written inquiries will be permitted during the solicitation period. Questions are to be submitted via BidNet Direct for this solicitation no later than the date and time indicated in the Schedule, as may be amended. Answers will be posted via formal Addendum and only released as part of the solicitation documents on BidNet Direct. All interested parties are instructed to monitor BidNet Direct on a regular basis throughout the solicitation period. The final date for posting of Addenda is per the Schedule, as may be amended.

STATEMENT OF WORK AND / OR SPECIFICATION LOCATED ON THE NEXT PAGE

STATEMENT OF WORK AND / OR SPECIFICATION:

OVERVIEW

Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services (CCFES) is seeking a supplier to provide Nomex uniforms, administrative clothing and other related uniform accessories to Fire personnel. There are over 500 employees within the department. CCFES is seeking a supplier that will provide a comprehensive online ordering program to allow for ease of ordering, tracking, receiving, and returning (if necessary).

Fire currently purchases Class A, Class B, Class C, Honor Guard and Administrative uniforms, as well as medals and awards, as described in further detail below.

The awarded supplier must have an online ordering site that will allow each individual employee to log in securely, select from a dropdown menu with their class of uniform and select the size and quantity of each. Once submitted, the request will be approved by the appropriate Battalion Chief and then routed to Fire Logistics for final approval and ordering.

The County wishes to enter into an agreement with one (1) supplier to provide all items for a period of three (3) years with the option to renew two (2) additional one (1) year terms, for a total maximum contract length of five (5) years. The County prefers that the supplier have a local storefront (within a 50-mile radius from Fire Logistics located at 884 Univeter Road, Canton, Georgia 30115) so that personnel can be fitted for uniforms throughout the year. Additionally, the supplier must have the ability to come onsite to the Cherokee County Fire Training Center (3985 Holly Springs Parkway) to fit recruits up to 3 times per year. Logistics will coordinate the scheduling of onsite fittings at least 30 days prior. Typically, there are approximately 25 recruits per class and supplier should allow for a full day onsite.

Each station orders once per year following a scheduled rotation. The ordering schedule will be provided to the awarded vendor and is subject to change throughout the year. The ordering, receiving and tracking of all uniforms is managed by Fire Logistics.

The department has standardized on Nomex clothing, made by Workrite, meeting NFPA 1975 requirements.

CCFES intends to award this contract at the October 7, 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting with a go-live date of November 3, 2025.

ORDERING REQUIREMENTS

The awarded supplier must provide a customer-specific, web-hosted website as a tool to manage the uniform and equipment program. At a minimum, the supplier shall have the ability to meet the requirements below:

A. Customer Specific Website

1. Customized approved uniform offerings with user-friendly navigation options.

2. Restrict views by rank, location, or department.

3. Allow individuals to track orders and store sizes.

4. Allow administrators to make allotment adjustments, access on demand reporting, and add, delete or edit users.

5. Allow administrators to make changes to individual requests through the website.

B. Detailed Website Specifications

1. Secure Online Ordering System

i. Site shall only be accessible by users defined and approved by Fire Logistics through unique usernames and password assignment.

ii. The awarded supplier will be responsible for customizing the site and adding individual users. Fire Logistics will provide an Excel file with an individual’s name, rank, station, & employee ID.

iii. The awarded supplier shall be responsible for implementation of the website within thirty (30) days of the award.

2. Mobile device compatibility preferred but not required

i. Site shall have a custom mobile experience for ease of on-the-go ordering.

ii. Shall be compatible with all smart phones.

iii. Shall be accessible from any location.

3. Configurable based on Customer Uniform Program Requirements

i. Navigation must be fully customizable by product category based on the products used by Fire Logistics.

ii. Designed to support a broad range of uniform, clothing, and accessory requirements.

iii. A uniform program profile shall be established for each type of uniform (Class A, Class B, Class C, Honor Guard and Administrative).

4. Employee Management

i. Historical and distribution data shall also be maintained for each employee throughout the term of the agreement. This data shall be the basis for management reports and is collected as orders are placed and distributed. Historical data shall include items distributed (to the size level), along with quantities and order/shipment dates.

ii. All data shall be made available to Cherokee County at the completion of the agreement.

5. Product Offering Management

i. Product offerings for the uniform program shall be defined, and assigned to the respective employee groups, when a uniform program is established on the system.

ii. Software shall support alterations, such as trouser hemming, application of badges, etc. These elements shall be defined based on the requirements of the uniform program and may be limited to specific styles and employee groups.

6. Allotment Management

i. The system shall provide employee allotment management based on units.

ii. Allotments are renewed the beginning of the County’s fiscal year (October 1).

iii. Fire Logistics will not be obligated to pay for any uniform item purchases that exceed the employee’s allowance, unless it was approved by Fire Logistics prior to purchase.

7. Controlled Uniform Order Placement

i. The system shall provide employee allotment management based on units.

Solicitation Requirement & Instructions, Page 8 of 12

ii. The system shall control uniform order placement by validating the Employee, Product Offering, and Allotment Management segments of the system to the uniform program profile.

iii. The system shall provide a web-based method for customer uniform administrators or employees to place uniform orders. The product offering and associated optional alterations options shall be displayed based on the ordering employee’s group assignment. Any mandatory alterations, such as the standard department patch, shall be hard coded in the back system to ensure no mandatory alteration is missed during order placement on the website.

iv. System shall allow for orders to be placed using a “shop-by individual” feature which provides an administrator the ability to place a large bulk uniform order and segment the order down to the individual employee level, eliminating the necessity to place a separate order for each employee.

8. Online Order Approval

i. Fire Logistics requires all requests to be approved by an Administrator prior to being processed. The website shall allow for approval gates to be established from shipping to order dollar amount which shall be defined in the Uniform program profile. These orders shall remain in a “Hold for Approval” status until released by an Administrator.

Software shall provide information on these orders to the Administrators through system generated approval emails sent to the Administrator, which allows the order to be approved through the links provided in the email, or on the Administrator’s user dashboard on the website.

ii. Upon order approval, the order shall be released to the back-office system for fulfillment. Denied orders assume a “denied” status and are not released to the back-office system.

9. Flexible, On-demand Management Reporting

i. Website shall provide flexible, on-demand reporting with output into Excel Workbook (*.xlsx or .xls), allowing for easy review and manipulation of data by the Administrators. The reporting can be sent directly to the requestor’s email or reviewed from the report’s dashboard.

ii. Available reports shall include, but not be limited to:

Allotment Report

Order History Sales Report

Itemized Sales Report

Allotment Activity Report

Unit Allotment Activity Report

Backorder/Incomplete Report

Dropship Report

List of all returned items

Individual employee credit balances

Sizes, types of items ordered within a specified time period

Item prices

Up-to-date billing and monthly invoice summary

iii. All reports as described shall be available to Fire Logistics at no additional charge throughout the length of the agreement.

iv. Within the various report offerings, the user may specify parameters such as date ranges, open or closed orders, or limit report data to specific location or department, as applicable to the report.

10. Customer Management of Employees

i. Software system shall allow for department Administrators to assign new users to the website, update user profiles, shop by location, etc., should Fire Logistics choose to manage their own employee access to the website.

C. Account Management

1. Dedicated Account Manager

i. The awarded supplier shall have at least one (1) dedicated Account Manager assigned to the County’s account. The Account Manager must have an in-depth knowledge of the contract, list of approved items, technical support capabilities to assist with the website, and access to all manufacturers providing the products.

ii. Account Manager shall provide their email address, phone number, and business hours to the Administrators.

iii. The Account Manager must be available for a quarterly meeting (if desired by Fire Logistics) to discuss contract or uniform issues.

iv. The Account Manager shall facilitate the implementation and startup of the website.

v. The Account Manager shall be responsible for all initial activities including measurement and sizing (if necessary) and be the point of contact regarding customer service-related issues including returns, defective items, and alterations.

vi. Supplier shall provide a secondary Account Manager, phone number and email in the event the primary Account Manager is out of the office or otherwise unavailable.

D. Item Specification Requirements

1. Sizing

i. Supplier shall have the ability to furnish a variety of apparel in industry standard sizes to include: even and odd waist size pants with finished lengths fit, shirt neck half sizes with even and odd sized sleeve lengths, hats in one-eights sized increments, half and full shoe sizes in all widths, even and odd jacket and coat sizes and even sized belts.

ii. Supplier shall have male and female sizes.

iii. Special requests shall be made for sizes outside the manufacturer’s normal size range and the manufacturer shall agree to produce the item(s) requested with Fire Logistics’ understanding that longer lead times and/or additional charges may apply.

Supplier shall submit documentation that reflects any longer lead time and/or additional charges.

E. Tracking Process

1. Supplier shall provide a uniform tracking process that has been proven successful by established customer accounts with tracking requirements that meet or exceed the following:

i. Distribution of items

ii. Maintain inventory control

iii. Uniform repairs

iv. Uniform replacements

v. Employee credit balances

vi. Invoicing of items and services

vii. Shipping of uniform, clothing, and/or accessory items

2. Supplier must track employee balances and provide shipment confirmation to Fire Logistics.

3. Supplier must assume responsibility for loss and damage of all ordered items from time of shipment to customer’s delivery.

4. Supplier’s tracking process must maintain information on each Fire employee including, but not limited to:

i. Available allotment balance

ii. Assigned location

iii. Rank

iv. Initial and subsequent changes in uniform size and measurement data

v. All data must be accessible only by specified individual ordering and Fire Logistic Administrators.

F. Delivery Preferences

1. All deliveries shall be made to Cherokee County Fire Logistics, 884 Univeter Road, Canton, Georgia 30115, unless otherwise noted on the order.

2. All orders must be received by Logistics within 90 days from the time order is placed. Any exceptions to this must be approved by Logistics in advance.

G. Quality Control

1. Supplier shall have a quality control program to include:

i. Outbound audit of goods that supplier has embellished.

ii. Checklist for use in reviewing embellishment quality.

iii. QI program to ensure all items are of the same quality and standard.

iv. Supplier shall replace any damaged items at no cost to the County.

H. Additions

1. The County may add, modify or substitute items from approved list.

2. Other County departments may purchase from the awarded supplier for both the contracted items as well as any other items that may be needed.

3. Throughout the term of the agreement, if any changes are made to the County’s logo or other embroidered items, the supplier shall be given ample time to make the change on their end, at no additional cost to the County.

I. Invoicing and Payment

1. The supplier shall invoice the County once a month.

i. Invoice shall include the following:

Itemized list of all orders processed for the month to include, employee name, description of item(s) ordered, quantity(s), price, order date, and order total by employee.

CLOTHING SPECIFICATIONS ON SEPARATE DOCUMENT

Samples of Medals and Badges

Unit Citation

Fire Inspector Badges

FAO

Battalion Chief Badges

Medical Director Badges

Assortment of Commendation Bar Examples

END OF STATEMENT OF WORK/SPECIFICATION

Purchasing Department