Germany - Printed matter and related products

Description

Within the scope of this tendering procedure, the contribution service of ARD ZDF and Deutschlandradio is inviting tenders for the production and further processing of the personalized letters to be delivered by the contribution service, which amounts to approx. 71.9 million per year. In addition, the approx. 82 million envelopes needed for the dispatch of letters are to be procured within the scope of this tender procedure.
Within the scope of this tendering procedure, the contribution service of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio is inviting tenders for the printing and further processing of the personalized letters to be delivered by the contribution service, which amounts to approx. 71.9 million per year. In addition, the external service provider has to procure and provide the approx. 82 million envelopes for outgoing and reply letters required for the dispatch of letters. The aim of the contract award measure is to conclude a framework agreement with a 4-year fixed term and the possibility of an extension (hereinafter "extension option") for a further year. The earliest start date for performance is 17.11.2020.A test phase of at least three to six months is mandatory before full production is taken over.up to approx. 500,000 letters must be produced and dispatched every working day.The external service provider must have the necessary technical equipment, in particular IT, hardware and software, as well as adequately dimensioned printing and inserting machines.The services to be procured with this objective include in particular:- setting up the technical connection for accepting the print files transmitted electronically via a secure sftp connection,- transferring the print files into the order management system of the service provider,- reading out the transmitted print files and preparing these files or data records (AFP data stream) including the additional NOP records (contain metadata for controlling subsequent systems, e.g., the print server),- processing the print files in the order management system of the service provider. provision of a web application for production/print approval for each job and for monitoring the production progress,- setup of IT franking incl. PremiumAdress or another electronic mail procedure,- preparation of the postal charges according to the specifications of the contribution service (e.g. for letter mail incl. postage optimization to obtain maximum discounts),- postage optimization according to the specifications of the postal service providers used (e.g. for letter mail incl. postage optimization to obtain maximum discounts) setting up continuous printers and printing letters with IT franking including PremiumAddress or another electronic mail procedure,- programming and controlling the inserting machines (e.g. the machine for the printing of letters with IT franking including PremiumAddress or another electronic mail procedure),- setting up the continuous printers and printing letters with IT franking including PremiumAddress or another electronic mail procedure,- programming and controlling the inserting machines (e.g. the machine for the printing of letters with IT franking including PremiumAddress or another electronic mail procedure). programming and control of the inserting machines (e.g. via DataMatrixCode (DMC) or comparable code) for tracking and tracing as well as automatic and/or selective insert control,- reading and storing the data from the DMC of the DP franking for special letters after inserting and electronic forwarding of the dispatch data in the specified format to the contribution service,- Automated control of the reprint function through target/actual comparison within the consignment tracking system (closed loop production),- Procurement of the outgoing and reply letters required for the dispatch of the letters,- Provision of the finished bulk mail to the (e.g. provision of the finished bulk mail on the date specified by the subscription service (e.g. standard dialogue mail) for collection by the postal service provider(s) used (e.g. container production and palletising),- posting of the finished letter mail (e.g. standard letters) on the date specified by the subscription service at the letter centre of the postal service provider(s) used (e.g. container production and palletising),- delivery of the finished letter mail (e.g. standard letters) to the letter centre of the postal service provider(s) used (e.g. container production and palletising) on the date specified by the subscription service. The letters to be produced and processed generally have a volume of up to 2 sheets and up to 2 enclosures per letter, with the exception of letters with an individual number of sheets per letter. These are the text letters with 1 sheet to 3 sheets per text letter (standard letter) and 4 to 6 sheets per text letter (compact letter) and the so-called defectors with 4 to 6 sheets per form letter (compact letter) and 8 to 84 sheets per form letter (large letter).The forms provided by the Contribution Service have a standard width of 450 mm (net 210 mm x 2 plus 15 mm guide hole margin on both sides). The tear-off lengths used are 11 4/6 inch, 12 inch and 12 ½ inch. The paper grammages to be printed are 80 g/m2 wood-free white document reader paper. In addition, one to two automatic and/or selective enclosures are used for some letters: the outgoing and reply envelopes have the format DIN C6/5 (229 mm x 114 mm). For the dispatch of large letters the format of the dispatch envelopes is DIN C4 (229 mm x 324 mm).the contribution service supplies the contractor per measure a pressure existence as AFP data stream inclusive Inline resources. The contractor must use software that can process the AFP files submitted by the Contribution Service, including the associated AFP resources. Each AFP data stream additionally contains NOP records (non-executable data), which must be read and used to control the production The contractor must use only the paper provided by the Contribution Service for the production of personalized letters The texts, graphics and barcodes must be printed in black color without exception. The contractor must use continuous printers with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. The personalized letters are to be produced in the simplex or duplex procedure The choice of the printing system (e.g. laser print / color digital print) is the responsibility of the contractor. The contractor must ensure that the selected printing system guarantees the automation capability of the letters and papers. In particular, the technical specifications of the postal service provider used by the Contribution Service (e.g. "automation-capable letters" (01.2020) according to the brochure of DP AG) and the German Banking Industry (e.g. "Guidelines for uniform payment transaction forms (2016)") must be complied with. 88 % of the personalised letters are printed only on the front of the paper (simplex printing) and approx. 12 % on the front and back of the paper (duplex printing). The production of the approx. 71.9 million personalized letters to be delivered annually takes place in approx. 2,342 different production steps (= print jobs) per year (250 working days).116 production steps per year require that the dispatch data of the enveloped letters be read completely from the letter window using a scanner (DMC of IT franking), the data be saved and the recorded data (including the date of mail delivery) be forwarded in electronic form to the subscription service in a timely manner. The postage costs are invoiced directly between the fee service and the respective postal service provider. There is always the possibility - especially due to changes in the law - that the Contractor may have to produce and process additional personalized letters for the Toll Charger Service during the term of the contract. The maximum daily production volume is approximately 500,000 letters. At the request of the Contribution Service, the Contractor is obliged to produce test prints based on a test stock in the production environment with a prior notice of approx. 2 working days and to deliver them directly (within up to 3 working days) to the Contribution Service. Such test proofs must be made at short notice before any changes are made to a letter and/or the paper. The number of test prints to be carried out each month is subject to considerable fluctuations. Endless paper can be used as folded paper for the test prints. The envelopes and reply envelopes to be used are procured by the Contractor in accordance with the technical and qualitative specifications of the Contribution Service and are part of the offer. The remaining material required for the production of personalized letters (forms, inserts, etc.) is procured by the Contribution Service from suitable suppliers. The contractor is obliged to independently call up the necessary quantities of material from the appropriate suppliers of envelopes, forms, enclosures, etc. In addition, the contractor must ensure the timely production of the letters for the contribution service and, for this purpose, must independently stockpile the required materials in sufficient quantities and store them at the production site. As a rule, the contribution service delivers to the contractor in the middle of the current quarter the quantity and deadline specifications for the production of the letters to be personalized for the coming quarter. The contractor must then prepare production plans on a monthly basis and coordinate these with the Dues Service. An exception to this rule are the measures for the market development of the Toll Charger Service (approx. 6.5-8.5 million letters per year), in which the production data for the following month are determined by the Toll Charger Service at the end of each month. The contractor supports the fee service free of charge in the event of any procedural changes with regard to the services put out to tender, draws up production lists (statistics) and supplies supporting documents for IT franking.

Opportunity closing date

07 August 2020

Value of contract

to be confirmed