**IMPORTANT NOTICE**

STRATEGIC SOURCING CONTRACT

  • Bid pricing must be completed online through Alameda CountyStrategic Sourcing Portal (Online Bid Process).
  • The following pages require signatures and must be scanned and uploaded to Alameda County Online Bid Process:
  1. Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet, Bidder Information and Acceptancepage
  2. Must be signed by Bidder
  3. Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet, SLEB Partnering Information Sheet
  4. Must be signed by Bidder
  5. Must be signed by SLEB Partner if subcontracting to a SLEB

Please read EXHIBIT A – Bid Response Packet carefully,INCOMPLETE BIDS WILL BE REJECTED. Alameda County will not accept submissions or documentation after the bid response due date. Successful uploading of a document does not equal acceptance of the document by Alameda County.

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION No. 900963

SPECIFICATIONS, TERMS & CONDITIONS

for

Office Supplies

For complete information regarding this project, seeRFQposted ator contact the County representative listed below. Thank you for your interest!
Contact Person:John Butchart, Procurement Contract Specialist
Phone Number: (510) 208-9602
E-mail Address:

RESPONSE DUE

by

2:00 p.m.

on

September 19, 2014

through

Alameda County, General Services Agency–Procurement & Support Services

Online Bid Process

Alameda County is committed to reducing environmental impacts across our entire supply chain.

If printing this document, please print only what you need, print double-sided, and use recycled-content paper.

Specifications, Terms & Conditions

For Office Supplies

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION No. 900963

SPECIFICATIONS, TERMS & CONDITIONS

for

Office Supplies

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I.STATEMENT OF WORK

A.INTENT

B.SCOPE

C.BACKGROUND

D.BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS

E.Specific Requirements

F.DELIVERABLES / REPORTS

II.CALENDAR OF EVENTS

G.NETWORKING / BIDDERS CONFERENCES

III.COUNTY PROCEDURES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS

H.CONTRACT EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

I.NOTICE OF RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD

J.TERM / TERMINATION / RENEWAL

K.BRAND NAMES AND APPROVED EQUIVALENTS

L.QUANTITIES

M.PRICING

N.AWARD

O.METHOD OF ORDERING

P.INVOICING

Q.COUNTY PROVISIONS

R.ACCOUNT MANAGER / SUPPORT STAFF

IV.INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

S.GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

T.COUNTY CONTACTS

U.SUBMITTAL OF BIDS

V.RESPONSE FORMAT

ATTACHMENTS

Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet

Exhibit B– Insurance Requirements

Exhibit C– RFQ Vendor Bid List

Exhibit D – Environmental Criteria

I.STATEMENT OF WORK

A.INTENT

It is the intent of these specifications, terms and conditions to describethe supply and next day delivery of office supplies required by the County.

The County intends to award a three-year contract (with option to renew) to the lowest responsible bidder(s) who meet(s) the requirements of these specifications, terms and conditions. It is the County’s intent to increase participation of certified Small Local Emerging Businesses (SLEB). In order to participate herein, a business must satisfy the locality requirements and be certified by the County as a small local or emerging local business.

It is the intent of these specifications, terms and conditions to procure the most environmentally preferable products with equivalent or higher performance and at equal or lower cost than traditional products. Specific requirements from the County’s Sustainability Program related to this Bid are included in the appropriate Bid sections.

B.SCOPE

This Request for Quotation (RFQ) contains office products that are purchased by all Alameda County departments. BIDDERS ARE REQUIRED TO BID ALL PRODUCTS LISTED IN THE ALAMEDA COUNTY ONLINE BID PROCESS. Additionally, the County is asking for pricing of products not specifically listed in Alameda County Online Bid Process. Generally excluded from this RFQ are durable goods such as furniture, typewriters, copiers, radios, sound systems, personal computers, copy paper and toner cartridges.

C.BACKGROUND

The County of Alameda has more than 9,000 employees in more than 21 agencies and departments located in approximately 169 leased and owned facilities.

Alameda County requires inside delivery of office supplies to an estimated 158 distinct street addresses. This estimate is based on ship to addresses used for office supply purchases during the year (7/01/2012-6/30/2013). One street address may have multiple delivery locations. The awarded contractor(s) shall invoice accurately and separately each of the 28 County Business Units and their departments. Some locations, such as the County Administration Building, require delivery personnel and their packages to pass through security inspections.

The County spent approximately $1,333,500 for fiscal year 2012 on Office Supplies, placing 33,500 orders for a quantity of 135,200 items and over 8,000 products. Actual dollar volume is not guaranteed and may be more or less.

Alameda County has a strong commitment to sustainability. The Board of Supervisors has passed numerous policies that promote purchasing practices that reduce the County’s environmental impact, including the Climate Action Plan (R-2010-170) and the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy (R-2011-108). As part of this commitment, Alameda County intends to partner with the selected vendor to identify and implement actions that will conserve natural resources, create markets for recycled content products, and reduce pollution, water use and greenhouse gas emissions related to the products and services provided as part of this contract.

D.BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS

  1. Bidder Minimum Qualifications
  1. Certified by the County as a SLEB by the bid submittal due date. All bidders must provide a SLEB information sheet with their response. This is page 9 in Exhibit A.
  1. Bidder shall be regularly and continuously engaged in the business of providing office supplies for at least two (2) years.
  1. Bidder shall be anoffice supplies manufacturer or dealer.
  1. Bidder shall possess all permits, licenses and professional credentials necessary to supply product and perform services as specified under this RFQ.

E.SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

1.Product Pricing

a.Bidder shall provide fixed pricing for the office supplies specified in the Alameda County Online Bid Process bid form. Prices will be fixed for three (3) years.

b.Off-contract products are those products without fixed contract pricing. Bidder shall provide a guaranteed minimum fixed discount off of the vendors catalog price for off contract items. This discount must be valid for the duration of any agreement, and will apply to any and all Office Supplies ordered from the vendor’s catalog(s) whether they be in print form or items available for ordering online. The primary objective is for each vendor to provide its entire catalog(s) of products so that County agencies may order a broad range of products as appropriate for their needs.

c.Contractor shall provide delivery within 24 business hours, or one (1) business day, after receipt of an order.

(1)Packing slips shall accompany all orders. Packing slips shall reference a purchase order, the name of the person who placed the order, the delivery address, a description of each item ordered, quantity ordered, quantity shipped, and quantity back ordered.

(2)Backorders shall be delivered within 72 business hours, or three (3) business days.

2. Environmentally Preferable Products / Service Plan: The County intends to partner with the Contractor to identify and promote the purchase of environmentally preferable products, also referred to as green products, and to identify opportunities to reduce the impact of office supply services, including but not limited to packaging, delivery, business operations and marketing.

a.The County will collaborate with the Contractor to define green product criteria, and identify products that meet those criteria. Exhibit E – Environmental Criteria provides a draft list of criteria that the Contractor may use to begin to define green products. The County reserves the right to make changes to these criteria, and welcomes Contractor input on these criteria.

b.The Contractor is required to clearly identify green products in the online and print catalogue and promote these products, with a preference for on-contract products, to County users.

c.At least annually, the Contractor shall review and identify new green products and shall seek review and approval by the County to add to green product offerings available to County users. Products marketed as green shall either meet the Environmental Criteria (Exhibit E, most recent draft), or shall have received written approval from the County.

d.The Contractor shall identify and propose environmentally preferable options for County specialty items, where feasible, for consideration by the County. Examples of specialty items that should be reviewed are County QIC envelopes, custom folders, and custom calendars.

e.Within the first sixty (60) days of the contract, and annually thereafter, the Contractor shall provide the County an environmental services plan that describes current and planned initiatives that seek to reduce the environmental impact of the contractor’s services and operations. Examples of such initiatives include, but are not limited to:

(1)Optimization of fleet efficiency through delivery route optimization, fuel efficiency, advanced technology, or other strategies;

(2)Reuse and/or minimization of delivery packaging;

(3)Business and facility initiatives such as energy or water efficient fixtures and operation, recycling or reuse of materials generated in normal business operations, transitioning to electronic business processes that reduce paper use;

(4)Supply chain initiatives that seek to encourage brand owners and manufacturers of the products Contractor supplies to provide more environmentally preferable products;

(5)Certifications or awards Contractor has received highlighting achievements in this area, such as Green Business Certification.

3.Contractor’s Office Supplies Catalog

Bidder(s) must provide at least one (1) copy of each of its own full line catalog(s) that include the full array of products offered with bid response. This catalog(s) should contain pictures of the items, catalog numbers, prices and brand names. Bidder(s) must also provide access to Bidder’s online website, if available, for County review.

a. Online Catalog for County Office Products

(1)A catalog shall be provided by the contractor for all contractproducts at no cost to the County. This catalog shall be customized to the County’scontract to show products awarded under this contract and clearly indicate green products. Pricing listed shall be the County’s contract pricing, and shall be the amount invoiced to departments ordering the contract products.

(2)The online catalog shall be updated as needed to reflect product and pricing changes.

(3) The County customized online catalog must be accessible and viewable by all County employees, but shall limit ordering to authorized individuals.

(4)The County customized online catalog must have a hard block feature, whereby individual products that are excluded from this contract may not be ordered. See Excluded Items (Hard Block), page 11,for a list of items excluded from this contract.

(5)The County customized online catalog must have a soft block feature, whereby green products are suggested as an equivalent alternative when a targeted product is selected by a user.

(6)The catalog must clearly identify green products. Green products are ones that meet environmental criteria such as post-consumer recycled content, energy efficiency, reduced toxicity, or reduced waste. See Exhibit E – Environmental Criteria for a list of environmental criteria as defined by the County.

(7)The contractor shall continually seek new green products that are equivalent in quality and cost to traditional products to add to the County’s contract catalog. General Services Agency (GSA)-Procurement & Support Services and Sustainability shall be notified on a quarterly basis of new environmentally preferable products that the contractor has added, or is planning to add, to the catalog.

(8)The contractor(s) shall obtain final, signed approval by the County for the online catalog. At the time of award a suitable and adequate timeline for the design and construction of the online catalog shall be established by the contractor and the County.

(9)The catalog shall include a search function that allows users to use key environmental criteria terms to search for products with those features (e.g., recycled notebook returns search results of notebooks with recycled content).

(10)The catalog search function shall prioritize general product search results by listing contracted items and green product alternatives before off-contract items. For example, a search for Notebook returns contracted notebooks and both on-and-off-contract environmentally preferable alternatives ahead of off-contract notebooks.

(11)To assure maximum accessibility and functionality to the online catalog, the County discourages the use of pop-up windows.

(12)Hard Copy Catalog for County Office Products

(a)The contractor shall provide a copy of their full-line hard copy catalog to departments upon request.

(b)When requested to provide a hard copy catalog, the contractor shall also provide a copy of their green products catalog, if available.

(c)All hard copy catalogs shall be printed double sided on a minimum of 10% post-consumer recycled content paper.

(d)Printed catalog revisions with updated pricing and new product offerings shall be made annually and distributed automatically to all users that have previously requested one.

(e)Care must be exercised to ensure that catalogs clearly identify the contract products, the package quantity, the ordering units, whether the product is green as defined in this bid, and the post-consumer recycled content percentage, if applicable.

(f)The contractor(s) shall obtain final, signed approval by the County for the hard copy catalog. At the time of award a suitable and adequate timeline for the design and construction of the hard copy catalog shall be established by the contractor and the County.

4.Ordering Process

  1. Contractor shall maintain a toll-free telephone (manned by a live-operator during normal business hours), internet and fax for order processing and customer service support.
  2. Individual department orders will be sent to the contractor, preferably, via electronic ordering system (internet) through the vendor’s website. In cases where electronic ordering is down or not possible contractor shall receive and process orders via telephone or fax.
  3. Contractor(s) shall supply the “brand” referenced in their response to the Alameda County Online Bid Process. No substitutions of Contract Products shall be allowed without written permission from the GSA -Procurement & Support Services Department. In the event that a required product is no longer available, a substitute product may be recommended. The contractor will provide a written notification from the manufacturer that the product is no longer available and suggest a suitable substitute. The County reserves the right to be the sole judge of what is equal and acceptable as a substitute and may require the contractor to provide additional information and/or samples of the substitute/replacement product at no cost to the County.
  4. Customized products are to be billed per order like any other product. Contractor shall be responsible for assigning permanent product codes to these products. These product codes will be referenced on packing slips, invoices, and usage reports. Custom products should be delivered within ten (10) working days from receipt of order.

e.Per mutual agreement of contractor and County, products may be added to or deleted from the contracted item list.

5.Excluded Items (Hard Block)

a.Contractor shall have the capability to restrict agencies or departments from ordering products that are excluded from this bid such as but not limited to:

(1)Paper for computer, fax and photocopy machines

(2)Computers

(3)Photocopy machines, scanners, and other imaging devices

(4)Janitorial supplies and equipment

(5)Over-the-counter drugs

(6)Cleaning Chemicals

(7)Microwaves

(8)Audio/Visual Equipment

(9)Sound Systems and radios

(10)Purchase and rental of furniture

(11)First aid kits and refill item for first aid kits

(12)Food

(13)Other products as determined by the County

b.Contractor shall provide information to ordering departments about the County’s policy on blocked items when they attempt to order blocked items.

c.The County reserves the right to amend the list of excluded products at any time.

6.Alternative Items (Soft Block)

a.Contractor(s) shall have the capability to suggest alternative products when a County user selects a product that has an equivalent green product available.

b.When ordering online, the alternative items shall be proposed automatically at the time users click on the item.

c.When ordering by phone, sales staff shall be knowledgeable about the County’s policy and about alternative green products to suggest to the user.

d.The contractor shall collaborate with the County to identify equivalent environmentally preferable products, both on and off contract, as described in Exhibit E – Environmental Criteria.

  1. Training

a.Contractor shall provide training and education to County users on green office products and other related topics, such as order consolidation to reduce emissions from delivery, packaging reduction strategies, or other programs offered by the Contractor.

b.Training and education strategies may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1)Producing education materials including flyers, posters, or email announcements

(2)Providing environmentally preferable product samples to end users to test

(3)Participating in events, such as the tabling at the County’s Employee Health Fair or other outreach events (limited to no more than four (4) times per year)

c.Contractor shall develop and implement training in coordination with the County and shall be responsible for all costs associated with the program.

d.Contractor shall obtain final signed approval from the County prior to publishing or distributing materials to County users.

e.In the case of a multiple award of this contract, the County expects all awarded Contractors to collaborate with the County to produce training and education products that are consistent across all contractors.

  1. Stocking Requirements

Contractor must maintain an adequate stock of office supply materials necessary to support the normal day to day operations of the County and to minimize back orders. Contractor must be able to stock and distribute proprietary items to the County.