Passport Printers, associated consumables and technical services

The Passport Services Directorate of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA/PPT) is responsible for issuing passports to eligible citizens and nationals who apply for them nationwide. As such, CA/PPT manages a system of 27 domestic passport issuance locations and 2 print centers located in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Connecticut, El Paso, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, Special Issuance Agency (Washington), New York, New Orleans, Houston, Honolulu, San Diego, San Juan, Vermont San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas. Detroit, Minneapolis and Colorado as well as large passport production and print centers in Portsmouth NH, Charleston SC, Hot Springs AK, and Tucson AZ. In Fiscal Year 2016, these agencies and production centers are expected to issue over 14 million passports and over 17 million in fiscal year 2017. In addition to routine passport requests, all agencies and production centers must be able to issue expedited passports and emergency, same day issuance of passports. The passport business is highly seasonal with increased requirements during the peak season, which usually begins in January and continues through the early fall. Particularly during the peak season, the passport book printers are used for extended operational periods to include weekend hours. The printers are the key element of passport production and must remain operational at a high level of performance to satisfy the increasing demand for passports. These printers require differing levels of support and maintenance that will continue as long as they are in operation. In 2006, DHS announced requirements for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) in compliance with the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. WHTI requirements mandated a passport for the return of U.S. citizens and nationals into the United States from Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean nations. Public concern for these requirements resulted in the largest increase in demand for passports in history, with 19 million passports issued in 2007. In 2017 the majority of these passports will expire, and the issuance of new ones will be needed. DoS must be able to sustain timely and uninterrupted issuance of passports during the anticipated period of exploding growth in passport demand that will occur during the contract period. Hence, DoS must be able to rely on the timely and uninterrupted delivery of printer consumable materials, spare parts, and printers, and provision of technical support and maintenance services during the contract period. All provided materials and maintenance services must be identical to those currently used and must have been demonstrated to work successfully and compatibly with DoS' existing fleet of 603 MP300US printers. To meet the increasing demand for passports, DoS is currently engaged in a transition to newer and more secure and efficient printers. While this contract will not require the actual preparation for the transition of the new printers, it will provide a mainstay of maintenance services of the remaining MP300US printers during the period of time it will take to fully transition to new printers. The current effort must be extended to ensure there is no interruption to Passport Services' ability to produce passport books for their customers, and to ensure there is a proper support mechanism in place to support the existing printers during the transition to a new system. This transition is expected to be rolled out in phases and last for multiple years. MorphoTrust (TDT) is the only known contractor with the demonstrated specialized experience, expertise, trained personnel, and the security clearances required to provide the services during the requisite time frame as they own the proprietary right to these specific printers and only their technicians are certified and authorized to work on their machines. To meet the Task Order objective, the Contractor must not have a service gap and maintain their current course of action. The Contractor must also have demonstrated an ability to manage and deliver work products to CA/CST and PPT quality expectations. Contracted services include project management, maintenance of machines, staffing of technicians to work in two shifts, and limited travel. Project Management Services requirements include: - Management of the infrastructure, including network components, hardware, and software. - Cost and schedule monitoring and reporting Legacy Printer Maintenance requirements include: - Preventative Maintenance - Routine Maintenance - Emergency Maintenance - Procurement and Storage of Replacement Parts - Service Technicians (3 Shift Teams and some weekend support to support Passport SURGE of approximately 20 million passports)