Lepe, ns-Lepe, SNI, IFS, BPS Currency Strap and Bundle Band Rolls

This is a Request for Information (RFI) (hereinafter Notice). This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, request for bids or quotations, nor a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes only. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this Notice. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding parties' expense. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential contained within their response. The U.S. Government will neither be liable for nor suffer any consequential damages resulting from any commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential not properly marked and clearly identified. Information received in response to this Notice will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable statutes, including the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) policy.

The U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has interest in and is seeking to identify suppliers of heat-sealable printed currency strap rolls and heat-sealable unprinted currency bundle band rolls that will work on our Large Examining Printing Equipment (LEPE), non-sequential-LEPE (nsLEPE), Single Note Inspection (SNI), Inspection Finishing System (IFS), and Banknote Purchasing System (BPS3000 or M8) machines.

Part of the currency production process is to place a heat-sealable printed paper band around one hundred (100) Federal Reserve Notes (FRN) to indicate denomination; the heat-sealable printed paper bands are referred to as currency straps. Every 10 straps of FRN get wrapped with an unprinted heat-sealable paper band known as a bundle band. These currency heat-sealable strap bands and/or bundle bands come in roll form of differing run lengths, widths, inner and outer diameter, roll direction (straps only), total number of straps, artwork (straps only), grammage, and caliper depending on the type of machine it is to be run on. They all, however, share a thin coating of polyethylene (PE) on one side of the paper that serves as the heat-seal adhesive, sealing after wrapping around a strap or bundle with a heating iron controlled by each machine. The polyethylene (PE) coating is applied evenly with a uniform thickness and a coating weight of twenty (20) grams/square meter (g/m^2) on the paper substrate forming the strap/bundle bands. The heat temperature settings of the heating iron are variable across all machine types but are generally set above 120 C (248 F) and can be adjusted depending on machine settings and/or environmental conditions.

The BEP is looking to procure machine, heat-sealable currency strap and bundle band rolls. The vendor shall submit a Safety Data Sheet of the PE used. The heat-sealable polyethylene (PE) coating should comply with environmental regulations in Fort Worth, Texas, and Washington DC.  In addition, information on the combined PE coating and paper is being requested.

SUBMISSIONS: Responses to this notice should include the following:

1. A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the PE
2. Melt temperature of PE and/or PE blend/resin.  
3. Grammage for combined PE coating and paper (target: 100 +/- 5 g/m^2, and 85 +/- 5 g/m^2).
4. Caliper of combined PE and paper. (target: 140 +/- 6 µm, and 117.5 +/- 7.5 µm).
5. Minimum order quantity in rolls. (i.e. 525 m (l) x 39 mm (w) for nsLEPE strap bands and 525 m (l) x 58 mm (width) for nsLEPE/IFS bundle bands). nsLEPE strap and bundle band rolls have an inner core diameter of 76 +/- 2 mm, a core thickness of 6 +/- 1 mm and are not to exceed 325 mm in outer diameter.
6. Vendor’s technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

A current SDS should be included for review by the BEP to determine if the PE coating can be used at BEP facilities.  In addition, vendors may be contacted if clarification is needed.

The BEP reserves the right to request additional information as well as to request material samples from companies responding to this Notice. Any material samples requested by the BEP and submitted by the company will be reviewed and evaluated for inherent and relative effectiveness as production materials in terms of meeting BEP requirements for such materials and may be further assessed by the BEP for compatibility with design and production factors, durability, environmental acceptability, and other production/processing requirements. However, in these cases companies are cautioned that any such review evaluation, assessment and testing will be scheduled based on the availability of resources. The BEP reserves the right not to release submitted material evaluation results.

The point of contact for this Notice is:

Benjamin Demeter

Bureau of Engraving & Printing

Office of the Chief Procurement Officer

14th and C Streets, SW

Washington, D.C. 20228

Email: benjamin.demeter@bep.gov

Phone: (202) 874-3857

Brief responses to this Notice shall be sent via email to the point of contact listed above by no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, January 24, 2025.

This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort. Any organization responding to this Notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The BEP will not be obligated to pursue any acquisition alternative as a result of this notice.  Responses to the notice will not be returned.  Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation if one is issued.

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. If so, respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and identifying such information within their response.  The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).