Brief
This procurement opportunity involves the acquisition of services for opening and sorting incoming mail. The contracting authorities are the public broadcasting institutions in Germany, including ARD, ZDF, and Deutschlandradio, represented by the management of the ARD, ZDF, and Deutschlandradio contribution service (referred to as 'Contribution Service' or 'Contracting Authority'). The Contribution Service intends to enter into a service contract for partial services in the processing of incoming mail at the contracting authority's premises. The outsourcing includes the opening and preliminary sorting of incoming mail to ensure that the documents are processed according to the agreed service levels. The further processing of documents is not part of this outsourcing. The services to be procured primarily include: 1. Receiving mail items as a workload for the contractor's staff; 2. Distributing the workload among employees; 3. Opening and preparing mail items for later scanning; 4. Preliminary sorting of mail items into categories as per the contracting authority's specifications; 5. Ensuring the specified quality through control procedures and coordination with the contracting authority; 6. Providing data for billing the services rendered; 7. Providing and operating the necessary equipment for the contractor's staff; 8. Training the staff. The contracting authority will provide facilities at the location in Cologne for service delivery. The services must be performed by employees of the contractor who are subject to social security contributions, in compliance with the Contribution Service's guidelines. The transfer of employees to the contracting authority is excluded. It is intended to conclude a service contract with the most economically advantageous bidder for a fixed term until June 30, 2028. The contract will be awarded upon the granting of the contract. The earliest start date for the services is January 1, 2026. The contracting authority will provide a room equipped with electricity, lighting, heating, data network, access, break rooms, sanitary facilities, meeting rooms upon prior notice, and transport containers and carts for internal transport. The designated room will be used exclusively by the contractor. Each bidder has the opportunity to participate in a site visit offered by the Contribution Service before submitting their initial bid. The site visits will take place in early June 2025. Each bidder will receive a separate invitation to the site visit. Participation in the site visit is not mandatory. The contractor must ensure daily processing of the incoming mail provided, adhering to the service level described below. Since the contractor's services are integrated into the Contribution Service's business processes, the following framework data must be considered: - Delivery of mail and distribution to teams around 6:30 AM and 9:00 AM; - Mail from special cases (large letters, packages) is usually provided by mail and package service providers during the morning; - Handover of prepared mail items to the contracting authority is expected around 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM. Changes to the delivery times of mail items may occur at any time by mail and/or package service providers and must be observed by the future contractor during the contract period. If the daily incoming mail volumes cannot be processed on the same day, processing must be planned and carried out for the following working day. The contractor must ensure compliance with deadlines on each working day, provided that fluctuations in incoming mail are within the range described by the Contribution Service in the procurement documents (especially in Part B. Service Description). Deadlines are considered met if at least 95% of the delivered items of the respective day are processed. Additionally, quality assurance must ensure that 95% of the daily processed mail items are processed correctly. Based on the actual incoming mail, the following average daily volumes for the service are currently estimated: - 60 batches of regular mail with approximately 500 items and - 10 batches of large letters with approximately 100 items and - 1 batch with approximately 100 extensive items, e.g., letters with multiple attachments. The incoming mail volume for 2024 is estimated at 18,860 batches corresponding to 8,038,850 items that the contractor would have processed in 2024. Therefore, the Contribution Service expects the following volumes as the contract volume for the contractor: - Minimum volume: 10,000 batches per year - Maximum volume: 25,000 batches per year. The Contribution Service guarantees the aforementioned minimum volume of 10,000 batches per calendar year. Considering the European Court of Justice's case law, the Contribution Service is currently tendering the aforementioned maximum volume of 25,000 batches per calendar year. However, this is an estimate based on current values, and this maximum volume is not guaranteed to the contractor. Further details regarding the services being tendered are included in the procurement documents (especially Part B. 'Service Description').
