COUNTY OF CASS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL POSTAGE MACHINE/MAILING SYSTEM AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES

Transcription

1 COUNTY OF CASS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL POSTAGE MACHINE/MAILING SYSTEM AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES January 10, 2017 For more information, contact: Karen Folks County Administrator 120 N. Broadway, Suite 116 Cassopolis, Michigan (269) phone (269) fax 1

2 COUNTY OF CASS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO PROVIDE A POSTAGE MACHINE/MAILING SYSTEM AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES I. INTRODUCTION The County of Cass is located in southwest lower Michigan with a population of 51,104. County facilities are located in the Village of Cassopolis. Cass County government consists of several departments which provide various services to the residents of the County. These departments include: Administrator/Controller, Animal Shelter, Board of Commissioners, Central Dispatch, Circuit Court, Clerk/Register of Deeds, District Court, Drain Commissioner, Friend of the Court, Information Systems, Maintenance, MSU Extension, Planning, Probate/Family Court, Prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff, Treasurer and Veterans Affairs. The County is currently using an outside vendor to provide mailing services at all locations of the Cass County government. Currently, all letter sized pieces of mail are picked up from the following four locations in Cassopolis, MI: 1. County Administration Building 120 North Broadway 2. Law & Courts Building North M Animal Control 323 North M Sheriff s Department 321 North M-62 Attached you will find a summary of the most recent 12 months of mail volume for each of the four locations listed above. Today, Cass County is interested in either purchasing or leasing one (1) postage machine/mailing system for the County Administration Building with the potential of purchasing or leasing as many as an additional two (2) postage machines/mailing systems in the future. 2

3 II. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES All vendors are required to conform to the guidelines set forth in this section. The County of Cass reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive any informality in the proposals, and to select those proposals, or portions of individual proposals that are deemed to be in the best interests of the County as solely determined by the County through its Administrator. A. Proposals To be considered, each vendor must submit a COMPLETE proposal to this RFP. The Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposal must include a statement as to the period during which all costs, pricing, timelines, warranties, scope of training, service agreements terms, and other relevant components of the proposal remain valid. The time period stated by the vendor must be for a minimum of one hundred eighty (180) days from the due date for responses to this RFP. All Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposals submitted and opened, become the property of the County of Cass and are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. B. Deadline for Proposals The Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposal must be submitted by 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 24, 2017, in a sealed envelope labeled as follows: Proposal for Postage Machine/Mailing System and mailed to the following address: Ms. Karen Folks County Administrator County of Cass 120 N. Broadway, Suite 116 Cassopolis, Michigan A vendor may personally hand deliver their responsive proposal to the individual identified above at said address. C. Preparation Each Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposal should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the vendor s ability to meet the requirements of the RFP. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. The vendor is responsible for any costs incurred by the vendor in responding to this RFP. 3

4 D. Questions A pre-proposal meeting will not be scheduled. Questions concerning this RFP are to be submitted, in writing, or fax not later than 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 19, 2017 to: Ms. Karen Folks Cass County Administrator/Controller 120 N. Broadway, Suite 116 Cassopolis, Michigan KarenF@cassco.org (269) fax The County will not respond to telephone inquiries or visitation by vendors or their representatives. All questions are to be put in writing and the County will respond in writing to all interested parities who have been notified of this RFP. E. Clarifications If it is determined that a vendor s Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposal is unclear or other supportive information is deemed helpful or necessary, in the sole discretion of the County, the County may request that a vendor send clarification or additional information to assist the County in properly evaluating one or more proposals. The County will place in writing the clarification being requested and forward to the vendor(s). This process does not allow for changes, rather it is to simply clarify the Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposal submitted. F. Oral Presentation Bidders who submit Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposals may be required to make oral presentations of their proposals by telephone, in person or other, to the County. The County will schedule these presentations, if required. In addition to the oral presentations, software demonstrations may also be scheduled. All vendors agree to provide such demonstrations at no cost to the County. G. Cost Quotation The County requires that Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposals include firm price quotes for all equipment, software, training, maintenance/licensing agreements, implementation/installation services, software modifications, if any, and for any other component piece of equipment or related application required to satisfy the conditions of this RFP. Include any other fees that may be associated with each unit recommended. H. Forms and Contracts Any forms, acknowledgements, agreements, contracts, or other documents that the vendor proposes to include as part of any transaction regarding or resulting from this Postage 4

5 Machine/Mailing System Proposal between the vendor and the County must be submitted as part of the proposal. Any forms and contracts not submitted as part of this proposal and subsequently presented for inclusion may be rejected. This requirement includes, but is not limited to, licensing/purchase agreements, service agreements, maintenance support agreements, and software support agreements. The County will negotiate any and all contracts/agreements and prices/fees with the finalist vendor, if doing so is determined in the best interest of the County. I. Upgrades Any costs for upgrades being proposed to the equipment or necessary for optimal efficiency, quality or otherwise shall not be a charge to the County. Those specific costs that are quoted in the Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposal or those that are negotiated by Cass County are the only fees that will be considered. J. Training Training proposed should be quoted in contemplation of providing such training to all appropriate County personnel. The scope and sufficiency of training shall result in County personnel being able to fully and knowledgeably use all applications of the Postage Machine/Mailing System on an on-going basis. This training will be based upon hands-on demonstrations and teaching to ensure a working knowledge and ability to operate and troubleshoot expected challenges. 5

6 III. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: INFORMATION REQUIRED General Instructions. Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposals are to be submitted in the format outlined below. There should be no attachments, enclosures, or exhibits other than those requested by this RFP or considered by the vendor to be essential to a complete understanding of the proposal submitted. Each section of the proposal should be clearly identified with appropriate headings. Responses to this RFP will be evaluated based upon the quality of the equipment proposed, vendors current ability to provide the highest level of support services that meets the goals, needs and requirements of the RFP, cost and economical considerations understood to provide the best value to Cass County. A. PROVIDE BUSINESS ORGANIZATION/CONTACT INFORMATION State the full name and address of your organization and, if applicable, the nearest branch office that will perform any element of the resulting transaction, including support services. Indicate the number of years in business, whether the business operates as an individual, partnership, or corporation; if as a corporation, include the state in which it is incorporated. If appropriate, state whether the organization is licensed to operate in the State of Michigan. Please include your business letterhead. B. PROVIDE QUALIFICATIONS & CAPABILITY OF VENDOR 1. Ability - The ability of the vendor to meet the terms of the requested provision of equipment and services. Vendor s ability to provide a high quality installation and support services to Cass County. 2. Assigned Personnel - Consideration will be given to the qualifications of vendor s staff that will be assigned to the project for installation, training and continued support services. Please list all names and titles of staff that will be working with Cass County for the initial set up, training, on-going support needs and any other services that will or could be provided to Cass County under a successful proposal. 3. References - Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposals submitted should include identification and contact information of a minimum of three (3) local government clients using the same or similar equipment and support services. Contact information shall include, at a minimum, the company name, full address, and phone number of the responsible official and the individual s title of the client organization who may be contacted. The local government clients must have been using the same or similar equipment (specifically identify equipment used) and support services for a minimum of two (2) years. 6

7 C. EQUIPMENT Identification and summary description of all equipment recommended for a Cass County Postage Machine/Mailing System. Additionally, provide all specifications as attachments to the Vendor s proposal for all Postage Machine/Mailing System equipment being recommended and proposed. D. TIMELINE Include a narrative summary and specific dates of the proposed timeline within which Vendor will successfully provide all equipment, installation, reach fully functional capacity, complete all training, including training or other orientation with support services. E. TRAINING Detailed summary of the scope and substance of all training provided. F. SUPPORT SERVICES Narrative summary of the full scope of the support services to be provided. Include scope of provision for on-site support, off-site support and timeliness of support requests. Please specify response time for action and problem resolution: G. WARRANTY 1. Customer service help line hours of operation, scope of service, procedure and process for problem identification and resolution and the timeline expected. Specify the maximum amount of time within which vendor will be on site to successfully repair or resolve problem from the time the County calls to report problem. Include whether or not you can access installed systems remotely to successfully perform diagnostics. 2. Location of all repair personnel in miles from Cass County s Administration building. 3. Detailed articulation of all services provided by Vendor s support services and customer services that would apply to Cass County under a successful proposal. Copies of all warranties applicable to the equipment and other applications being recommended by Vendor. All recommended Postage Machine/Mailing System proposals shall have identified warranty information and any associated costs (if any). H. PRICING Vendor shall provide detailed cost information on the Vendor s letterhead using a separate sheet for each recommendation. All vendor Postage Machine/Mailing System Proposals will have their pricing proposal reviewed in consideration of what may be the best value for the County. 7

8 Outline in detail the price of all equipment recommended for Cass County. This should include not only the vendor s Postage Machine/Mailing System recommendations but any add-ons such as other applications, software and other mechanical or electronic components. For each recommendation, set forth all related costs to 1. Purchase; and 2. Lease a Postage Machines/Mailing Systems using the attached Pricing Analysis Form or a similar but more detailed format on your company letterhead. One form should be used for each Postage Machine/Mailing System being recommended. Vendors may also submit price proposals for optional accessories and services. Please provide, at a minimum 1. Postage Machine/Mailing System cost including recommended options 2. Costs for all recommended optional accessories and services 3. Cost comparison to PURCHASE and to LEASE for each recommended item 4. Specify warranties [attach warranty language] 5. Specify training costs I. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The Postage Machine/Mailing System network and any other component or recommended accessory(s) shall meet or exceed the minimum industry standards by which the Postage Machine/Mailing System shall function and operate. J. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND COMMENTS Vendor may include or attach any other relevant information that is believed to be pertinent but not specifically asked for elsewhere within this RFP that would assist Cass County in its evaluation of Vendor s company and recommendations. 8

9 COUNTY OF CASS, MICHIGAN POSTAGE MACHINE/MAILING SYSTEM PRICING ANALYSIS FORM Total Proposal Cost Equipment Training Software (if any) Accessories Cost (if any) Support Fee (if any) Licenses (if any & terms) Warranty Cost (if any) Maintenance Fees (if any) Other (identify) The undersigned agrees to execute the work and provide all labor, materials, equipment and services/training necessary to complete the work described in and in accordance with all applicable laws of the State of Michigan. Signature: Printed: Title: Date: 9