70--3M AIT READERS

This is a sources sought notice, which constitutes the only solicitation; bids are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is 1045-747047 and is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). If your company can provide the product/services listed on the solicitation and comply with all of the solicitation instructions, please respond to this sources sought notice. To view the specifications, please go to www.FedBid.com and reference Buy No. 36004. NASA SEWP III Contract Bids Only: Sellers bidding on this opportunity MUST have the items requested on an existing NASA SEWP III contract. The Schedule must either be in the seller's name or the seller must be able to document its ability to act as an agent of a partner's Schedule. Sellers may offer Open Market items only in accordance with the approved Terms and Conditions of their respective NASA SEWP III contract AND upon approval from the soliciting Contracting officer. Information regarding NASA SEWP III contracts is available at . The FedBid system will automatically calculate SEWP fees to the seller bid. This is viewable on the seller's bid confirmation page prior to submittal. This requirement is unrestricted and only qualified sellers may submit bids. The solicitation pricing on www.FedBid.com will start on the date this solicitation is posted and will end on 2006-12-28 13:00:00.0 Eastern Time or as otherwise displayed at www.FedBid.com. FOB Destination shall be Sterling, VA 20166 The Department of State requires the following items, Exact Match Only, to the following: LI 001, 3M-AIT PAX OCR PASSPORT READER #: PV20-15-01-00, 200, EA; LI 002, SHIPPING, 1, LOT; For this solicitation, Department of State intends to conduct an online competitive reverse auction to be facilitated by the third-party reverse auction provider, FedBid, Inc. FedBid has developed an online, anonymous, browser based application to conduct the reverse auction. A Seller may submit a series of pricing bids, which descend in price during the specified period of time for the aforementioned reverse auction. Department of State is taking this action in an effort to improve both seller access and awareness of requests and the agency's ability to gather multiple, completed, real-time bids. All responsible Sellers that respond to this solicitation MUST submit the pricing portion of their bid using the online exchange located at www.FedBid.com. There is no cost to register, review procurement data or make a bid on www.FedBid.com. Sellers that are not currently registered to use www.FedBid.com should proceed to www.FedBid.com to complete their free registration. Sellers that require special considerations or assistance may contact the FedBid Helpdesk at 877-9FEDBID (+1 (555) 000-0000) or via email at contact@example.gov. Sellers may not artificially manipulate the price of a transaction on www.FedBid.com by any means. It is unacceptable to place bad faith bids, to use decoys in the www.FedBid.com process or to collude with the intent or effect of hampering the competitive www.FedBid.com process. Should Sellers require additional clarification, contact FedBid at 877-9FEDBID (+1 (555) 000-0000) or contact@example.gov. Use of FedBid: Buyers and Sellers agree to conduct this transaction through FedBid in compliance with the FedBid Terms of Use. Buyers and Sellers understand that FedBid ranks all bids by price; however, pursuant to applicable acquisition regulations and/or departmental guidelines, Buyers may use criteria other than price to evaluate offers. Accordingly, please note that, unless otherwise specified herein below, to the extent required by applicable regulations and/or guidelines, award will be made to the responsible Seller whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Buyer on the basis of price, technical capability, delivery, and past performance. Agencies may require registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) prior to receipt of order. Information can be found at www.ccr.gov ALL BOXES AND CONTAINERS MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED WITH THE REQUISITION REFERENCE NUMBER FOUND IN BLOCK 4, OF 347 ORDER FOR SUPPLIERS AND SERVICSE. SHIPPING DOCUMENTS WILL CELARLY LIST EACH ITEM AND THE QUANTITY SHIPPED AS CONTAINED WITHIN BOXES OR CONTAINERS. IF SINGLE LINE ITEMS HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED INTO MAJOR COMPONENT, SHIPPING DOCUMENTS MUST ACCOUNT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL ITEMS SHIPPED WITHIN THE MAJOR COMPONENT Agencies may require registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) prior to receipt of order. Information can be found at www.ccr.gov New equipment ONLY, NO remanufactured products, and NO "gray market" BIDS MUST BE VALID FOR 30 DAYS. NO EXCEPTIONS OR QUALIFICATIONS. NEW ONLY. NO REFURBISHED. NO RECONDITIONED ITEMS ARE ACCEPTABLE. This Justification and Approval (J&A) on a brand name only basis is for the use of the 3M-AIT Passport Reader. The use of a brand name description is essential to the Government's requirements, for Department of State infrastructure connectivity requirements, thereby precluding consideration of the products of another company. CA/CST requires the 3M-AIT Passport Readers to support Consular posts overseas. 3M-AIT Passport Readers have been deployed in all Consular Systems Modernization installations since the inception of the program. Additional units are primarily required at this time to replace any existing AIT PAX readers in need of maintenance, thus extending the life of the VISA Quality Assurance procedure. The reader was initially selected because the travel document production systems with which it is used required an accurate, reliable instrument to perform quality assurance checks on the OCR zones of visas and passports, thereby validating their machine readability. The reader enables Consulates to generate travel documents that will be accepted and accurately interpreted at any port of entry employing mechanized processing systems. This is of great importance since it eliminates or minimizes incidences of false interpretations of bearer identification data. Such - mis-reads can result in the refusal of entry or passage to qualified bearers, impede the processing flows at ports of entry, and otherwise embarrass the U.S. Government. The AIT reader was selected following a very lengthy market survey and evaluation process. It was found to be the only device of its type able to meet the Bureau's specifications. Features of the unit evaluated are as follows: -Reads International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and non-ICAO compliant documents -Performs quality assurance analysis -Multi-function magnetic stripe reader and OCR -Two RS-232 serial ports and one universal serial bus (USB) port -Remotely upgradeable software -Rugged, no-moving parts design Due to these factors, the QA modules of travel document production systems were designed around the AIT readers. The selection of any other type or make of reader may put the functionality of overseas visa, passport, and border crossing card systems at risk. Such measures will necessitate the re-engineering of all U.S. travel document issuance systems and will significantly increase the Government's costs. In summation, CA/CST believes that it is in the best interests of the Government to acquire the requested 3M-AIT Passport Readers without delay. The 41 USC 253(c)(1), and FAR 6.302-1 are cited at the statutory authority.As this is a brand name only justification, no one contractor's unique qualifications are cited as the basis for this justification. Rather, the products identified by brand name herein have been determined to be the only items that meet the Department's requirements as a key component of the Department's networking system. CA/CST has selected the 3M-AIT Passport Readers because results obtain by the Bureau's System Engineering Task Team in tests and reviews of other manufacturers scanners indicated that this scanner most closely met the DoS's processing, redundancy, and management requirements. The 3M-AIT Passport Reader has been evaluated and approved by the Bureau of Consular Affairs Configuration Control Board and has been added to the Consular HW Baseline. The server has undergone test and assessment and received final approval from the Department of State IT Configuration Control Board. Since this equipment is required to meet operational requirements by replenishing depleted inventory, CA/CST/CS must take physical possession of the readers soon as possible. Even if another manufacturer's equipment similar to the 3M-AIT Passport Readers in terms of specifications and functionality were to become available at this juncture, they could not be evaluated and baselined in time to ensure that they would be requisitioned, competed, obtained, and otherwise readied for use by September of this year.