Inactive

Please note, in accordance with 31 U.S.C. §5136, no provisions of law governing procurement or public contracts are applicable to the procurement of goods or services necessary for carrying out the Un... Please note, in accordance with 31 U.S.C. §5136, no provisions of law governing procurement or public contracts are applicable to the procurement of goods or services necessary for carrying out the United States Mint programs and operations The United States Mint is issuing this sources sought notice as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support this requirement. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, request for proposal or quotations, nor, a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. The purpose of this Sources Sought is to seek sources, to promote competition in future acquisitions. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this Notice. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding parties' expense. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential contained within their response. The U.S. Government will neither be liable for nor suffer any consequential damages resulting from any commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential not properly marked and clearly identified. Information received in response to this Notice will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable statutes. Requirements The requirements below are ranked in order of importance. The vendor’s development efforts are expected to result in a part design that meets all of the listed requirements and can be mass produced in quantities exceeding hundreds of thousands of units. The label shall hold the cap and tube together After successful automatic or manual application of the label, handling of the finished goods shall not result in the cap becoming unseated from the tube. For the purposes of testing, handling is defined as dropping the finished goods from a height of five feet or less. The Mint may test this requirement by performing drop tests of finished goods and individual cap/tube assemblies. Drop tests, when performed, will include a drop from approximately five feet onto a hard surface (such as concrete). Drop tests when performed may not necessarily be a flat drop. The dropped unit may be tumbling and may land on any face, edge or corner. Meeting this requirement will require success on 99 out of 100 tested sub-assemblies. Failure is considered a seal breaking i.e. appearing to have been opened. The label shall be usable once and only once. The label must be torn, cut or otherwise broken to open the container and remove the product. After successful automatic or manual application of the label, attempted removal shall cause the label to fail and be unusable. The contractor is responsible for disclosing any instructions or conditions for pressure, cure time or other factors that must be met to successfully meet this requirement The Mint may test the durability and reusability related to this requirement by evaluating the condition of the label after artificial aging in a humidity chamber. The Mint may test this requirement by attempting to remove the label through mechanical means, such as using a fingernail or razor blade to separate the label from the cap and tube, both before and after artificial aging. Meeting this requirement will require success on 99 out of 100 tests. Failure is considered being able to successfully remove a label and reuse it on another cap and tube assembly. The label shall be capable of being automatically applied using a Herma label applicator Rate of application shall meet or exceed 120 labels per minute. The label must employ an identifying characteristic that cannot be readily duplicated. Identifying characteristics may be overt, covert or both. The label may include “security” features Features developed by the vendor shall not be proprietary. Features developed by the vendor shall be “portable” to allow the Mint to use the vendor’s development efforts in the procurement of parts from another vendor with similar production capability. The vendor shall develop, and deploy as per instruction of the Mint, features that make the label difficult to be reproduced without the specific direction and instruction of the Mint The vendor shall develop, and deploy as per instruction of the Mint, features that make authentic labels detectable. The label is expected to match existing shape and size The vendor may Use other materials to approximate the weight and size of a 20 ounce stack of coins Limit their development efforts to the intent for the label to integrate with the AE Silver cap and tube. Request equipment (label applicators and related) specifications as part of the requirements gathering process Note The Mint uses automatic equipment to load bullion boxes. The current configuration results in all labeled tubes showing the label parallel to the long edge of the box. The vendor shall use previously produced parts, and information supplied by the Mint as well as its requirements gathering process to design physical objects that meet the needs of the Mint. This effort may include modification of existing designs to add features to improve part durability or part performance. The design of the finished product shall allow the Mint to integrate the seal with a plastic bullion cap and tube using automated equipment. The design of the part is not intended to require changes to other existing parts. The design of the part is not intended to require significant changes to existing assembly and production processes. The vendor shall use artwork supplied by the Mint as well as its own design efforts to create the final artwork for the label that addresses the requirement listed above. Submissions - Responses to this Notice shall include the following: a. General: 1. Company Name 2. Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code 3. Point of Contact (POC) for both technical and non-technical questions along with their contact information. b. Specific Capability and Technical/Product Information: A discussion of the company's capability to supply anti tamper labels that meet the requirements specified above. Technical/Product information (e.g. literature, documentation, etc.) for each type of label for which the company is capable of supplying including on information on where the product will be manufactured. c. Customer list: A reference list of customers currently using the type of label material for which the company is capable of supplying. The point of contact for this Notice is: Lourdes Irizarry Lead Contracting Officer – Packaging Team Lead United States Mint – Financial Department Office of Procurement Management and Operations Branch 801 9th St, NW Washington, DC 20220 P 202-354-7598 E-Mail: Lourdes.Irizarry@usmint.treas.gov Brief responses to this Notice shall be sent via email to the point of contact listed above by no later than 6:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, Dicember 6, 2021. This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort. Any organization responding to this Notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The USM will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this notice. Responses to the notice will not be returned. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. If so, respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and identifying such information within their response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).