SAM #PCA-ORS-06281

Six-Month Bridge Contract for NIH Mail Services (Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg)

This opportunity is for a six-month bridge contract to provide daily mail handling, sorting, and delivery services for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Mail Management Services. - NIH requires uninterrupted mail services across approximately 110 buildings and 1,200 mail stops in Bethesda, Rockville, and nearby locations. - Services include daily mail pick-up, sorting, delivery, and dispatch to USPS and UPS. - The incumbent contractor, NT Bankers, is proposed for the extension to ensure continuity while a competitive procurement is completed. - Estimated contract value is $575,000 for six months, with monthly costs around $95,000. - The contract is essential for NIH's administrative, research, and patient care operations. - No specific mail equipment or OEMs are mentioned; the focus is on comprehensive mail service provision. - Place of performance includes NIH Bethesda campus, Rockville locations, and Gaithersburg, Maryland. - Unique requirements include extensive mail handling, sorting, and distribution across multiple NIH locations, emphasizing uninterrupted service and operational reliability.

Description

The Division of Mail Management Services (DMMS) provides complete mail services for the entire National Institutes of Health, which includes approximately 110 buildings on the Bethesda campus and other locations in nearby Bethesda and Rockville.  Within these buildings, there are 1,200 mail stops requiring pick-up and delivery of mail daily, Monday through Friday.  The processes involved in this project are receipt, sorting and delivering mail by truck from the central mail facility to all NIH locations in the Bethesda/Rockville area. Outgoing mail from NIH activities is processed by the DMMS and dispatched to the USPS and UPS, as appropriate.  This project will provide for continuous essential mail services for the NIH research community within the expected and required timeframes.

This service has been contracted out to various contractors for the last 25 years.  The contract is currently held by NT Bankers who are currently in an extension past the fourth option year of a Base year plus 4 option-year contract.   

NT Bankers has provided NIH mail services under Contract No. 75N98021C00002 for several years and is highly experienced in performing all requirements outlined in the Statement of Work (SOW). The contractor has consistently met performance expectations, delivering reliable and uninterrupted mail handling, sorting, and distribution in support of NIH administrative, research, and patient care operations.

The contractor has demonstrated responsiveness to Government direction, including implementing staffing efficiencies, reducing staff to support cost, and operational requirements, with no significant performance issues or corrective actions to date. This sustained performance reflects a stable, low-risk contractor with strong operational reliability and familiarity with NIH requirements.

A six-month follow-on contract with the incumbent represents the lowest risk option to ensure continuity of critical mail services while the follow-on competition is completed. Transitioning to a new vendor at this stage would introduce unnecessary disruption risk and potential delays to essential NIH operations.

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