RFI- FMSHRC.doc

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

ELECTRONIC FILING AND CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1. SYNOPSIS

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (“Commission”) or (“FMSHRC”) is conducting market research for an upcoming procurement requirement. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to allow the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to (a) identify firms with the necessary experience and practical knowledge of Electronic Filing and Case Management and (b) obtain explicit information, by example, of how a prospective firm will provide value in the integration and deployment as well as operations and maintenance of a system for a future solicitation.

2. BACKGROUND

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) is an independent adjudicative agency that provides administrative trial and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 (Mine Act).

Under the Mine Act, the Department of Labor issues regulations covering health and safety in the nation's mines. Federal mine inspectors employed by the Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) enforce these regulations by issuing citations and orders to mine operators. The Commission is concerned solely with the adjudication of disputes under the Mine Act, including the determination of appropriate penalties. It does not regulate mining or enforce the Mine Act.

Most cases deal with civil penalties assessed against mine operators and address whether the alleged safety and health violations occurred as well as the appropriateness of proposed penalties. Other types of cases include orders to close a mine, miners' charges of safety related discrimination and miners' requests for compensation after the mine is idled by a closure order.

The Commission was established as an independent agency to ensure its impartiality. The Commission's administrative law judges (ALJs) decide cases at the trial level. The 5-member Commission provides appellate review. An ALJ decision that is not accepted for review becomes a final, non- precedential order of the Commission. Appeals from the Commission's decisions are to the U.S. courts of appeals.

FMSHRC has been exploring various electronic products and system designs to replace or upgrade its current case management system. FMSHRC aims to adopt an integrated product that will allow most cases and documents to be filed, managed, stored and tracked internally online and to allow secure access by litigants. An additional goal is to increase public access under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and other transparency initiatives designed to promote greater public understanding of its activities.

3. INFORMATION BEING REQUESTED

FMSHRC is requesting information from vendors regarding their capabilities to provide an e-Case Filing and Management product, and their technical ability to develop, maintain and operate an electronic case filing and management system. Responses to this RFI should address the following:

· Provide your company’s name and address; size of company (number of personnel, finances, small or large business (8(a), etc.) and point(s) of contact (Name, Phone Number, Address, email, etc.).

· Identify the location of the facility you would propose to perform the work

· Identify your firm’s availability on GSA Schedules or other Federal government contracting vehicles.

· Responses should, at a minimum, address the high-level requirements from Section 4. Additionally, you may provide features not requested that are components of the solution. All features described must be included in the cost estimate.

· Describe your technical approach in implementing the processes and functions in Section 4 with the expected volumes provided. Please describe, based on your understanding of the program and requirements, which requirements in Section 4 are COTS/GOTS and which requirements will require customization.

· Describe your experience interfacing with complex systems environments and developing interfaces with other systems.

· Describe your experience implementing a similar approach with a government agency and performing successfully on performance-based contracts. Provide three examples of the client problem, solution developed, and benefit gained by the government agency as a result of your solution.

· Describe the platform in which you intend to host the application; whether desktop, software as a service, or cloud computing.

· Describe hardware and software requirements that the Commission must possess for the implementation of Electronic Filing and Case Management System.

· Describe your Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) approach and/or process for providing for customer satisfaction.

· Estimate the price for development/implementation of the application based on the requirements outlined in Section 4. Provide recommendations and estimate pricing for training for current staff.

4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The system must be secure, and capable of migrating data from the existing database, creating data archives, and supporting a minimum of 50,000 active and 15,000 newly filed cases annually. The response will at a minimum address the following functionalities:

· DATA STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL

System should be capable of securely storing and retrieving data, and should accommodate many searchable data fields. Additional fields should be relatively simple to add and customize.

· ELECTRONIC FILING AND NOTIFICATIONS

Must allow for individuals as well as the Department of Labor to electronically file a case and submit documents for the file, and automatically generate notifications to the parties in a particular case alerting them to certain case activities, including filing and the addition of documents.

· AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT GENERATION

Ability to automatically generate documents using defined templates and fill in necessary case-specific information on the templates

· ALERT GENERATION

System should generate alerts related to events or any user definition. Some alerts would be made to multiple users via e-mail or calendar

· DATA CAPTURE AND DOCUMENT SEARCH CAPABILITY

Able to capture data from paper and electronic forms, populate the database and convert paper documents to electronic-TIFF format. Capable of converting electronic image files into a common, open-standards-based, searchable format (Searchable PDF) by employing Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) software while retaining the original image document.

· DATA ENTRY TRACKING AND BATCH ENTRY OF DATA

Ability to search, link and/or consolidate dockets and proceedings by selected fields (i.e. attorneys, mine, location, etc.). Ability to readily link paper documents received to appropriate file(s), through system such a barcodes.

· WORKFLOW ACTIVITY, WORKLOAD AND CASE TRACKING

· REPORT GENERATION

Regularly and upon request generate predefined as well as customized, user defined reports. Capable of individualized “dashboard” data based on user-level needs.

· MANAGE DISCREET DATA

Specific access levels should be available and data validation rules established to provide appropriate secure access.

· OTHER FEATURES

Additional features should include linking of calendar, messages and related cases; redaction for FOIA and other purposes; and compatibility with Word Perfect and Microsoft Word.

INSTRUCTIONS AND RESPONSE GUIDELINES

This request for information should not exceed fifteen (15) pages in length, not including the cover sheet or transmittal sheet.

The response must be viewable with Microsoft Word 2003, and printable on "8.5 x 11" paper. Responses must use 12 point font, Times New Roman, the margins of each page should be at least ½ inch, and each page should contain a page number.

All interested parties are invited to respond to this RFI. In addition to responding to the above questions, a cover letter must also be provided. The cover letter must cite the following information at a minimum:

1. RFI Number: FMSHRC-11-RFI-0001

2. Company Name, Address, Contact Person Information;

3. Vendor’s DUNS Number;

4. Business Size and Size Standard / Classification

5. Socio-economic Categories (SB, 8(a), SDVOSB, HUBZone, etc.)

The closing date for the receipt of responses is 1:00 PM, Eastern Time, December 15, 2010. Acknowledgment of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the Government's evaluation of the information received. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this RFI or the Government's use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement.

Responses must be submitted via email to procurement@fmshrc.gov Telephone calls regarding this RFI will not be accepted. The government reserves the right to compete any acquisition resulting from this survey among small businesses or to make an award to an 8(a) firm, based on the responses received. This sources sought notice is for planning purposes only and does not commit the government to pay for the information requested, issue a solicitation, or award a contract. No solicitation document exists at this time.

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