Internet address(es):
Address of the buyer profile: http://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/CompanyInformation/Index/391
Electronic access to information: http://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_s.asp?PID=88478&B=ETENDERS_SIMPLE

Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from:The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Services

NUTS code

The notice involves the establishment of a framework agreement

Framework agreement with a single operator

Duration of the framework agreement
Duration in years: 3

Justification for a framework agreement, the duration of which exceeds four years: 

This contract is divided into lots:  no

An Post Pre-Qualification Questionnaire

INTRODUCTION:

An Post, established in 1984, operates the National Postal Service, along with an array of money transmission, savings and retail services throughout Ireland. In addition, An Post provides agency services for Government Departments and other bodies.

As a national service provider, An Post services over one million delivery addresses daily and in excess of 1.7 million customers each week through 1,161 retail Post Office outlets nationwide. An Post has an annual turnover in excess of €800 Million.

The An Post group includes a number of subsidiaries and associated companies including One Direct, Postpoint, An Post Billpost Processing Services Limited, Post Consult International Limited, PrintPost Limited, The Prize Bond Company Limited and An Post Direct Management Services Limited.

An Post administers products on behalf of the NTMA under the State Savings brand and processes payments electronically and manually on behalf of the Department of Social Protection.

An Post is seeking to enter into a Single Party Framework Agreement for a period of three (3) years with an option to extend for a further two (2) to meet its requirements for Document Storage, Retrieval & Destruction.

Interested parties should have demonstrated capability and experience in the specialist areas to meet the requirements and tight deadlines that are associated with these services/ requirements.

Where reference is made to any brand name or proprietary product or service this is for reference purposes only and should be interpreted to be accompanied by the words, “or equivalent”.

Any volumes contained in this notice are indicative only and An Post reserves the right to change volumes in accordance with ongoing operational requirements.

A conflict of interest includes any factor such as the supply of similar services to clients or relationship which could affect the ability of your organisation, its agents, employees or subcontractors to deliver the work as specified whether arising through personal interest, current or prospective contractual obligations or any other activity or association.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

All potential applicants MUST complete all questions and provide all the requested Information to participate in this pre-qualification process. Applicants must comply with all rules following each question in order to qualify for participation in this tendering opportunity.

An Post Contact Information

Contracting Entity: An Post

Contracting Entity Address: GPO, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1

Contact Name: Noelle Kenneally

Contact Address (if different from Contracting Authority):

Procurement,

4B

GPO

O’Connell Street, Dublin 1

Contact Telephone No: 01 7058551

Contact Email Address: All communications must be submitted via e-tenders

Time and date for return of Questionnaire:

Time and Date: 22nd June - at 12.00 noon (Irish Time)

Deadline for receipt of queries relating to this Questionnaire

Time and Date: 29th May - at 12.00 noon (Irish Time)

PLEASE NOTE:

Failure to provide all the requested information as outlined in each question may disqualify you from this process and in some cases will disqualify your response.

All answers to be provided on line via the etenders system. Where support documentation is requested, it must be submitted with the fully completed questionnaire via etenders only by the date and time indicated in this questionnaire.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS:

An Post Retail Directorate requires the secure storage, retention and destruction of various An Post Financial Papers, Money Transmissions Documents and Post Office Transaction Receipts.

The inflow of these secure storage items will be mainly centred on the dispatch of weekly pouches from approx 1200 Post Offices across Ireland each week. These pouches will contain a variety of data sensitive documents ranging from signed Department of Social Protection payment receipts to Encashed Postal Money Orders & Warrants.

The successful supplier will be responsible for the secure storage of An Post pouches, which will be required to be retained for a minimum of 6 years from the date of issuance by the Post Office and in some circumstances may be required to be retained for 10 years.

In addition to this the successful supplier will also be responsible for storing pouches, documentation and boxes sent from HQ for indefinite periods of time.

The successful supplier will be responsible for the assignment of defined retention periods and destruction dates, via an integrated system, to boxes and pouches on arrival and the subsequent secure destruction of An Post documentation by a qualified and certified provider.

The successful supplier will be responsible for the secure destruction of An Post confidential papers once the retention periods of each item have been reached. Destruction reports must be produced and signed off by An Post on a monthly basis and a destruction certificate must be maintained to confirm each destruction event. All destruction processes must be in line with An Post’s corporate social responsibility guidelines and must be completed in an environmentally friendly way.

The successful supplier will be required to provide an integrated I.T. solution to fit with An Post Document Archive Management System Software (DAMS). The Document Archive Management System is an oracle database that it is used to hold an inventory of all boxes and pouches sent to the supplier, and to reconcile receipt of boxes and pouches by the supplier, with the list maintained by An Post. It is also used to request documents from the supplier and to record the production of these documents. Orders for the retrieval of documents are created as electronic files on DAMS. The supplier must be able to process these orders electronically. An Post will require the supplier to provide a full daily list of events carried out i.e. receipt of pouches/boxes, modification of the description of boxes/pouches, destruction of boxes/pouches and processing of requests for documents from the supplier, which must be capable to being loaded to the Document Archive Management System. Pouches and boxes sent by An Post to the supplier will be barcoded and the boxes/pouches are indexed on DAMS by these barcodes. An Post will also require a full audit history on all documentation held by the provider (i.e. the names of users who have accessed boxes for retrieval, the transport history etc)

ANY VOLUMES QUOTED FOR ALL THE ABOVE ARE APPROXIMATE AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO UPWARD OR DOWNWARD REVISION IN LINE WITH REQUIREMENTS.

Potential suppliers must demonstrate that they have required flexibility, capacity, competencies and suitable resources available to meet requirements.

PLEASE NOTE: RESPONSES SHOULD BE AS ACCURATE AND CONCISE AS POSSIBLE.

AN POST RESERVES THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW FROM THE TENDER PROCESS AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT ANY LIABILITY.

Potential suppliers will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

1. Overall relevant company strength, capability and specialisation.

(10% weighting)

2. Overall demonstrated capability in this field as witnessed by providing examples of 3 current/recent client contracts covering relevant services, and scope similar to lot being applied for. (40% weighting)

3. Manpower, skills and organisation (30% weighting )

4. Relevant Industry, Quality, and Environmental Accreditation, Processes and controls. (10% weighting)

5. Health & Safety (10% Weighting) - Please note this is a pass/fail question.

QUESTIONS:

PLEASE READ EACH QUESTION CAREFULLY AND REPLY AS REQUESTED

1. (A) Describe the company structure

(B) Provide Ownership Details and details of operational locations

(C)Provide information annual Sales Turnover & Profitability for previous 3 financial years (2012, 2013 and 2014).

o Rule: must demonstrate turnover of €500,000 and operation with a profit in one of the last three years.

(D) Degree of specialisation in the relevant fields of this PQQ.

o Rule: must demonstrate operation within the subject matter being applied for.

(E) An Post will require all participants invited to tender to hold the following minimum levels of insurance during the life-time of any contract awarded for these services; €13m Employers Liability and €6.5m Public & Product Liability and €5m Professional Indemnity

Insurance.

(F) Do you currently have insurance cover meeting these levels?

Minimum Levels of Insurance Please indicate Yes/No

Employers Liability: 13m

Public & Product Liability: €6.5m

Professional

Indemnity: €5m

Please note that shortlisted suppliers invited to tender stage of the process will be required to submit current insurance certificate confirming these levels. Failure to provide a valid insurance certificate may disqualify you from this process.

(G) If you have indicated ‘no’ to all or any of the minimum insurance levels outlined above, would you be willing to secure this level of insurance if awarded a contract to provide these services to An Post at your own expense and with no charge to An Post?

Yes / No

2. Please provide 3 of your most relevant examples of current clients when you are responding to below.

Rule: Must demonstrate 3 previous relevant contracts, one of which must have been with a large complex organisation of the scale of An Post.

(i) Client name

(ii) Scope and brief description of relevant services provided (please provide details relating to each LOT

(iii) Approx. value of contract

(iv) Term of contract (start/end dates)

(v) What aspects you directly provided and what was subcontracted

(vi) Reference details: Company Name, Contact Name, Position Held and Contact Number and Email.

(vii) How this contract is comparable with our requirements.

3. Based on the requirements please provide detail of the following:

Rule: Must demonstrate access to appropriate skills sets whether in-house or via sub-contractors.

(A) Relevant resource numbers, technical skills and number of years experience of resources proposed.

Please provide:

• Total number of employees;

• Overview of organisational structure.

• Relevant skills and numbers of personnel available under each skill set this should include management, account management and technical skills.

• Average number of years with organisation for each skill set.

(B) Please provide details of the following:

1. Customer service and quality control procedures

2. Reporting structures

(C) If subcontracting all or part area’s please provide specific details – please provide information on skills as requested above and the exact proposed role of any sub-contractor.

4. (A) Please provide information on any quality assurance systems in place, whether 3rd party certified or in-house and how these are applied to contracts of this nature.

Rule: must demonstrate quality systems are operational, however they do not have to be 3rd party certified, good in-house systems are a minimum.

(B) Please provide information on environmental policies, if any.

Rule: no rule applies.

5. (A) Do you have a Safety Statement?

Pass/ Fail Question

Please be aware, you will be scored on the key assessment areas for Safety outlined below;

• Safety Statement must be current and up to date (Incl. Company safety policy must be current, signed and dated).

• Safety Statement must identify hazards and associated Risks relevant to the work activity being carried out

• All relevant legislation must be identified

• Safety Statement references how safety and health of employees is managed

• Plans and procedures for emergencies or serious danger is outlined

• Statement references names and or job titles of people responsible for safety and health

• Reviewed in the last 12 months

• Safety Management System details provided

RESPONSE:

(Yes/No)

Rule: You must provide a copy of this Statement with your response for assessment. Failure to comply with this requirement will disqualify you from this process. Please provide a list of any applicable standard operating procedures within your company’s health and safety system.

Rule: Failure to score on any of the key assessment areas above will eliminate you from further assessment in this PQQ

(B) Do you have a Safety Management System?

RESPONSE:

(Yes/No)

(C) Is your system a recognised accredited system?

RESPONSE:

(Yes/No)

Rule: You must respond to all Questions A – C above. If your system is a recognised accredited system, you must provide a copy of your current Certificate with your response for assessment.

Options: no

This contract is subject to renewal: no

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no

Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: no

Negotiated

Some candidates have already been selected (if appropriate under certain types of negotiated procedures):  no

An electronic auction will be used: no

Payable documents: no

EN

This is a recurrent procurement: no

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no