Inventory Management System

Trade Agreement: NONE
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Attachment: None
Competitive Procurement Strategy: N/A - P&A/LOI Only
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Nature of Requirements: 

Xu, Hong
Telephone No. - (819) 956-1440 
Fax No. - (819) 973-3703
Email: hong.xu@pwgsc.gc.ca

Request for Information regarding an Inventory Management System
for Statistics Canada

RFI Overview:

Statistics Canada's Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is
seeking feedback from the software community, with respect to a
bilingual (French/English) commercial off the shelf (COTS)
Inventory Management System (IMS) solution. This system will
improve the management and quality of information received from
CHMS logistics operations.  It will provide management with more
accurate information when making decisions about procurement
trends, decision making, strategic planning and asset retention.

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is issuing
this RFI on behalf of the Statistics Canada, as a means of
gathering information to assist in accomplishing the following
specific purposes:

To initiate an early exchange of information with the vendor
community
To refine the survey requirements
To seek comments on what industry proposes as a realistic
timeline
To identify possible risks and risk mitigation strategies
To identify key information required by vendors 
To understand inventory management technology
directions/evolutions
To gauge industry's level of interest in supplying an inventory
management solution

Background:

Statistics Canada undertakes a multitude of operations across
Canada, requiring a large array of assets to be deployed in
various locations across the nation.  These operations consume
inventories of goods which need to be restocked on demand.  One
of these operations is the Canadian Health Measures Survey
(CHMS) which collects health information about Canadians
nationwide.  The CHMS has several inventory locations at its
head office in Ottawa, Ontario, and at two mobile clinics that
visit cities across Canada.  Inventories at all locations must
be monitored so that supplies are available to staff as needed. 
Often supplies and assets are ordered from vendors, delivered to
the head office (HO), and then shipped out to the sites at key
intervals.  Occasionally supplies and assets will be transferred
from site to site or from site to head office.  All transactions
must be documented.  

Currently, Statistics Canada relies on Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets to manage stock levels, track inventory movements
and expiry dates where applicable.  This system is broken into
sheets which track current inventory levels at sites and current
orders of incoming stock.  Other spreadsheets track certain
assets which need to be shipped for maintenance and service. 
These spreadsheets offer a limited scope of the actual inventory
picture and demand a large amount of manual input, which can
result in input errors leading to further degradation of the
inventory information.  A centralized system would minimize
these effects. For these reasons Statistics Canada's CHMS is
seeking an inventory management software package to ensure
accurate and smooth flow of its various assets.

Nature of Request for Information
This is not a bid solicitation. This RFI will not result in the
award of any contract. As a result, potential suppliers of any
goods or services described in this RFI should not reserve stock
or facilities, nor allocate resources, as a result of any
information contained in this RFI. Nor will this RFI result in
the creation of any source list. Therefore, whether or not any
potential supplier responds to this RFI will not preclude that
supplier from participating in any future procurement. Also, the
procurement of any of the goods and services described in this
RFI will not necessarily follow this RFI. This RFI is simply
intended to solicit feedback from industry with respect to the
matters described in this RFI.
Note to Respondents
Respondents must refer to the RFI documents for the complete
requirement.
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.