USPS Request for Information (RFI) - 3A-22-A-0093 - Mixed Mail Sorter Background The United States Postal Service (Postal Service) issues this Request for Information (RFI) for the purpose of conducting and obtaining market information regarding a commercially available Mixed Mail Sorter (MMS) to expand its sortation capability of letter and flat mail that has flowed down to the Delivery Unit environment. The solution is expected to replace the manual sortation of letter and flat mail at our Delivery units into a single stream of sorted mail. Requirements The technical requirements and objectives of the Mixed Mail Sorter (MMS) system are described in the attached Statement of Objectives (SOO), “Mixed Mail Sorter,” dated August 26, 2022 ( NOTE: The SOO has been updated from the original version dated July 26, 2022 to change to Section 3.1, Mail Characteristics, Height Maximum). Suppliers should read the SOO document for an understanding of the technical scope and the information the USPS seeks in responses to this RFI. Responding to this RFI Interested suppliers responding to this RFI should provide information that addresses the information requested as described in the SOO. Additionally, the supplier is encouraged to include alternative solution(s) that they feel meets or exceeds the requirements of the SOO. Interested suppliers must provide a response as outlined in the “Response Schedule and Content” section below. Being included on the Interested Vendors List solely will not be considered a response to the RFI. Proprietary Information Proprietary information, if any, should be kept to a minimum and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. Please be advised that all submissions become USPS property and will not be returned. If the response contains any information or data deemed to be confidential in nature, such information or data must be clearly marked as such as outlined below. The Postal Service does not intend to share any information outside of the Postal Service. Interested parties that include in their response to this RFI data they do not want used or disclosed by the Postal Service for any purpose other than market survey may take the following steps: Include on the front page or in the introductory material of their response the following: "This response includes data that may not be duplicated, used, or disclosed outside the Postal Service - in whole or in part - for any purpose other than to perform market survey. If, however, a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of - or in connection with - the submission of such data under a response to a Request for Proposal, the Postal Service will have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Postal Service's right to use information contained in the data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets (Offeror insert numbers or other identification of sheets)." Mark each sheet of data they wish to restrict with the following legend: "Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this response." Response Schedule and Content Suppliers who have available products that meets the Mixed Mail Sorter objectives are requested to submit their proposals via email in Microsoft Word (.docx) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Any questions pertaining to this RFI should be directed to both Tammi Robinson-Minor at
[email protected] and Andrew Hopkins at
[email protected] no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on August 26, 2022. All questions will be consolidated and the Postal Service’s responses will be provided as an amendment to this announcement. Written submissions in response to this RFI must be provided via email to both Tammi Robinson-Minor at
[email protected] and Andrew Hopkins at
[email protected] no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on September 23, 2022. ( NOTE: The due date for supplier written submissions in response to the RFI has changed from September 9, 2022 to September 23, 2022) All submissions become the property of the Postal Service and will not be returned. This RFI does not commit the Postal Service in any way to make any award, to test or purchase any equipment, or to pay for the information requested resulting from this publication and notice. The Postal Service will use the information received in response to this RFI/market research (1) to evaluate internal business cases, and (2) to determine the viability of future procurement opportunities. Only the Postal Service will use the information submitted under this request internally and will not be disclosed publicly unless the Postal Service determines the information is already in the public domain or is otherwise required by law. Applicable Solicitation Provision The following standard USPS solicitation provision applies: Provision A-2: Solicitation for Information or Planning Purposes (March 2006) a. The Postal Service does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to pay for the information solicited. b. This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: gathering information to assess market availability of a mixed mail sorter. AMENDMENT 08/19/2022 : 1) Extended date for supplier submission of questions from 5:00 PM ET on August 17, 2022 to 5:00 PM ET on August 26, 2022 AMENDMENT 08/30/2022 : 1) Provided a revised Statement of Objectives (SOO), “Mixed Mail Sorter,” dated August 26, 2022 with change to Section 3.1, Mail Characteristics, Height Maximum 2) Provided the U.S. Postal Service’s responses to Suppliers’ RFI questions AMENDMENT 08/31/2022 : 1) Extended the due date for supplier written submissions in response to the RFI from 5:00 PM ET on September 9, 2022 to 5:00 PM ET on September 23, 2022