RFQ Meters[1].doc

State Postal Services Mailing Machines and Accounting Software. – RFQ

Specifications/Requirements of bid.

I. The State Postal Services is accepting bids to replace its high volume Mailing Machines, 2 Meters attached to 8 Series Pitney Bowes inserters, a computer capable of shipping UPS, FedEx and USPS at commercial rates, and accounting software that tracks all of the transactions from 2 locations in a central place :

II. List of equipment Option I

· 5 mailing machines with meters, scales, stackers and tables located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine.

· 1 mailing machine with meter, scale, stacker and table located at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta Maine.

· 1 station capable of processing USPS commercial rates, FedEx and UPS manifested mailings located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine.

· 1 Meter and base unit capable of attaching and interfacing with a Pitney Bowes 8 Series inserter located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine

· 1 Meter and base unit capable of attaching and interfacing with a Pitney Bowes 8 Series inserters located at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta Maine

· 1 spare meter for the mailing machines

· 1 spare meter for the 8 series inserters if different than mailing machines

· 1 accounting software and computer located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine capable of linking with all equipment listed above in multiple locations via the State of Maine LAN.

III. List of equipment Option II

· 4 mailing machines with meters, scales, stackers and tables located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine.

· 1 mailing machine with meter, scale, stacker and table located at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta Maine.

· 3 stations capable of processing USPS commercial rates, FedEx and UPS manifested mailings located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine.

· 1 Meter and base unit capable of attaching and interfacing with a Pitney Bowes 8 Series inserter located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine

· 1 Meter and base unit capable of attaching and interfacing with a Pitney Bowes 8 Series inserter located at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta Maine

· 1 spare meter for the mailing machines

· 1 spare meter for the 8 series inserters if different than mailing machines

· 1 accounting software and computer located at 68 Sewall Street in Augusta Maine capable of linking with all equipment listed above in multiple locations via the State of Maine LAN.

IV. Pricing & Billing

Pricing must include the following for all equipment at locations statewide:

· All meter rental costs

· All mail machine rental costs

· Delivery and installation included

· All costs for equipment adjustments, if any, to accommodate for future US postage increases.

· All costs for supplies (estimated by usage).

· All maintenance/service required.

· Billing must be by quarterly invoice sent to the State Postal Services, 88 State House Station, Augusta Me 04333-0088, but must be itemized by each location covered under the agreement.

· Equipment is to be leased on a 4 year term.

III. Other Requirements

· Meters/machines and shipping systems must have scales with 70 lbs capacity or greater.

· Meters must be able to communicate over existing LAN network.

· Accounting software must be capable of processing account and job number formats on meter cards. (Samples are available upon request.)

· Barcode scanners on all meters and computer systems to scan billing codes and job numbers.

· Custom rates capabilities for meters connected to inserters to bill out per- piece surcharges

· Meters must be capable of replenishing funds via the State of Maine LAN or a phone line.

· Response for service/repairs to equipment must be made promptly; a trained service representative is expected on site within 4 hours of the service call being placed.

· A ‘loaner’ or replacement machine must be made available in the event a machine is irreparable. Replacement machine must be at the appropriate location by close of business on the following business day.

· Bid responses must include numbers of service technicians (and their qualifications) who are available to support this contract.

· Bid responses must include the area in which technicians cover.

· Accounting software must be capable of producing a CSV file in the proper format required. A sample of the format is available on request.

· Include preventative maintenance requirements such as frequency and down time required to complete.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The company to provide all staff that operates the equipment must be fully trained and comfortable operating the rented equipment with the initial training. All training must meet the State’s needs and schedule. Training needs to be done on site. This department can not afford to be down due to staff inexperience based on the operation of equipment.

Vendor to provide auto-replenishing on all supplied items. Vendor must monitor supply levels at all times. Vendor must supply and maintain a minimum of sixty (60) days on all supplies. Vendor must provide a toll free supply number for emergency situations when we may be in danger of running out of an item because of changes in monthly volumes.

Any change or improvement, e.g. retrofits made by the manufacturer, must be incorporated on equipment at no cost to the State when such change is ascertained by manufacturer to improve performance and/or quality of existing equipment (this is to include any patches or upgrades).

Service/Maintenance on the department’s equipment is very important and the State expects that we receive prompt responses, accurate diagnoses/repair with the successful vendor and will hold them to a high standard. The State will expect that the servicing technician will properly test/operate equipment before closing out the call to avoid any unnecessary call back for the same issue/problem.

Service/Maintenance will have four (4) hours or less response time for a service call (a phone call will not be considered a response). There will be a toll-free number to call for service. Servicing technicians must be certified on any equipment that requires service.

It is very important that we receive service in a reasonable amount of time. If it becomes problematic that service is unable to provide the appropriate response times these actions will be taken:

1. After the 2nd missed response time in a 30 day period the quarterly payment will be reduced by 1% for every time the technician is not responsive for the agreed upon response time.

2. If service response time problems continue over a 3 month period the State of Maine may choose to have both pieces of equipment removed and replaced by a competitor with out paying penalties. The vendor is responsible for all fees and cost of removal of equipment.

Vendor must maintain service history on each piece of equipment and must be available to the State upon request. This history must include the following information on each call:

1. Date and time of call for service

2. Name of caller

3. Nature of problem

4. Date and time that technician arrived at site

5. Actual problem

6. Parts used

7. Date and time equipment became fully operational

Vendor must maintain an ample parts inventory for all the equipment that we rent so that equipment can be repaired the day of the service call. On the rare occasion that a part is not on hand, available from another company site, or technician, it will need to be ordered Next Day so that the machine is not down any longer than 24 hours from the time the problem was diagnosed.

Contractor will be responsible for furnishing Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) upon installation of machines on all supplied items or items needed to operate machine. Contractor will be responsible to incorporate into regular equipment training, safety training on all the items needed to operate equipment.

The State will not be responsible to pay for replacement or repairs from lighting strikes, power surges, etc. that could damage equipment. It will be the responsibility of the vendor to supply the proper surge protecting/power filtering device for each unit that will meet their current manufacturer’s specifications for protection if required.

Vendor must have technical support for the State to call if/when problems arise (Help Desk) as far as pre press issues/operational issues, etc. Technical Support must have a toll-free number.

The bid award will be made with the intent of placing all equipment listed in locations as per the attached specifications for a (4) year time period. However, if any of the locations are to close prior to the (4) year period there are to be no penalties for early removal of the equipment.

Bids will be evaluated on the criteria listed below

1. Price will make up 50% of the score

2. Service will make up 25% of the score

3. Equipment will make up 25% of score