Print Management


Note to interested suppliers: RFP documents will be made available on April 2, 2009. At that time, please email PrintManagement@NEOSO.org with your contact information and request to receive an email containing all documents relevant to the NEO|SO Print Management RFP Process. Thank you!

Potential Suppliers may ask clarifying questions regarding this RFP via the Internet during the Q&A Period outlined in Section 1.6 Anticipated Procurement Timetable. To ask a question, potential Suppliers must send an email to PrintManagement@NEOSO.org.

Questions about this RFP must be submitted to CM identified in the Request for Proposals using the above email address and will reference the relevant part of this RFP, the heading for the provision under question, and the page number of the RFP where the provision can be found. The potential Supplier must also include the name of a representative of the potential Supplier, the company name, and business phone number. NEO|SO may, at its option, disregard any questions which do not appropriately reference an RFP provision or location, or which do not identify the originator of the question. NEO|SO will not respond to any questions submitted after 10:00 a.m. on the date that the Q&A period closes. NEO|SO reserves the right to extend the Deadline for Suppliers to Submit Proposals to NEO|SO based on the NEO|SO Q&A Document and/or any Addendum issued to modify this RFP.

NEO|SO responses to all questions asked via email will either be posted on the NEO|SO Print Management web page (go to www.NEOSO.org and follow the link to “Offerings in Development" dedicated to this RFP, for reference by all potential Suppliers, or delivered to all Suppliers simultaneously via email, or both. Potential Suppliers will not receive personalized or individual e-mail responses. Clarifying questions asked and NEO|SO responses to them comprise the “NEO|SO Q&A Document” for this RFP which will constitute an Addendum to this RFP. Any interpretation or correction of the RFP will be made only by Addendum posted on the above NEO|SO Web Page. NEO|SO will not be responsible for any other explanations or interpretations of the RFP. If possible, NEO|SO will post an interim Q&A Document, without identifying the Suppliers asking questions, as well as the final Addendum (in which all Suppliers that posed questions will be identified). NEO|SO strongly encourages Suppliers to ask questions as early as possible in the Q&A period so that interim answers can be posted with the possibility of sufficient time for Suppliers’ follow-up questions. As any Addendum to this RFP may result in a revision in the way NEO|SO will acquire its Print Management Program, interested Suppliers are encouraged to utilize this Q&A period as an interactive exchange regarding these revised expectations.

Supplier proposals in response to this RFP are to take into account any information communicated by NEO|SO in the Final Q&A Document and Addendum for the RFP. It is the responsibility of all potential Suppliers to check the above NEO|SO Web Page on a regular basis for responses to questions, as well as for any Addendums regarding this RFP.

Accessibility to the NEO|SO Q&A Document and Addenda will be clearly identified on the above NEO|SO Web Page dedicated to this RFP, once that document is made available.

IMPORTANT: Requests from potential Suppliers for copies of previous RFPs, past Supplier proposals, score sheets, or contracts for this or similar past projects, are Public Records Requests (PRRs), and are not clarification questions regarding the present RFP. PRRs submitted in accordance with directions provided in Section 1.8 Communications Prohibited, will be honored. The posted time frames for NEO|SO responses to Internet questions for RFP clarification do not apply to PRRs.

Suppliers are to base their RFP responses, including the details and costs, on the requirements and performance expectations established in this RFP for the future contract, NOT on details of any current or past-related contract. Requirements under a current project may or may not be required by NEO|SO under any future contract, and so may not be useful information for Suppliers who choose to respond to the RFP. If Suppliers ask questions about existing or past contracts using the Internet Q&A process, NEO|SO will use its discretion in deciding whether to provide answers.

Interested Suppliers should also refer to RFP Section 1.9 Time Frames and Funding Available, for related information.

There is an established time period for the Supplier Q&A process (see Section 1.6 Anticipated Procurement Timetable, above). NEO|SO will only answer those questions submitted within the stated timeframe for submission of Supplier questions, and which pertain to issues of RFP clarity, and which are not requests for public information. NEO|SO is under no obligation to acknowledge questions submitted through the Q&A process that are not in accordance with these instructions.

* Should Suppliers experience technical difficulties accessing the NEO|SO Web Page where information about this RFP is published, they may contact NEO|SO at 216.581.6200 x121 for technical guidance.


1.5 Communications Prohibited
From the issuance date of this RFP until an actual contract is awarded to a Supplier, there may be no communications concerning the RFP between any Supplier that expects to submit a proposal and any employee of NEO|SO in the issuing office, or any other NEO|SO employee, or any other individual regardless of their employment status, who is in any way involved in the development of the RFP or the selection of the contractor (“Communications Prohibited”).

The only exceptions to the Communications Prohibited are as follows:
  • Communications conducted pursuant to Section 1.7 Internet Q&A Period;
  • As necessary in any pre-existing or on-going business relationship between NEO|SO and any Supplier that could submit a proposal in response to this RFP;
  • As part of any Supplier interview process or proposal clarification process initiated by NEO|SO, which NEO|SO deems necessary in order to make a final selection, including the finalist interviews described in Section 1.6, Anticipated Procurement Timetable;
  • If it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, NEO|SO will post Addendums on the NEO|SO Web Page dedicated to this RFP;* and
  • Any Public Records Request (PRR) made through the NEO|SO.
* Important Note: Addenda to the RFP or to any documents related to it will be accessible to interested Suppliers through the NEO|SO Web Page established for the RFP. All interested Suppliers must refer to the NEO|SO Web Page regularly for Addendums or other announcements. NEO|SO may not specifically notify any Supplier of changes or announcements related to this RFP except through the NEO|SO Web Page posting. It is the affirmative responsibility of interested Suppliers to be aware of and to fully respond to all updated information posted on the NEO|SO Web Page.

NEO|SO is not responsible for the accuracy of any information regarding this RFP that was obtained or gathered through a source other than the Q&A process described in this RFP. Any attempts at Communications Prohibited by suppliers may result in the disqualification of those Suppliers’ proposals.