Print 2010 GPO/Census Vendor Conference - October 25, 2005

Questions and Answers

All questions and answers posted here are paraphrased and not a literal transcript of the discussions on October 25. The answers to these questions do not supersede in any way any printing request for proposals (RFPs) to be released by GPO for Census work; they are simply provided as information only to potential offerors. You must refer to the RFP documents for contractual requirements.

Q. How does a company convey to GPO that they are the "best value" vendor [for the Print 2010 acquisition], especially if they are not certified with ISO or Six Sigma?
A. Section M of the RFP will provide some guidance on evaluation factors that will be used to evaluate vendor offers. Essentially, though, this is a competition between you and other offerors.

Q. How are paper price revisions handled?
A. GPO does have a paper cost increase/decrease variable clause, which it will employ if appropriate. This is based upon economic indexes.

Q. Following the FDsys Conference, GPO posted the presentation along with questions and answers. Does GPO plan to follow a similar process for this vendor conference?
A. Yes, today's Vendor Conference presentation and questions and answers will be posted on the GPO web site for this solicitation, which is already active. The participant list will also be posted.

Q. Paper mills have changed the brightness specification for standard offset paper to 92. Will GPO change the JCP classifications for JCP A60 and JCP A80 paper specifications accordingly?
A. GPO and Census are aware of this new trend, and are looking into how well it will be adopted in the paper industry. The GPO/Census Technical Team is also evaluating the impact to Census from a printing and data capture standpoint. Census and GPO are working together to address this issue, but cannot answer at this time how, or if, the specification will change for the JCP classifications.

Q. How could GSA assist in the acquisition process?
A. You do not need to be a registered vendor with GSA to participate in any of the Census printing acquisitions.

Q. How can we find out who was awarded the contracts during the 2000 Census?
A. The 2000 short form questionnaires were produced at Communicolor, in Ohio (now RR Donnelley). The long form questionnaires were produced at Webcraft, in New Jersey (now Vertis). View the listing of Census 2000 Major Contracts.

Q. Will there be any outsourcing of forms design?
A. For the 2000 Census, we outsourced for the initial design concepts, that were used as a template for forms design. All forms for the 2000 Census were done in-house at Census. For 2010, all forms so far have been done in-house.

Q. Will any contracts be going out for envelopes, specifically? Or is the only opportunity for an envelope producer as a subcontractor?
A. Occasionally Decennial contracts just for envelopes are awarded. Opportunities may exist for the 2010 Census.

Q. You mentioned that Lockheed Martin will do the scanning for 2010; do you know on what equipment? Does it seek subcontracts?
A. No, it [the data capture acquisition] is still being finalized. Lockheed Martin sometimes seek subcontractors to work with them, but currently they are teamed with Pearson and CSC for operations. See the DRIS vendor list/web site for more information on this contract.

Q. You mentioned a USPS representative here today; who is this?
A. The USPS representative is Margaret Choiniere. Margaret is located at Merrifield, VA and works for USPS Headquarters. Census is collaborating with Margaret and her group currently for the 2006 Census test to evaluate/test postal tracking to support the replacement mailing.

Q. The blue handout in the folder [list of 2000 contracts], was this one order or multiple orders?
A. These were multiple orders, mostly for Public Use Forms (PUFs).

Q. Will there be opportunities for advertising and promotional materials for 2010? Will this information be available on the GPO web site?
A. This information isn't available at this time. As Census obtains more information, it will be provided on the GPO web site as a continuation of handouts provided today (reflecting much of what was done in 2000). There were a number of advertising and promotional materials used in 2000, such as posters, flyers, magnets, balloons, pins, badges, billboards, media, etc. A New York City advertising firm (Y&R) was contracted in 2000 for this advertising. This is a major ad campaign - please keep an eye on the Census web site if interested. Also, in 2000, Census worked to educate in the school systems as well. Census worked with Scholastic to educate the children on the census.

Q. Will there be set aside opportunities for small businesses for 2010 printing?
A. GPO encourages all business, from small to large to bid. Historically it awards the majority of contracts to small businesses in any given year, so there are no small business requirements on the Print 2010 contract, or other Census printing contracts, specifically.

Q. Is there a "value" placed on the return from each respondent?
A. Not specifically. The GPO/Census Technical Team has heard estimates of $75 to $100 per case to enumerate [i.e., visits to households], but it does not have any firm data. Enumeration is costly, however, which is why replacement mailing is so attractive from the response and cost savings perspectives.

Q. How many variations of foreign language or bilingual forms will there be in 2010?
A. In 2000, five languages were printed; Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. These forms were mailed by request. For the 2010 Census, we are testing sending bilingual questionnaire to known Hispanic areas. One version of the form would be printed with English on one side and Spanish on the other. Another method would be to include two different language forms in a package. Right now there are no plans for a bilingual questionnaire for the replacement mailing.