NOT A BIDDING OPPORTUNITY DHS Emergency Notice Mailroom Equipment

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Office of Business Services, is procuring two Bell & Howell Producer 400 EVO intelligent mail inserters through an emergency purchase statement rather than a competitive bidding process. This emergency procurement is designated to prevent serious disruption to critical state services, specifically the Mail Processing Unit (MPU), which currently processes approximately 24 to 27 million pieces of mail annually for up to 10 state agencies. The MPU is responsible for distributing notices generated by the State's Integrated Eligibility System in support of state and federal programs, with federal mailing requirements recently doubled in frequency. The existing four Bell & Howell 400TM inserters, which process a maximum of 20,000 single-sheet notices per hour with combined capacity of 80,000 per hour, are insufficient to meet the projected demand increase. The two new 400EVO inserters, capable of 25,000 notices per hour each, will increase total capacity by over 60 percent to 130,000 notices per hour, enabling processing of 300,000 additional notices per six-hour shift. The project timeline extends from April 1, 2026 through June 29, 2026, with the due date for this notice listed as June 29, 2026. This is not a competitive bidding opportunity; rather, it is an emergency notice to notify the public of the procurement decision.

Bell & Howell Group Holdings LLC, located at 3791 S. Alston Avenue, Durham, North Carolina 27713, has been selected as the sole vendor for this emergency purchase, making this procurement restricted to this specific incumbent vendor. The vendor was selected based on compatibility with the existing proprietary Bell & Howell equipment fleet, availability of machines for immediate delivery, and the presence of an existing on-site maintenance contract through a Resident-Technician arrangement, which eliminates the typical six-month international manufacturing and transportation lead time. The total expenditure for this emergency purchase is $1,560,000 in state appropriated funds, representing a direct purchase that is $98,761 lower than comparable cooperative pricing available through Naspo ValuePoint, resulting in nearly $200,000 in total savings for the state. The emergency purchase was approved on March 25, 2026 by Jean Sandstrom, Agency Procurement Officer, following the determination that no existing state contract met the agency's needs due to pricing and delivery timeline constraints. No set-asides or restrictions on organization types are applicable to this emergency procurement, as the procurement is limited to the sole qualified vendor with compatible infrastructure and technology.