DHS RFP High-Speed Print System Solution for Business Services

The Illinois Department of Human Services issued RFP 26-444DHS-BUSSE-B-49986 on January 26, 2026, seeking a single vendor to provide a comprehensive high-speed print system solution for the Statewide Printing Center in Springfield, located in Sangamon County. The procurement requires a five-year fair market value lease for printers, accessories, and finishing equipment combined with a five-year lease purchase for computer hardware, software, and imaging devices, with a mandatory turnkey solution capable of interfacing with existing state-owned assets including a document creation system, scanner, and output management system. The vendor must provide a minimum of three high-speed color inkjet printers achieving cumulative speeds of 936 images per minute (with 95 percent anticipated to be tabloid or larger format) and a minimum of ten monochrome printers to accommodate current monthly volumes of approximately 8.1 million impressions and anticipated growth of 20-30 percent over the next 24 months. Key deliverables include installation, training, preventive maintenance, and repair services with a four-hour response time requirement, while the vendor must maintain 95 percent machine operability with a 10 percent cost reduction for months when operability falls below 90 percent. Evaluation criteria consist of technical requirements (4,500 points), commitment to diversity (900 points), and price (900 points), with proposals scoring minimum combined technical and diversity points of 4,320 required for price evaluation. Critical dates include a non-mandatory pre-submission conference on February 2, 2026, a mandatory site visit on February 5, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at 5010 Industrial Avenue in Springfield, questions due by February 9, 2026, and proposals due March 5, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Central Time, with an estimated award date of March 24, 2026, and contract start in late April 2026.

The procurement carries an initial contract term of 60 months with two optional 12-month renewal periods, not to exceed 10 years total. No small business set-aside applies to this procurement; however, a 2 percent Business Enterprise Program (BEP) goal for women, minority, and disabled-owned businesses is required with mandatory good faith effort documentation, and a Commitment to Diversity evaluation factor comprising six scoring categories (BEP goal compliance, subcontracting with diverse businesses, diversity spending, diversity time investment, diversity policies, and staffing diversity) constitutes 20 percent of the technical score. Vendors must register with the Illinois State Board of Elections unless classified as a not-for-profit entity, complete the required Vendor Disclosure Form if not currently registered in the Illinois Procurement Gateway, and submit Standard Illinois Certifications and the Information and Technology RFP Offer form. The current environment includes existing Xerox equipment experiencing 130 percent overages against allocation, with monthly printing demand escalating from 430,000 impressions in February 2023 to over 8 million impressions by February 2024, indicating significant operational stress on existing infrastructure. The vendor is responsible for all installation, removal of equipment at contract end at no cost to the State, and is not compensated for travel expenses. Pricing must be submitted through BidBuy with specific line items for the color printing system, monochrome printing system, and separate overage pricing for both systems, with renewal pricing calculated at the same rate as the initial term unless otherwise specified, though no specific budget range or award value is disclosed in the solicitation documents.