The Supply of Ropes

BACKGROUND In April 15 the MOD signed a contract with Leidos Europe Ltd to provide the procurement and inventory management of commodity items (as well as the storage and distribution services) historically provided in-house by the Logistic Commodities and Services Operating Centre. Leidos, working with the MOD, will transform the way these services are delivered to ensure requirements continue to be met whilst providing best value for money for the department. The organisation delivering these services is known as Team Leidos.

FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS Team Leidos would like to make interested suppliers aware that it intends to invite tenders for its supply of Rope with a view to awarding Contract(s) that will commence in late 2017/ early 2018.

Team Leidos intends to invite tenderers to bid against approximately 100 items. The requirement covers a wide range of rope products made of but not limited to:

• Polyamide • Polyester • Nylon • Polypropylene • Hemp • Kevlar • Sisal

These products may be required to be constructed in a variety of different ways such as stranded, plaited and braided. Some of these ropes may need to be rot-proof, UV stable and be able to comply with specified British Standards.

PROCESS Team Leidos wishes to stimulate interest, information and views across the Rope market for the supply of this requirement via this Request for Information (RFI) together with other companies whom Leidos believes may be able to provide useful intelligence on our requirement. To aid your consideration a sample list of our current requirement can be provided on request by E-Mail using the point(s) of contact within this bulletin. Team Leidos is seeking information / views and would be grateful if you could answer the following questions: -

Company Capabilities Does your organisation currently manufacture, distribute or re-package any of these products? Have you been involved in a multi-supplier framework previously, where more than one supplier may be able to supply the same item? If so please provide feedback on this type of approach. Are you currently providing these products elsewhere in the Public Sector (If so please detail where possible)? What innovation can you offer to reduce the cost of these products? What would further incentivise you to bid against the requirement for these products? How do you monitor and manage fluctuations in the market, do you use any forms of indices?

Current Requirement Please indicate if you would have difficulty supplying any of the requirement and why? Are the materials/specification of these products in line with current industry standards? Please provide comments and / or suggestions in relation to the lotting of the requirement.

Ordering/Delivery What is the commercial norm for ordering? Do you currently operate SAGE? Do you have the ability to delivery to a variety of locations across the United Kingdom? What is your average lead time? Do you impose minimum order quantities? If so, why?